No Longer A Stand In Novels & Stories

I can't imagine life getting any better than this. Last year, my life imploded. A year later, I'm still struggling to put the shattered fragments back together again, and make an even better one for myself. Concern flares in his eyes. "Are you mad that I reached out to him?" A gurgle of laughter escapes from me as I shake my head. "Of course not. It was just weird to see him in the stands watching me. And then when he gave me a thumbs up after the game..." my voice trails off as emotion rises within me and tears trek down my cheeks.

Ashley I froze where I stood. My legs turned to roots, joined to the ground, and unable to move as I continued to watch Zane and Zanzi's conversation from a safe distance. “I don't understand, what do you mean Zanzi?” His shoulders became a little squarer, and his voice found a low, almost menacing timbre.

“They moved it up?” Mikel nodded, pacing the length of the room like a caged tiger. “Yeah. The semi-finals. They’re not in Boston anymore. They shifted to Toronto. Tomorrow. First flight out or we miss the damn thing.” I raked a hand through my hair. “That’s insane. They can’t just—” “They did,” Mikel cut me off, his voice tight. “And if we’re not there, we forfeit. That’s months of training down the drain.”

Late nights finishing projects, early mornings preparing presentations. “Leaving already?” The familiar voice behind me made me pause. I turned slowly. Stan stood a few feet away, leaning casually against the partition. For a moment I simply stared at him, It had been a while. The last time we saw each other was a while back. It had been very brief. “Stan,” I said. He smiled slightly. “You look much better now.” “I was injured, not dying.” I rolled my eyes, trying not to laugh. “Still,” he replied. “You disappeared for a while.”

Everything I thought I knew about the true danger circling us violently shifted. Stan stood there patiently waiting, his eyes still openly pleading, and for the very first time since he’d initially shown up, I absolutely didn’t truly know what I should completely believe about this situation.

Once upon a time, this place had been my turf. I pushed open the door to see Janae sitting inside with a wide smile. She seemed to have been waiting for me. "You look like a stray dog now, Renee. So what if I'm a stand-in? I'm the one Marcus loves now, and you are nothing. You're not even worthy of being my stand-in now!" she said. I stood there dazedly and looked around the familiar room, feeling like my heart was bleeding. Then, I heard Marcus' voice in the distance—he was shouting and warning me not to do anything to hurt Janae.

Her eyes remained emotionless. "It's true that the company has decided to update its policies," she said. Hearing that, I clenched my hands to force myself to stay calm. Mr. Hurst, on the other hand, immediately started to look smug again, as if he were here to see me being put in my place. But Ms. Ross' next word threw him for a loop. "However, the timing of the abolishment is incorrect. The update doesn't take effect immediately, but only after the new year. The company is still operating under the old policy, so your application is still valid."

"They're mobile. Within range of the estate." The study went very quiet. "Conti stood down," she said. "We fed him losing and he stood down." "He stood down from whatever he had planned," Lorenzo said carefully. "But standing down doesn't mean withdrawing completely. It means waiting." He held her gaze. "And if someone has been monitoring the transmitter and has now moved mobile and closer..." "He stopped believing we were losing," she said. "Or he was never fully convinced and decided to verify in person." She looked at the clock.

Even Judge Lambert's expression shifted noticeably as he looked at Mom and Dad with undisguised contempt. Flustered, they tried to explain themselves, but I beat them to it. "By the way, there's something I haven't shown you all yet. Consider it a bonus. Aren't you all curious why this old bastard is still standing here alive and well?" With that, I snapped my fingers, and a memory appeared. It was another scene inside the hospital. Once it was clear that I wouldn't pay for the treatment, Mom and Dad put on a show by wailing sorrowfully and pitifully.

*]:pointer-events-auto scroll-mt-[calc(var(--header-height)+min(200px,max(70px,20svh)))]" dir="auto" data-turn-id="request-69977804-4e70-8329-9a00-4b45a911d144-17" data-testid="conversation-turn-432" data-scroll-anchor="false" data-turn="assistant"> They stood there in the living room. Not touching. Not fighting. Not pretending.