The No-show Novels & Stories

“...Maybe. I felt like someone was watching me during the meeting, but I don’t know if it was him.” “Oh my god,” Clint gasped. “You already have a potential ship! We have to name it. What’s his name?” “I… don’t know,” Sky admitted sheepishly. “You don’t know?!” they all shouted in unison. “I didn’t get to talk to him. He didn’t even introduce himself. He just walked in, sat across from me looking like a walking perfume advertisement, and left.” “Well, that just makes it more mysterious,” Brian said dramatically, eyes wide. “A star-crossed ship in the making!”

She didn’t want her daughter to have a fight with her father. “What kind of man keeps people waiting?” Mr. Ross asked sharply. “Is this the kind of person you chose? No sense of time?” he added loudly. Cecelia didn’t know what to say. She was becoming nervous—not because of her father, but because Evans had never been late before. Evans had texted her that he was on his way already and would soon be there, but he hadn’t arrived. She wondered if something had happened to him, as his number was off.

Since when does a basic blood donation turn you into a Victorian ghost? But of course, Michael ate it up. He whipped the car around without missing a beat. "I'm coming to get you. Hang tight, okay?" Kallie's voice perked up—briefly—then went syrupy again. "No, really, don't. I'll be fine. I don't want you to miss your marriage registration..." "You don't have to say anything else. I'm on my way!" He hung up, then turned to me like he was giving orders.

Plus, they were afraid they wouldn't make it in time for the show, so they hurried up. Soon, almost all the guests had arrived and the photographers were very satisfied with their shots, but they were still looking in the direction of the entrance frequently. After all, there were two more left. Naturally, it was Nathan Clemon and Kyle Michel. Those two missed the top spot of the list and they had been plagued with scandals recently, so they probably wouldn't be appearing. Sahara had entered the venue of the award ceremony. At this time, the ceremony was about to begin so the staff were very busy, but Nathan and Kyle still did not show up. I knew that they wouldn't have the guts to come.

onboarding ritual. One of them — hair dyed a too-bright violet, mismatched earrings, oversized tote bag — pointed toward Noah’s car and grinned. Another muttered something and snorted. Noah didn’t roll down the window. Didn’t glare. Let them look. He wasn’t here to impress them. He was here to last longer than their attention span. They stopped at a red light. And that’s when he saw it. Still there. Still towering over the block. The old Want More? Want Quinn billboard.

he said dismissively. I shoved past him, my legs shaky beneath me. Behind me, Shirley's mocking voice cut through the air. "She doesn't look too well, does she?" Eric shrugged coldly. "It's fine. She can't live without me anyway. This is just another tantrum she's throwing. I'll talk to her once we're back home." … Two weeks slipped away after that. Unable to track me down, Eric finally decided to call. His voice trembled with panic. "Where the hell did you disappear to? I'm done with all this drama. Get your ass back here!"

"Mom, I'm not as useless as Dad. I won't let myself be controlled. You can't use Luther Group against me anymore." He hung up. … Over the next three months, Harrison exhausted nearly every resource and connection he had. Eleanor vanished like a stone sinking into the ocean, without a ripple. She didn't use her ID. She didn't stay in hotels. She made no purchases that required real-name registration. Just like that, she completely disappeared from his world. Harrison grew quieter by the day and far more volatile. Everyone at the company walked on eggshells, terrified of provoking him. He sent Winona to prison. He sent the thugs in with her. He froze all of Miranda's assets, turning her into a

The urge to pick up the phone and call him was really strong today but like always I'll blame it on the god-damned pregnancy hormones. “Good morning everyone. Lets get started,we have a full agenda today, focusing mainly on financial drops, and public presentation. We were among the top twenty but now we're below forty. Grace said breaking my space out, making everyone trun to look at me.I stood quickly so no one would notice I had spaced out. “Thank you Grace, Good morning everyone, I'll begin with the most pressing problem on our list today, which is the scandal.” I said moving from my seat to stand at the head of the table in front of the White board.

“Now do you see why this is such a mess? Do you know who Bruce Jaques is? That guy is a real hard case. If you’re not careful, you could end up losing your life over this. “You should lay low first. Otherwise, you’ll drag the whole university down with you. There won’t be a thing I can do to help.” Shiloh clenched her fist so hard that her knuckles turned white. Fear filled her heart. After walking out of the campus gate, Shiloh got into her car and was about to start the engine when she received an anonymous text. [I’m sending someone to pick you up tomorrow. We need to have a serious talk.]

A bitter laugh escaped me as I pulled out my phone and called James for a ride. I hadn't been home long when I heard quick footsteps on the stairs. Jonathan appeared in the doorway, and I could almost sense his quiet sigh of relief. "I'm sorry," he said, with an uncharacteristic hint of regret. "The afternoon got completely derailed. We never made it to the courthouse." I assumed he was just filling the silence, but he kept going. Casually, I slid the stack of invitations I'd prepared into my bag. "It's fine.”