She Will Be Loved- Ben Tyler Cook

Chapter 33

Kasey's POV

November 22, 2018

I pulled my hat over my ears as I felt a cold gust of wind, and made my way slowly through the crowd of people. At least being around a bunch of people was providing some sort of warmth. I couldn't help but smile as I looked around at all the happy people, just excited to be here. There were so many food carts, the air smelled of hot apple cider. I've missed you New York, I thought to myself as I spotted the Empire State Building. It had been a little over a year since I'd last been here. I'd never been to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, so this was all so surreal to me. The thing I'd watched on TV all these years was coming to life in front of me.

"Ahh she made it! Look guys, Kasey's here!" I turned my head and was relieved to finally spot the Cook family, and Jill was waving at me. I made my way over and hugged the whole family, something that had become so natural over the years. Thinking about how nervous I was to first meet them made me laugh now. They were like my second family, so I was excited to spend Thanksgiving with them. My mom wasn't thrilled with the idea of me not being home, but when I told her how important this was, she caved. She loved Ben and his family so it was hard for her to say no.

"You made it just in time, they're about to perform I think," Emma told me as she handed me a cup of hot apple cider. I took a sip of the hot drink, received to finally feel warmth inside.

"And I finally get to meet this little cutie!" Emma squealed, and bent down to pet the dog I had on a leash. I smiled as he barked and attempted to lick Emma's face.

"Ben's gonna be so excited," Kate told me as she also bent down to greet the dog along with Emma.

"I hope so," I smiled. Ben knew I was coming, but he had no idea he was about to become a dog owner. He'd been wanting to get a dog for awhile now after fostering them for so long, but he was having trouble finding one at all the shelters in the city. I hadn't planned to find him a dog or surprise him with one, but the opportunity arose when I ran into an old high school friend who worked at a shelter. After all the surprise visits and Ben continually outdoing himself, it was my turn to surprise him. I just wanted to make him as happy as he always made me.

I stood on my tiptoes and looked at the performing area, and spotted Ben in the midst of his cast. I smiled big, even though he couldn't see me. Just seeing him at all made me feel those butterflies that never went away. I had missed him more than anything- the last time we saw each other was March. It was so hard, time went by excruciatingly slow whenever we couldn't see each for so long.

The past couple of months had been incredible- but also horrible. I'd made my debut as a principal dancer, which was an absolute dream come true. After all the hard work over the years, it was emotional to be up on stage doing what I'd only ever imagined. There were lots of tears, and lovely flowers from so many people. Even though Zane was no longer my partner, it was still really hard to have to work with him everyday. Even worse, he kept acting like he'd done nothing wrong and he wouldn't stop trying to talk to me. I wanted to avoid him at all costs, because every time I saw him, I saw that night. But I kept reminding myself- this is my dream job. I can handle this because the job makes me happy. Right?

My thoughts were interrupted as I heard the presenters begin to announce the performance, and I started to pay attention as the music to "Fearless" started, and looked at Ben, who was in a red vest and a green long sleeve t-shirt. They all put on such a great performance and it was nice to see a scene finally, since I hadn't had the chance to see the full show yet.

"I'm always entranced by whatever he does," Glenn remarked as everyone clapped, and we all agreed. Ben really was an incredible performer, even if he didn't like to acknowledge it. We walked through all the crowds to get to another spot on the street where we could watch more of the parade. Ben was going to come find us after he was done.