Jamie’s eyes scanned the opened document on his desk, his eyes going through the notes and the figures but he couldn’t seem to make them out or even comprehend the message they were passing. The words and figures kept blurring together and all he kept seeing was Cookie’s teary eyes and the raw pain in her expression from how badly he’d hurt her by pretending he didn’t know her in the presence of Amelia, her best friend, and his ex-lover.If he’d had the slightest idea that the two women were friends he wouldn’t have gone to the wedding. But he had no idea and seeing Cookie there had come as such a huge shock to him that in an attempt to not cause any issues, he’d gone to create a bigger one, by hurting her so badly that he wasn’t sure how to fix it.He sighed deeply as he finally closed the document and settled into the plush leather seat, his head hitting the headrest with his arms resting on the armrest. He closed his eyes for a moment and another heavy sigh slipped from his lips, h

The smell of antiseptic wafted into Cookie’s nostrils as she gradually began to regain her consciousness, but this was followed by a head-splitting headache that made her wince in an inaudible voice as she slowly opened her eyes. The bright rays of light streamed into her eyes, causing temporary color blindness and making her squirm as she quickly shut them in a bid to get used to the light. But then gradually, she opened them again, the intensity of the light reducing as she began to get used to the brightness.The first thing that met her gaze was the plain white ceiling. But then, she slowly began to register the feeling of being weak. It was as though she was strapped to a flat board and she couldn’t summon the strength to lift her limbs. The only part of her body that was in sync with her brain was her head and neck that she could turn from side to side and she did just that, but the resulting pain had her wincing out loud and within a twinkle of an eye, she felt the heat of a bo

As Jamie drove home that night, he couldn’t stop seething from what Gretchen had told him. He gripped the steering wheel so tight that his knuckles were beginning to turn white. He was deeply lost in his thoughts that he didn’t realize how hard he was doing it until his phone rang and he had to take one of his hands off to answer the call and connect it to the car’s Bluetooth.At first, he’d been annoyed that someone was calling him to disrupt his thoughts but it also made him realize his focus hadn’t been on the road but thankfully, it was a freeway. He’d answered the call without checking who the caller was but as soon as he heard his younger brother’s voice, he swallowed the urge to visibly groan in distress.He wasn’t in the best of moods to speak with Robert but as he’d answered the call, there was nothing he could do but calm his nerves enough to have a sane conversation with the younger man.“Jamie? Are you still there? Can you hear me?” Robert rambled on, trying to get his att

Gretchen was up early the next morning and just as she’d predicted the previous night, Jamie was still out there, in the early hours of the morning, his gaze pointedly fixed on the living room’s window. A sad smile slipped onto her face and she shook her head in pity and amusement as she pulled the curtains open and switched on the lights. Without sparing him a second glance, she left for the kitchen to start on breakfast but before that, she baked fresh cookies and made hot chocolate that she took to Jamie, who was still across the street in his car by the time she emerged from the kitchen about an hour later.Jamie, with his sleep-dazed eyes, saw Gretchen approaching with a paper bag and a disposable cup in hand. As soon as he saw her, his gaze perked up and he sat up in the driver’s seat. He reached for his phone to check the time, only to discover that it was 7 am. By the time he raised his head, Gretchen was standing beside the car window.“Good morning, Jamie,” she greeted him w

It’s been four weeks since the accident happened and Cookie was finally fine. Her leg has healed and Gretchen has also returned to New York. She was back to living alone and taking care of herself and even Jamie didn’t stick around anymore after her mom left, or so she thought. Every night, she looked through the living room window to the spot where his car used to be but it was no longer there. The realization that he’d put on an act when her mom was around only hurt her more. She was trying her best to get over him but the more she tried, the more it seemed as if she couldn’t do it.It was the weekend, and it was late in the evening. She’d just finished having dinner, after getting off the phone with her mom and she was ready to retire to bed. As usual, she walked through the house to put off the lights and engage the locks of the front door before returning to her bedroom. As she stepped into the living room, she willed herself to close the window and drop the curtains without glan