Rosalie was reviewing her investment report over coffee when her intercom buzzed. She wasn’t expecting anyone and was surprised to look in the viewfinder and see Andrea downstairs.
She buzzed her in and went to find a clean mug from the kitchen to pour coffee for Andrea.
Yesterday, she had been visited by Hannah and Sofia. They had each come under the guise of apologising to Rosalie. Hannah apologised for the way she broke the news of Andrea’s affair with Hunter. Sofia apologised for, essentially, being Andrea’s sister and thereby determining that implicitly, she had wronged Rosalie.
In truth, Rosalie hadn’t needed their apologies, she was simply grateful that they obviously missed her, too. She told them as much and over two pots of English tea, the women resolved to always be open and honest with each other and not to let things come between their friendship.
Rosalie had told them about her wardrobe and life cleanse, how she was looking into turning her passion for interiors into a business and how she and Seth were intending to date. Sofia filled her in on Jay leaving and how, even though she was hurting, she knew it was going to be the right thing for them both in the long run. Hannah told her how she was looking for a new job, one that might be more flexible, and how she had opened up to Rod after all their years together, about how she needed his support.
In all, Rosalie couldn’t have been happier for her friends and to have them back in her life. But, she explained, things couldn’t go back to how they were because they would never be three best friends and a little sister again.
After that, Hannah and Sofia had explained a few things to Rosalie. Now, as she filled a mug full of coffee for Andrea, she wondered if Andrea had come of her own accord, or whether she had been sent by Hannah and Sofia.
She had left the door ajar but Andrea tapped gently and called her name before coming inside.
‘I’m in the lounge,’ Rosalie called from her seat in the window. She had opted to sit, unsure how she should greet her old friend.
Despite it being a work day, Andrea wasn’t dressed in her usual corporate attire. She wore jeans and a T-shirt, with flat-soled sandals. Her hair was roughly tied up and she looked pale, tired and… sad.
She hovered on the threshold between the lounge and the hallway, holding her handbag in front of her with both hands as she looked at Rosalie.
‘Hi,’ she said, not bold and confident like Andrea usually was but uncertain.
Rosalie had wanted to be stern and guarded but seeing Andrea this way was not what she wanted at all.
She thought about the baby Andrea had been carrying just days before and the tragedy of having lost the baby. She had cried when Hannah and Sofia had told her about it, even though she was still furious with Andrea. Because she loved her. Though she wished she didn’t because she would be able to move on much easier if she didn’t, the fact was, Andrea was one of Rosalie’s best friends. Not of the Clarissa, Kaitlin or Madeleine ilk but of the real kind.
‘I poured you coffee,’ Rosalie said.
Andrea took the invitation and came to sit in the high-back chair opposite Rosalie, each of them looking out of the window at the view across Central Park.
‘Rosalie, I know there’s nothing I can say or do to ever make up for what I did. It was shameful and disgusting and I will forever be sorry for all the hurt I caused, to everyone, but mostly to you.’
Rosalie looked at her now and saw a stream of water running down Andrea’s cheek. Andrea who never cried or got emotional about anything. Stoic Andrea.
It broke Rosalie’s resolve.
‘I’m sorry about the baby.’
Andrea’s jaw tensed and she turned back to the window for a moment before glancing back to Rosalie. ‘Thank you.’
‘Was it…?’
‘I don’t know,’ Andrea said, her voice catching. ‘It’s possible. I hoped it was Tommy’s.’
Rosalie thought about that. About the fact that the baby could have been her family, too. Then she remembered what Hannah told her, that her father had thrown his credit card at Andrea and told her to get rid of it.
‘He should never have told you to abort the pregnancy,’ Rosalie said. ‘I’m sorry he did that.’
Andrea let out a short, sad laugh. ‘You have nothing to apologise for, Rosalie. This is all on my shoulders. I knew what I was doing. I knew how much it would hurt you… your mom, too. Yet, I did it.’
Andrea’s voice broke and her shoulders shook as she started to cry. ‘I miss you. I know I have no right to say that but I do and I hope that, one day, we could be friends again. You’ll never know how truly sorry I am, Ros. For everything.’
Seeing Andrea broken as she was, Rosalie’s own tears spilled from her eyes. She clenched her fists to stop herself from reaching out and comforting Andrea.
‘I don’t know if I can ever forgive you, Andi. And I will never ever forget.’
She wiped the tears from her face.
‘But I miss you, too. All of you. So… I’m willing to try.’
Her words turned Andrea’s cries to sobs and this time, Rosalie could not stop herself from putting her arms around her friend’s shoulders.
It would be a long, long time before Rosalie could ever trust Andrea again. But she knew she wanted to, one day.