Ugly(101)
“You’ve made this decision?”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re telling me to leave. To abandon you, just like every other male has.”
“They never abandoned me.”
“No?” he asks. “They mentally abandoned you and physically abused you. But I’m not them. Please don’t make a decision for me. Let me decide what I want.” His words have not faltered. Or maybe they have and I just can’t hear the stutter anymore. “I have to be worthy of you, Lily, not the other way around.”
He has to be worthy of me?
A chill shoots up my back. Not because I’m cold, but because I’m being told, I’m so much more than just an ugly, stupid, broken girl. “Okay,” I say, not sure what I’m agreeing to.
“Now, can we go eat?”
“Shayne and Liam want to meet you,” I blurt out, like verbal diarrhea. “They want to meet my friends. They’re my family.”
He smiles at me and tucks his hands inside his coat pockets. “I want to meet them.”
And just like that, I accept Max as a friend. He’s a good guy, and I need a good guy in my life.
I had dinner with Max a week ago, and we’ve had several dinners together since. Christmas is nearly here, and after my driving lesson, I need to go Christmas shopping to buy presents for everyone who’s important to me.
It’s Thursday morning, and I’ve just gotten into work. It’s been so busy, just like every other December leading up to Christmas. As I sit at my desk, I open up my to-do list for the day when my cell phone starts ringing. I dig it out of my bag, and see Shayne’s smiling face looking up at me. “You just dropped me off, why are you calling me? Is everything okay?”
“Michaela just called me, and asked me to get you to call her.”
“Oh, okay, thanks. I’ll do it in a few when I get myself organized.”
“Okay, now, you sure you don’t need a ride to the mall?”
“No, I’ll cab it. Thanks though.”
“Catch ya, girl.”
I put my phone down, and look at the schedule. Peter’s not in yet, but that’s because he’s spending the morning doing Christmas shopping for his family. He’s a man who has integrity and dignity. When I walked into his office to thank him for everything, including financing my car, he simply nodded and said, “Just keep working hard for us, Lily.” He’s a man of few words, but he’s also a man who, when he speaks, everyone stops to listen. He runs his stores with precision and good management techniques. There’s nothing happening he doesn’t know about, right down to the floor. And when he walks through the store, all the staff members tremble with fear, but they all respect him.
I run the first lot of reports I need to run, and while they’re printing, I call Michaela.
“Hello?” she answers.
“Michaela, it’s Lily. Shayne said you needed to talk to me.”
“Oh my God. I just wanted to tell you a few things. First, I made all the changes you suggested, and you’re right with everything you said. The other thing is, it went live this morning,” she almost shouts and squeals at the same time.
“Congratulations, I hope it does well for you.”
“I have to tell you, review copies went out, and reviews have already started filtering through. Love Is Perfection is getting stellar feedback. Thank you for everything, Lily. Your comments made my book so much better.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And, I’ve made some friends in this process, and one of them is looking for a proofreader, can I give you her details and maybe you can contact her through social media, and talk to her about it. I told her what a great job you did on my book, and she’s really interested in talking to you.”
“That’s great, thank you.”
“She asked me what you charge, and I told her you’d give her a price. Her book is romance too, but I think it’s longer than mine.”
“Your book was so much more than romance. And you deserve all the success it brings you.”
“I’ll be happy if I sell ten copies to anyone outside my family.” She laughs at her own silliness and I can’t help but smile.
“I’m positive it’ll do well. Keep me updated on the success of it.”
“I will, I’ll email you or I’ll…” she pauses, and I’m sure she wants me to give her my number. But I won’t.
“Email will be perfect. Just give me your email address and I’ll send you one so you have my address.” I want to create a new one with the name Lily Richards, instead of Lily Anderson. Although I’m not divorced yet, there’s no reason to continue using Trent’s surname.