The One
Page 32
Bailey flashed her million dollar smile and batted her big blue eyes. She held up the note as she read. “Bailey. Congratulations on your new show. You are a force to be reckoned with and your talent knows no bounds. Thanks for the advice. Let me know if you need an ally. I owe you one. We will be in touch.” She laughed to herself before looking back up at the camera.
“What advice did you give him?”
“I told him to follow his heart.”
“That obviously didn’t work out well for you though.”
Bailey shrugged. “Who wants a man who’s in love with someone else when I can have twelve men all in love with me?”
A giggle was heard off screen. “Good point. Well you seem pleased with the parting gifts. Is there anything you’d like to say to Julian?”
Bailey looked directly into the camera. “Hi Julian!” She waved. “Congratulations! Thanks for everything. Looks like we all win.”
“And what about Zoe?” The producer pressed. “Is there anything you’d like to say to Zoe?”
“Congratulations Zoe! I’m happy for you. Never forget that even when you don’t see all of the parts, always trust the alliance. Three’s a crowd unless everyone wins.” She winked.
“I don’t think I understand.”
Bailey’s smile split her face as she grinned at the camera like she had a secret no one knew but her.
“Okay…” She said slowly as if she didn’t take Bailey seriously.
After a couple more questions, Bailey was waved off with fanfare as the on location production members clapped. The limo pulled off slowly and before it turned the corner, Bailey popped out of the sunroof.
“Now it’s my turn! I’m ready to find ‘The One’!”
The camera zoomed in on the limo as it faded away and then a long shot of the pier and the waves crashing against it. A female voice could be heard as the screen started to go dark. “Who told her to improvise that? Was that you? Tom? Sarah? Did she just do that on her own? Bailey is going to be a star. I can feel it.”
The screen went black and the title card appeared in scrawling hot pink. The One.
****
The One Playlist
Music inspires me. The artists mentioned below wrote songs and lyrics that I feel accurately depict the thoughts, feelings, and mood of Zoe and Julian as they navigated falling in love in a crazy environment in such a short amount of time. If you haven’t had a chance to listen to any of these songs, do yourself a favor: purchase each song immediately and listen to them in order, on repeat.
Fink
Foot In The Door
Hoozier
Like Real People Do
Tori Kelly ft Ed Sheeran
I Was Made For Loving You
Tweet
Addicted
Outkast
Prototype
Busta Rhymes ft Janet Jackson
What’s It Gonna Be?
FKA twigs
Papi Pacify
Clare Bowen & Sam Palladio
I Will Fall
Maroon 5
Sweetest Goodbye
Drake
Jungle
Sza ft Kendrick Lamar
Babylon
Justin Timberlake
Blue Ocean Floor
James Bay
Need The Sun To Break
Tink
Million
Danielle Allen
Work Song
Heartache (Heartache #1)
Heartfelt (Heartache #2)
Love Discovered In New York
Autumn and Summer
Back to Life (Back to Life #1)
Back to Reality (Back to Life #2)
Acknowledgements
I am so incredibly blessed to have my family and friends surrounding me and supporting me through this writing journey. In two and a half years, I’ve written eight novels and I am so incredibly proud of the hard work that went into that. But I know that I wouldn’t have been able to do that without the people I’ve had in my corner.
I wrote The One during the tail end of the most difficult time in my life. I used the story and the characters to bring me through a number of challenging situations and I am forever grateful for being able to lose myself in The One, in Zoe Jordan, in Julian Winters. I gave this story everything I had left because I had to and the end result was more than I could’ve bargained for. I love this story with everything in me because it brought me out of the darkness.
When things were falling apart, I had my family and friends to support me and I am blessed to have those people in my life. I love you all to the moon and back.
Kumiko—thank you for letting me steal your name and use it for Zoe’s best friend. I appreciate your help, your feedback and your support. You are amazingly supportive and I appreciate you.
Summer, Olivia, Kendall—your friendship, your insight and your generosity has meant more to me than anything. Thank you.
Michelle and Mia—your friendship and your encouragement has been a source of inspiration and I thank you.
Brittainy—you are truly my soul sister and my kindred spirit. Thank you for your friendship and I can’t wait for our island!
Script Easer Editing and Shawna Gavas—thank you for the awesome job making The One as error free as possible.
CP Smith—thank you for being you and for using your formatting magic on my finished product.
To everyone who has been there for me, thank you. Authors, bloggers, readers, your support means so much to me. I am honored to have so many people who have read my work. It’s truly mind blowing to know that I have touched people with my words. From the bottom of my heart, thank you. I can’t begin to explain how much it means to me to be able to write and publish my novels and to have you take the time to read them.