Three Thousand Miles(121)

“Sophie is right Alanna; remember how miserable you were without him? I know this could easily ruin your relationship but you have to work hard to fight it.” I turn to Katharine and then I turn back to Sophie, I smile at them and I realise that I have amazing friends.

“Thanks for supporting me I really appreciate it.”

I lounge on the sofa with my friends for what seems like hours. We talk about everything and not a single detail is left out. Except, I have chosen not to tell the girls about William. I feel that is not really my place and until Adrian finds out that he is actually his son then I am not going to say a word. Many topics have come up during our conversation and eventually Katharine spills and tells me why she is so happy.

“Jeff is amazing,” she gushes and I cannot hold back my smile. I am not at all surprised that she and Jeff have hit things off. She is gorgeous and Jeff is funny, smart, cool and talks with a British accent. As soon as I saw him walking over to our table that night at the party I knew that he was a potential guy for Katharine. Everything about him screamed out what she is looking for in a guy. He is rich and he is handsome but if you set all that aside, you can tell that he is genuinely a nice guy. I am not shocked at how quickly Katharine seems to have gotten over Michael because I feel that she was more in love with the idea of him. Her feelings were strong towards him but I just knew that Katharine would not stick around when Michael was treating her badly. I am glad that she has now found Jeff and I wish her all the happiness in the world. Sophie on the other hand is desperate to find a guy and I feel that she might be a little jealous that Katharine is with Jeff. Sophie is my best friend but sometimes I don’t understand her. She says that she is happy that her friends are doing so well in the love department. But at the same time, I feel that she resents that we are happy. I really wish that Sophie would find a guy and settle down with him and be happy because until she does, none of us will get her blessing. I am also wondering about Emma and Michael. From what I remember of last night’s party, they were dancing and they looked close. Emma was gazing into Michael’s eyes as she slow danced with him and he looked infatuated with her. I am trying hard not to feel annoyed by their friendship but every time I think of them together, my heart breaks a little. I do not exactly feel jealous but I do feel that I would rather not think of them as a couple. At least until Michael confirms it to me and then I cannot deny it.

“Alanna, can I ask you something,” Sophie says in calm voice. I smile at her but inside I am shaking. What could she want to as to ask me and what would be my answer?

“Okay,” I say to her. She loosens her hand from mine and she leans back onto the sofa. Katharine is staring wide-eyed as she waits to hear what Sophie is going to say.

“Why hasn’t Adrian purposed to you?” Sophie says in firm voice. I am a little stunned by her harshness but I try to shake off my annoyance of her as I respond.

“I don’t know,” I lie. I know exactly why Adrian has not asked me to marry him and that is because I have reassured him that I am not ready. However, I do not really feel like telling Sophie this information, as I fear what she might say.

“I don’t believe you Alanna. Adrian was on his way to ask you to be his wife and then you were shot. I don’t understand why he has not asked you. Has he changed his mind?” I resist the urge to roll my eyes as I take in Sophie’s words. I look at her and I feel that I have to explain.

“No, he hasn’t changed his mind but I have told him that I am not ready for marriage.” Sophie laughs at me.

“Come on Alanna, he is the perfect guy why wouldn’t you want to marry him?”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t want to marry him. I simply said that now is not the right time. I love Adrian and I would love to be his wife, just not right now.” Sophie wrinkles her forehead at my words and I know what she is going to say next.

“It is because of Michael isn’t it?” I shake my head at her.

“No, Michael has nothing to do with my reasons for not wanting to get married.”

“Then what is your real reason, Alanna? Because I am not buying that it’s too soon.” I frown at her and then I turn to look at Katharine who is unusually quiet and I notice that she is texting one her phone so I kind of understand her silence. I look at Sophie and I feel that she can see right through me.

“I guess I don’t want to get married because I don’t want to get divorced.” Sophie looks at me in confusion and I feel that I need to explain myself better.

“I don’t understand what Adrian sees in me and my biggest fear is that one day he will realise that too. I don’t want to leap into marriage because I am scared that he will get bored of me. I know that Adrian says that he loves me and he is practically forcing marriage on me. But I am determined to keep things as they are for as long as I can.” Sophie rolls her eyes heavily at me.