Cursive - By Phoebe Lane Page 0,45

recognizable. Second, they were all pretty laid back and actually enjoyed being around each other. Talk about feeling the love.

Jace excused himself to take a call from work, while Aislynn joined in the girls’ conversation at the kitchen table. Tessa was filling Ellie in on the plans for the benefit party coming up that weekend at Langley.

"It's basically a costume party," Tessa explained. "We ask people to dress up as famous characters from movies, but we don't want them dressed as monsters or anything like that. We want classic and elegant costumes. Think Marilyn Monroe's white dress in The Seven Year Itch or Annette Benning's dress in The American President."

"Costumes?" Ellie said with a high level excitement in her voice and a sparkle in her eye.

"Oh boy, you just said Ellie's favorite word. I think she's in heaven," Aislynn said.

"Aislynn, I hope you'll come, too. It's always such a fun party," Nina said. "We all get to vote during dinner for our favorite couples. There's going to be music, good food, wine…"

Jace in a tux…

"I'm in. Thanks for the invitation. What are you guys going as?" she asked.

"Oh, we never say. We like to surprise each other, and see if people can recognize the costumes. This is really more fun for the girls, of course, but the guys haven't complained," Tessa said. She had definitely been way more pleasant and warm with Aislynn this time around. She had even smiled and hugged her when they had arrived at the house.

"Ellie, I'm leaving it all in your hands," Aislynn said.

"Don't worry. I already have you covered. I know exactly what our outfits will be."

Jace came back, announcing he had to leave for San Francisco for an emergency meeting. "I'm taking the red-eye. It leaves in a few hours," he told Aislynn, clearly disappointed.

"Rain check, then?" she asked, saddened by the change in their celebratory plans.

"Unless we leave right now, I'll only have enough time to go home and pack my things before heading out to the airport."

Aislynn considered the idea for a second, but decided against it. "I don't want our first time to be…rushed. I'll catch a ride home with Ellie. I left my things at your place, though and I'm gonna need to get my laptop."

"Here," he said, handing her Alex’s key. "You can go get your stuff tomorrow. I should be back by Thursday."

Aislynn smiled softly at him and closed her eyes as he tenderly kissed her cheek. "Don't worry, babydoc. We're not finished with what we started. And there are also a few things we need to talk about when I get back," he whispered in her ear.

Aislynn drove to Jace's house mid-morning the following day. She took a few minutes to collect her things and make sure everything was okay with the house. She went out to the deck after noticing she had left a book on the table, but found herself facing her past instead.

"Christopher, you can't be here," Aislynn said in a panic.

"Please let me talk to you for a minute," he said, taking the last few steps up onto the deck.

"What is this? You don't even live in San Diego!" she yelled. "Why do you keep showing up everywhere I go?" She only got silence in response. "You know what? Never mind that. You have to leave. It's not appropriate for you to be here."

"Is this where your boyfriend lives? Is that why you're so worried?" he said, bitterness evident in his voice.

"I swear to God, Christopher. I will—"

"Would you please stop biting my head off? I just want to talk to you!" he yelled, then backed away, taking a second to calm down. "I'm sorry. I know you don't owe me anything, but I'm trying here. I've been trying and you won't let me in. I just want to know if you're all right. It's all I ask."

Something clicked inside Aislynn at that moment. She realized she needed to do this, not for her or for Christopher, but for Jace. She needed to start facing her past if she wanted their relationship to have a solid future. She could sense he was getting impatient with her, wanting to talk about things when he got back from San Francisco. It wasn't hard to read between the lines.

"Okay, what do you want to know?" Aislynn said with a defeated tone, and sat down on the patio chair.

Christopher sat next to her, looking equally uncomfortable. It was a few minutes before he finally spoke, and