Damaged Memories

Part 10

The rhythmic thrumming of Grace's fingernails on the glass table swept her off into an uneasy trance and the concoction of emotions that had been plaguing her all day were still running rife. She was incredibly nervous about stepping out in front of the paparazzi later that night, anxious to see the outcome of her mini makeover in just a few hours and she was also itching to see Patrick. He'd been swamped with interviews and photo shoots all week, jetting off to Atlanta, New York and Chicago for a multitude of meetings with the press, so it had been three days since they'd laid eyes on one another, catching up briefly for coffee and kisses on Monday afternoon before he'd flown out to Georgia.

But Grace hadn't been sitting around twiddling her thumbs either. She'd been purposefully trying to keep herself busy, because if she let her mind wander, her thoughts were immediately consumed with Patrick Hail and the impending premiere, sending her head and stomach into a perilous spin.

During the week she'd met Tracy in her studio twice where she had paraded around countless dresses of various colours and styles from prestigious designers – dresses that cost more than her entire wardrobe added together. She'd attended a hair and makeup trial after her hair had been freshly coloured a deep dark chocolate for the occasion and she'd been treated to a manicure and pedicure, her nails now a brilliant electric red. And amongst all of the appointments she'd even had time to attend a book signing at a local bookstore in Venice Beach and write another chapter of her sequel.

Now Grace and Emma were sitting outside a trendy Venice Beach café. It was a brilliant August morning, the sky was free from clouds and there wasn't a hint of a breeze in the fading summer's air. Despite being a Friday the beach was littered with bronzed bodies, soaking up the rays or sweating out the remnants of another week passed. It was Grace's favourite spot to people watch and she went there often, mostly when she needed inspiration for a new character in her book, but today she was simply trying to pass some time and distract her anxious thoughts.

"Are you ok?" Emma said, interrupting Grace's daze. "You're away with the fairies again."

She stopped thrumming her fingers, glancing at Emma. "Yeah I'm fine. It's just been a crazy week that's all. I'm just hoping that I haven't forgotten to do anything, I really want tonight to go well."

"It will. But if you want my advice, I think there's still one more thing you need to do before tonight. You need to let him go," she said softly, motioning to Grace's ring finger with her compassion in her eyes.

Grace glanced down at her hand and studied the wedding band that Emma was referring to. Made from white gold, it was encrusted with a band of tiny circular cut diamonds which transformed into a spectrum of colours when they glinted in the sun. She could remember the unforgettable day so clearly, when Michael had slid the ring onto her finger under a red rose archway in their garden. Everyone had cheered when they'd been declared husband and wife and at the time she never imagined that the ring would ever leave the safety of her hand, but now, she knew she had to take it off and she just couldn't build up enough courage to do it.

"I just think that if you want to move forward with Patrick, you need to close that chapter of your life Grace. And that doesn't mean that you have to forget about Michael, because I know that'd never happen."

"I know," she said with a nod. "I've actually been thinking about it for a while, but it just makes it so final, that's all."

"Is that such a bad thing though? I mean, it has to happen at some stage and I think now is as good a time as any. Look at you, you're glowing, you're happy. You're so ready to move on, in fact if I'm not mistaken, I think you might have already."

Grace spun the ring on her slender finger, hesitant to confirm her sister's theory, because if she did, that would be like sticking a knife through Michael's cold heart. "I just didn't expect these feelings to evolve so quickly, they've really caught me off guard. I mean, I'm having the time of my life with Patrick but I feel like I should still be grieving for Michael."