Total pages in book: 184
Estimated words: 176002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 176002 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 880(@200wpm)___ 704(@250wpm)___ 587(@300wpm)
“I’ve got every faith in you,” Josh says. “I’m sure they will have, too.”
I sigh and tip my head back. “I just have to pray they make it to Heathrow before they hear Connor’s song.” The thoughts whir, but they become obvious, just like that. I’m doing it again. Playing a passive bystander and praying for the best, like there is nothing I can do about it.
But I can.
I can talk to the piece of shit myself, and tell him to keep his fucking mouth shut about my identity, or I’ll use every ounce of ammunition I have to strike him back. If he wants Carly, and her twin flame love and her contacts and whatever else he needs from her, then he can keep me the fuck out of it.
I’m going to do everything I can to make sure my parents aren’t going to hear about my part in Connor’s song.
I grab my phone from my handbag and Josh raises his eyebrows.
“That was a quick turnaround. Are you going to call them right now?”
“No,” I say. “There’s someone else I’m going to speak to first. Fuck the hurt, and the humiliation that means nothing whatsoever. Time to go to the source. To the asshole himself.” I unblock Connor’s number.
“Shall I leave?” Josh says, pointing to the bedroom. “Give you some privacy?”
I shake my head. “No need. You’re welcome to stay, if you want to. There’s nothing I want to say to him, I wouldn’t happily say in front of you. Who knows,” I say as I click call. “I might even congratulate the prick. At least my seven years of trying to help him make it weren’t entirely for nothing.”
I expect Connor’s phone to ring to voicemail or for the call to be cancelled once he sees my name onscreen. I can’t imagine he’ll be all that keen to speak to me while he’s partying somewhere with Carly with a glass of champagne in his hand, or whatever the fuck he’s doing.
I’m wrong though, I hear the call connect within seconds. There’s a vague humdrum of voices and club sounds in the background, as I figured.
“Ella?! I was about to try you, on another number, have you heard my –”
I interrupt his flow, my voice curt and strong, all hint of hurt dried up to nothing. All that remains is rage. But I don’t shout and scream, because he doesn’t deserve the reaction. He doesn’t deserve anything from me.
“Yes, I’ve heard your song. Seems the rest of the universe has too, haven’t they? You’ve hit it pretty fucking big, from what I can gather. Such a shame your ex broke your heart by being a hooker, isn’t it? Shame you cheated on her and left her in the dirt before she did it. Oh, but you left that part out, right? What an oversight.”
The noise in the background goes quiet, and then there is silence, just his breaths. He must be stepping outside somewhere. Away from Carly, most likely.
“Can’t you see what’s happening here?” he says, and there is no arrogance in his voice, or celebratory cheer at all. It takes me right back to the days when we were young. My gut lurches because he sounds so fresh. So… in love. “I made it because of you, just like I always knew I would. Always. No matter what happened in the meantime, and all the bullshit we went through, we got the outcome we needed. Both of us.” He pauses, and I’m about to speak until he keeps going. “It’s about us again now. Together. We can live the dream. We can travel the world. We can do every single thing we ever wanted.”
“Wait, Connor –”
“You won’t need to be a hooker anymore, and I won’t need to be swanning around crappy assed clubs, trying to make contacts to climb the ladder, we can be us again. Me and you. Just like we were always meant to be.”
I’m dumbfounded by his words, trying to digest them as he carries on.
“Don’t you see? It’s fate? We spent so many years dreaming, but destiny sometimes takes a weird route, doesn’t it? Yeah, sure, we had a few years of pain, but it was worth it. It will be worth it, I swear. I swear it on my life, Ells.”
I scoff at him, because oh, how I’d have believed him, once upon a time. Part of me still does. The teenager who worshipped him and everything he ever said. But now I just laugh at the absurdity. I feel ice cold at his words.
“Twin flames, right?”
“It’s not a fucking joke. I mean it.”
I can’t help but snap at him. “You’re a prick, Connor, an absolute prick, and you can make it to the top of the whole fucking world if you like, it won’t make jack shit difference to me. Sing to the high fucking heavens that I’m a hooker, I don’t care. Just don’t tell my parents, you understand? If you’re going to grace me with one scrap of respect after all the utter hell you caused, then grace me with that. I’d rather tell them myself, thanks.”