Butterflies in Honey (Growing Pains #3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

anymore?”
    “No, he does, mostly.”
    Krista waited for him to say more, but
nothing more came.
    “So how are things going for you?” he asked,
changing the subject.
    This was killing her. They were talking like
old work associates. Not even lovers, and certainly not old
friends. The hits just keep on coming.
    “Well, I travel a lot,” she said, having a
sip of her wine to rid her face of the pain. “A real lot, actually.
But I got a promotion, so that’s good. Doing my thing, as you saw
today. I really like it. It’s a lot of stress, but I like it.”
    “Good. I’m glad to hear it. And how do you
like L.A.?”
    “It’s…it’s okay. It’s, ah…” She got a sudden
feeling of hopelessness. She wanted to tell him how lonely she was.
That there was nothing for her there. She wanted to confide in him
like she used to. It was all gone now, though. They were all but
strangers. “I surf now. I don’t know if you heard.”
    He was looking at her intently, though
distantly. “Really? How is the water?”
    “Oh it’s awesome! You should come down
sometime and try it out!”
    “I’ve been.” His eyes sparkled when he saw
her response to one of his favorite pastimes. “It is pretty
great. But where is the fun? There aren’t even any sharks to
dodge.”
    Krista chuckled, though she didn’t feel it.
It was a clever detour around saying he didn’t want to visit.
    “What have you been up to?” she asked, trying
to keep the conversation going. She didn’t remember it being so
hard to talk to one another.
    “Work mostly. I work obscene hours.”
    “Yeah, I heard you made VP.
Congratulations.”
    “Junior VP. Thank you. I’ve been in that
position about a year now. My résumé has grown tenfold.”
    “Yeah, I’ve heard. That’s really great.”
    “Well, I should talk to some of your party. I
know you won’t be taking the account, but I have to try anyway,
right?”
    “Well, I don’t think any decisions are made
quite yet…”
    Sean just smiled indulgently as he smoothly
got up. He winked as he walked away. She watched him cross the
floor and start talking to an attractive woman. It was salt she
didn’t need. She finished her drink and went to the bar to get
something stronger.
    The evening passed slowly. It felt like Sean
was talking to the whole place but Krista. Ben was engaged with
some other art geek, and Marcus didn’t have time to talk to
everyone he knew, let alone waste time on someone he saw almost
every day. What was worse was that Emily felt ill after they ate
lunch and didn’t go to the dinner. Krista told her not to get the
fish—did anyone ever listen to her??
    Krista had never felt so alone in all her
life. If it wasn’t bad form, she would have left halfway
through.
     
     
    It was nearing the end of the night. Krista
was standing outside getting some air and counting down the seconds
until she could go back to the hotel. Her drink was almost dry, but
she didn’t dare go back into the bar to see Sean chatting up some
woman or other. It was cold and she forgot to bring her jacket.
Basically, things were going from bad to tragic.
    At least she didn’t have to take the train.
She remembered the hell that was San Francisco’s public
transportation system.
    As Krista looked out over the city, she heard
footsteps approaching. She looked over her shoulder, wondering if
she would be mugged with the luck she was having, and saw Sean. He
walked up next to her and stopped.
    “I’m sorry for earlier,” he said after a
couple seconds. “I didn’t know how to act.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “I don’t know how to act around you anymore.
It has been so long. You’ve changed so much.”
    “Have I? Maybe I’ve gotten too used to being
tough,” she said lamely. She knew she had become quite the firm
bitch at work, but she had also never been so popular.
    “I’m sorry—there I go again. I didn’t mean
that negatively. You’ve grown. Not in stature…” Sean gave a
frustrated