He nodded in agreement. “I think you’re right.”
Gigi finished up what she was doing a few minutes earlier to go to the restroom before the morning tea began. She picked up her bag en route, opening the flap and pulling out her phone. The mail icon on the bottom had a red circle in the corner. She tapped into the email and stopped walking when she read the subject line. Quickly her eyes scanned the rest of the email before she turned her phone off and slid it back into her bag.
She made it into the staff lunchroom on the lower level just as the director of the museum was making his way to the front of the room. She saw Alex over on the left standing beside Lisa. He waved her over with a friendly smile. Gigi apologized as she walked in front of people to get to the pair.
“Good luck,” Alex said excitedly.
“Same to you.”
“Three months ago, I stood in front of all of you welcoming you to the museum,” the director said. “And today I’m saying goodbye to all of you, except for one. One of you is the lucky winner of the internship. You are the one person who has shown promise, who has proved that you’re one of us and who has impressed all of us with your work ethic and dedication.” A few nervous murmurs broke out around the place. “I know you’re anxious to know who that lucky someone is. So without further ado, I’d like to announce that the winner of the job after graduation here at the museum is…”
33
Max tucked the blankets around Erin tightly and kissed his daughter good night. He hadn’t had to work tonight, and being able to put his daughter to bed was something he treasured. She was nearly ten months old now—crawling and getting on her feet as often as she could. His mom thought she wasn’t that far off walking, and he had to agree.
He had returned to work soon after his father’s funeral, throwing himself into it. It had definitely helped distract him from thoughts of Gigi, although sometimes he’d get calls from a blocked number, which he suspected was her. Sometimes he’d call her name, but the person would always hang up.
He often thought about her, whenever he had moments when he didn’t have to worry about what Erin was trying to put in her mouth, or whether Evangeline was going to tell him to talk to the staff again about using their phones at work. He wondered whether she had gotten the position at the museum after she finished school, or how she had done on her finals. More often, though, his thoughts were on whether or not she had found someone else.
He hated it when his thoughts strayed there. He hadn’t started dating again. Sam had tried to set him up a couple of times, but after a heated discussion each time, his best friend had eventually stopped. Max stopped by the kitchen, grabbing a beer from the fridge and the pizza box from the counter. He changed channels to the game and got comfortable, fully intending to enjoy the rare night off.
He had just opened up the box on his pizza when there was a knock on his front door. Max was expecting Sam to come around at some point so he stood up and went to the door, his attention turning to the TV as his team scored a touchdown.
“I thought you were coming later,” he said, watching the crowd go wild. The game was all tied-up now.
“Three months is already pretty late.”
Max’s eyes darted to the person standing on his doorstep. She looked just as beautiful as when he’d left her behind in New York.
“Gigi? What are you doing here?”
She shrugged, and that was when he noticed the large backpack over her shoulder and her rolling suitcase beside her. “I thought I’d see what all the fuss was about.”
“I don’t follow,” he replied, still unable to believe she was standing opposite him.
She gave him a shy smile. “I got a job offer.”
“In New York?”
“No, Max. Here. I got an offer at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles. I had to turn down the one at the AMNH.”
“You got the position from the internship, too?” He knew all he was doing was asking her more questions, but somehow he couldn’t stop.
“I did, but I regretfully declined that position and accepted the one here.”
“Where are you staying?” Yep, another question.
“I was kind of hoping you’d let me stay here.”
Max snapped out of his stupor, stepping forward and reaching for her. She dropped her backpack, wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard. Max took the deepest breath when she pulled away, the weight of everything lifting off his shoulders, and he knew Gigi was the one responsible for it.
Resting his forehead against hers, he said, “I love you.”
“I love you, too. Don’t ever leave me again.”
“Never,” he whispered, kissing her again.
About the Author
Kally Ash is a contemporary romance author whose passions include curling up with a good book, devouring chocolate and getting kitty cuddles. Tempt Me is her debut novel, and the first book in a three book series. Some of her unicorn authors include Sawyer Bennett, Elizabeth Hayley and Haley Jenner.
Connect with Kally!
JUST BECAUSE OF YOU
Because of Us Duet
Gianna Gabriela
Cliffhanger.
Please know that this is a cliffhanger.
I didn’t want it to be this way but I had no choice.
I’m currently writing the books that this story is a part of.
I really hope to have it to you soon.
Don’t hate me.
Kay, bye.
Enjoy… if you dare <3
1
CHRISTIAN COLE
Two Years Later
I hang up the call and sit on my truck for a moment too long contemplating what I just heard. I let the news sink in. I’m surprised that I got offered a job on a weekend. Not bad.
“Are you going to sit there all day or are you going to get to work?” My boss shouts from inside the house. I don’t bother responding to him but instead jump out the bed of the truck and follow in behind him.
Nigel bumps me the moment I walk in through the front door. “He’s being an ass today,” he says, pointing at the retreating jerk we call boss. David Hollister. He runs Hollister Construction and has always been a tool.
“He’s always an ass,” I respond, stretching my arms, getting ready to continue painting.
Nigel smiles. “True, but there must be something else going on this week. His assholery is at peak level.”
I laugh at Nigel’s words. There’s not a lot of joy that I find in this job, so I’m grateful to have a friend like Nigel who can always lighten up the mood.
Construction.
Painting.
While some people love this kind of work, I don’t.
I never imagined I’d be at someone else’s house making their dreams come true. I didn’t think I’d be building a deck for other people. I wanted to play football.
Now you have a chance to do something different, the voice in the back of my head says.
“What are you thinking about?” Nigel asks as I touch the wall and confirm that it’s ready for a second coat.
I haven’t had enough time to think about it. But it seems that opportunity is knocking at my door and I’d be a fool to not answer. “Coach Morales is retiring,” I tell him.
“Like your former high school football coach, that one?” Nigel asks. He didn’t go to school in Forest Pines. He moved here three years ago because he was searching for something new. Getting away. Funny that he finds coming here a getaway, while I feel trapped.
“Yeah, that one.” He knows about Coach Morales from our conversations about my time playing football at Bragan High.
“And you’re thinking about him retiring because…?” I dip the roller into the container of paint and begin applying the second coat of blue.
I shake my head. “They want me to take over his job.”
I hear something fall then Nigel mutters something under his breath. I turn to find that the paint bucket has tipped over and the blue pa
int is all over the tarp. Thank God we covered that before we started; otherwise, the floors would be ruined.
I sprint into action. Lifting the bucket, I use my roller to get as much of the paint from the tarp as possible. I roll it onto the wall and repeat the actions a few more times until I’ve gotten all the paint I can get from the floor. Can’t waste any paint, I imagine Hollister’s voice in the back of my head.
I hate this job.
“Thanks,” Nigel says when it seems everything is under control.
“Don’t mention it.”
“So, he wants you to be head coach?” he asks, returning to our conversation.
“Yeah. I actually just got off the phone with him.”
“What did you say?” Nigel presses as he stands up from his place and heads to the wall opposite me.
“I said yes.” I did. I agreed on the spot without asking for more details. I didn’t need any more information, didn’t want it. I wanted an out from this job. Football was once my dream. Coaching it, while not playing it, is as close to achieving my dream as I’m going to get.
“Why are you still here?” Nigel asks, like the moment I accepted the offer I should’ve been out the door. He knows I hate it here.
I shrug. “I can’t just walk out on the job.”
“Why not?” he asks, baffled.
“I need to talk to Hollister about it. I’d like to give him a two-week’s notice, but they need me to start tomorrow morning.”
“He’s not going to be happy about that. If I were you, I’d leave now and never talk to him again.”
“I’ve got to do this the right way.” I’ve had my life planned-out before, only to have the plan go to hell. I don’t want to have to go through that again. I want to make sure that it’s actually going to work out.
“You excited to start over?”
I nod. I’m happy to get to do something I love again. The last six years of my life haven’t been terrible. They started off rocking me, but I still wouldn’t trade them for anything.
Not even for her.
2
AMARI SANTANA
I can’t believe I’m coming back to the place where I grew up. Forest Pines wasn’t great for me the first time around. I’m not really sure why I think it’ll treat me better the second time.
But even with all my doubts, I still pack my things into my bags and get in the car.
I settle in for the drive to the place I came from.
The place I had avoided for a very long time. Six years, to be exact.
My phone rings as I pull onto the highway for what’ll be the longest drive of my life. A drive down memory lane.
“Hey,” I answer by pressing the button on my steering wheel.
My best friend’s voice fills the vehicle. “’Sup girl!” she says, immediately making me smile. Thank goodness at least that relationship survived the end of high school. I don’t know what I would’ve done without her if she had left me too.
“What’s up, Emely?” I say, trying to mask the sadness in my voice.
“You know, living my best life, sipping on piña coladas beach side,” she says excitedly. She’s truly been living the life… I wish I had too.
“Why did you let me get a teaching degree again?” I ask, knowing I could never afford to live the life Emely lives with my expected salary. Then again, you couldn’t pay me enough to do what she does.
“Because you thought business administration wasn’t for you,” she says, reminding me.
I nod. I did think that. I still do. Teaching is my passion. “Still wish I were beach side right now with enough drinks to quiet my thoughts,” I tell her.
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” I don’t know about that. Emely is always up to something, always on a new adventure.
“Where are you again?” I ask. It’s Fall here in the Northeast, so she’s definitely not in this part of the world.
“Mexico! I love it here,” she exclaims.
“See, you definitely can’t complain about your job.”
“Ugh, I have a client meeting tonight, so I’m just resting until then,” she says.
“Tonight? It’s Sunday. Where’s the client meeting?” I question, wondering what kind of client wants to meet on a weekend.
“A nearby club… and before you say anything, it’s not my fault the client owns several and wants to show me around so that I can see his business before we talk about how to grow it.”
“Grow his business, you say,” I joke, merging onto the highway that’ll lead me straight to Forest Pines.
“Very funny, Amari. Anyway, I called you and here you are trying to distract me from what I wanted to ask you.” She got me there. I knew she was calling because of this, because of the move. My best friend wouldn’t forget. Not after all the tears she saw me cry.
I pretend not to know what she’s talking about. “I just want to know about your latest adventure,” I tell her, trying to lead us away from the real motive behind her call.
“While deflecting questions about your own,” she adds.
“I’m not really going on an adventure,” I tell her.
“You’re going back home.”
I don’t know that I can call it that anymore. “Yes I am.”
“How do you feel?” Emely asks, not wasting a second and getting right to it. I don’t know when she became the girl who wanted to talk about feelings, but right now I need my party-first-ask-questions-later friend. I don’t want to think about my choices. I don’t want to think about what factors are driving me to make them.
“I’m fine,” I tell her. Fine could mean anything, in my book, so it’s not technically a lie.
“Fine… you know what they say it means when a woman tells you she’s fine.”
“No, what do they say?”
“That it stands for freaked out, insecure, nervous, and emotional. So if that’s the fine you’re feeling, then you are not okay.”
“I’m… I’m fin—” I start to say again, but Emely cuts me off.
“Amari, don’t lie to me. We’re like sisters, we always have been. We don’t lie to each other.”
“What do you want me to say?” I ask, knowing she won’t leave it alone until I give her what she wants.
“Just tell me the truth,” she says, taking on a compassionate tone I seldom hear from her. She’s usually laughing at everything. I don’t even know how she holds a business job. I guess it’s good that it revolves around entertainment so it fits her personality perfectly.
I exhale loudly, trying to build up the courage to put words to my emotions. To talk about my fears. “It would be a lot easier to talk about this if you were here in person,” I say, stalling.
“I’m sorry I’m not there to help you with the move. I feel bad enough as is, but I couldn’t reschedule this meeting,” she says, matter-of-factly.
“It’s not your fault your job moved up the meeting,” I say, agreeing with her. She was supposed to be right here with me but, alas, duty calls.
“Talk to me, Mari,” she presses.
“I’m scared.”
“To see him again?” she says, going straight to the source of my emotions.
I let out a sigh. Seeing him again is my biggest fear. “I haven’t heard anything about him. From him. I have no reason to think that he’s still there. But part of me can’t help…” I start but struggle to let the words out.
“Think about what would happen if you saw him again?” my best friend finishes my sentence.
“Should I be doing this? Is this stupid?” I ask, questioning my choice to go back for the millionth time since I made the decision in the first place.
“It’s not stupid. It’s a promotion. You’ll get to be an elementary school principal,” she tells me the same words she’s been repeating to me for a while now.
I’ve been a teacher for two years in a system where I feel I can’t do anything. I’m just supposed to follow orders, even though it’s not the best for th
e kids. This is supposed to be different. “Right,” I say, agreeing with her because I know it makes sense.
“This is an opportunity to build your resume and to not have to answer to anyone,” she adds.
“Well… I’ve got to answer to the board.”
“You also get to live on your own,” Emely says, ignoring my comment. I’ve been rooming with someone my entire adult life. At first it was college, and after college I couldn’t afford my own apartment, so I lived with roommates again. Now, I get to move into my old house and feel like a truly independent person.
My parents left Forest Pines shortly after I did. They always wanted to move somewhere near the beach, so they settled in Newport, Rhode Island.
They never sold their house though. They said it was my childhood home and would always be there. They gifted it to me and told me I could sell it if I wanted to.
I wanted to.
And I didn’t want to.
I avoided going back to Forest while they were still there, coming up with any excuse I could find. For a while, my parents visited me, and when they moved, I had no reason to go back. No reason to make a six-hour drive down memory lane.
No reason until now. Now, I’m coming back to stay.
“It’ll be nice living on my own,” I say, looking at the bright side.
“So, it’s a good choice and an amazing opportunity.”
“With a high risk.” I’m risking seeing him again and having all the pieces I picked up after he broke me fall apart again.
“He probably doesn’t even live there anymore. He had plenty of other opportunities, he’s probably gone with no desire to ever come back.” I know Emely’s words are supposed to make me feel better, but the tightness I feel in my chest makes me question what I fear most. To see him or to learn he’s gone. That he’s moved on.
Then There Was You: A Single Parent Collection Page 149