Miss Grande

Chapter 49: I'm Willing To Be Patient

   My smile faltered, but I quickly hid it and stuck my hand out. "Hi."

   She smiled, the same one she always gave when she had trapped me in the bathroom. It was less of an expression of joy and more of her suppressing the urge to pounce on me. I felt every hair on my body stand at just a glance at that smile. "Lovely to meet you."

   I picked up on the cue. We didn't know each other. "I'm Y/n, and this is my boyfriend, Trent."

   Her hand left my grasp and made its way to his.

   "It's a pleasure," Trent bit, though it wasn't enough for Mister Edward to catch on to.

   "Likewise," Ariana smiled back, this one being more forced.

   Mister Edward smiled big. "As much as I'd love to stay and chat, I have to go and greet the other guests. Ariana, please be sure to show the most wonderful woman in the building around."

   "Showing myself around won't take much effort," Ariana joked back with her father, and they exchanged a knowing grin. "I'll be sure to show Miss Y/n around."

   Seeming satisfied with his daughter's response, he turned to me and nodded before walking up to the people who had come in behind us.

   Trent looked at me. Though a word never left his mouth, I was very aware that he was asking if I wanted him to leave. I gave him a short nod which he accepted with a quick peck on the top of my head. "I'll be at the snack table." His arm left my side as he made his way toward the food.

   "It's nice to see you again," She smiled, a genuine one that didn't make me feel like she was about to jump my bones.

   "It's been a while," was my only response.

   "Do you want a drink? Your bodyguard will be able to keep an eye on you easier." She motioned toward Trent.

   "I wouldn't mind a drink."

   We walked over to the minibar set up near the snack table, and she ordered for us both.

   "I just wanted to say," she sighed and hopped onto a stool. "I wanted to say I'm sorry. You've been so open an honest about everything, so I feel like I need to do more. You deserve better than I've given."

"This is better than your last attempt at apologizing... so far."

She laughed and shook her head. "I definitely had that one coming."

I looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"The last time I tried to apologize, I hadn't fully processed everything that I had put you through. It's not an excuse, it's just an explanation. The logic is shit, but things rarely make sense when it comes to relationships. I thought when I pushed you away I was doing what was best for both of us. It took you yelling at me in the locker room to even realize how wrong I was. Then it took you yelling at me and sarcastically proposing to me in my own classroom to rake through everything between the two of us. You didn't deserve any of what I gave to you. I had power over you, and I took advantage of that. I felt the attraction and acted on it instead of thinking through how it would have affected either of us. The way I went about things was completely wrong. I do want you to understand that while my actions didn't always reflect it, I did have good intentions. I wanted to be with you; I still do. I got scared and used my fear and your sympathy for my situation to get what I wanted. It wasn't fair to do that to you, and I'm sorry. You don't have to forgive me. I just needed to let you know the truth."

I didn't know what to say to that.

"This is when you usually say something," she joked. "And maybe do it fast? Your boyfriend looks like he's about to come and murder me."

I laughed at that which brought a wide grin to her face. The bartender left our drinks in front of us. We thanked him and both pulled out money to pay for our drinks.

"I got it," she pushed her money forward.

"No, I've got it."

"I ordered, and I'm the one apologizing."

"I don't want to have to owe you anything."

"Leave the tip, and we'll call it even?"

I rolled my eyes. "Fine."

We each grabbed our drinks and walked to an empty, socially isolated table.

I had the time to soak in majority of what she said and finally had something to say back after a few minutes in silence, just drinking and people watching. "You're forgiven."

"What?" She asked, clearly caught off guard.

"I said that you're forgiven."

"That's it?"

"I don't like to hold grudges, but I won't hesitate to completely cut you out of my life if necessary. You have to be able to respect me and my boundaries the same way I always have for you."

"Of course. I'm sorry that you couldn't even expect the bare minimum from me earlier. I really don't know what was going through my mind."

"Well, get over yourself. What happened is over and done with."

"Thank you."

"Yeah yeah. Just remember, forgiveness doesn't mean I forget."

"I don't expect you to just drop your walls and let me back in again. I'm willing to be patient."