Page 22 of Changed By You
“Don’t tell him about Bali, Al!” Farrah says. “What happens in Bali stays in Bali.”
Alice gives her a broad smile that disappears as soon as she turns around.
“I don’t give a fuck what happened in Bali,” I say under my breath.
That gets me a hint of a smile. I’ll take it.
I lead her away from JP and Farrah, heading down the side of the beach that leads to a huge wood pier about a mile away.
“She loves pink roses,” Alice says. “Her favorite color is purple and she likes to sniff freshly unwrapped Kit Kat bars, but she won’t eat them. She sometimes licks them, but she feels guilty about it.”
I furrow my brow because the Kit Kat thing tracks, but it’s still fucking ridiculous.
“That’s not what I want.”
She looks confused for a second, but then realization dawns. “Oh, you don’t need to apologize over the other night, Dalton. I was upset about something else and I took it out on you.”
“It doesn’t matter. I was still out of line, and I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay.”
I shake my head. “I’m used to letting shit fly out of my mouth because I do that with my teammates. And I meant what I said to you, but it wasn’t my business.”
I’m sweaty from yoga, so I walk into the water, letting it lap around my ankles as we walk. Alice is quiet for a couple of minutes before she responds.
“I know how it seems. Farrah’s...just Farrah, and some of the stuff I have to do for her is ridiculous.”
“I’m glad we agree on that.”
She looks over and up at me, her expression earnest. “But.”
“Damn. This is where we’re gonna part ways, isn’t it? Where you try to tell me why you shouldn’t get weekends off? Because other assistants can’t step in and take over for you?”
She sighs, her gaze locked onto the pier. “My dad owned his own electrician business in Detroit. My mom stayed at home with me and my brother until we were in high school, and then she got a job as a receptionist at a veterinarian’s office. My brother and I started college and everything was good until six years ago when my dad had a stroke.”
The sadness in her voice hits me right in the chest. “I’m so sorry, Alice.”
“He couldn’t work anymore. My mom had to quit her job to take care of him. My brother and I were nineteen.”
“You’re a twin?”
She smiles. “I am. My brother’s name is Will. And he’s so smart. So fucking smart and hardworking. He was going to school on a full scholarship, and I was a psychology major with no scholarships and not a ton of interest in psychology, just going because my parents were adamant that their kids finish school. So it was an easy decision. I quit school and made Will stay in.”
I stop walking. “You quit school?”
“I had to. My parents had no income. They would’ve lost their house. So I moved back home and started working two jobs.”
I’m so wrapped up in her story that even though I don’t want to interrupt her, I want to know everything.
“What were the jobs?”
“By day, I worked at a printing place, and by night, I was a server at a steak house.”
“Wow. Like how many hours a week are we talking?”
She considers. “Thirty-seven hours at the print shop because they had to pay benefits for full-time people, and usually thirty-five at the steak house.”
She starts walking again, and I follow, the breeze blowing the dark waves of her hair in all directions.
