Playing My Love Read Online Free

and then walked off, expecting me to follow.
      Which I did.
     
     
      "So what's your name?"  she asked when I caught her up.
      "Alison.  And you?"   I surprised myself by giving my full name, as I hated being called         
    Alison.   There was a slight pause before she answered.
      "Darcy."
      "Why the hesitation?"  I couldn't help but ask and she glanced sideways at me.
      "I don't know!  Everyone calls me Darcy, but for some reason I was going to tell you my real name"  she said, holding open the gate for me.
      "Okay, so what's your real name?"
      She paused again, shifting her guitar to her other arm.
      "It's Daneka"  she finally said and I mulled it over.
      "How did…"
      "Daneka get shortened to Darcy?  I could practically hear you trying to work it out!"  she said laughing.  We reached the coffee shop and went in, pausing our chat while we ordered our drinks and sat down in a quiet corner.
      "Daneka Marcella Hennessey is my full name, so I just took a bit from each name and got Darcy."
      "Wow!  That's quite a mouthful"  I said.  She sat forward and opened her eyes wide.
      "I know!"  Then she laughed, sitting back and shaking her head at the ridiculousness of her own name.  I found myself laughing with her, unable to stop myself.  But then I realised how long it had been since I'd laughed so spontaneously and it died away, replaced by a small frown and feelings of guilt.  I shouldn't be sat here enjoying myself, not a fter the crappy way I'd left Gray earlier.  Her hand suddenly reached out and touched mine.  It was soft and warm and felt nice.  Comforting.
      "Alison?  Would you like to talk about it?"
      "Hmm?"
      "I've never seen someone go through so many different facial expressions in the space of twenty seconds before!  It's obvious something is bothering you."
      I looked down at her hand again and sighed.
      "No.  I really don't want to talk about it"  I answered honestly.  She went to remove her hand but I put mine over hers, holding it where it was.  "But it's only because I'm sick of talking about it and I'm actually really enjoying your company.  So please, just talk to me?  Tell me more about yourself"  I looked up and found two brown eye s gazing at me with such warmth and compassion that it took my breath away.
      "Okay, sure."  She raised her eyebrows comically.  "How long have you got?"
      She was twelve years younger than me at twenty four and had grown up in town, staying because she needed to be near her sick mother.  She was in her last year of studies at the university, but it wasn't music or drama as I'd guessed.  She was studying psychology.
      "Why psychology?"  I asked, and she took a stick of sugar from the centre of the table, fiddling around with it.
      "Well, I want to be a child psychologist."
      "Really?"  I found myself looking at her in a completely different light.  She was obviously not just a pretty face, but talented, intelligent and compassionate to go with it.
      "Mm-hm.  It's what I've always wanted to be"  she said, tucking her hair nervously behind her ear.  "When I was ten, my dad got cancer and died."
      I stiffened and my mouth dried up.
      "I loved him so much, it just about destroyed me.  At the time I was old enough to know about suicide, but too young to understand the consequences and ramifications of it in full.  I told my best friend that I was going to kill myself, she told her mum, her mum called mine and my mum called in a child psychologist.  I hated her at first.  Resented her in fact.  But…she saved my life.  She got me through everything, taught me how to channel my emotions through playing the guitar, and I always have a place in my heart for her.  I wanted to help people, children, the way she helped me so I decided that's what I was going to do!  But I wasn't just going to be any old child psychologist, I wanted to be the best child psychologist, ever!"
      I