The Sun and the Moon

➸ Chapter Thirteen: New Beginnings

Allie

As I stand in front of my mirror, smoothing down the sides of my dress, I can't help but think about how much my life has changed in the last five years. The five years since Will left. Again.

I know now why he left, that news travelled quickly. His father had suffered a devastating heart attack and Will had flown back home. I was confused for the first few days. Then, when I heard about Will's dad, I was sympathetic and I wanted to be there for him. But since I hadn't heard anything from him, I'd assumed that he'd wanted to be alone for a while. When I hadn't heard from him in a week, I'd gotten worried. I'd called his phone and sent him texts but there was no response. Finally, I'd called his mother in a bout of panic. The conversation ran through my head, confusing me further.

"Hello? Is this Mrs. Collins?"

"This is her. May I ask who's calling?" Her voice was tinny and faint over the phone.

"It's Allie Garcia...I was wondering if I could talk to Will."

The silence between us turned frigid as soon as I'd announced who I was.

"Allie, I do hope you understand that Will doesn't want to see you right now. And rightly so."

I stared confused at the phone, wondering if I'd dialled a wrong number. But this was Mrs. Collins. So, what the hell was she talking about?

"I'm sorry but I don't understand."

Mrs. Collins laughs and the sharp staccato sound echoes in my ears.

"Perhaps I've been too polite," She begins, more anger in her voice than I've ever heard before. "Will doesn't want to be near you let alone hear your name. And as his mother, I kindly advise you to stay the hell away from my son."

I'm stunned silent, even as she hangs up the phone.

For the first few months, I had no clue where Will was. A moving company came to get his things from Carter's apartment and, just like that, he had disappeared from our lives. At first, Carter was furious. Will hadn't contacted him at all, so all Carter knew was that Will had left me again without a backwards glance. But, as much as I was hurting, I didn't want Carter to be angry at Will. They were like brothers and, regardless of what happened between Will and me, I never wanted that to change. Carter wasn't very happy when I tried to convince him to call Will, to help him through the loss of his father. But, eventually, Carter realized that the thought of Will suffering without a friend to help him through it caused me as much pain as it did him.

Two years after Will left, he was suddenly everywhere. The covers of newspapers, the evening news. Everyone was obsessed with the new CEO of Collins Enterprises. A fresh face barely out of his MBA program with almost no experience. Many of them talked about his father's decline in health and how that resulted in Will taking over. But none of them even alluded to the car accident.

Life moved on as always. After winning the Rossi Grant, I received offers from various dance companies. But I'd realized that it would mean travelling a lot and being away from Zoe more than I wanted to be. So, I'd continued with school. When I finished, I used the money from the grant and most of my savings to start my own dance studio. It's doing really well and it gives me the best of both worlds; I get to be close to Zoe and dance.

And Zoe is doing better now. She's overcome most of her shyness and she's a lot happier than when she was younger. And I think a lot of that is from Ian. Over the last five years, Zoe and Ian have created such an amazing relationship. They've become so close...and so have Ian and me.