Second Chance

Annabelle’s POV

“NO. I’m telling you, those have to be out by 5 o’clock or they are gonna be left out from the issue” I say as I pace back and forth at the small reception area of the well known restaurant. Yes… I come to this restaurant quite a lot. Who am I screaming at? My assistant/secretary Abigail. You’re wondering why? Well… it’s simple. I became something.

3 years have passed since I left Huntington Beach. Yes, I moved to New York. And although I said and promised that I was going to go back… I didn’t. I missed every birthday, every holiday and even the birth of my 3rd nephew. I kept telling everyone that I didn’t have time to go back since I’m a business woman now, cold heart bitch like some of my employees like to call me when they think I’m not listening. But I’m just not ready, nor want, to deal with the mess I left behind. A mess that I left for Brian to pick up. And I’m not sure if I care. When you live in a city as cruel and vicious like New York and you have nobody to run to, you turn, somehow, into a shell of a person.

The only true friend I have here is Pauline. Yeah… the same girl that I hated all throughout my high school years. But, I came to find that she’s one of the most extraordinaire and awesome and sweet and beautiful persons in the world. No wonder everyone loved her in high school. Don’t get me wrong, she was a total bitch to me back then, but once she moved out of HB and got married to Abel, she changed. She often apologizes for putting me through hell even though she knows I don’t hold grudges. But it’s fun to watch her grovel over it. Abel and I get a kick out of it. They have become my family here. Besides… I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for them.

Who am I? I’m a 26 year old young woman, editor in chief of one of the most prestigious, hence important, art magazine in the whole country. ‘Art Resort’ has turned into such a big hit with all the art lovers, making us very popular, which means, very busy. We started expanding from just paintings to all kinds of art, showing a wider variety of artistic things, grabbing the attention of all kinds and demography of people. And when you build something from the ground and watch it grow and develop into something as successful as this magazine, you only want to keep working and doing your best to stay on top. It’s not getting there that’s hard; we did in 3 years… it’s staying there.

“Well, I don’t care if they are one of our biggest sponsors… if they don’t send those fucking pictures by 5, they won’t make it in the issue. Make sure to tell them that” I say, before hanging up and instantly start sending emails and making sure my agenda is running smoothly. Yes… I have a very close relationship with my phone now. I can’t leave without this damn this and I’m not planning on finding out anytime soon. “What the…” I start as I feel a tug at my keys that I still have in my hand, just dangling, with the thousands of key chains, since I’m a pro at losing them. Even in my purse. I usually have to empty the whole thing just to find them. Annoying as hell, so I just decide to put as many key chains I could, so that way, AT LEAST, they would be easier to find.

I look down to see a little girl with wild blonde hair playing with a small green beanie frog key chain. “Hey there’ I say, squatting down to be eye level with her, me wearing pants today was a good idea. “Do you like it?” I ask her 7 she nods, making her curls bounce and fall on her face. “Here” I say, taking the key chain out of my keys, after a little fight with the tight metal ring. She immediately takes it and turns to look at me. I see the most amazing pair of blue eyes I’ve seen in a while. Although… they look kinda familiar. “Where are your parents?” I ask her checking around to spot her parents. Just as I’m looking behind me, I listen to a voice… a very familiar voice.

“Wrenny, baby, stop bothering…” And it stops as soon as I turn to look at a pair of hazel eyes. “Annabelle?” She asks in disbelief and I give her a small smile. She squeals when I stand up and she tackles me to the ground, me falling ass first on the carpeted floor. “OH MY GOD, ANNABELLE” She screams on top of me, earning a couple of looks from the rest of the people in the waiting area.

“Not that this isn’t one of my secret sexual fantasies, but could you get off me, please?” I ask her, feeling her belt buckle incrusted on my hip.

“Oh, yeah, sorry” She says, standing up. I get up shooting a couple of embarrassed smiles to the people that kept staring at us. As soon as I’m on my 2 feet again, Leana gives me a tight hug and I react a second later. God, I’ve missed her.

“Hey” I say as I let go of her. I look at her and she looks exactly the same as I remember from the last time I saw her. She hasn’t changed a bit. Not on the outside and I’m pretty sure, not on the inside either. It doesn’t seem like it’s been 3 years since I last saw her.

“Oh my God, look at you. You look amazing. Your hair looks fantastic” She says embracing me into another tight hug. I no longer rock the bob… I have my hair long, a quarter past my shoulders. Still black though. “Wow, I can’t believe I found you here” She says, letting go of me to pick up the little girl that we have been ignoring since Leana’s outburst of emotion. But baby Wren, I still call her that, is very interest in playing with her new toy.

“I know” I say, turning my attention to the child in her arms now. “Oh my God, look at her, she’s so big now. It seemed like yesterday she was just born and crying her lungs out nonstop” I say, moving a few of her stray curls from her face. Wren turns to look at me and smiles. She has Leana’s smile and Jimmy’s eyes. This girl is gonna be a heart breaker when she grows. Jimmy’s gonna have to pull guys away with a stick from her. Baby Wren turns to look at me and smiles again, before hiding her face in her mother’s neck and hair, almost embarrassed.

“Time passes so fast. I kinda miss the days when she couldn’t walk or talk, because she won’t shut up and stay still for 3 seconds. I wonder where she got that from” She says, hinting Jimmy’s ways. She bounces the baby to gain her attention. “Look, Wrenny, its auntie Annabelle. She’s the auntie of Kevin too. You like Kevin” She says and Wren’s smile widens, still hiding in her mom’s hair.

“What are you doing here?” I ask her, not really knowing or being ready for her answer. It was more a question you always do when you find someone. I wasn’t even thinking about the question… and I was definitely not ready for her answer.

“The guys are gonna be here mixing their new record, so we all came. Well, we’re going back in a week, but the guys are staying here. We should definitely hang out, like old times” She says in the most natural way, almost as if she didn’t remember that my heart died that day. Almost as she forgot what went on that day.

“Yeah, sure” I say in a not so convincing voice. Hell will freeze first before I see everyone again. I’m not ready for it.

“Oh, Anna, you’re gonna be fine” She says like she was reading my mind. “They are gonna be so happy to see you” She says, before mumbling sweet nothings in her daughter’s ear. “We’ve missed you so much” She says and I just nod. I’ve missed them too. I’ve missed them way more than what I’m willing to admit.

“Where are they?” I ask, not sure why.

“Right behind you” She says and I turn to see everyone walk into the restaurant. Zacky was the one leading the pack, immediately stopping dead on his way, making everyone kinda stumble when he sees me. Everyone follows his green eyes and stare at me with wide eyes.

“Annabelle?” He asks, before sprinting towards me, lifting me off my feet and spinning me around in a hug. Baby Wren lets out a big loud laugh. When he puts me down, I’m embraced in a big group hug, making kinda hard to breathe. One by one, everyone started to let go. I turn to see Gena, almost crying. I walk to her and she punches my arm.

“OW” I scream, grabbing my now bruised arm. “What was that for?” I ask, rubbing my arm. She has a mean punch.

“You said you were gonna go back and you didn’t. You lie to me, Annabelle” She says, letting out a puff and crossing her arms over her chest, letting me know that she was pissed.

“Gena-” I start before she cuts me.

“Don’t Gena me. I’m pretty pissed with you” She says and I laugh, walking to her and hugging her, not letting her go as she just stands still, not moving an inch. “Is this your way of apology? Because it’s not working” She mutters but I can feel that her body is not as stiff as it was. “What the heck” She says, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me.

I start chatting with everyone. Zacky still hasn’t popped the question. I think he just doesn’t want to get married and Gena is ok with it. Lacey is finishing school already. Her relationship with Johnny couldn’t be better. They’re thinking about adopting another dog so Peanut doesn’t feel so lonely. Matt and Val are just… Matt and Val. Leana and Jimmy are still going strong. He’s been dying for another baby, but she can barely handle one, let alone another one. Although, Jimmy hasn’t spoken a word to me. I don’t know if he’s mad or embarrassed or ashamed of what happened at Brian’s wedding. and I definitely don’t want to know. Suddenly, I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and a soft kiss at the top of my head. Everyone fell into a dead silence, eyeing me and this new person that’s standing behind me. After a few questioning looks, I decided it was time for me to start speaking again.

“Everyone… this is John” I say, introducing the tall skinny hot man that has arms wrapped around me. “John, these are my friends from Huntington” I say and start introducing everyone individually, John shaking hands with everyone. It’s then that I notice that Brian is missing, but before I can voice my question, Val beats me.

“So, John… you Anna’s boyfriend?” She says with a devilish grin and John chuckles.

“No” He says with his cute smile. But before I can stop him, he says what I didn’t want anyone to know. “I’m his fiancé” and you can see every smile fade, all the eyes widen and faces going pale. Leana and Jimmy turn to look at me, confusion on their faces. I guess these are kinda big news and I wasn’t ready for them to find out about it this way. I wasn’t ready for them to find out AT ALL. That’s why I’m speechless. I remain silence at all the questions that are swarming in everybody’s eyes.

“Fiancé?” I hear a voice behind me and I slowly turn to look at the pair of brown eyes that stole my heart a long time ago. A pair of eyes that hold a lot of pain and betrayal. But I let my own pair of eyes travel down his frame to his left hand. The hand that’s sporting a platinum wedding band. A hand that’s holding his wife’s hand. And I feel angry for him even questioning my decision. This wasn’t how I expected our reunion to be.