Beyond the Broken Angel

CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

— a twice-broken heart —

March 25th, 2019

EVERY MORNING SINCE she left him standing by that tree over six months ago, Giselle woke up wondering if Will felt the same aching pain in the center of his chest.

In a very vengeful way, she hoped that he did. Hoped that he felt the same hurt she did—the same one that people promised went away with time but never actually did. Because a broken heart never heals properly when you can't be with the love of your life.

That's what she had come to refer to Will as. The love of her life. It didn't matter if she had barely lived, she knew without a doubt that she could never love any other man the same way she loved Will.

That's why everything hurt so bad, and had kept hurting even after six months of being away from him.

Throughout the months apart, she had learned a lot. Mainly that a heartache was a powerful thing. It had the power to leach any happiness out of a situation in the blink of an eye, like how it reduced Christmas to a sad holiday that she couldn't spend with Will and turned the act of dancing into something she avoided at all costs because it reminded her of him.

Giselle also learned that the best way to combat heartache was by distracting herself. She spent nearly all of her time working at the florist shop, and picked up the hobby of gardening and tending to Hester's flowerbeds.

Ajay came over often. His presence also helped to keep her distracted. He had been the first person she told about that night at the party. He'd been just as mad at Will as she was, and had been there to console and comfort Giselle as she cried until her eyes were swollen.

She told Selene everything a week later when the woman showed up at the house in the middle of the night—dead tired with her hair up in pin curls.

Selene had been shocked when she heard about the fight, Will having never said or done anything to reveal what had transpired.

Hearing that had hurt Giselle a lot. She had hoped he was distraught over everything. Not eating or sleeping or shaving distraught.

All Selene could say was that he seemed to add a little more brandy to his evening nightcap than usual, but that did little to comfort Giselle.

Selene was called back rather frequently, which felt almost like a slap to the face for Giselle, who woke up each day anticipating that she would be called back, only to go to sleep with nothing but a broken heart in her chest.

She kept her suitcase nearby at all times, adding to it a little more each day. So far, it was filled with Christmas presents, Albert's and Frank's and—most recently—Marguerite's birthday presents, and other little trinkets she had picked up and wanted to give to the kids.

"Giselle, Ajay's here!" she heard Selene yell from downstairs, ripping her from her thoughts. Selene had been back for a little over a month, perhaps the longest stay she had had over the past several months.

Giselle sprung up from the chair at her vanity, having spent time putting on a bit of makeup to cover up her dark circles.

Ajay and Selene were chatting on the couch when she entered the sitting room, Ajay wearing athletic clothes and his running shoes. Giselle faltered.

"Oh, tell me you're not going to make me go running again," she whined.

Ajay laughed, standing up to give her a quick hug. "I was hoping you'd be up to it, but you don't sound like you are, do you?"