***
The meeting with my dad had been fantastic. He had handed over the reins for this project to me without thinking twice. I would be in charge, with a board of directors to support me. Some staff members would be relocating from this office and some we would be hiring when we arrived. Quinn would be my right-hand woman – I was thrilled that my dad had seen her true potential and offered her the position himself.
The other great news was that Quinn had spoken to Lawson, and he had a building that he thought would be perfect for our offices. We would have five floors of office space, and we would also have conference rooms, a spa, gym, and a few other facilities to share with the one other company in the building. Quinn had said it was the offices used for Lawson’s company. It sounded perfect and the photos of the space that he had emailed to Quinn only reinforced that. I was relieved that it would be one less thing to organize when we arrived only one week from today.
***
The next week passed in a blur. Quinn and I spent the time packing up our apartments, arranging for our replacements at the office, interviewing potential employees via Skype and shopping for our new winter wardrobes. We would be arriving to a cold, snowy winter. It would be a shock to the system since it was still warm enough to swim outdoors here. But I was ready for the change, I was sick of sweating all the damn time.
Quinn and I sat on the floor of my nearly empty apartment eating Chinese takeout straight from the cartons. We had packed up everything she owned two days ago, and she had been staying with me and my few remaining belongings since then.
Our flights were booked for the next day. Our furniture and vehicles would be arriving the day after.
Since we had decided we would share an apartment when we got there, we had two of nearly everything. We had sold a lot of furniture and appliances and would decide what else we needed to get, or get rid of, when we found a place to live.
Reeve had called me back – to say he was looking forward to our arrival would be an understatement. The man was like a tornado. He had taken tomorrow and the following day off from work so he could pick us up from the airport and show us around the place he called home. He had also found an apartment in the building he lived in that was up for lease, and he was already pushing us to take it so we would be close to him.
“More wine?” Quinn waved the half-empty bottle around. She handed it to me, and I took a swig from the bottle. We had packed glasses and cutlery yesterday.
“I can’t wait to see Reeve.” I looked at Quinn. “I bet you’re looking forward to spending some time with Lawson too?”
Quinn grinned. “Yeah, if I can nail the man down. He swears he stays in one place a lot more now, but yet he’s out of town for a month right when we happen to arrive,” she huffed.
I laughed. “If I didn’t know better I would swear he wasn’t real. I’ve never even met him, you know that, right?”
Quinn gaped at me. “Are you serious?” She shook her head. “No. You must have El; he’s not that flighty is he?”
“Yip,” I said, popping the ‘p’. “Never met the guy”. Laughing, I tried to reassure her. “Don’t worry, Q, there’s plenty of time for that. We should be all settled into a new place by the time he gets back. We can all go for dinner and get acquainted.”
Quinn knew my brother Reeve really well. They were close in age and had spent quite a bit of time together when Quinn had joined my family on numerous holidays. She really was like one of the family. I had actually thought that there might have been something going on between Reeve and Quinn at one stage, but they had both scrunched up their noses in disgust and insisted that they were too much like siblings for any of that.
“What are the twins up to these days? I haven’t seen them in forever.” My baby brother and sister, Kyle and Molly had just turned twenty-one and were off exploring the world.
“Last I heard, Kyle was in Tuscany chasing after some girl. And Molly was in Paris, immersing herself in the fashion world.” I rolled my eyes.
The latest career path in the life of Molly.
My younger siblings were a lot like my mother, carefree and easygoing. Reeve and I were more like our father, a little more grounded, responsible and hardworking.
Quinn snorted and grinned. “Oh for the pre-paid life of the Rush twins.”
“They certainly know how to spend.” I sighed. I loved them to bits, Quinn did too – I hoped that in time they would both learn to take responsibility for their own lives and stop acting like spoiled trust fund babies.
The rest of the evening consisted of the remainder of the bottle of red, the entire contents of another bottle, music blasting from the portable speakers, laughter and stories about the good times we’d had here. It was almost as though the not-so-good times had never happened. I had drifted off to sleep that night with the words to James Bay’s ‘Let it go’ floating through my head.
I woke earlier than usual the next morning and slipped out of bed, attempting not to wake Quinn. There really wasn’t much of a hurry for her to get up. Our cross-country flight didn’t leave for hours yet. I padded down the hall to the almost empty living area. I glanced over to the baby grand piano that was still sitting in the corner. Quinn had wanted us to take. I voted to get rid of the thing.
I don’t even play the bloody piano.
I couldn’t even remember what possessed me to buy it. I’d have to put that one in the stupid decision pile. In fact, we could pick it up and drop it right into the stupid-decision pile, and hopefully right on top of my asshole ex-husband.
“You don’t always need a plan. Sometimes you just need to breathe, trust, let go, and see what happens.”
- Author unknown
3. Ellerslie
Quinn and I were waiting outside my apartment building for my parents to pick us up. They had insisted that they drive us to the airport – we were happy to take a cab, but as per usual, my mother had gotten her way.
My mother was something else. She was short, curvy, and full of life. She was every inch the blonde bombshell. She also had a wicked sense of humor. I had inherited my curvy body from her.
Although the curves look a hell of a lot better on her.
And my blonde hair and golden skin was a gift from her too, Although her short hair was dead straight and always looked sleek and flawless – my unruly curls came from my father’s side.
The silver Land Rover pulled up to the curb, and I watched my father step out to help us with our suitcases. “Good morning, ladies.” Dad easily lifted our heavy cases into the boot and threw an arm around each of us. “Beautiful day for a new start.” He grinned.
We made small talk with my parents as we traveled slowly through the morning traffic. We were approaching my old neighborhood, and just seeing the familiar area made me shudder.
Quinn must have noticed the shift in my mood.
“New start, remember?” she whispered, squeezing my leg.
I met her gaze and instantly relaxed, she was right. We were starting something amazing, and I wasn’t going to let some old memories bring me down.
“Hey, Dad, would you mind stopping at that little café up here? You remember the one with the bagels?” I had visited this spot at least three times a week when I’d lived here.
And I wonder why my ass is so big.
They made the most delicious cream cheese bagels, and Quinn had always drooled over the takeaway mochas I brought her.
Dad pulled up outside the shop and Quinn and I both jumped out and headed inside. We still had plenty of time to get to the airport, but you could never be too sure what the crazy traffic was going to throw your way.
We had ordered our drinks and bagels and were waiting near the condiments station when I got the feeling that someone was looking at me. The realization had me feeling like the contents of my stomach was about to come up my throat.
How did I not remember that Quinn was not the only person I came here with?
He couldn’t be here.
<
br /> Of all the gin joints...
That would be some seriously bad luck on my behalf. It was then that I noticed that Quinn’s posture had stiffened and she was looking extremely uncomfortable.
Shit.
I nudged her. “Is he here, Q?”
She slowly nodded.
“Where?”
“Back corner, booth seat.”
“Is she—?”
“No,” Quinn interrupted me. “Just that little fucker.” I couldn’t help the nervous giggle that escaped my lips. Quinn had taken to calling Baxter ‘that little fucker’ for quite some time now.
It does have a bloody good ring to it.
I continued to look everywhere but in the direction that I knew he was sitting. I glanced back at Quinn, who had turned an angry shade of red and was shooting daggers at what I could only assume was an approaching Baxter Dent.
Just bloody perfect. We were this close to being gone.
I took a deep breath, plastered a fake-as-shit, smug grin on my face, and turned to face the bastard that had done his best to destroy my heart.
“Baxter.” I looked him up and down. “I’d say it was good to see you, but we’d both know I was full of shit.”
How are you gonna play it this time, you wanker...
“Hey, El, I’ve been trying to call you. You look amazing by the way.” I felt dirty as his greedy gray eyes drank in my appearance.
Get a good look, douche bag, it’ll be your last.
“Yeah, I got your messages. Obviously I’m not interested in hearing you speak, Baxter.”
“I have some news, Ellie cat, I thought you would want to hear it from me.” I blanched hearing him use his old pet name for me.
Asshole! That stupid damn name.
I couldn’t care less what he wanted to tell me – there was nothing he could say.
Quinn must have sensed that his pathetic attempt at endearment was going to spell the end of the confident Ellerslie that had been present up until this moment.
“El, go wait in the car? I’ll get the order, sweetie.”
I nodded numbly at Quinn and moved to push around her. Baxter stepped forward at the same time and grabbed on to my forearm. “El. We need to talk.”
I knew at that moment that I was getting stronger – that the absolute cluster fuck that had been the past three months had not all been endured for nothing. There was a time when I would have been persuaded by the combination of his cloudy gray eyes, his disheveled dirty-blond hair, and the firm muscles that I knew lay under his gray slacks and white button-down shirt.
But not anymore.
No damn way. Now he made my skin crawl. “Don’t you dare touch me,” I spat. He dropped my arm immediately and glanced around to see if my rather loud outburst had drawn him any unwanted attention. Before he could even lay his deceitful stare back on me, I stalked out of the café and leaped into the waiting Land Rover.
I looked back at the shop window where I could see Quinn chewing out a shocked-looking Baxter. I let the hysterical laughter fall from my lips.
The wanker won’t know what hit him.
Quinn could be fierce. She wasn’t shy about her hatred for Baxter, and she certainly wasn’t going to be quiet about letting him know it.
He wasn’t going to be coming back here again in a hurry.
I could vaguely hear my parents asking me what was happening, but I tuned them out and instead focused on keeping the tears at bay. I pulled out my phone and sent Quinn a message.
“Esmée Denters – Outta Here.”
Quinn and I had been doing this for years, emailing and texting each other songs, lyrics, music videos, poems, clips from movies. Anything that expressed our moods. I knew Quinn was familiar enough with the song that she wouldn’t need all the words to know that I needed to get out.
4. Quinn
Holy shit I was so sick of this little fucker.
Why can’t he just leave El alone?
He’s having a baby. A god damn baby – which they made while Ellerslie still lived with this piece of shit.
This is going to destroy her.
“Baxter, shut the hell up,” I interrupted his current ramblings about how he thought he’d made a huge mistake with Amelia and how much he loved Ellerslie and wanted her back.
Bullshit. The asshole is just freaking out about having a kid with that bitch.
“I don’t give a shit about what you want, you hear me? You both have made El’s life hell these past few months, and now she has to live with the fact that her husband and so-called friend were screwing in secret for god knows how long, not to mention the fact that you’ve knocked her up. I don’t think you ever really loved her, Baxter, and I sure as shit know you don’t love her now. You’re going to stay the hell away from her, asshole. Or you’ll be dealing with me.”
I heard my phone beep and looked down at a text from El.
“Esmée Denters – Outta Here.”
Oh shit.
I glared at the prick in front of me who was getting redder and redder with every shred I ripped off him. I knew Baxter wouldn’t be coming back here for a long-ass time. A voice called out our order.
“Do you understand me, dickwad?” I poked my finger into his chest. “Run home to your whore.” I turned and collected our breakfast from a grinning young girl behind the counter. I winked at her as I left the café – I couldn’t care less about the scene I was making... I would probably never set foot in this place again.
“Why should I be sad? I have lost someone who didn’t love me. But they lost someone who loved them.”
– Author unknown.
5. Ellerslie
The rest of the trip to the airport was extremely uneventful. Quinn had returned from the café, orders in hand and a fake smile on her face. I knew something was up. I could read Quinn like a book, and right now, I knew I was reading bullshit.
She had conveniently found numerous topics to discuss with my parents on the drive, and I could tell she was avoiding having to talk to me. Obviously I was going to ask what had happened after I’d left the café. She could avoid me all she liked. We had a six-hour flight together, and she was going to give me my answers.
After a few tears, all from my mom, we had left my parents at the departure gate, checked our luggage in, and made ourselves comfortable in the first-class lounge. Quinn had done her best to act normal, getting us both a cosmo.
I think I need something stronger.
I sipped the sweet liquid and waited for my best friend to deliver the bad news. I had a feeling it would be the final blow, courtesy of fuck-face Dent. “Amelia is pregnant,” Quinn blurted out. She was looking at me as if I was a small child that had just been told their dog died.
Pregnant!
That stupid bastard didn’t waste any time.
Baxter had left me for Amelia. What made me hate her even more, was that she had been a friend to both Quinn and I. In fact, we had been such good friends, that she had been in the wedding party when Baxter and I got married.
Oh the irony.
“Wow. Um... that was... quick.” I tried to think about the disgust I’d felt for that low life in the café today, but I was having a hard time feeling anything other than crushed by this revelation.
“Uh, El, there’s actually more – Um...” Quinn took a deep breath in, and blew it out. “Amelia is five months pregnant.”
Her words hung in the air between us. Suffocating me and destroying the small amount of respect that I had left for men. I felt the walls closing in around me as I tried to understand how it was possible for her to be five months pregnant with his baby.
Five months.
We had only split up three months ago. Baxter had confessed to an affair, it was obvious he didn’t want to make any attempt to fix his mistakes – I’d kicked him out immediately without asking any of the details. Two weeks later, I had seen him with Amelia.
Five months.
The words circled in my head.
“I swear I almost cut his balls off right there in that café, El.”
I just nodded at Quinn – words failing me. I had no doubt that it would have taken every ounce of her self-control not to castrate my ex-husband on the spot.
Five months. Five freaking months. Those two are officially on the top of my shit list.
I grabbed the arm of the waitress that passed our table. “Jack please. Neat.” She nodded quickly and looked at me with sympathy. I must have had ‘heartbroken’ written all over my damn face.
I slammed back the amber liquid as soon as it reached the table and signaled for another. I welcomed the burn as it slid down my throat.
Quinn just sat, sipping her cosmo – waiting for me to be ready to talk. She was great like that, always knowing when to push me, and when to just leave me alone to think.
Two more glasses of liquid courage later, and I was ready to talk, well... rant – I was angry. Bugger that, I was beyond angry. I was furious.
“That prick! He got another woman pregnant while we were fucking married!” I hissed. “And her... She was meant to be my friend – I talked to her about the distance I could feel between me and Baxter, and the bitch would have known exactly what was causing the problem.”
The problem was right between her legs.
“Shit!” I was fuming.
“I know it hurts, El, but this is a good thing really – It’ll help your case. He can’t argue that he was a faithful husband when he’s got that bitch knocked up.” Quinn smirked.
She was right. Baxter and I had been married for a little over a year before we separated three months ago. He was intentionally dragging out a divorce by not only pushing to get half of everything we had owned together, but also half of my share of the company profits from the period of time that we were married. Business had boomed that year, and that asshole didn’t deserve a cent of mine or my father’s hard earned cash. I knew that him being unfaithful to me wouldn’t help his chances of getting anything extra from me.
Love like Yours Series (Box Set #1-4) Page 2