Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 34098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 34098 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 170(@200wpm)___ 136(@250wpm)___ 114(@300wpm)
Holly hadn’t wanted to give up her job, which had become a bone of contention between them. He earned the money, she didn’t have to work. Staying at home all day, waiting for him, didn’t sound like fun. Nor did shopping. So, she kept her job and was still home before him.
Everything about married life had bored her. They didn’t have any children because William wasn’t ready. He had a name to build and until he had made partner, there would not be any children.
Holly had known he’d never been faithful to her. She never could prove it, though. He went through assistants and secretaries so fast. Their names were constantly changing, and it seemed a new one was in place each time she phoned the office.
A year ago, she had picked up her cell phone and was about to call him about lunch. William often canceled lunch when he had a new girl to train. Holly had known there was a new woman working for him. She hated her marriage. Hated her husband. Hated her life. So, rather than call and go on pretending, she had walked up to his office, and that was where she had stood, door open, watching him fuck his latest secretary.
To help with the divorce, she had filmed several minutes of it before they had even realized someone was watching them.
She had gotten half of everything he had. There had been no arguing. Even with his lawyer, a friend of them both, or at least he had been until then, had tried to suggest her lack of support in leaving her job had ruined the marriage.
What William hadn’t known was that his infidelity had caught up with him. Holly had kept a record of the women who worked for him as it seemed odd how many employees he went through. From the moment they were married, she finally had proof he’d never been faithful. All the women he’d screwed had been angry he got them fired. They all helped her.
The divorce had been final six months ago. For six months she had kept to her old ways—working, going home, eating alone, watching television, going to bed, and then getting back up, and the cycle repeating. Until last night.
She had been walking home when she passed a clothing store. There in the shop window a beautiful red dress had called out to her. She’d not been able to resist. With one look at the dress, she had known she wanted it for herself. She’d never splurged on anything quite so extravagant. Even though her husband had been quite wealthy, she hated shopping, hated buying clothes, but in that instant, she wanted it. So, she walked right in and lo and behold, they had the dress in her size. She changed into it right then and there, dumping her other clothes in the trash bin outside. Before she left, she picked up a pair of matching shoes, and then on a spur of the moment, she found the first nightclub she could find, and danced.
The moment she wore the dress, all she wanted to do was dance, and it had been one of the most exhilarating moments of her life.
She hadn’t stuck around. There hadn’t been any reason to.
Holly smiled.
William never once took her dancing. She could imagine him taking out many of his assistants and secretaries. Looking back over her married life, she had to wonder what she ever saw in him. Any kind of love had died a long time ago. She pushed the thoughts of him out of her mind, because each time she thought of her ten-year marriage, she felt embarrassed to have stayed with the man for so long. He’d been truly awful throughout it all.
She focused again on the books. Her papercut had gone to a dull throb, and she quickly picked up the books and started to place them back in order on the shelves. She loved being a librarian, loved surrounding herself with books. There was so much knowledge and of course fantasy, be it fiction or nonfiction. She loved them all.
Once her latest trolley was empty of returned books, she headed to the end of the aisle and went straight toward the elevator. Reaching out, she pressed the button that would take her down to the main floor.
Would she go dancing again tonight? She had no idea.
She’d taken the dress to be dry cleaned. Usually when she purchased clothes, she always had them washed before she wore them. This time was so different.
The elevator doors opened and she stepped out, pushing her trolley toward the main desk. The second trolley had a couple of returns already.
Evie, another librarian, stood at the counter, working on the computer. They had an order of new books coming in a couple of weeks, which they were pretty excited about. Funds for the library were always sparse and they had no choice but to fix building damage rather than purchase books. This time, though, with the building repaired and maintenance handled, they were able to order new books.