Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 49826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 249(@200wpm)___ 199(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 49826 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 249(@200wpm)___ 199(@250wpm)___ 166(@300wpm)
It doesn’t disturb or interrupt, and nothing about life needs to change, except every once in a while, you become someone else for a moment in time, two lovers who never had the chance to be together in this world. The story, once frightening, had grown to be one of beauty over time. But will he see it the same way?
I’d wanted to explain things to Nick, had fought for it, but neither his grandfather nor my aunt thought it was a good idea. Maybe things would’ve been better had he not hated me so much. But Uncle Hal claims it’s because Nick would just scoff at the idea. My worry, though, is how he’s going to react once he learns the truth.
I ran my hand over my tummy, where hopefully his child was already planted and felt a sweet shiver run down my spine. No matter what happens, I’ll always have a part of him to keep. I don’t feel guilty; it’s not like Nicholas has always hated me; his hate stems from his own misunderstandings.
But before that, before he grew to despise me, there was a mutual attraction that couldn’t be hidden. We’d flirt and tease each other; actually, he flirted; I’ve never been too good at it. But there was no doubt that I welcomed his attention. My heart still beats faster when I think of his smile. That boyish grin that could light up a room and send my poor body into meltdown.
But things changed that fateful night and his smile became a sneer, his grin a scowl. Now he can’t even bear to be in the same room with me, and I’m not allowed to tell him the truth, not yet. The waiting is going to be the hardest. Though I more than enjoy our times together, I long for the day when it’s just Ellie and Nick, when no unseen forces are needed to get him to want me.
NICK
I stayed in my room all day, checking outside the window each time I heard a sound like an addict on the lookout for its dealer. The poor delivery guy almost crapped himself when I flew out the front door to take the box from his hands since he was moving slower than molasses on the tundra. Did I mention he’s like eighty?
I set up one of the cameras in the bedroom facing the bed and placed a few others around the house when no one else was around. I felt good afterward, knowing that whatever is going on, I’m bound to find out by tomorrow at the latest, which gave me great peace of mind. I was way more relaxed at the dinner table that evening, even after being joined by Ellie.
She looked sick, tired, and weak, so soft. A part of me recalled the little innocent I’d met here for the first time a little over a year ago. It was hard reconciling the two personalities until I remembered that that’s just how she’d suckered me, played me for a fool.
The one thing I never understood, though, is why gramps had chosen her over me. Why he’d tried so hard to get me to forgive her?
In the end, I’d stopped accepting his calls as well. Something I’d think he’d understand since he too was a hardheaded asshole, something I’ve been called more times than I can count.
“What’s eating you?” Hopefully, some flesh-eating pariah with an over-eating habit. Geez, Nick, get a grip; what the fuck? How am I still so angry at this thing more than a year later? It’s not like she’d cheated on me; we hadn’t got that far. But the intent had been there, and she’d known it. I think the problem for me is that she was the first woman I truly saw a future with,
When I fell, I fell hard and fast. She’d checked all the boxes on my list before I even knew I had one and made me feel in ways no one else had before her. I’m almost certain that once a decent amount of time had passed, I’d have proposed. But it all came to a screeching halt. My growing feelings and any future plans, the night I caught her sneaking out of my gramps room in the middle of the night.
Gramps may have been up there in age, but he wasn’t too old to do the deed, and no matter what excuses they gave back then, there was none good enough to suffice. So, I’d left in anger, never to return. Until now, now that the old man is gone. Is that why she looks like death? Is she pining for her lover? The thought made me want to fling a forkful of my mashed potatoes in her face, but I restrained myself barely.
“I just feel a little under the weather, that’s all. No need to worry.”