Read Beautiful Mess for Free Online Page B

know, if you
don’t want to, you can just say no.”
    Bri
felt guilty at the uncertainty on his face.  “No, no, it’s not that,” she
tried to reassure him.  “It’s just that… well, I haven’t been asked out in
a while.  I wasn’t expecting it, and I guess you just caught me off
guard.”
    “You’re
sure, then?”
    “Yes,”
she nodded, more confidently than she felt.
    “Okay,
so I’ll pick you up on Saturday?”  The apprehension left Cole’s face and
he smiled.
    “Um,”
a twinge of fear shot through her, and she decided it’d be best to play it
safe.  “How about I meet you somewhere?  What did you have in mind?”
    “Have
you been down to the Santa Monica Pier yet?”
    “No,
I haven’t.” 
    “How
about you meet me down in front of the pier on Saturday at like seven?  We
can get some dinner and hang out.”
    “That
sounds great!”  And it did sound great.  Her heart gave a leap, and
she felt a stirring of excitement.  “Well, I’d better go make sure Carly
hasn’t pissed off any more locals.  Bye, Cole,” she smiled, blushing
slightly.
    “Bye,
Bri.  See you Saturday,” he smiled back.
    Bri
couldn’t wipe the smile off of her face. And not even Carly’s anger fueled
ranting and raving could dampen her spirits.
     
     
    The
next few days seemed to drag by, as if time itself was conspiring to prolong
Bri’s misery.  Carly was a writhing, fuming mass of anger that nobody
could stand to be around.  Bri tried to avoid her as much as possible, but
there were only so many places to hide.  Her dad even took Friday off of
work and took the family to Disneyland in the hopes of cheering Carly up a bit,
but to no avail.  By the end of the day, even Bri’s little brothers had
had enough of Carly’s constant whining and complaining.  It was so bad,
that Connor insisted that his daughter take Carly to the airport by herself the
next day. 
    “Why
drag the whole family all the way there and back?” he had justified
himself.  “It’ll be easier for everyone if you just take her.”
    Bri
saw right through her dad, but he rarely asked her for favors like this, so she
relented and agreed to take one for the team.  Plus, she needed visual
confirmation that Carly was leaving the state and not coming back, before she
could relax.
    “You
so owe me,” she shook her head.
    “Yes
I do,” her dad had agreed. 
    So
the next morning, way too bright and early for a Saturday, Bri and Carly headed
out for the airport.  The only good news was that Carly was in a silent,
pouty mood that morning, and didn’t say much the whole way.  Bri pulled up
to the curb in the departures lane and turned to her cousin.
    “Well,
thanks for coming to visit.”  She tried to sound genuine, but
failed.  “It was fun and all.  I hope you had a good time.  I’m
not sure if we’ll be out to Phoenix anytime soon, so I’m not sure when we’ll
see you again.  But, it probably won’t be for a long time.”  Thank
goodness.
    “Bri,”
Carly interrupted, obviously not having heard anything Bri had just said. 
“I want you to do me a favor.”
    “Okay...”
Bri replied warily.  She was pretty sure she wouldn’t be doing any favors
for Carly, no matter what she asked.
    “If
you ever happen to see Cole again, I want you to kick him in the balls for
me.  Maybe then he’ll learn how to treat a lady.”  Carly yanked on
the door handle and climbed out of the car.
    Bri
just sat there gaping, as Carly collected her suitcase from the back seat and
walked into the terminal without a backward glance or a wave goodbye.
    “What
a bitch,” Bri muttered to herself.  She didn’t like to label or demean
those of the female gender, but there were a few who wholly deserved it.
    As
Bri drove home, she let out a sigh of relief.  A huge weight had been
lifted from her, and she was glad to be rid of it.  She had survived
Carly’s visit, if just barely.  Now there was nothing to prevent her from
looking