After The One (The One Series Duet)

by Danielle Allen

  At our March girls’ night out outing, almost six months prior, Keisha drunkenly admitted that she was in love with Omar. When I asked why they weren’t officially together, she said that relationships end so if she never gave in and established a relationship, what they had wouldn’t ever end. The conversation broke my heart and the next morning, she didn’t remember saying it and she didn’t want to talk about it again.

  “Where’s James?” Lenny asked, causing the conversation to halt. “I meant, Scott.” Her cheeks heated as James ogled her from across the circle we’d created. Tearing her eyes away from James, she looked at me. “Where’s Scott?”

  I discretely put my hand on Lenny’s back and gave her a reassuring pat. Clearly, she had James on the brain. “I’m not sure. I know he’s here though.”

  “Scott is talking to a modeling agency outside,” James answered even though Lenny still refused to look his way.

  “Modeling agency? He’s a model now?” Julian seemed surprised and his eyes lit up. “And that asshole always called me the pretty boy.” He laughed. “Good for him!”

  “He didn’t mention it when I called to confirm that he was coming today. He only said that he was bringing a guest,” I recalled as I pursed my lips. “And now that I think about it, he never said who his guest was.”

  “Probably that new girlfriend of his,” Keisha speculated. “Omar was working out and I picked up his phone and Scott told me he had a new lady in his life.” She shrugged. “He told me I’d meet her tonight.”

  “So does no one know who he’s dating?” Koko asked, scanning the group. Everyone shook their heads.

  Bryce had an odd smile on his face. My eyes narrowed as we made eye contact and his smile grew. “Bryce…”

  He chewed his bottom lip nervously, as if he were put on the spot. Relief relaxed his features. “Ask him.” He nodded his head toward the door where Scott was finishing up a conversation with my parents and Julian’s parents.

  With olive skin, hazel eyes, and short brown hair, Scott looked the part of a model in his polo shirt and jeans as he strutted across the room toward us.

  “Getting ready to take over the catwalk, I see.” Lenny whistled as he joined us.

  He looked at Omar. “That’s why I can’t tell your ass anything,” Scott laughed, punching his arm good-naturedly.

  Omar chuckled. “It wasn’t me.”

  James nodded. “It was me. It’s my fault. That’s on me, man.” He looked at Lenny. “I was distracted.”

  “He’s still distracted,” Omar pointed out, causing both James and Lenny to laugh awkwardly.

  “Speaking of distractions, Scott, word on the street is that you have a new girlfriend and no one has met her,” Koko blurted out.

  Scott eyed us all with a wolfish grin. “You’ve met her. You know her. You just haven’t met her as my girlfriend yet. We’ve been dating for a couple of months now. Wanted to keep it quiet to see how things progressed and things are going pretty well.”

  “Please don’t say it’s Mya.” I clasped my hands in prayer.

  Mya and Scott were hot and heavy for a solid month and then things took a turn when her ex-husband appeared back in her life. She and Scott hadn’t been dating long so she waffled back and forth between them until Scott ended it. Scott took a break from dating and was not interested in the idea of getting serious with someone for a long time—until now.

  “No, it’s not Mya,” Scott responded with a shake of his head. “It’s—”

  “Dinner will begin in five minutes. Please find your seats,” DJ Dre called out from the DJ booth, interrupting Scott’s announcement.

  None of us moved.

  “Who is it?” Julian asked.

  “Tell us!” Lenny demanded.

  “The suspense is killing me!” Koko clutched her chest dramatically.

  Everyone else was silent, waiting with baited breath.

  I wanted to know just as badly as everyone else, but the chefs had started cooking at the serving stations and between Julian’s late flight and an active toddler, I didn’t get a chance to eat all day. The aroma that permeated the air smelled so good, it was distracting.

  “Hey! What are you guys doing?” Bailey asked as she walked up with my grandma.

  The blonde bombshell had her thick hair pulled up into a high bun and she wore a sexy blue dress that matched her eyes. I hadn’t had a chance to see Bailey all summer because of her show so it was a pleasant surprise to see her.

  “I’m going to find my seat,” my grandma announced without slowing down. “Bye kids!”

  “Bye Grandma!” I called after her with a laugh.

  After everyone greeted Bailey, I threw my arms around her. “Hey! I didn’t see you when you came in. Your RSVP card had a big question mark and a happy face so I wasn’t sure if you were going to make it.”

  Bailey laughed loudly. “Ah! I forgot about that. I sent that as a joke, but I meant to follow up and tell you I was coming. But I’ve been distracted with work and other stuff. And then as soon as I got here, I spilled wine on my dress and your grandma came out of nowhere like a fairy godmother and helped.”

  “Well I’m glad it worked out. I can’t even tell you spilled wine anywhere,” I mentioned, eyeing the dress as she turned around. “But I can tell you’ve been doing something. Your legs look great!”

  “Thank you! I’ve been working out a little harder these days.”

  “I need the guest of honor and his crew to also be seated so we can open the serving stations,” DJ Dre joked from the DJ booth causing everyone to laugh.

  “Why are you guys just standing around?” Bailey inquired with her hands on her hips. “I’m starving.”

  “We’re waiting for Scott to tell us who his mystery girlfriend is,” Omar answered, giving Scott a look.

  “Oh that’s easy.” Bailey shrugged. “I saw them making out outside.”

  “Scott, if you don’t tell us, Bailey will,” Koko threatened with no ounce of intimidation in her voice.

  “Bailey, come tell me who you think it is in my ear and then if you’re right, you can tell them,” Scott offered.

  “I don’t have time for these games,” Bailey sighed as she walked over to him.

  She whispered something in his ear and Scott blushed.

  Well damn. Bailey must have seen more than she let on.

  Scott cleared his throat and nodded. With his cheeks still pink, he was grinning ear to ear. “Okay, we’ll say it at the same time.”

  “One… Two… Three…” They said in unison before turning toward each other and kissing like two horny teenagers.

  I gasped in surprise before breaking out in a little excited dance. “I love this!”

  “Why didn’t you tell us?”

  “How long has this been going on behind our backs?”

  “Oh my God! Seriously?”

  We threw questions at them as we made our way to our table.

  As I sat down, my son finally wanted some Mommy time. But I had resigned myself to the fact that Evan believed that if he couldn’t have what was on my plate, neither could I. Shaking my head, I kissed my sweet little boy’s face and could see that he was winding down.

  After a prayer over the food and a thank you to everyone who showed up, I sat in quiet contemplation as people ate their appetizers and went back up for seconds. Since I was seated and everyone seemed to be making a bee-line for the tomato and basil bruschetta appetizer, I happened to catch a private moment not meant for anyone else’s eyes.

  Koko was walking back to her table, which was empty except for Bryce. Before she had a chance to sit down, he grabbed her hips, pulled her to him, and kissed her belly. He looked up at her and I don’t know what he said, but the look on her face was about to make me cry. She nodded as she stroked his hair and then he kissed her belly again. He stood and kissed her lips and then they walked together to get in the long line for the bruschetta.

  What the hell is going on? Why is everyone in the bruschet
ta line? There’s a taco station, for goodness sakes!

  Julian leaned over so that his lips were on the shell of my ear. “It’s small pieces of toast with diced tomatoes. I don’t get it.”

  I turned my head slowly, my heart skipping a beat. “Right?” I sighed. “God, I love you.”

  He kissed me on the lips softly. “I love you, too. Do you want me to take Evan and you go get tacos or do you want me to do it?”

  I looked down. “He should be falling asleep soon so I’ll keep him. Will you make my tacos extra spicy please?”

  “Is there any other way?” Julian asked before planting another kiss on my lips. “I’ll be right back.”

  “You are a blessed little boy,” I said to Evan who looked at me in confusion. “You are going to grow into such an amazing man. You have the best daddy in the world. You also have the best grandfathers in the world. You have a great uncle—well, several great uncles. You have lots of good men to show you how to be a good man.”

  Without warning, Evan sat up and knocked me in the chin with that head of his.

  I let out a noise and I grimaced in pain.

  As if he understood that noise to equate to pain, Evan looked up at me and said some nonsensical baby talk before kissing my chin.

  I melted.

  When I touched his face, he got distracted by my bracelet, pulling it.

  “No, don’t pull that. That’s Mommy’s bracelet.”

  “No?” Evan asked.

  “No.”

  “No?”

  I shook my head.

  “No no no no no no no no no no no no…” Evan repeated in a singsong voice.

  “What happened? I thought you were sleepy?” I asked, readjusting him in my lap. He grabbed my bracelet again and tugged on the charm. “No, Evan.”

  “No no no no no no no no no no no no! Dada!” Evan squealed with delight as he saw his father and a plate of mini tacos.

  “Hey Buddy, you want to eat?” Julian asked him.

  “Eat,” Evan answered, pulling on my bracelet.

  Julian took him out of my arms and I peeled his little fingers off of my bracelet. He started to cry, but was quickly distracted and pacified by the blackberry applesauce he saw on a small plate.

  “You should let me put more charms on that bracelet,” Julian said as he fed our son the applesauce.

  I looked down at it. “Then it wouldn’t be my bracelet. These are the charms you gave me while we were on The One together. These few little charms represent our beginning and everything we went through.” I held up my left hand, wiggling my ring finger. “This big charm represents our end, our happily ever after.”

  Julian held my gaze, searching my face. His eyes bore into mine, controlling my heartrate, affecting each breath. His lips parted. “I—”

  “Have you guys tried the bruschetta?”

  Our heads whipped around to Scott who seemed completely oblivious that he ruined a moment. Julian and I looked at each other and laughed.

  As James and Julian talked, I looked around the room in awe.

  I used to think perfection didn’t exist. I used to think perfection was what movies and television shows propagated to make viewers believe in happily ever after. But as I sat beside my gorgeous and talented husband who spent a third of the year away from home, a perfect little boy who was growing more and more obsessed with the word ‘no’, family and friends I didn’t get to see nearly enough, and surrounded by more love than I thought was ever possible, I knew two things to be true: perfection did exist and happily ever after was a choice.

  After 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.

  Lucky – Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

  Move Together – James Bay

  Ordinary People – John Legend

  Flaws and All – Beyoncé

  Breaking the Law – Emeli Sandé

  When The Right One Comes Along – Clare Bowen & Sam Palladio

  Pendulum – FKA Twigs

  Primetime (feat. Miguel) – Janelle Monae

  A Message – Kelela

  The Truth – India.Aire

  I Gotta Be – Jagged Edge

  Make Me Whole – Amel Larrieux

  The Point Of It All – Anthony Hamilton

  Fantasy –Alina Baraz, Galimatias

  A Couple Of Forevers – Chrisette Michele

  Nothing Even Matters – Lauryn Hill D’Angelo

  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298254681/playlist/42E3V8q42aWBoR7IOhBIiY

  Danielle Allen

  The One (Series Premiere)

  After The One (Series Finale)

  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)

  COMING SOON

  Back to December (Back to Life #3)

  Back to December is the third and final book in the Back to Life Series. Although Back to Life (BtoL #1) and Back to Reality (BtoL #2) must be read in order, Back to December (BtoL#3) can be read as a standalone. But it is still recommended to read Back to December after reading Back to Life and Back to Reality to know and fully understand the backstory.

  Expected Release Date: November 2016

  Acknowledgements

  Three years, nine novels.

  I wrote my first novel (Back to Life) and published it in July 2013. August 2016, my ninth novel is published. I am incredibly blessed to do what it is that I love and have people enjoy it. God has blessed me with readers who enjoy the elaborate, diverse, intriguing love stories that I make up as I go along and I am excited and humbled by that every single day.

  In 2016, Zoe Jordan and Julian Winters started talking to me (and through me) during an emotionally taxing, mentally draining, physically exhausting time in my life and I will be forever grateful for that.

  To my family and friends who have loved and supported me, thank you. I am blessed to have you in my life. I love you all to the moon and back.

  Marisa Shor—thank you for creating my beautiful covers time and time again. And AJ Parker, thank you for embodying Zoe on this cover.

  Editing by C. Marie 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. You really are a gem.

  Authors, bloggers, readers, thank you. You have changed my life with your love and support. It truly means so much to me. I am floored when I hear people say that they know me and love me and/or my work. I am honored when I read reviews that get it—my stories, my characters, my point. The knowledge that I’ve moved people with my words is huge to me. I don’t take it for granted. 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. Sending you all hugs and love.

  at the very very very end, I'd like to have my website (www.authordanielleallen.com) added

  After 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.

  Lucky – Jason Mraz & Colbie Caillat

  Move Together – James Bay

  Ordinary People – John Legend

  Fl
aws and All – Beyoncé

  Breaking the Law – Emeli Sandé

  When The Right One Comes Along – Clare Bowen & Sam Palladio

  Pendulum – FKA Twigs

  Primetime (feat. Miguel) – Janelle Monae

  A Message – Kelela

  The Truth – India.Aire

  I Gotta Be – Jagged Edge

  Make Me Whole – Amel Larrieux

  The Point Of It All – Anthony Hamilton

  Fantasy –Alina Baraz, Galimatias

  A Couple Of Forevers – Chrisette Michele

  Nothing Even Matters – Lauryn Hill D’Angelo

  https://open.spotify.com/user/1298254681/playlist/42E3V8q42aWBoR7IOhBIiY