Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32760 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 164(@200wpm)___ 131(@250wpm)___ 109(@300wpm)
“Whoa, take it easy, this is the scene of an accident,” one of them says.
“My girlfriend!” I roar. “Jennifer! Is that–did she?”
I point at the river as my emotions begin to rip through me.
“We don’t have any information yet, but you need to stand back over there.”
Another officer comes up from behind the two men. He looks like he’s older and holds a higher rank. He’s walking slowly and comes over to me with a somber look on his face.
“What’s your name?” he asks.
“Marlon. Marlon Carnell. What happened here!?”
“There was an…accident,” he replies. “A girl went over the bridge.”
“Oh God,” I groan, feeling as though I’ve been shot in the gut. I’m right on the edge of losing all control.
“It was Jenny, wasn’t it? Jennifer Everly? She’s my girlfriend!”
The officer says nothing. He looks down at a notebook in his hand, then back up at me. He’s about to say something, but it’s right then that the EMTs come up from the side of the road, four of them pushing and pulling a gurney with a body on it.
“Get off me!” I scream, throwing elbows like I’m in a fight for my life. I hear one of the cops groan as I connect with his ribs, and I tear myself away and run over to the gurney.
As I do, I feel my legs threaten to give out.
I feel tears burst from my eyes and fall down my cheeks.
I feel my skin go hot as though I’m on fire despite the cold.
I feel my heart shrivel up inside my chest as I look down at the gurney and see Jenny lying there, her face cold and white, her eyes closed…
…dead…
“Oh God!” I cry out as I collapse into the wet, fallen leaves beneath me. “Jenny, no! Jenny…”
7
RAIN
“Do we really have to go here again?” I moan. “We were just here like a few nights ago.”
Taylor makes a sound that’s something between a whine and a groan but is definitely filled with disapproval and looks down his nose at me as we all climb out of the Uber.
“Oh, you did not just say that, girl. I’ll have you know this is one of the hippest spots in Manhattan right now, okay? And thanks to me, we can get in, because I know one of the doormen who will totally let us in!”
“Will he totally let us in?” I reply in a mocking tone that he completely misses.
“Oh, he totally will!” he replies as he takes the lead, indicating that Jasmine and I should follow him up the sidewalk. “And you can thank me getting you in later by paying for the ride home!”
I glance over at her, and she just smiles, shrugs, and links arms with me as we thread our way through the dense crowd.
I shouldn’t be out tonight. I should be at home working on my drawings for my collection so I’ll have something to show Randy, but I know that if I go back to the apartment, I’m just going to end up staring at my sketchpad and getting absolutely nothing done.
And it’s all thanks to him. Marlon Carnell.
It’s been three days since I was last at his apartment–three days since we had our…encounter back at his penthouse. I don’t really know what to call it after what happened.
It was like eating the best meal of your life, but having it force fed to you and then being denied dessert and being thrown out of the restaurant by an angry bouncer. That’s the best description I can come up with.
I couldn’t even sleep that night when I got home.
I thought about calling Jasmine but decided against it. There was just something too intimate about what I’d just gone though that I couldn’t even share it with her, my best friend. So I just went home and wrapped myself up in my comforter, put on my favorite playlist, and opened my sketchbook to try and come up with some new designs.
But I wasn’t even able to do that. My brain simply would not function. All I could think about was Marlon.
Why wouldn’t he kiss me?
Why was he so rough with me?
Why couldn’t I ask him about his wet clothes?
Why won’t he let me ask him anything about him?
And what’s with that necklace he always has with him?
I give him my virginity and he can’t give me any answers?
All those questions scurried through my mind like rodents, biting for a bit of my brain, making it impossible for me to focus on anything but what had just happened.
I was so angry, but at the same time, I was longing to be back with him, cradled in his arms, nuzzling up against his warm skin, feeling protected and wanted within his incredible strength. Because there’s one thing for sure; when I’m with Marlon, I feel wanted.