Page 51 of Almost Always

“I don’t know what to say.”

“The truth is a good place to start.”

She made a face and looked away. “He’s in New York for the weekend, so even if I wanted to…I can’t.”

“The weekend ends soon.”

“You know what I mean,” she grumbled.

Anastasia chuckled. “It’s important that you communicate with him about this, Daisy. If he’s as significant to your life as you’ve made me believe, you can’t brush past this and expect him to forget. Honestly, neither of you will forget this and it will taint whatever relationship you’re hoping to build.”

“I don’t like it when you’re smart and logical. I prefer it when you’re indulging me.”

With another laugh, her therapist set her notebook aside. “Better get used to it, because I’m all of those things and so much more.”

She smiled and leaned forward. “So I tell him about Clarke and my PCOD and everything in between?”

“Something tells me he’s going to be really supportive and understanding. And will love youbecauseof these things.”

Love.It was such a complicated emotion. One she’d felt for Rafferty as a teenager and for Clarke as an adult. Now she was in this weird limbo of whether or not she could feel that way again. Even with all of this going on, every thought of him made her heart expand. He’d always had this way of making her soul feel like it was burning for him, that flame was back and she was powerless against it.

“Wherever your mind went just now, I like it.”

She shook off the thoughts and realized that she was smiling. Pressing her fingers to her mouth, Daisy shook her head. Settling into the couch, she allowed herself to relax. The rest of the session was spent talking about the usual things—her anxiety, if she was taking care of herself and how many migraines she’d had.

One day at a time, that’s all I can do.

When she came out of her session, her phone lit up with a bajillion notifications—a couple from her father with more pictures of their travels and two from Monroe about classes being canceled for the rest of the day. Then a voice note from Ginny telling her all about how Clementine and Oakley had afight outside the tattoo shop, that their friend left in tears, but didn’t have any more information. She contemplated texting Clementine to make sure she was okay, but knew that the chef would ignore it. She hadn’t replied to a single message on the Snap, Crackle & Pop group in weeks either.

After agreeing to meet Ginny later that evening, she drove to see Monroe. She walked into The Pole Rider and greeted the ladies at the front desk. Loud music directed her to where her best friend was hanging upside down, one leg hooked around the pole as she swayed side to side. After their first meeting at the singles mixer, Roe invited her to the pole studio where she was getting her certification. Daisy signed up for classes and attended them for six weeks straight. While she was capable, Daisy was also terrified of falling and hurting herself. She kept showing up for Monroe, because the blonde was damn good at it.

Now, years later, she had her own studio and Daisy had a lifetime membership that cost her two dollars. She still didn’t trust the pole or her legs to hold her up, but came to classes and attempted it every now and then. This visit, however, was only to see her best friend.

“There’s got to be better ways to experience a head rush, right?” she said, grinning when Monroe flipped her off.

Landing on her feet, Roe turned off the music and replied, “If you must know, my husband is out of town. I’ll take my head rushes any way I can.”

Daisy snorted out a laugh and sat down, leaning against a wall of mirrors as her friend dropped down beside her. “Where in the world is Wyatt now?”

“Somewhere in California. Said he’d bring me back as many bottles of wine as he could fit into his suitcase.”

“You got yourself a good one, Roe.”

“Speaking of which…do you wanna talk aboutyours?”

“Not really. I’m more interested in what happened to your classes today.” She’d only be able to keep her best friend at bay for so long before she asked again.

“Ugh. Remember that new instructor I hired? She was great at first, then turned flaky and now she’s just…vanished. So I had to do all the classes and after three sessions a day this week, I couldn’t anymore.”

“Shit, Roe. Why didn’t you tell me? I could have…I dunno, helped.”

“Doing what exactly? How to hug a pole?”

She shoved her friend gently, chuckling. “I am a damn good pole hugger.”

“I think my advanced class is well versed in hugging poles at this point anyway.”

“Fair enough. So, what are you going to do now?”

---