Read Online Meant To Be by Karen Stivali - Free Book Online Page B

you?”
    “Justine said she wasn’t going to spend the rest of her life licking an ashtray. She pretty much demanded I quit. It wasn’t easy, but I’m glad I did it. Except of course for those times when I feel like I would trade a kidney for a cigarette.”
    “That never goes away completely.” They carried the clean brushes and rollers back to the supply crate and Marienne grabbed Daniel’s shoe from the a/c vent. “It’s pretty dry.” She ran her hand over the now faint paint smudge.
    “Thanks.” He smiled, taking the shoe as they walked back toward the set. “So, Frank asked you out at the party?”
    “Not exactly. He walked me to my car that night and kissed me goodnight, which totally shocked me. I didn’t want to date anyone at the time. I’d just gotten out of a bad relationship.”
    “With the jerk who tried to kill himself?”
    “Yes.” She was impressed that he remembered and embarrassed that she’d told him so much. It wasn’t like her to spill her guts like that, particularly to someone she didn’t know well.
    “Must have been a good kiss if it made you change your mind.” He pulled on his shoes and took off the shirt, handing it back to Marienne.
    “Actually, no.” She laughed, blushing. “It wasn’t a very good kiss at all.”
    Daniel’s eyes widened.
    Marienne shoved the shirt into her duffel bag along with her own, then took out her fleece jacket and pulled it on. Zipping the bag shut, she swung it over her shoulder. “I told him I wasn’t interested in seeing anyone. But he asked if he could call me anyway. And then he did.”
    “And that did it?” Daniel lifted the duffel off Marienne’s shoulder. “I’ll carry that.” He reached toward her with his other hand and fixed her collar, flipping her hair out from beneath it.
    The touch of his hand sent a tingle through her. “Not right away. He was persistent. And persuasive. Flowers, poems, the whole deal.”
    “Romantic, eh?”
    Marienne nodded. “Then. Now not so much.”
    “The important things must still be there. Chivalry? Defends your honor?”
    She giggled, shaking her head.
    “He must at least share his Oreos with you.”
    Marienne threw him a surprised look. “Frank hates Oreos, but I imagine if he ever had any he’d let me have all of them. Not sure that’s quite the same thing.”
    “So, how did you know he was ‘the one’?”
    Good question . “I guess it was mainly because he was different from everyone else I’d dated. There was no drama.”
    “No sex with a guitarist on your bed and no secret ex-girlfriend?”
    “Exactly. But it was more than that. I don’t know how to explain it. Frank knew exactly what he wanted from a career, exactly what kind of life he wanted, and it felt….” She struggled to find the right word.
    “Safe?” Daniel asked.
    “Yes,” she said. “And stable. Frank was sure about everything, including us. It was nice to not have the constant feeling of dread and uncertainty. I’m sure that sounds like a horrible reason for marrying someone.”
    “Not at all,” Daniel said. “I know what you mean. I felt a very similar way when I met Justine. She wasn’t like anyone else I’d been with. She was so driven and directed, there was no question for her whatsoever about where her life was headed. It was very attractive.”
    “Everything about Justine is attractive,” Marienne said.
    Daniel laughed. “Not everything. No one’s perfect.”
    “Some are closer than others.”
    Daniel shifted the bag on his shoulder; it had started to slip from the number of times he’d turned to look at Marienne.
    “How did you and Justine meet?” she asked, though she already knew the answer.
    “It was totally random,” he said. “I sat down at her table in the dining hall at Hayden one day. There were no other seats free. We’d never laid eyes on each other before.”
    Marienne swallowed. That’s not what Justine said.
    “We started talking,” he continued. “I wound up