"You are the last person I want to see right now." I growl, my voice croaky as I remain seated on the marble floor."I know what you must be thinking, but can you let me explain?" Adam's voice breaks, betraying his panic. His hair, which was styled perfectly only thirty minutes ago, is now dishevelled. I can see a small cut underneath his right eye. Gabe hollers to get Adam's attention as he pounds on the door from the other side, "You prick! Let me in!"Adam stands against the door, pushing any force back with ease and ignores him."I'm not going to stop; I can do this all day!" His words are followed by incessant turning of the handle as he works to get in the room. "It's ok. I'll talk to him. Just give us a few minutes," I yell back. I can handle this, even if I'm trembling inside."Fine. But I'll be just around the corner. I've already told the guests to leave. Do you want your family to stay?" Gabe yells back."No. Tell them to go home." I use the chance to glare at Adam.
"You're not serious, surely?" I scoff at his ridiculous remark. "We haven't had sex in two months, and you want to do it now?"To say it out loud is tragic. Maybe I just didn't notice, or I chose not to notice but our sex life over the years went from the Amazon Rainforest to the Sahara Desert hot and exotic to dry and welled up. He glances at my face, and looks down at the tight black material hugging my body. "Whose fault is that? Come on, you look so hot tonight. All I wanted to do tonight after the rehearsal was take you home and unzip you out of this. Obviously, things took an unfortunate turn"I put a hand on his chest to stop him coming closer. "You mean you took a stupid turn and got caught cheating the day before we're supposed to get married."He swats my hand away forcefully, a seedy grin on his face. I can smell the alcohol on his breath. "I never said break up. I just don't want to get marriedyet. Come on, your boobs look so hot, let me touch them" He traces his finger d
I expect to see Gabe's shiny blonde mane when I step out. Looking in both directions, I can't see anyone so I take a turn to the left to head towards the exit. As I walk down the carpet, out from the corner Gabe quickly appears, almost startling me."Psssst," he whispers as he scoops his hand towards me. My shoes still in my right hand, I make a dash for him and grab his hand with my left, charging down the rest of the corridor to the exit."You were in there a lot longer than I expected, is everything"Pushing the door open, I pull him forward, in a hurry to keep moving. "Let's get outta here now," I bark at him and he knows I mean business.Complying with my pushiness, he picks up the pace and we hurry down the stairs in search of the parking lot. A small part of me thinks that Adam might follow me; that he might argue and beg for forgiveness. But I know he won't. He knows to listen to me and I expect my place to be empty upon my return. In the meantime, I just want to be wit
The etching sound that dances across the kitchen window is enough to send my back straight and instantly my eyes open to pitch darkness as a thin layer of cold sweat rests on my forehead. What is that sound, and why is Adam not rushing up to check what it is? Now that I'm awake I remember that I'm not in bed, but lying on Gabe's couch. A thick, blue duvet is covering my body, so it's no wonder I feel so sweaty. Pushing the blanket off me, instantly I feel the cool air lingering on my body. The nausea swirls wildly in my empty stomach, and my head is swimming with full-formed regrets. Why did I drink so much? Why is there a crust of dried saliva on my lips? Why am I thinking about Adam, and how much I want to see him at this very instant?In the silence, I am alone with my thoughts and it is horrendous. My melancholy hangs over me like a black cloud. I can't just lie here. I stand up in a hurry and regret it instantly. My brain feels swollen and numb, like a sink needing to be unclogg
This is bliss. I am sitting in a field of daisies and dandelions, and I marvel at the dandelion seeds blowing lazily in the gentle breeze. I run my hand along the tips of the soft grass, relishing in my solitude in this vast and never-ending meadow. Holding my face upwards to feel the warm light of the mid-summer day, I breathe in this fresh country air. All of a sudden, this nagging crow flies over me and caws at me. I shake my arms at it, hoping it will fly away. But it comes back, swooping low over my head and caws louder. Why won't this bird go away? I'm getting annoyed now and I wave my hands to shoo it away but it's on a mission now. Caw, caw, caw!Like a jolt to my system, I am jerked awake to the sound of a kookaburra chirping outside. Light is everywhere.I am comfortable and warm - in this bed. ButI open my eyes, and blink rapidly to look upon the ceiling that is not mine. It's a cool light blue instead of warm white. And these are not my sheets covering my body, it's a
"Business proposition?" I place the dishes in the rack and turn around, backing up against the sink. He strolls towards the kitchen with his plate, with total relaxed swagger. He's really confident, I'll give him that."Aha, I knew that would get you interested. Care to hear more?" I do. I need to know why he's back. He can't just show up out of the blue, discussing business with me without divulging what his situation is."Fine.But only if you tell me why you're back," I challenge quickly.He raises an eyebrow, his face illegible. "I don't think so. Obviously, you're not interested enough." "I'll put in a good word to Hansley." "What do you mean?"I'm having fun with this. "Well, I could either say you took me here when I was at my most vulnerable and looked after me. Or I could say you took me here when I was at my most vulnerable and messed with me." I can see a trace of panic across his face. "You wouldn't dare." He knows how protective Hansley is of me, especially when
"Seriously, is that why?"Tristan might be a womaniser but surely he's responsible enough to not jeopardise his career like that, or so I thought.He shrugs, seemingly unworried."We were having fun, and then she decided she wanted more."I raise an eyebrow, interested in some gossip. "And then what?""Well, let's just say it was easier to come back and start afresh. I can't go breaking hearts all over America too, it's not fair to the female population," he says with a cocky chuckle.Suppressing the urge to roll my eyes, I stare at him in disbelief. "Have you ever heard of the phrase mixing business and pleasure? And that it's bad?"Those full lips quirk up in a smile. "It's all pleasure to me."I swallow nervously at the way he is looking at me. You're seeing things. Tristan is a renowned flirt. He's just a friend."So are you interested or not?" he says it so suggestively and my cheeks warm. "To what?""Us, working together. Destination weddings?" Oh, here I thought he m
"Jesus Christ Lace, here I was about to send out a search warrant for you. And you were just busy shoving your tongue down some hot guy's throat. I suppose I can forgive you," Gabe's teases with a naughty grin. Sitting on Gabe's glass dining table, my feet are firmly planted on the black chair as I rest my face on my knees. Gabe put on a pot of Turkish apple tea, and it smells wonderfully aromatic. All is forgiven, considering I just left in the middle of the night, with his car no less, and didn't tell him when I was coming back. I've had chocolate, too, but nothing is helping to make me feel better."We didn't make out. We kissedI mean he kissed me" my face flushes at the memory of his full lips caressing mine. Those hands on my body. How can one kiss be so damn good? How could I just fall into the arms of another man, even if it was the most amazing thing to happen to me inyou know what? I don't want to compare it to anything.There was nothing like it, which is embarrassing consi