Total pages in book: 65
Estimated words: 59713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 59713 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 299(@200wpm)___ 239(@250wpm)___ 199(@300wpm)
That was an ongoing thread throughout the apartment. There was very little in the way of possessions in my small place. I had a bed, a couch, and a little TV, but that was about it. I didn’t get out of my relationship with Doug with much. But the apartment was mine. And I was free to do as I damn well pleased in it.
I handed Fiona the cups and plopped down on the couch, leaning back against the pillows. She sat down beside me and handed me one of the cups.
“Alright,” Fiona said after her first deep swig of the drink. “Spill. Tell me what’s going on.”
“You know I had to go to court today to finish up everything with Doug.”
“Yes,” she said, the anger evident in her voice. She didn’t even like to hear his name spoken, and the response seethed from between her teeth as she tried to control her reaction. “I still can’t believe they wouldn’t even let me be in there.”
“I know. But it was closed because of the charges against him. And I think it was something I needed to do on my own. I was able to stand up against him without anybody propping me up and he needed to see how strong I am.
“That’s going to be the last thing he remembers about me. For the next several years, all he’s going to know is the inside of that prison, and he’s going to have to think about the words I said to the judge right before sentencing,” I said.
“I’m so proud of you for being able to do that,” Fiona said. “I can’t even imagine how stressful it was.”
“It really was, but it wasn’t the only stressful thing I had to do today.”
“What do you mean? What else happened?” she asked.
“My period is two weeks late, and I’ve been feeling really sick,” I said. “I’ve been trying to ignore it, but it’s been going on too long, and I just couldn’t stop thinking about it, so I ended up taking a pregnancy test.”
Her eyes were wide with worry. “And?”
“And it was negative.”
She let out a breath, her shoulders sagging and her eyes closing briefly. “Thank goodness. That would have been disastrous. You are under so much stress your body must just be responding to it.”
“I know. That’s what I figured,” I said. “It’s happened before. That’s actually why I had the tests in the apartment in the first place. It’s just never gone on quite this long.”
“Okay, but I don’t get it. The test came back negative. You’re not pregnant. Isn’t that good news?” she asked.
“It’s fantastic news. There’s no way I could handle carrying Doug’s baby. And I am definitely not in a place right now in my life where I could take care of a child. Just remembering how to really live on my own and take care of myself is hard enough. I can’t be responsible for someone else’s life too.”
“Exactly. So why do you still look kinda sad?” Fiona asked.
I shrugged, taking another sip of whiskey and letting my head fall back against the wall. “I don’t know. I don’t understand what’s going on with me. This news should make me feel so much better. And yet, it doesn’t. I’m relieved, but I can’t make myself feel happy or good or anything.”
My best friend moved closer so we huddled together on the couch. “You’ve been through so much. It’s to be expected your brain is in a strange place right now. I will help you find some help to get you through it. I promise.”
“Thank you,” I said, leaning against her.
“Do your parents know anything?” she asked lightly.
My stomach twisted a little. “Nope, they still want nothing to do with me.”
She shook her head in disappointment. “Their loss babe. And you don’t need them anyway. I’m your family. And I always will be.”
She wrapped her arms around me, and I hugged her tightly in return.
CHAPTER 2
ALEX
The website was a mess. An absolute atrocious mess. Whoever our grandparents had hired to build it was a buffoon of the highest order, but they had paid for the server for years in advance. So I had to rebuild the damn thing from the ground up, and considering it was completely mine to play with, I was going all out. I had a boilerplate site up for the moment, allowing customers to find us and get relevant information while I worked on everything else, but it was basic.
I was deep into coding when I felt the energy of one of my brothers heading my way. It was hard to explain, but each of my brothers had their own unique feeling. I could with nearly 100% accuracy tell who was in the room with me without looking.
This time it was Cameron.
Cameron often spent the most time with me in the office, going over the finances. I was finely tuned to his mood and how volatile it could get sometimes. Similarly, he was pretty used to me and my mood, and we generally did a pretty good job of calming each other down.