It's time to move on

Chapter 27 - Don't you want me to be with you? (J)

As days passed, Anna and I went on more dates and became closer than we have ever been. She finally quit her job after her dad’s continuous persuasion and now that she is free we hangout every weekend at either mine or Emily’s or Gabe’s house. Jamie and Blake joined our group hangouts and as much as I hate to see Blake near Anna I know he cares for her and is not someone I assumed him to be.

Jamie and I are back to friends which made Gabe very happy; I know it must have been tough for him to choose between his best friend and sister and I am glad I didn’t have to face that problem with him and Elle.

Though Elle still spends most of the time at Kyle’s, she started hanging out with Emily and Anna more than before. She was even ok hanging out with Jamie during their girls’ night outs which came as a shock to me and Gabe; I think Elle realized Jamie’s over me which brought a drastic change in their relationship. They changed from enemies to acquaintances and I hope they become good friends soon.

Emily is still as mad as ever. She takes the girls on a shopping trip every time she has a date with Alex; luckily it’s him asking her out now. I don’t understand why she can’t go and buy few dresses at once instead of running every time. I am happy my girl isn’t like that; she tries to be as casual as possible, yet more beautiful than the last time I have seen her.

She seemed happier too; the shy girl I saw in the store is completely different from the girl she now turned out to be. I agree she is still shy and talks less when she’s with the group but everyone understands her and accepted her for what she is; however, the case is different when she is with me or Gabe or Em. She still teases me with Gabe but I know he considers her only as a sister and nothing else. I know she became very important to him and he loves her as much as he loves Jamie and me.

Though my two best friends are her besties too, I know her more than anyone else does; her fears, likes and dislikes which made our camaraderie more special and close than the one she shared with Emily or Gabe. The group has become a second family to her and she loves everyone so much that she often requests me to cancel our dates so that we do not miss the group hangouts.

She became closer to her dad too who visits her every alternate weekend; his wife Fergie came along with him too once. She is a very good person and got along with Anna the instant they met. Though they are far away from us, they make sure to call Anna everyday while her dad George visits her once every fifteen days in spite of being super busy and had to get jetlagged every time he comes here.

The group hangs out at Emily’s house whenever he is here; in spite of everything happened because of him he won hearts of every person of the group including mine which I definitely won’t accept in front of him, of course. The way he is protective and caring towards her made me hate him less every time I met him.

In spite of being filthy rich and busy he is very down to earth and keeps in touch with his daughter’s best friends- me, Emily and Gabe. During our interactions I learnt that his family owns number of businesses like textiles, retail, financial services, oil refineries, shipping, construction and a lot more. While George owns shipping and steel industries, his cousins - the other Phillips’ own the other companies. With the amount of money he has, of course he wouldn’t want his only daughter to work.   

Everything was perfect in our lives except for Gabe who is still feeling shy to ask Drake on a date; all of us can see that they like each other but neither of them made a move on the other. Seeing Gabe like that makes me wonder if he is the same person who played Cupid for me and Anna while he is being a wimp in his own love life; Drake is a really good guy and the perfect match for Gabe, in every way.

I remember the time he asked Anna about the gossip circulated in his first week at school regarding the pamphlets Cheryl distributed. He said he trusts her and doesn’t believe anything that’s written about her especially after he saw how good a person she is which made her decide to tell her story to him. Once he heard everything from Gabe, he hugged her and confessed he is so proud to be her friend which made him more close to all of us even if he was new to our batch.