She Lays Down [h.s.]

Twelve

Two weeks have passed and Alec's actually been home every day of the week. Sometimes he gets home a little late from work, but it's never as late as it used to be. He's been spending time with Ember and getting to know the daughter that he practically abandoned for four years, and Mary thinks that things have finally turned a corner.

Today's Friday and Mary's off for the day, so she decides to surprise Alec with lunch because it's been a long time since she's done something like that and she wants to do something nice for him.

She hasn't been trying too hard with her appearance lately because she really wants to make sure that he's in love with her and not the makeup that she puts on her face. Elena's beautiful, she's seen the pictures in his phone more than once and she knows that's part of the reason he was with her in the first place.

Alec's always had a thing for beautiful women and Mary knows that she's not as pretty as she was when she was eighteen, but she should still be pretty in his eyes and he should see that instead of the makeup that she puts on to look nice at work and to boost her confidence.

Today is a little different though and she puts on a little eyeliner and mascara before she heads out the door. She doesn't want to show up at his work looking like she just got out of bed, even though she did spend a few hours in bed reading a book and listening to some soft music.

While she's in the car, she blasts her music and sings off key, dancing every now and then and singing along with the instruments when there's a break in vocals. This is the first day off that she's had where she's actually having fun and not just sulking around the house and crying over romance novels.

It finally feels like she's fixing her marriage and it's the greatest feeling in the world because she's managed to keep something that she thought that she lost. Alec works about forty-five minutes away from home, so she has a lot of time to herself in the car and she's glad that she can enjoy it this time.

The drive feels a whole lot shorter than it actually is and she's at the restaurant in no time, ordering Alec's favorite thing on the menu and waiting patiently for it to come out of the kitchen. Stella's is a pretty popular place, but it's family owned and Mary loves that about the restaurant. The owners always make it a point to make rounds around the dining room and to chat with customers about their meals and just about anything that comes to mind.

Arabella's around today and when she sees Mary standing up front and waiting on a takeout order she practically runs over. Arabella is Stella's daughter, Stella and Frank own the restaurant and take care of everything while Arabella works as one of the waitresses.

She likes waitressing because she likes talking to people and seeing new faces and Mary is one of her favorite customers. Arabella's about eighteen now and she looks so much different than she did when Mary last saw her four years ago.

Mary remembers the acne that dotted her face and the small gap between her teeth that was still in the process of closing. So much has changed in four years and she feels bad that she hasn't stopped by to see her in any of that time. Arabella considers Mary a close friend and even a role model and she feels like she's let her down.

But she's here now and she's so happy to see the smile on Arabella's face when she makes her way over to where she's standing.

Arabella throws her arms around Mary and holds her tightly, "You're here! Oh, I've missed you so much!"

Mary laughs and hugs her back, "I've missed you too, Arabella. How have you been!?"

She pulls away and Mary's still smiling like she's just won the lottery. It's been so long since they've seen each other and Arabella has so many stories to tell her and she doesn't know where to start.