Page 1 of Diverge

Chapter One

Billie

The shrill of the phonesringing in the call centre across from me has my mind recoiling back into my current reality. I sigh as I sit and watch my mouse move across my computer screen. Scanning to the bottom right corner, I notice it’s only two in the afternoon.

How much slower can timeactuallygo?

“Hey Billie, do you have the notes from our meeting last Friday?”

I stare blankly at Laura’s face and wonder how I ended up here. Taking orders from people who chug caffeine all day to meet deadlines that are way too unrealistic to meet, so they end up breaking their backs by bending over backwards for the company that‘cares about their mental health.’

“Earth to Billie!” Laura waves a bunch of papers in my face, and my hand twitches as I stop myself from smacking her across the mouth.

“Uh, yes, I do. I’ll email them to you.” Opening the file quickly, I send her the email. Getting up out of my seat, I am making a beeline for the kitchen when I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket.

BESTIE

I let out an audible groan as soon as I read the text from my best friend Grace. She is the wisest, most beautiful human in the world, but my god, she can be a pain in the ass. I start typing as I enter the kitchen.

ME

BESTIE

Lazy Sundays are our bonding time. All we do is eat snacks, lay in bed, and watch trash TV. It’smykind of night. As for the whole“getting together with friends and drinking until your face goes numb,” that’s more Grace’s type of fun. I roll my eyes and lock my phone as I slide it back into my pants pocket.

I did promise Grace I would at leasttryto be more social. Making myself a cup of coffee, I take a sip and return to my seat.

“Billie, those notes you sent me, can you make sure that next time they are more in-depth? I don’t understand them.” Laura peeps her eyes over the partition from across my desk where hers is.

Well, if you would fucking go to the meeting yourself, you wouldn’t need my notes.

“Sure, Laura,” I manage to say, squashing my internal voice down deeper inside my chest.

*****

Grace is lucky. Shewas born into a wealthy family. Me, on the other hand, all my brother and I got was an apartment left to us by our dad. Grace can quite literally have whatever she wants, whenever she wants it. After growing up together, I now notice how different we are. She loves everything and anything to do with partying and being a social butterfly. I, on the other hand, love staying at home in my own company, listening to music and reading books. Sometimes I think we are complete opposites and have no idea how we stayed friends, and other times I love her for being different to me. I look over to the acreage surrounding Grace’s home and wonder if she has ever even stepped foot between the hundreds of trees on her property when I feel a hand on my shoulder. Turning around, I look up from where I am sitting to find familiar ocean-blue eyes smiling down at me.

“Hey, Billie,” he says with a smirk on the corner of his lips.

His familiar husky voice vibrates through my ears and into my now-frozen brain.

I narrow my eyes and immediately jump to my feet facing him when I realise who he is. My heart is in my throat, my mouth is substantially dry, and the last place I want to be right now is here.

“F-Finn?” I fumble my words because that’s all that I can get out right now.

I’m speechless. Finn is Grace’s brother. The one who looked very different from what he looks like now, standing in front of me, and for a second, it looks like he hasn’t changed from that teenage boy I used to know. Looking him up and down, I notice he’s gotten taller, more tanned, and a lot more muscular. His button-up shirt hangs open, revealing his perfectly carved chest and abs. Realising I am now staring, I clear my throat and look away as he chuckles at the flustered sight of me.

“Did you miss me?” His tone is teasing, and I clench my jaw as my mind works to come up with words, to sayanything.

Is this really happening right now?

“That depends, do people usually miss assholes?” I cross my arms across my chest as I swallow, putting on a brave face, ameanface.

He chuckles and puts one arm around me, my skin tingling everywhere his arm touches, and we begin walking. “Why don’t we have a drink and do some catching up?” I look back to everyone huddled around the fire talking, laughing, and drinking, and my eyes skate to where Grace is sitting.

She’s laughing and carrying on about something that happened when we were in high school together. I know the story, and sheknowsI hate the story, but I let her tell it anyway as my legs carry me with Finn away from the fire, to the drinks station. Currently everyone is around the fire, so we are alone.

“So, did you have to convince the government to let you back into the country?” I ask with a sarcastic smile. The corner of his mouth lifts slightly as he pours whiskey into his cup.

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