| one month later |

| Isabella |

Christmas in New York had always been my favorite time of the year. Rachael and I always spent the first day of December decorating the entire apartment, getting a tree, replacing all our usual decor for holiday themed decor and baking Christmas cookies. Then of course there was the music, which would be played non-stop until Christmas morning which we spent at Rachael's parents house in the Hampton's.

But this time I had no holiday cheer. I was usually the most excited for Christmas, which was ironic because my childhood Christmas's had been miserable. My mom would cry about my dad who wouldn't be home because he was out with the same woman he's marrying today. The woman he spent years having an affair with before he finally decided he should do the decent thing and break it off with my mom. But no, not even that had ruined the holiday for me. No, what had ruined it, or rather, the person who had ruined it, was Nathan Price.

I was bitter and miserable and achingly sad. Even Rachael had mentioned to me that I had been generally lacking in enthusiasm recently. Granted, she wasn't surprised, she knew that while I put on a brave face, I was really breaking inside.

Some days weren't so bad. Others, like today, were the worst.

It was the Friday before I got on Christmas vacation from work. The Friday before a week of much needed freedom in my life and yet I had no feelings inside me . . . not a bone in my body was excited.

Besides work, I never left the apartment. I had fallen into a habit of staying locked up in my room, wallowing in my own sadness and finding that I often felt worse the next morning, even after a night of rest.

It was as if our breakup had triggered some kind-of domino effect inside of me that caused all my problems, all my past relationships and all the baggage from my shitty childhood to come crashing down around me. Everything I'd been pushing away came back with a vengeance that I couldn't handle.

So here I was, sitting at my desk, on a Friday and feeling so dull, I might just vanish into the floor and never come back.

"Isabella?" I hear and I turn slowly in my desk chair to see my boss, Richard, standing there. He was a kind man in his sixties, with a balding head and thickly rimmed glasses on his nose. He had a love for sweater vests and bow ties that would normally make me laugh but only served to be added on to the long list of things I didn't care about anymore.

"Hi Richard." I say and he smiles.

"Come join me in my office for a moment." he says and I stand, following him across the room. He shuts the door and offers me a seat in front of his desk which I take instantly.

"So, I just want to say that I am very impressed with the work you've been doing here lately." he says and I smile, even though it feels forced.

"Thank you." I say softly and he smiles.

"You've only been with the company a short time and you've made such great strides that I feel ready to offer you an interesting opportunity." he says and I sit up straighter, suddenly more intrigued.

"Okay." I say and he continues, sliding a sleek folder across the desk towards me.

"As you know, our company is looking more into online publishing because print is a dying industry. Recently, we have had a lot of success with our online work and have decided to open up an smaller, experimental, second company in Pasadena, California." he says. "I just need one of our best here to go out there and over see the process. It's nothing permanent, 6 months at most, but I would like to offer this opportunity to you."

I raise my eyebrows. At any other time in my life I would say no . . . but now . . .maybe it wasn't such a bad idea.

"We've got an apartment already there for you, and all your travel costs would be taken care of. All you would have to do is be prepared to move out there by the time the holidays are over. So around January 5th, is preferably when we'd like to have you moving out there." he finishes and I sit forward, opening the folder and looking over all the details he'd just described to me.

It was only 6 months and I could easily come back briefly for Rachael's wedding.

Opportunities like this one don't come along often and the more I thought about it, the more tempting it sounded.

"So just 6 months?" I ask and he nods.

"Yes, we just want someone out there to get the ground running." he says and I swallow hard, thinking this over one last time. It just all made too much sense.

"Then yes, I'll do it."

I walked into our apartment to the typical sound of Christmas carols and the smell of Christmas cookies. I see Rachael standing in the kitchen over a pan of sugar cookies, icing them carefully.

I smile as soon as she looks up and sees me.

"Look! I made cookies!" She says happily and I set my stuff down, stepping closer to the counter to see the very nice snowman shaped one she is currently working on.

"Oh my gosh! They're so cute!" I say and she giggles, turning back to the cookie. I pause then, deciding I should just tell her right now that I would be moving to California, but I knew it would ruin her Christmas mood.

"Hey, Rachael. I have some . . . news to tell you." I start slowly and she looks up, concern washing over her face. And just as I open my mouth to continue she cuts me off.

"You're pregnant aren't you? And it's Nathan's!" She cries. "I knew this would happen, just as you got that asshole out of your life."

I burst out laughing and she stares at me, confused. "No, no." I sigh, trying to calm down. "No I've been offered an opportunity at work."

"Oh." She sighs, relief evident in her expression. She grins at me. "Well that's great news! I don't know why you got all serious."

"Well, I'm going to be overseeing the opening of their new company." I say pausing as she does a little golf clap for me. "But its in Pasadena."

And her face falls as she realizes what I'm trying to tell her. She swallows noticeably.

"You're moving to California?" She asks slowly and I nod.

"Only for 6 months, at most, it depends on how long they need me." I explain. "And I can come back for your wedding and help you plan it from California via the many FaceTime calls I know we'll be having. But I think it would be good for me to . . . get away."

She sighs and blinks rapidly. Damn it I knew she'd cry.

"Well, normally I'd be pissed because we are having so much fun here in New York, but maybe your right. I think . . . maybe it would be good for you." She pauses and sighs again. "And as your forever best friend, I want what's best for you." She says.

"Thank you." I say and she moves around the counter, hugging me tightly.

"You better still help me plan though." She says forcefully and I giggle.

"Of course." I say.

"And you are going to plan the best bachelorette party ever." She adds and I nod, pulling back to see tears welling up in her eyes.

"It's going to rock your ass I promise." I say and she laughs with me.

"Damn it, even if it's only for 6 months I am going to miss you." She says.

"I don't leave until after the holidays, so we have Christmas and New Years." I say. "Plus, you can finally move Hunter in and you two can have the whole place to yourselves."

"Okay." She smiles, sniffling a little bit. Then she takes a deep breath and wipes at the corners of her eyes. "Well come help me finish decorating these."

I nod and we go back to decorating snowmen, occasionally sampling them for quality testing of course and lip syncing to the Christmas carols floating cheerily through the air.

Hello Readers!

So, Mr. Elitist is coming to an end. There will be two more chapters (AHHH!) and then that's it. Which feels really weird because this is kind of my first book that I'm actually going to finish. Anyways, tell me what you think in the comments! I'll be updating soon!

XX,

- Keara Rose 🌹