The Love We Choose

Chapter 43

After dancing with Huan and a few of Edgar's friends that they had become familiar with over the years, Lynne excused herself to use the bathroom. Once she had finished her business and left the bathroom, she realized that the amount of people in the penthouse had doubled in size. Was I in there for that long? Glancing down at her watch she realized that it was almost eleven.

Finding it harder to traipse through the throng of people, she found herself bumping into a solid chest.

"Woah there, little lady." A hand reached out to help steady her.

"I'm sorry," Lynne replied, finding her balance before looking up into the unfocused eyes of a well-built, handsome, olive-skinned man in a red silk shirt and black pants.

"No problem. Why don't you make it up to me with a dance? I'm Kurt," he informed her while he let his glassy eyes wander over her body. "Damn, girl! Poetry should be written about the glory of your body."

Shock and unease began to rise in her at his statement. He was laying it on pretty thick. That accompanied with his hand still resting on her hip despite her already finding her balance, his gaze lingering on her chest for too long, the rapidly diminishing space between them caused Lynne to disengage from the conversation immediately. "Nice to meet you Kurt, but I'm going to have to take a rain check on the dance."

"You're gonna break my heart like this when we've only just met. What's one dance gonna do?" He asked, tilting his head at her.

"Look. I'm flattered, but I'm not feeling all too well right now. I'm gonna go get some air."

"Fine. Wasn't that interested anyway. You shoulda looked where you were going" he remarked with a hint of slurred ire in his voice. Turning to his friends he muttered, "bitch has a nice set of tits is all."

Rushing past him as unpleasant memories once locked away began to permeate her mind, Lynne wove herself through the crowd toward the rooftop garden for a moment of solitude. She could feel her heart threatening to escape the confines of her chest if she didn't get herself under control and soon.

She may be boring, but those tits of hers make up for it.

Feelings of insecurity long held back by time and growth began to invade her mind as she made it to the relatively empty rooftop garden that had been decorated with twinkling fairy lights. Finding a quiet bench with a breath-taking view of the city skyline, Lynne sat down and ran her hands up and down her arms to calm her body.

You're always such a stick-in-the mud, where's your sense of adventure, Lynne?

How'd we get stuck with her on our team?

As hard as she tried to fight them, not so pleasant memories of her past bubbled to the surface. Constantly being picked last for teams in elementary school, being shunned out by her female classmates when she wanted to join in conversations in middle school, the endless comparison to her older sisters in high school, and the unwanted attention she garnered since her chest expanded in puberty. At a young age Lynne found it easier to just be by herself. Funny enough, when you have so many boisterous siblings, solitude becomes a respite. Add in the extremely tiny friend group that she cultivated over the years, and choosing to be by oneself in most situations becomes second nature.

In order to stave off any further unwanted feelings, Lynne started humming to herself as she focused on the lit-up skyline, finding the Chrysler Building and Empire State Building with ease. "I'm doing fi----ne up here on cloud nine. Listen, one more time. I'm...I'm doing fi----ne up here on cloud nine." Sitting there fumbling through the lyrics to the Temptations song, she got her mind under control.

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About half an hour had passed before Huan went in search of Lynne. It struck him as odd when she hadn't returned to the dance floor when a collective of contemporary pop songs came on in succession that he knew she had been obsessed with.

Finally catching up to her sitting alone on the rooftop, he noticed her tense posture as he walked up behind her. Standing in front of her, he tilted his head in concern, "why are your arms crossed like that? Is everything ok? Do you feel alright? Are you upset?"

Lynne slowly shook her head at his barrage of questions. "I'm fi-...It's just...people and...thoughts," she said tersely.

Sitting next to her on the bench, he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Has anyone made any untoward advances at you? You want me to kick someone's ass? I haven't done that since High School, but it shouldn't be difficult. I am in much better physical condition now than I was then. Yeah, just point me at them and I'll do it. Unless it's someone who is built like Vinny or Kris. We might just have to take the 'L' if they look like them. Or we could just employ the entitled 'I'm best friends with the host' tactic and get them kicked out. We might look like pussies doing that though."

Lynne started to giggle. "I know what you're doing. And thank you for doing it." She uncrossed her arms and wrapped them around his waist in a tight hug.

"Hey, the people can't help it. Your rack is a thing of beauty. OW!" Huan pulled back and massaged the spot on his shoulder where she whalloped him with her clutch.

"Jerk!"

"Watch where you're swinging that thing. Now you gonna come inside now?" He checked his watch. "We've got about ten minutes to midnight and you owe me a dance to usher in the new year."

"I'll be in soon. Just gonna clear my head a bit before I jump back into the den of iniquity."

"Alright, but don't take too long," he chucked her under the chin and placed a kiss on her temple before heading back inside.

Lynne sat back down on the bench and looked out across the city skyline. The iron and glass jungle of buildings lit up in artificial colors that seemed to twinkle along with the cacophony of millions of people on the precipice of celebrating the start of something new playing in the background was breathtaking. After her momentary breakdown, she didn't want to pull herself away from it.

Alone on the rooftop, with the party in full swing behind her, she found an odd sense of peace wash over her. With the way that events were playing out in her life, it seemed as if everything was falling into place. She was employed with a roof over her head and a nest egg in the bank. So far her pregnancy was progressing smoothly, nausea and heartburn notwithstanding. She and Huan were on their way to figuring out exactly how everything would be split between them when it came to the baby. They just needed to tell their parents, which was first on their list for the new year. But they were a team with an albeit undefined relationship and would be able to work through anything that came their way.

With that thought in mind and a smile on her face, she stood up and shook the tightness that had settled into her limbs from sitting too long outside. It wasn't until she heard the loud beginning to the final countdown of the year behind her that she realized just how much time had passed while she was mulling things over. Rushing toward the door to find Huan to ring in the New Year together, she stopped in her tracks when she saw him with his arms wrapped around a woman in a tight silver dress. It wasn't until their New Year's kiss broke that Lynne's heart and face fell simultaneously, instantly recognizing the last person on Earth she thought she would see, Veronica Cozzetti.

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A/N: Good evening lovelies. Be sure to like, comment, and share.