Page 96 of Push & Pull
Instead, she was free. Currently, she was still living in her uncle’s local safe house, but the government was about to seize it and she needed somewhere else to stay. A new job gave her responsibilities while also challenging the skillset she already had. The new relationship with someone who kept her smiling and looking forward to what they could share all night long?
Life really was good, all things considered.
“How are things with you?” It was as good a time as any to check in with Simone, who had a therapy appointment every week to unpack not only her whole life, but recent events as well. Sometimes, Petra ended up on the couch, too. Couplestherapy!It hadn’t been her idea, but how could she say no? “What were you up to before you came here?”
Simone placed the phone she had been slyly looking at on the table. Her talking gave Petra time to start eating. “Had a video chat with Astrid this morning. It’s been quite the past twelve hours.”
“Oh? Was this a scheduled thing?”
“Kind of. I knew she was going to call me sometime this week since I haven’t been able to make time to go up to the house for a proper meeting. Haven’t really felt like it, since you’ve been so busy yourself.”
“What did she say?”
Simone bit her lip before scratching her cheek and looking away. “She and the president of the company have offered me a return date for my old position. It was supposed to be sometime this month, but the whole… thing… meant I wasn’t ready. Even I could agree to that.”
Petra slowed her chewing, giving Simone time to breathe.
“Start of next month. So, about a week and a half. It’s in the middle of the quarter, which goes against everything they originally said would work best but… I’ll take it. I don’t care about mind games anymore. I’ve been clean from what sent me to rehab for months. I’m ready to move forward.”
“Hell yeah.” Petra slammed her sandwich back onto her plate. “That’s my girl. Taking life by the horns and forging her own damned path.”
Simone’s shoulders relaxed as she fell into a fit of chuckles. “You’re too damn much.”
“I mean it, though.”
Simone’s gentle visage always did something dirty to Petra’s heart. “I love that about you.”
“And I loveyou.”
Petra could always count on the air popping out of Simone’s body whenever she said that in the middle of a conversation.A part of her still doesn’t believe me.Petra was all right with that. The nice thing about her new life? She had all the time in the world to help Simone believe she could be loved. Unconditionally, no less.
I get it, though. Anyone who loved her as a kid is dead now, and anyone who claimed to love her since sold her down the river.Petra would never forgive Hailey for her role in Simone’s recent trauma. Between setting her up to be kidnapped to collect on money that wasn’t evenSimone’sdebt, to lying about everything in between… Petra could usually spot a terrible person from a mile away, but she had allowed her own nostalgic blinders to get between her and the girl she had once called her childhood friend. Petra swore she would not only stay by Simone’s side but watch out for the wolves in the shadows. While not everyone who angered Simone was a bad person by default, she usually had a good reason for distrusting them – be they the gold-digging woman who married Simone’s father, or the sorority full of self-absorbed morons.The more stories she tells me about college, the farther my jaw drops.
That was all the more reason to stay in Simone’s orbit. Not because Petra was some selfless “save the princess” type. (It had been, after all, established that Petra was the opposite of Prince Charming. Quite the opposite.) But because when she saw a decent person in need, she wanted to help them. Falling in love with them? That only made decisions easier.
Petra had been saying the L word for more than a few weeks. It started with a goodnight kiss, then a good morning text, then hitting Simone with that word every time they saw one another. While Simone was not big on vocal love language, she expressed her feelings with tight hugs, behind-the-scenes favors, and scolding Petra whenever someone went overboard with the gifts.I swear I didn’t steal them, sweetheart.Now that Petra had a job, there would bemoreflowers andmorebaked goods in Simone’s future. Simone may have had millions to her name, but Petra wasn’t about to let her lower financial status translate to being less of a gift giver. She would simply be prudent about what she gave her princess.
She’ll tell me she loves me eventually.Petra wasn’t worried about it. She felt that love in Simone’s late-night cuddles and helping her secure a decent job.
“Guess I’m apartment hunting,” Petra said at the end of their lunch when Simone had long finished her food and was merely hanging out with her girlfriend. “You have a business date with someone after this, right?”
“Yes, I’m seeing my lawyer. I’m updating my will.”
“Oh?”
“Don’t get your hopes up.” Yet Simone said that with a slight smile.I know I’m not inheriting everything. Yet.“Recent events have me rethinking what I want to be done should I become horribly indisposed. It’s not only about the money. It’s about… you know. Unpleasant topics.”
“Hopefully those topics won’t be relevant for a long time to come, but it is a good idea to think about it.”
“Once you get settled into things, you should figure it out as well.”
“You know, you’re right. I haven’t even thought about that. I’m so used to having next to nothing to my name. Or what I do have is… uh…”
“Uh-huh.”
“Anyway, I’ll have to put that on my to-do list for later this year. Once I sort out a car and a new apartment. I think I might be making enough to live a couple blocks away from you, my sweet, gorgeous, altruistic, amazing prin - ”
“Stop it!” Simone was laughing again. “You sound like somebody’s term paper compiled of nothing but filler!”
