Daphne sipped on her drink waiting for Holly to arrive at the Irish pub. It's been so long since I was here. It feels like I've lived a whole lifetime since the last time I met up with Holly for drinks. She chuckled a little, placing her drink back down on the bar in front of her.

  One of the first times I met Holly here, I was terrified that she wasn't going to believe any of my stories about my mother. Daphne let out a small chuckle. If she hadn’t believed me, then she certainly would believe me now.

  After all the news had come out, Kimberly's murder charges had made national television and was regularly on the news nearly everywhere that Daphne went. Some had been talking about how her mother had duped the public. Even Daphne's own kidnapping case had hit national news through its connection to Kimberly's murder charge.

  The last time I was at this pub, I was still trying to figure out who could possibly want me dead. It was all I could do at the point to just try to protect myself from what was to come. Daphne studied the pink liquid in her glass. Now, I've managed to survive Rose's assault, and the day I originally died is only a week away. She took a drink, her stomach tightening a little. There's no guarantee that I've completely stopped the accident or my death from occurring, but I know that I can handle whatever is to come. I have Asher by my side. If he can help me get through being kidnapped by his sister, I'm certain that we can get through whatever challenges life will hurl at us.

  “Hey girl,” Holly's said behind Daphne. She turned, getting up out of her chair to embrace her friend.

  “Holly! It's been too long,” Daphne said, stepping out of the hug and taking in her friend, Holly still looked the same. Her black braids slightly longer than Daphne remembered them being. “It's been like a month since I've seen you.” Daphne hopped back up onto her barstool and Holly sat on the one next to her.

  “It has been too long,” Holly agreed. “It seems like you've been really busy with a lot of stuff.”

  “You could say that again,” Daphne said, with a tiny smirk. Holly ordered her drink while Daphne took a sip of her own.

  “How have things been?” Daphne asked, once her friend was available again. “Especially now that you're a manager.”

  Holly rolled her eyes into the back of her head, a grin spreading across her face. “Things are so much better now that Trevor is gone,” she replied, looking back at Daphne. “Unfortunately, I also had to fire Fiona today, and as she did not improve enough after her probationary period, so we really are running short on workers right now.”

  “Oh,” Daphne said sipping her drink in a futile attempt to hide the grin that was taking over her face. “That's a shame about Fiona. I'm sorry to hear that.”

  “Oh, I'm sure you're so disappointed to hear about Fiona getting fired,” Holly said, with a playful jab into Daphne's ribs.

  Daphne giggled a little. “You're right. You caught me,” she replied. “It just feels like she finally got what she deserved.”

  “You and me both feel that way,” Holly murmured near Daphne's ear, as the bartender dropped off her drink. “Still, it wasn't exactly enjoyable to be firing her myself.”

  “That's a fair point,” Daphne replied, pursing her lips and nodding. “That probably wasn't easy.”

  “It was not,” Holly agreed. “I was not exactly expecting this to be the start of the manager experience.” Holly took a sip of her own drink before turning to Daphne. “How are things going with your new job?”

  Daphne smiled a little. “I finally actually got to start this past Monday,” she answered. “So far, I like it a lot. The pace is just right for me. Every once in a while, it feels like I'm doing too little.”

  “That just means you were way over doing it before,” Holly replied, her face looking as though she was scolding Daphne.

  “Yep, I most certainly was,” Daphne agreed. “But overall, I'm enjoying it.”

  Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!

  “I'm really glad to hear that,” Holly said with a little smile.

  “I've also decided that I'm going to try to open up my own flower shop at some point in the next year or two,” Daphne said with a nod. “I'm hoping to grow all of the flowers myself.”

  “You're going to become a gardener?” Holly asked, her eyebrows raising high. “I figured you didn't want to become like your mother.”

  “You're absolutely right, Holly,” Daphne replied. “But I realized that it wasn't the way that my gardening that I didn't want, but the way my mother went about gardening that I didn't want to replicate. I'm not going to be like my mother, because I'm going to keep my job and ensure all of my bills are paid before I consider quitting. Plus, I have a lot to learn about gardening first.” Daphne smiled warmly, swirling the straw in her drink. She looked over at Holly, who was smiling softly.

  “You seem really happy,” Holly observed. “Happier than I think I've ever seen you. Happier than I thought I'd get to see you be in such a short time since we've become friends.”

  “I'm really happy,” Daphne replied, smiling back down at her drink. “I'm happier than I could have ever imagined I could be.”

  Holly grinned at Daphne. “I'm so grateful that you are,” she said. “Every time I've turned on the news and someone has been talking about your mother or how you were kidnapped, my heart has ached for you. I was worried you were going to have a really hard time bouncing back from it all.”

  Daphne nodded, taking another sip of her drink. “It was really hard at first,” she said. “I lived with Asher for the entire week after it happened. We even introduced our cats. They got along surprisingly well, all things considered. That week was really difficult, though. I was waking up in the middle of the night, sweating. I didn't want to be alone at all, and that was driving Asher absolutely bonkers.”

  Holly chuckled a little. “That was probably a lot to deal with so early in your relationship. Especially since the culprit ended up being his sister.”

  “It was definitely challenging,” Daphne agreed with a smile. “But we got through it in our own way.”

  “How do you feel about Rose, then?” Holly asked.

  Daphne paused, searching through her emotions. “I feel sad for her,” she admitted. “She spent four years of her life languishing over a murder she was afraid to report.” Daphne took another sip of her drink. “I don't know that I'll ever be able to forgive her for what she did, but I don't hate her. By the end of it all, I was grateful. I had gotten to keep my life, and that the truth had finally come out.”

  “You're too nice,” Holly replied with a scoff. “I don't know that I could ever be as gracious as you.”

  Maybe I wouldn't feel this way if I hadn't gotten a second chance. But that's something I'll never know, so it's not worth speculating about.

  Daphne shrugged. “It could have been so much worse for me. I had already suspected that I had a stalker. So even though Rose kidnapped me, and threatened to kill me, even cutting off most of my hair, there was a part of me that was relieved it was Rose. I had no idea who the stalker could be or that it had something to do with my mother, so I was terrified for a while.”

  Holly tsked at Daphne. “Asher's lucky to have found someone so warm hearted as you,” she said. “He probably doesn't know how easy he has it.”

  Daphne face heated, and she took another sip of her drink. I don't know what to say to that. I feel like I’m actually the lucky one.

  “Do you mind if I ask you about something I'm curious about?” Holly asked. “I know it's probably a bit of a sensitive issue. So, if you don't want to answer you don't have to, okay?”

  “Okay,” Daphne replied. “Ask away.”

  Holly took a deep breath. “On a lot of the news reports I've heard, they talk about your youngest sister and how she is Rose's half-sister from your mother cheating on your father. That seems like it would be a lot for a young girl to find out. Is she okay? Has she gotten a chance to meet her biological father?”

  Daphne nodded slowly, taking the last few sips of her drink. “You're right that it's a bit of a sensitive issue,” Daphne said. “But I don't mind telling you.” She let out a heavy breath. “Viola is doing better than she was, living with my mother. My older sister is ensuring Viola is getting the mental health care she needs.” Daphne pursed her lips. “She has also had a couple of opportunities to meet her biological father, and what I've heard is that they are really awkward with one another, but that so far, Viola likes him.”

  “Oh, I'm so glad to hear that,” Holly said placing her hand over her heart.

  “I was glad to hear it too when my older sister told me. I felt so terrible for Viola.”

  “What a terrible amount of pain to go through!”

  “Yeah,” Daphne agreed. Daphne studied her friend closely. “Do you have anything else new going on with you?” she asked.

  Holly’s face lit up like a Christmas tree. “I thought you'd never ask,” she replied. “There's actually something I want to tell you.” Daphne thinned her lips, smiling at her friend, expectantly. “My husband and I are expecting.” Holly said with a squeal.

  “Oh my gosh!” Daphne exclaimed, squeeing back. “But wait, what about your drink?”

  “Oh, this?” Holly asked, taking a swig of it. “I asked for a virgin. Normally I drink beer.”

  “Smooth,” Daphne said with a smile. “Oh, I'm so excited for you.”

  “We're so excited too,” Holly replied with a grin. “I hope that we get lucky and we have a daughter so we can have one of each.”

  “I hope so too,” Daphne replied with a grin of her own. For the first time in my life, it finally seems like things are looking up. I have so much to live for and so much to be happy for.