Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,13

more time with Evan."

"Well, yeah, and Evan," Ellie said and beamed.

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you too. I'll see you soon." They hugged each other and Aislynn watched her best friend walk into the airport lobby.

Just as Aislynn turned to get back into her car, she saw him. Christopher was getting out of a cab and warily waved at her when he spotted her. She became paralyzed, and it wasn't until another car honked at her that she was able to look away.

Aislynn hurried back into her car, and managed to catch a glimpse of Christopher in her rearview mirror as he walked through the airport doors with his trademark unfaltering strut.

There he goes. Walking away from me. Again.

The week Ellie was in Chicago went by in a flash. Aislynn spent the majority of her time working on the novel, now feeling more confident with the ideas and pointers Lana had given her during their meeting.

The weather had been unseasonably comfortable and dry, so she was able to work most days out in the park while sunbathing and drinking iced coffee. She stealthily avoided calls from her mom for a few days, but the peace didn't last very long. Ellie became her surrogate victim and screamed for help via text.

I swear to God, if you don't call Pam back and tell her to stop calling me to ask why you won't take her calls, I will shred every single piece of expensive lingerie you own into confetti-size pieces.

Begrudgingly, Aislynn called Pam to put a stop to her stalker behaviors. As expected, their conversation turned into another opportunity to avoid addressing the elephant in the room.

Pam talked to Aislynn about the weather, about how the move was going, and even brought up some of the neighborhood gossip. There was no talk of wedding dresses, no apologies, and no discussions about any subject that would bring her remotely close to the one thing that needed to be addressed.

Aislynn had learned over the years that it wasn't worth trying to force these things with her mom, as it never amounted to anything but more anger and heartache for her. Now that Pam thought Aislynn was over it, she would surely stop harassing Ellie. Mission accomplished.

Aislynn ran into Evan at the coffee shop once, but never saw or heard from Jace. She still wasn't sure how she felt about it. On the one hand, she didn't have any expectations from him. They'd had both explicitly agreed that the few times they had gotten together hadn't been dates. On the other hand, she felt really disappointed he hadn't made an attempt to contact her without influence from their friends.

After Evan's dinner party, Aislynn had admitted to herself that she wasn't only attracted to Jace sexually, but was also very attracted to him as a person. He was intelligent, interesting, witty, and caring. The last time she'd allowed herself to feel like that toward anyone, it had ended up turning her whole world upside down. This is dangerous territory, her heart and mind kept telling her. It wasn't usual for both of those body parts to come at you with the same message, so Aislynn made a conscious decision to follow the advice.

Later that week, she found herself at home, trying to self-edit some of her work, when Ellie walked in the door.

"Welcome back! Ooh, you look good in red," Aislynn said. "Does Evan know about your ever changing hair color?"

"He'll find out soon enough," Ellie said, giving her friend a hug and setting her bags down next to the table. "How was your week?"

"Uneventful. I got a lot of writing done. My next meeting with my editor is coming up soon, and I'm obviously freaking out. You know I'm a professional worrier."

"Yeah, they should really let you teach a college course on the subject," Ellie quipped. "I'm sure you'll do great with the editor."

"You're looking at me funny. What is it?" she asked, noticing Ellie’s curious stare.

"It's just that…I see a spark in your eyes every time you talk about your book, and I haven't seen that in a long time. It makes my heart happy."

"I have to admit that it makes me happy, too."

"Okay, moving on to the next important topic. I need you to please say yes," Ellie said excitedly, jumping up and down in her seat.

"Say yes to what? And how much caffeine have you had today?"

"None, actually. This is me ‘al naturale.’"

"Scary."

"I know. So…we're going out dancing tonight," Ellie said, huge smile