Page 32 of Forever

She breathes in slowly, trying to get her emotions under control. Tears shimmer in her eyes, but she bats them away.

Val is an expressive type of person. You can see every emotion going through her clearly written all over her face. When she’s happy her blond curls are bouncing on her shoulders and her blue eyes shimmer with laughter. When she’s angry you can feel her wrath. Like a summer storm, her anger comes on quickly and in full force, destroying everything that’s on her path. And when she’s sad it’s profound and quiet. You can feel her sadness and anguish in your bones.

“I-I … I don’t know,” she stutters.

One silent tear falls down her cheek, no matter how hard she tried to hold it in. I lean in closer, wiping away the lone tear and taking both her hands in mine.

“Everything is wrong for months now. He’s distant and we fight all the time. All-the-damn-time. We hoped that moving in together would help us reconnect, but the distance has only grown since then. It doesn’t feel like my home at all, Bel. It’s like I’m a stranger there.”

“Oh, honey.”

Switching to the chair next to hers, I wrap her in my arms.

“What is wrong with us? I look at you and Will and I wonder did it ever feel that way between Dominik and me. Seeing the love the two of you share opened my eyes in way nothing else could.” She gets out of my embrace, wiping away the tears on her cheeks. “Maybe it’s better this way. Maybe I figured shit on time and maybe this really isn’t working anymore. Because, Bel, I don’t want to settle. I don’t want to be with a guy just because that’s the right thing to do. Finish school, find the job, get married, have kids. I don’t want my life orchestrated by standards this society pushed on me. I want to be happy. I want to laugh and have somebody look at me the way William Price looks at you. Like there is nothing more important than you in his life. Like he’d do anything, give anything just to make you happy. Just to see you smile.”

I swallow audibly. My heart squeezes painfully in my chest listening to my best friend baring her heart to me. If I only knew she was feeling this way, I’d … I’m not sure what I would exactly do, but at least I would be there for her.

“You’re right, Val. You shouldn’t settle. Never settle for less than what you deserve. And you deserve it all. A great guy who’ll love you and respect you. Make you laugh and take you places and simply be there when you need him. The guy who’ll hug you tight and kiss your forehead before you fall asleep after he makes crazy, stupid love to you.”

“It just feels so wrong, you know?” When I give her a blank stare, she continues. “Leaving him just like that. We’ve been together for six years. Six years, Bel! That’s a lot of time to just walk out on somebody.”

“You’re the only one who can make the right choice, Valentina. I can tell you what I think, but in the end, it’s up to you to make a decision.”

Val nods her head in agreement. “I know. And I will. Soon. For now, I think I owe it to him, to us to try and make things right.”

“If you think that’s the right decision …”

Which I don’t, but I can’t say that to her. She’s all over the place as it is.

If I learned something, it’s that you can’t force love. You can’t make somebody to fall for you as much as you can’t fall out of love with somebody just because you think that’s what you should do.

But Val wasn’t ready to hear that. Not just yet.

“I think so. Anyway, I better go. I have to meet with my mentor about the thesis. Again.” Her lips press in a tight, unhappy line. Who could blame her? The girl made so many changes on her thesis by now it’s a brand-new paper.

“Talk to you later?”

“I’ll call you and let you know how it went.”

“If he approves it we’ll have to go out and celebrate.

“Are you, Anabel Majer, suggesting we go out and party?” Val wiggles her brows playfully.

“I had in mind a celebratory drink, but sure, why not? If your thesis getting approved isn’t a reason to go all out, I don’t know what is.”

“Amen, girl.”

She starts getting her wallet, but I wave her off. “My treat. Talk to you later!”

“See ya!”

She sashays away in a little bit better spirits than when I first saw her. If nothing else, this conversation helped lift the weight off her shoulders. At least for now.

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