When In Paris

Chapter 10

CRYSTAL

I wake up the next morning to my phone ringing.

At first, I think it's my alarm and I go to turn it off but then it starts again and again every time I turn it off. Groaning I roll over and reach for my phone beside me and look down and see it wasn't an alarm but in fact it's Rachel calling.

I sit up and Rachel's voice immediately comes through the phone as I answer it.

"Finally, you answered!"

"Rachel?"

"Yeah, it's me, who else were you expecting?" she asks.

"No one, but why are you calling this early in the morning?" I pull the phone away from me and see its barely 8am in the morning when I wake up normally. "It's 7am in the morning, an hour before I actually wake up," I add.

"Do you know what day it is?"

"Yeah, it's Sunday the last day of weekend and I was having a nice relaxing sleep before you ruined it, so thanks for that."

"Well, that's true but the end of this weekend is special for you."

"And why's that?" I ask. 

"Because me and you have a date with the shopping mall today. Liam's farewell concert and buying outfits for it. Do you even remember the phone call we had on Thursday?" She says asking me. 

Oh my god. Of course.

I completely forgot I agreed to go to the shopping mall today with Rachel to shop for outfits for Liam's farewell concert. From everything that happened in the last 24 hours with Justin and my mother. My little girl outing with Rachel completely slipped my mind.

There is nothing I would love more than spend some time with Rachel today but after what happened last night with my mother, I don't think it would be a good idea to leave her alone.

"Yeah of course I remember having that conversation with you babe," I reply. "But after the exhausting 24 hours I've had with Justin and then with the night I had with my mother I don't think I'm really up for an outing today," I say to her.

"Oh, babe you're so predictable."

"Excuse me?"

She sighs. "I expected this outcome from you."

"So why would you even bother if you knew what my answer was going to be?" I ask her.

"Because I'm your best friend and as much as I should respect your decision, I won't," she says. "You take such good care of everyone and always put other's needs before your own and that's not a bad thing most of the time, but I wish you would also take care of yourself and treat yourself once in a while and until you learn to do that yourself, I will have to do it for yourself."

"Rachel –"

"No, you don't have a say in this, babe," she interrupts. "We are going today, and you are going to get out of that bed and get ready."

"And what if I don't?"

"Then I will have to come and force you... and don't think I won't do it because I will, you don't want to test me babe," she says warning me before ending the call.

Ugh of course she would hang up before I could have a say. That's Rachel for you.

She can frustrate the hell out of me when she does stuff like this. I know she's only coming from a good place and as much as I don't want to admit it, she does have a good point. I tend to put others before me and of course that isn't necessarily such a bad thing but sometimes I can get a little carried away in looking after others and don't notice how run down I can become. I can forget that I also have to look after myself as much as I do for others and I'm still trying to learn to balance that out without changing who I am.