Ophelia POV Exhilarating yet dangerous. That’s how I would describe Astrid. There’s something about her that I can’t seem to get enough of. She’s like a drug, and once I get a hit of her, I want more and more. I’m embarrassed to admit it, but I feel like a junkie when I’m not around her, starved of her passion and affection. Maybe the attraction is that we’re both kindred spirits. And, like me, I’m certain that she’s running away from something. I know the type—refuses to stay in one place for too long, not keen on making lasting connections, and falling in love is out of the question. She’s exactly like me. Funny, she knows so much about me, but she’s like a closed book. Whenever I ask about her past or her family, she brushes me off and changes the subject. It’s as if she’s scared to open up to me. I’m even surprised she invited me along on this business trip of hers. Now, sitting here alone at the pool with a now-warm cocktail in my hand, I’m starting to wonder why she asked m
On the bed is a satin red slip dress and a set of black, lacey underwear. The label says Victoria’s Secret. Next to the dress is a pair of strappy black heels in my size. There’s a note, reading: “Please do me the honor of wearing this.” Within record time, I’m out of the shower and slipping on the dress. It feels so soft and sensual against my skin. As a gift to her, I find her perfume and spritz a few drops on my neck and behind my knees. I get a text from her: “Be there in five minutes.” While waiting, I can’t stand still. The suspense is killing me. Also, the urge to pee is so strong, and I try to hold it in, but at the last minute I have to run to the bathroom. When I get back, she’s already there. Dressed in a black tuxedo suit and white buttoned down shirt, she looks absolutely ravishing. Her brilliant blue eyes are even more enunciated by her blood red lipstick. Holding a black blindfold in her hand, she orders me to stand in front of her. Tying it tightly around my eyes,
Jacob POV Dr. Richards is still talking, but I can’t hear a thing he’s saying. It’s like my body is there but my mind’s stuck in another dimension. I should be angry and sad, and yet I feel strangely calm. “How long?” I ask him. “How long, what?” he asks in return. “How long until the disease renders her incapable of doing anything?” I ask. Holding Emily’s MRI results in his hand, he says, “It’s hard to say. This disease is very unpredictable.” “Is there no cure, Doctor?” I ask. “Unfortunately not. For Miss Adams, it’s in its progressive stage, so any type of treatment would be out of the question,” he adds. I get up to leave and then shake his hand. “Thank you, Doctor. For the time being, I’d prefer if we keep this just between the two of us.” He’s taken aback. “Mr Collin, it is my job as Miss Adams’s physician to notify her of her condition.” “With all due respect, Doctor, I understand it’s your job, but I’d rather that she hear it from me,” I say. “As you wish,” he says a
Emily POV “So, I was thinking, how about we go to the Central Park Zoo after I pick you up from school?” I ask Liam with as much enthusiasm as I can muster. He isn’t happy, and he’s been walking around with a frown on his face ever since I told him Jacob had to leave in a hurry for his Brazil trip. “I don’t know,” he sighs. “Come on, it will be fun! I’ll even throw in a corn dog to sweeten the deal,” I suggest. “Oh, okay,” he says, and I see glimmers of a smile forming. That afternoon, instead of taking the car to get Liam from school, I opt for the subway. It’s been so long since I’ve been on a train, I need to feel the heartbeat of the city coursing through my veins again. Besides, I bet Liam will love the adventure of using an alternative route to get to the zoo. I really don’t want to deal with the awkwardness of running into Thaddeus, so I time it so that I get to school just as the last bell rings. Running towards me, Liam’s like a ball of pent up energy. “Can we go to th
Jacob POV After my meeting with Dr. Santos, it feels like there’s no more fight left in me. Someone’s used me as a punching bag, and I’m taking every blow to the groin. Instead of going to the hotel, I decided to take a walk around the university to clear my head. Dr. Santos insisted that she send someone to act as a tour guide, but I gratefully declined. Sitting under the shade of a Brazil nut tree, the finish line seems even further away. I came here with the intention of finding answers, but I’m left with even more questions and an overwhelming sense of dread. All around me, students are sitting having their lunch while enjoying the sunshine. With smiles on their faces, they have their whole lives ahead of them, and all I feel is envy. How can I go back and face Emily and Liam, knowing that she may only have a few years left? How do I tell the woman that I love that, yes, even our love is finite? My chest feels tight and I’m struggling to breathe. Is this what Emily feels when
Jacob POV You know that quote, “You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time”? I think it was Abraham Lincon that said it. That’s exactly how I feel entering the apartment after my trip to Sao Paulo. I feel like a fraud, walking over to Emily and Liam and embracing them as if nothing is wrong. I don’t know when I became this person. Maybe it was that day in the doctor’s office, hearing about Emily’s diagnosis for the first time, or maybe it was when I stepped off the plane from Brazil. I breathe in her sweet smell and whisper into her hair, “I missed you so much.” She doesn’t realize the weight of my words and says it back to me. Liam is oblivious to my internal struggle, asking me what I brought him from my trip. “Ahhh, I got you this,” I say and pull out a plush toy from my backpack. “Awesome,” he says and grabs it out of my hand. “It’s so soft, Dad. What kind of animal is it?” “It’s a jagua
Jacob POV With last night’s love-making still imprinted on my body, I get up at the crack of dawn. Careful not to wake Emily, I get dressed in the dim light of the rising sun. I then make the long drive to the Hamptons. With the city still asleep, I have the road to myself and it doesn’t take me long to get out there. My father, the early riser that he is, meets me on the front porch. “Jacob? I wasn’t expecting you here,” he says and embraces me. I smile at him and say, “Well, actually—” “You’ve come to see Charlotte,” he says with a weary voice. “No, Dad, I’ve come to see you,” I say. He’s surprised and then smiles. “Oh, okay then. Come inside and I’ll get Martha to brew us a fresh pot of coffee.” I follow him inside. The house is quiet. I don’t know for the life of me why he doesn’t just sell it. It’s just him and Charlotte in this place, and it’s much too big for just the two of them. He disappears into the kitchen and then comes back with two steaming mugs of coffee. The
Nancy POV This isn’t the life I imagined for myself. When I was younger, my mom used to constantly remind me that I’d amount to nothing. When she happened upon my gift of using the power of persuasion to my advantage, she jumped on it. Being the silly girl I was, and desperate for her approval, I went along with her plans to trick willing victims out of their money. I didn’t know at the time that she was just using me—I was just another pawn on her chess board. After years of scamming and hustling people, I grew tired of her ways. Instead of splitting our profits equally, she’d skim a little off the top for me and take the rest for herself. Blinded by our supposed mother-daughter bond, I went along with it… Until Jessica happened. I must have been about eighteen years old. My mother and my father had just gone through a terrible divorce. He never cared much for me, so the split didn’t affect me in any way. Sometimes, I think his disdain towards me stemmed from the suspicion that I