Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
Two months of silence followed.
I’d buried myself in work and, when that failed, in wine-just enough to knock me out before the memories could surface.
“Get a grip,” I whispered each night, reaching for warmth that was no longer there.
It took a week to stop making coffee for two.
For sixty days straight, I arrived before the cleaners and left after everyone else. I would have slept at the office if Peter Carl hadn’t threatened to report me for fire hazards.
Now, with the launch over, I had no excuses left. Just an empty flat and a microwave meal for one.
I called Priya halfway through my sad dinner.
“Sales dipped slightly this month,” she said.
“Expected.” Elean Joie bore my name, and with me gone, it was bound to happen.
“The new OEM factory’s a dream. Faster turnaround, cheaper rates. I’m tempted to shift all production there instead of splitting orders.”
“Do it.” Lhalf-listened as she talked about lost-wax casting and electroforming, but my focus slipped.
I had avoided calling Priya, preferring email.
Priya meant Skyline City. Skyline City meant Sebastian.
And Sebastian meant silence.
Yvaine once said: “A good ex is a dead ex.”She would cheer if hers vanished as cleanly as Sebastian had.
I had felt the same about Daniel. Every unwanted reappearance after the breakup had chipped away at what little goodwill remained.
So why did Sebastian’s absence feel like a wound?
Yvaine kicked open my flat door without knocking.
“Up. Now. You’re not rotting here tonight.”I didn’t look up from my wine.
“I’m busy.”She snatched the bottle from my hands.
“Staring at walls isn’t a hobby.”Before I could protest, she hauled me to my feet and into a taxi.
La Lune was all neon and sweat, the air thick with perfume and bass. On stage, a man in a police uniform-badly unbuttoned-swung round a pole to the roar of the crowd.
Yvaine shoved me into a velvet booth.
“Two vodka sodas. And tell Antoine I want the special for her.” She jerked a thumb at me.
“No specials,” I said.
“Rubbish.” She leaned in.
“You need something to loosen up. Two months is plenty to get over a man. Even one like Sebastian.”
“I am over him.”The drinks arrived, followed by a man-tall, dark-haired, with a jawline that nearly hit right angles.
His smile was too slick, his eyes too eager.
“This one’s shy,” Yvaine told him, sliding a fifty into his waistband.
“Be persuasive.”He knelt in front of me, fingers trailing up my thigh.
“You’re much prettier than the other girls here.”My skin crawled.
“Don’t.”He grinned, undeterred, and leaned closer.
“Come on, ch?rie I shoved him back hard enough to topple him onto the floor.
Yvaine groaned.
“Christ, Elean. You’re acting like he’s diseased.”
“I’m not paying to be groped by a stranger.”
“You’re not paying, I am.” She flicked her nails at the dancer.
“Go on, then. She’s hopeless.”As he slunk away, Yvaine spun on me.
“My new boyfriend’s a model. He’s got friends. Hot ones. We could do double dates.”
“No thanks. I’m fine.”
“Liar.” She jabbed a finger at my chest.
“You’re not fine. You’re just saying you are.”The music pounded, too loud. I knocked back my drink.
“Can we just not?”She opened her mouth, then huffed.
“Fine. But you’re drinking properly tonight.”We did.
An hour later, Yvaine abandoned me for a drinking game with a group of men who looked as if they had been carved from the same marble slab slipped away, climbing the stairs to the rooftop terrace.
Cold air hit my face. Below, Paris glittered. Above fireworks exploded in gold streaks-just like the ones Sebastian had arranged for my birthday.
I pulled out my phone. Missed calls from Daniel and Prescott.
Nothing from Sebastian.
When I returned to the booth, Yvaine shoved something at me.
“Take this.”
“What is it?” I looked down at the envelope.
“Cruise to the Mediterranean. You need to get away from work. A change of scenery will do you good.”She had a point. I took the envelope.
“Are you coming with me?”
“Nope. It’s a singles” cruise. And you’re getting on that ship if I have to hogtie you and throw you on board myself.”
“Still haven’t given up on fixing me up, have you?
“No, and I won’t stop until I see a genuine happy smile on that face of yours.”I leaned down and kissed my best friend’s forehead.
“Thanks, Yvie.”When I returned to the booth, Yvaine shoved something at me.
“Take this.”
“What is it?” I looked down at the envelope.
“Cruise to the Mediterranean. You need to get away from work. A change of scenery will do you good.”She had a point. I took the envelope.
“Are you coming with me?”
“Nope. It’s a singles” cruise. And you’re getting on that ship if I have to hogtie you and throw you on board myself.”
“Still haven’t given up on fixing me up, have you?
“No, and I won’t stop until I see a genuine happy smile on that face of yours.”I leaned down and kissed my best friend’s forehead.
“Thanks, Yvie.”
“You’re a liar,” I said the moment she picked up the phone.
“What did I do?” Yvaine yawned.
“You told me this was a singles” cruise.”
“Yeah.”
“It’s not.”
“Why not?”
“I saw Sebastian.” I closed my eyes, but his image wouldn’t leave.
It had been close to three months since I’d last seen him.
It should have been impossible, yet he seemed taller somehow.
Everyone else wore T-shirts and Bermuda shorts. He had shed his jacket, but the black shirt and black trousers remained, making him both impossible to ignore and impossible to approach. Add his aura of aloofness, that silent warning to keep away, and people steered clear.
Even the girls brave enough to be drawn in by his face lost their nerve when they noticed the woman beside him.
“Did you?” Yvaine’s voice was falsely surprised.
“What a coincidence.”
“Liar. Did he put you up to this?”
“Nope.”
“Lie again.”
“Still nope. He’s single, isn’t he? So are you. Like I said, this is a singles” cruise.”Smugness clung to her words no matter how hard she tried to hide it.
“This isn’t over. The moment I get off this ship, m coming to your house-“
“Yeah, yeah. You can do whatever you like when you get off. Which won’t be for another week. Meanwhile, have fun!”She hung up.
I tossed my phone onto the bed and then followed it, flat on my back, staring at the low ceiling.
Seven days, trapped on the same boat as Sebastian, he man I had spent two months trying my damned hardest to forget.
Could there be anything worse?