"Meeting new people has always been a thing I find enlightening. I enjoy getting to know the people I don't know."
"Do you enjoy getting to know me?"
I smiled. "Of course I do."
Where a girl who just lost her mom and a boy who fights his own demons...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I laced back and forth and bit on my thumbnail as I waited. I waited for Laurie and the girls arrival. After my meeting with Mary, she had told me my leave would be sooner than expected. The boys and Alex were already packing. Alex wanted to go because he wanted a chance in the world. I knew how hard it would be for my father and Ellie to watch us leave, but I already promised I would visit as much as I could when I wasn't busy.
There was some small conversation and a few people walked in. Laurie was walking alongside Amy while Beth and Meg walked in behind them. Laurie looked at me and seemed to immediately notice the stress I was under. "Is everything alright, Alex?"
I smiled and nodded, putting my thumb down from my mouth. "I am wonderful. I must say I am nervous for this conversation." I looked around. "Where is Jo?"
"She couldn't attend. She had something else planned I suppose." Amy answered as she took a seat beside Laurie. Beth and Meg smiled at me as they sat down. They all just looked up at me as I stood in front of them, fiddling with my fingers.
"Are you sure everything is alright? You seem a bit stressed." Meg pointed out.
I sighed and closed my eyes for a moment. I was thinking about the two completely different ways this could end. Either they'll be happy or hate that I'm leaving them so soon. I didn't want them to hate me. I cared for them all. Maybe different ways, but I did. They all meant a lot to me. I opened my eyes and took a seat across from them. The fire was crackling while the fire burned the wood.
"I have been holding in some information and I can't hold it in anymore. It may be good for me but I am struggling to tell you all because it may affect a lot of things."
"Are you pregnant?" Beth asked.
My eyes widened and I shook my head. "Oh no! I am not pregnant. I am not even engaged."
"She hasn't fancied anyone, Beth. Of course she isn't pregnant." Amy said as she shook her head.
"It was the first thing that came to mind."
I shook my head and smiled a bit. "At the ball, when Laurie was drunk, I had met this woman. She was so sweet and older than me. I was hesitate to speak to her because she was someone I hadn't known or spoken to before." I took a deep breath. "I had met with her a day later when I went out to the store for more bread and meat. She had told me some things that made me rethink everything."
"What do you mean by that?" Laurie asked.
I was nervous. I could feel my hands begin to sweat and my heart began to race faster. "She offered me to go to Paris and help her write a book. I didn't know who she was because I had only seen pictures of her younger self. It was Mary Jane Holmes. She wanted me to help with a book."
I looked between them all, watching their reactions to the news. Amy was the first to jump up and congratulate me. She hugged me so tightly and jumped around like a teen girl, which she was. Then Meg came and hugged me. She said how proud she was of me and couldn't wait to read the book. Beth gave me a small hug and smiled at me after she congratulated me. I looked at Laurie who slowly stood up, but a smile still remained on his face. He pulled me in a light hug. I could smell the roses on him as I rested my head on his chest.
