Page 7 of Sky Full of Stars

I get up to go back to my office.

“Jenna.” She stops me, I look back. “Lance called me.”

“Oh?”

She nods. “I knew you dating my nephew was a bad idea. What happened?”

“He hooked up with some random chick in a club.”

“Prick,” Izzy grunts.

“While I was there.”

Her mouth drops open. “That little cock weasel. You can do better, honey, forget his ass, he’s just like my brother,” she shakes her head angrily.

“Not sure there are any better,” I tell her, used to the way she speaks when she doesn’t have her professional face on.

“Maybe it’s time to consider a change,” she laughs with an eyebrow wiggle. Izzy is a lesbian and has been married to her wife for eight years. They’re happy together.

“Not sure I’m ready for that drastic a change just yet,” I tell her. “Unfortunately, I like the D too much,” I laugh.

“Don’t knock it till you try it,” she winks.

“Spend your time with the sun,” I tell her with another laugh “Then call Maurice before he shows up here!”

“On it,” she waves her hand at me.

I spend the day working on Elle’s book tour, speaking to her on the phone to plan and she agrees to come in to go over the possibility of a European tour. I’m excited about that, she’ll be the first client to do it. Izzy travels with the authors a lot but given she’s needed here too, going with Elle to Europe might be too much of a stretch away from the office for her. Perhaps she’ll let me go. It would be nice to get away for a while.

Later, after filling Izzy in on everything, I sit with her to discuss some of the other work she has lined up and hear all about her forty-five-minute phone call with Maurice, after which she sadly shakes her head muttering about cutting him loose. I head out just after six. I have two hours to eat, change and get to McAllister’s to meet Brooke.

Lance tried to contact me a few more times today. I never did block his number. I want it to stop, so when I get home, have a quick shower and change, I sit with a glass of wine at the reading nook in my apartment and grab my phone.

Me: We are over, Lance. Stop texting and calling. And leave Izzy out of it. I won’t forgive or forget

The punch should have given him an idea about how I feel. I send it, then block him. I delete his contact details too, luckily he hadn’t left many of his personal belongings here, just a toothbrush and a couple of t-shirts that went straight into the garbage shoot. I scroll up and see Adam’s name. It’s the first contact in my list. My lip curls into a small smile as I look out into the darkened sky. It’s never really that dark in the city but it’s true what they say, New York city never sleeps.

At the bar later, Brooke allows me a half hour to drown my sorrows. Despite me trying to convince everyone I am over it, I’m clearly not but only because I feel like an idiot, not because I loved the asshole. Then she tells me to wipe Lance from my memory. We get drunk, we sing and dance and the regulars join in. Lou watches me with suspicious eyes. I let Brooke tell him a watered-down version of the situation and watch him write Lance’s name on the list of people barred from his place. If Lance shows his face here, he’ll get thrown out on his ass by anyone who sees him. It makes me laugh. I’m lucky to have people like this in my life.

Chapter Three

“You did great,” I tell Megan after I’ve put her through her paces. I tried to emulate what I’ve learnt from Sam, pushing her, but not too hard. Sam watched us for a bit, giving me an approving nod.

Megan sits down next to the punching bag out in the main gym and looks over at the rings. They’re busy, as always, a couple of the guys have fights coming up. She’s worked up quite a sweat. I hand her a water bottle and tell her to hydrate. I notice she doesn’t seem to drink too much. It’s dangerous not to.

“I get the feeling I’m going to be sore tomorrow,” she laughs. “You really ramped it up.”

“Hydration will help with that too. Stretch out, like I showed you. Don’t sit longer than a couple of hours without moving your muscles, at least until they get used to it.”

“You’re good at this,” she says after taking my advice and downing half the bottle. I nod, happy to see that.

It’s been three weeks since I started working out with Megan. She comes in twice a week and I can already see her muscle tone improving as well as her confidence which makes me happy. She still takes the self-defence class with Ricky too. I’ve enjoyed training with her, between this and being busy at work it’s taken my mind off anything else. Lance tried to contact me again via Izzy because I’d blocked him, but she stopped passing anything on and I’m fairly sure gave him a piece of her mind. Flowers came a couple of times but I gave them to Fawn and Bea who appreciated them a hell of a lot more than I did. He eventually gave up.

Megan is still pretty tight lipped about her circumstances but I get the feeling she is through whatever the bad situation was, picking up the pieces, setting herself up to never be in that position again. We get along well and she’s been to McAllister’s a couple of times with Brooke and me. She doesn’t drink though, always sticks to soda or water.

I have a rare day off so a long weekend awaits. I’m looking forward to doing some reading, I’ve planned a spa session with my old college roommate and dinner with the guys from work on Sunday. But tonight, I have a date with the bathtub and a bottle of wine.

I’ve filled up the glass, have the bottle and head to the bathroom wearing just my robe. I light some scented candles, check the temperature and am about to drop my robe when my phone vibrates. I should ignore it, this is my time to relax. But it could be work. I scrunch up my nose, undecided. I should have left it in my bedroom. I take a quick peak and am surprised to see it’s from Adam. I haven’t heard from him since I let him know I was okay nearly a month ago and never expected to hear from him. I’m surprised at the reaction, my heart leaps a little. I scold myself and put the phone down, drop my robe and get in the bath. Sipping my wine I close my eyes. All the text said was, ‘Hey Slugger, how are those knuckles?’

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