Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88143 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
He doesn’t make eye contact, and my stomach starts to turn over. “Do you have time to stay for lunch, or is this just a quickie?” I walk to him and put my hand on his stomach, throwing my arm around his shoulders.
“Actually,” he says, walking out of my touch, “let’s go sit on the couch and talk.” Just the way he says that, I now know something is coming.
“What’s going on?” I ask him, not moving from the door. “You are acting really weird.”
He puts his hands in his pockets, and I look at him. “Listen.” I cringe. Nothing good happens when someone starts with listen. “Things are just moving too fast.” I cross my arms over my chest. “I’m under pressure at work to perform, and well, I think I just need to …”
“You’re breaking up with me?” I ask him, not even sure I need to ask the question.
“Not so much breaking up, but maybe just stepping back and taking a break.” His voice is soft, and I have the urge to cry, but I have the bigger urge to charge at him.
I put my hand up, and I point at him. “If you give me the ‘it’s not you, it’s me’ talk …” I stop talking before I threaten him.
“I’m sorry,” he says softly. Grabbing his jacket in his hand, he walks to me, and I put my hand up to stop him. He just nods and walks out the door. I watch him through the frosted glass as he gets into his waiting Town Car. I walk to the stairs, turning around and sitting on the step. My phone pings in my hand, and I look down to see that is Zoe. I swear we feel each other’s pain.
I dial her, and she answers with a low tone. “Don’t tell me.”
“He broke up with me,” I say, putting my hand to my mouth to stop the sobs from ripping through me.
“I’ll be there in ten,” she says and disconnects, and I know that wherever she is, she will be here in ten minutes.
Chapter Two
Zara
“Do you want to car pool to Mom and Dad’s after the game?” Zoe asks me, forcing me to look up from the salad I’m scooting around my plate.
I shrug. “I guess it would make the most sense.” I drop my fork.
“It’s been four months.” She raises her voice to get my attention. “Four months, not weeks.” She leans toward me to hiss the last part.
“I know … it’s just …” I don’t know how to explain it. “I really loved him.”
Zoe leans back in her chair, and I look at her. We couldn’t be more different in style. She is always dressed for business whereas I’m sitting here in my tight light blue jeans with a white tank top and a long gray knitted sweater. Sure, I have Louboutin on my feet and my tan Hermes purse, but other than that, my long blond hair is piled on top of my head while hers is long to her waist in loose curls. “We are going to leave here. We are going to go to your house, and then I’m going to choose an outfit for you.” I raise an eyebrow, and she rolls her eyes. “Okay fine, you will help me pick out an outfit for you this Saturday. You are going to dress up and put on more than just mascara.”
“I wear makeup. I’m just working from home today,” I tell her. I mean, I put on some foundation and lip gloss yesterday when I had to meet a client. I even did my hair. Okay fine, there was half a bottle of dry shampoo in my hair, but it was sort of styled.
“I think it’s safe to say the mourning of Ed is over.” She picks up her water and raises her hand when she sees the waitress. “You’ve done the ‘he left me, let’s eat ice cream’ for a week.” I lean back in my chair, crossing my arms. “Then you did the ‘why didn’t he love me’ song for two weeks.”
“It was a day,” I point out, and she now raises her eyebrow at me. “Okay fine, it was two weeks, but seriously, I loved him.”
“Well, I think we are going in the right direction. You just used the past tense of love,” she says, clapping her hands. I exhale a big breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Anyway, the point is that you need to get back on that horse.”
“What if all I’m riding are donkeys?” I ask. “What if I never fall in love again?”
“Are you kidding me?” she snaps, and I know her sympathy is out the window. In fact, it was out the window two days after the breakup. “Did you really love him?”