Total pages in book: 160
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 164263 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 821(@200wpm)___ 657(@250wpm)___ 548(@300wpm)
“Really?” I smile as I feel myself blush, there is definitely something about this guy. “My sister lives in New York.”
“Yeah? What part?”
“Manhattan.”
“Next time you’re there visiting we will have to catch up.” His eyes dance with mischief. “I could show you around the city that never sleeps.”
“I’m sure if I went I would be sleeping.” I smile into my drink.
“I wouldn’t be so sure about that.” He smiles as he sips his cocktail.
Oh…
I’m at a beach bar in Koh Samui and have unexpectedly just met another solo traveler, funnily enough he’s here recovering from a breakup as well.
“We have a lot in common, Alora.” He smiles as he sips his cocktail.
“Apparently so.” I tap my cocktail glass with his and frown. “What was your name again?”
“Brennan.”
“Well,” I smile, this guy seems just so wonderfully…normal. No bodyguards, no baggage and there is absolutely no heart left for him to break. “It’s nice to meet you, Brennan.”
“After we finish our drinks would you like to go and get some dinner?”
“Um.” I glance around in search for a reason not to.
Oh, that’s right…. There are none. I’m a free agent who can do whatever the fuck I want to. I’m single, painstakingly heartbrokenly single, and maybe Helene is right.
Maybe the best way to get over Edward Prescott is to get under someone else.
“That sounds lovely.”
EDWARD
I stare at the graph on my computer screen and add a comment in the drop box.
Knock, knock, sounds at the door.
“Yes,” I call.
The door opens. “Hello, Edward.”
I know that voice, I glance up to see Paul walking into my office.
“What are you doing here?” I snap.
“Your brother has called me, apparently something is currently transpiring with you.”
“Nope.” I keep typing. “Go back to London, I’m fine.”
“Okay.” He sits down, ignoring my request.
“Leave please. I’m very busy.”
I can feel his eyes on me as he looks me over. “Does this have to do with Alora?”
“No.” I keep typing to evade his glare.
“So are you still seeing her?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“I am not interested in a relationship and she wants more.” I shrug. “Wanted.”
“Wanted as in past tense?”
“I guess.”
“So she doesn’t want that anymore?”
“No.” I exhale and keep typing.
“How does that make you feel?”
Crazy.
“I don’t care.”
“You don’t care?”
“No.”
“You know, Edward, real love is messy, and not everyone is brave enough to let themselves feel it.”
My heart sinks.
“Just get out,” I whisper.
“You have come so far and you are so close.”
I close my eyes to block him out.
“What’s the worst that could happen…. You get your heart broken?”
I clench my jaw.
“From where I stand, your heart is already breaking by not being with her.”
My eyes hold his.
“Are you really going to let her go?”
“She’s better off without me.”
“But are you better off without her?”
I swallow a lump in my throat. “I just don’t need to deal with this shit today.” I turn back to my computer and begin typing. “If I wanted to see you I would have come to London. You’ve wasted your time coming here.”
“Everyone is worried about you.”
“No need to be.” I hit the computer key with force. “I’m fine.”
“Okay, that’s fine. You keep hiding from your emotions.” He stands. “Throw away five years of our work together because you are too stubborn to let your heart out in the open. Too afraid to love someone.”
The computer screen blurs. “Get out.”
The door clicks as he closes it behind him and his words hang in the air like an echo. Your heart is already breaking by not being with her.
Make it stop.
An Alora-less life is a sad existence.
I sit in my car and stare through the windscreen as I watch her cross the road.
She’s talking to Helene and laughing as they walk along together, she has a takeaway coffee in her hand.
She’s back, and while she looks refreshed and happy, I’ve had two weeks of feeling like the world is coming to an end.
Complete insanity.
Her long dark hair is swept up into a ponytail and just the sight of her beautiful face flutters my stomach. She’s wearing a cream cashmere turtleneck and a chocolate skirt with long, dark brown suede boots.
So classically Alora.
How does she always look so effortlessly perfect?
I’m ashamed to say it, but as soon as I saw her morning video this morning saying she was back, I came straight here…I literally couldn’t help myself.
I had to see her.
She walks into her store and my heart drops in disappointment.
I close my eyes; I need to get a handle on this obsession.
This isn’t healthy.
ALORA
We walk into the store.
“Oh my god,” Helene whispers. “What is he doing here?”
“Who?” I frown.
“Didn’t you see? Edward was sitting in the car up the street, watching you.”
“He was not.”
“He is.” She drags me to the front window. “See?” We peer out the front window and sure enough I see him sitting in his Bentley, elbow on the window, looking forlorn.