A Will To Change (Hope) by Beth Rinyu Page B

help but want to hug him for being so noble and standing up for me. I leaned over the table, placing a soft kiss on his cheek.
    “Thank you…ass!”
    After we finished up breakfast, Will drove me to my apartment to get my things. I was a little nervous that Evan was going to be home. I held my breath as I opened the door and looked around, finally letting it all out when I realized that he wasn't there.
    ”I'm just going to grab all my important stuff. You know…clothes, shoes, more shoes,” I joked. 
    I went into my closet, grabbing the things that I wore the most. Luckily, I had all my winter clothes already stored away in a bin, making it much easier to transport. I went around, throwing all of my essentials into boxes while Will waited patiently, carrying the boxes down to his jeep.
    I went into the kitchen one last time, making sure that I didn't forget anything. Looking down at the floor, I saw one lonely yellow rose petal from the floral arrangement that Will had given me. I bent down to pick it up and smiled before placing it in a Ziploc bag. It was all that I had left from something that had meant so much to me. I wanted to preserve it forever.
    “A lone survivor,” I smiled up at Will as he walked back in to get more boxes. He smiled back as I stuck the Ziploc bag into the box 
    “Hello...?” I cringed at the voice coming from the door. 
    “Shit!” I whispered to Will. 
    “Who is it?” he asked. 
    “My mother.”  
    “What's going on?” She walked inside with a birthday present in her hand, which I was assuming was for me. She looked around at the pile of boxes, then at Will before finally focusing on me. “Oh, my god, Gabby! What happened to your eye?” she asked, covering her mouth with her hand.
    “Well, I would tell you, but I wouldn't want you to think I was being a drama queen,” I snapped. 
    She moved in closer to get a better look. “Gabby, what the hell happened?”
     “What do you think happened, Mom?” 
    “Did Evan do this to you?”
    “I think I'm done,” I said, turning my attention to Will, completely ignoring my mother.
    “Well, where are you going to go?” she asked.
    “Don't worry about it.”
    “Gabby, stop acting like such a little bitch. Honestly. I could see where you could drive someone to do this to you.”
    My heart sank. I knew that my mother didn't have a maternal bone in her body, but hearing her say that hurt big time. “Just leave now!” I shouted, trying my hardest not to cry in front of her, not to mention put Will in a very uncomfortable situation.
    “Gabby, I didn't mean anything by it. All I'm saying is that I know Evan has been really stressed at work. Andre has been working closely with him and his dad, trying to put together this multi-million dollar real estate advertising campaign.”
    The pain in my heart that I was feeling just a few moments ago had now turned into pure rage. “You are unbelievable! Look at me, Mom! Look what he did to me!” I shouted, taking a step closer to her, giving her a good look. She quickly looked away. I could no longer hold back the tears. “You're supposed to be my mother. The one person that I could depend on and who always has my back. But, instead, you're going to make excuses for him and basically tell me that I deserved this. Why? Because you're afraid that this little business deal that your husband has going on might not go through?”
    Her eyes became glassy and part of me wondered how long it took her to conjure up tears in that ice cold heart of hers. 
    “Come on, Gabby,” Will said, grabbing the last box and wrapping his arm around me as I did my best to wipe away the tears.
    Silently, we walked down the steps and out the door. I stood and waited for him to load up the last box into the back of his jeep. He unlocked my door and looked down at me. “Are you okay?” he asked.
    I nodded, wiping away the last of my tears. He stared at me with his hand on the door handle. “Really,