Just One Night: Part 5
Read Just One Night: Part 5 Online
Authors: Elle Casey
just one night
A Serial Romance
Part 5
ELLE CASEY
COPYRIGHT NOTICE
© 2014 Elle Casey, all rights reserved, worldwide. No part of this ebook may be reproduced, uploaded to the Internet, or copied without author permission. The author respectfully asks that you please support artistic expression and help promote anti-piracy efforts by
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Elle Casey thanks you deeply for your understanding and support.
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OTHER BOOKS BY ELLE CASEY
NEW ADULT ROMANCE
Shine Not Burn
&
MacKenzie Fire (2-book series)
By Degrees
Don’t Make Me Beautiful
Rebel
(3-book series)
ADULT CONTEMPORARY ROMANCE
Full Measure
(written as Kat Lee)
Just One Night
(romantic serial)
YA PARANORMAL ROMANCE
Duality
(2-book series)
YA URBAN FANTASY
War of the Fae
(4-book series)
Clash of the Otherworlds
(3-book series, follows
War of the Fae
)
My Vampire Summer
Aces High
YA DYSTOPIAN
Apocalypsis
(4-book series)
YA ACTION ADVENTURE
Wrecked
(2-book series)
DEDICATION
To the confident, sexy girl inside all of us.
A note about serial romances…
This book is what’s called a
serial romance
. Most readers are familiar with full-length novels, novellas, and short stories, but many are not so familiar with serialized fiction. With the advent of self-publishing has come many different innovations, but believe it or not, a serial novel is
not
one of them. Serials have been around since the seventeenth century! They became especially popular in Britain’s Victorian Era (nineteenth century), “due to a combination of the rise of literacy, technological advances in printing, and improved economics of distribution.”*
The Pickwick Papers
by Charles Dickens may be a serial you’re familiar with.
The Count of Monte Cristo
and
The Three Musketeers
were also serials, as were
Uncle Tom’s Cabin
,
Madame Bovary
,
Anna Karenina
, and
The Bonfire of the Vanities,
among many others. Use of this format started to die down when periodicals fell out of favor and were then replaced by the Internet, but thanks to indie authors, it’s coming back! As a reader, I’ve found it a fun way to follow a story that’s always evolving while the anticipation builds between episodes or parts, and in the case of my serials it will be a story that evolves according to reader feedback. Please join the conversation about this book on my website at:
You can read more about serialized fiction
*[Law, Graham (2000).
CHAPTER ONE
Jennifer
THREE DAYS HAVE GONE BY and I’m starting to wonder if I dreamed the entire event with Mia, Edward, and William in that wine cave. He said he was going to take his time getting started on the new and improved ‘us’, but I guess when we had that conversation in the garden I really didn’t take him that literally. I stare at my phone for the hundredth time since Tuesday.
When it buzzes in my hand I almost drop it in shock. Mia’s name flashes on the screen and disappointment fills me, but I answer it anyway because I know if I don’t she’ll just keep calling and then eventually come and bust my door down.
“Hi, Mia,” I say, unable to keep the sadness from my voice.
“You heard the news, then, huh?”
“What?” This is not at all what I was expecting her to say.
“The news. About William.”
“Mia,what are you talking about?”
“You mean you don’t know?”
“Mia!” I yell. “Stop pissing me off!”
“Geez, take a pill. I thought you knew, the way you sounded so sad. Go online and search Stratford Investments right now. I’ll hold.”
I keep the phone on my ear with one hand and start typing on my laptop with the other, reading the first article that comes up. It’s titled
Stratford Investments CEO Replaced In Surprise Move
.
My heart rate picks up as I skim the news being shared on the local newspaper’s website. Apparently, the day that we had our little wine tasting and walk in the garden, William left the company.
What?
And now Edward is CEO.
What-what?
“How did this happen?” I ask, dumbfounded. William gave me no clue at all that this was on the horizon. How could he have kept such important information so well hidden? I didn’t see anything on his face that day other than regret over what happened with us.
Or maybe that’s what I
wanted
to see. Maybe that expression on his face was work stress.
“I talked to Edward,” Mia says casually, like the world isn’t imploding. “I guess it was a big family fight or something. Came out of the blue.”
I’m almost relieved to know that it wasn’t my imagination that had William worried about our relationship that day in the garden. Yes, it probably means I’m selfish, but with William everything is so touch and go, it’s way too easy for my feelings to flip flop around him after all we’ve been through. And after what happened with Hank and his wandering penis, I’m ready to believe the worst of anyone. I hate Hank for that, for making me doubt everything the minute it’s not shiny and perfect.
“You talked to Edward?” I ask, jerking myself back to the present. None of this makes sense, and I’m tired of things being all crazy. I need to know what’s going on. “Since when have you been doing that?”
“Oh, for a little while, not long. He was pretty shocked, though. I guess William isn’t normally much of a fighter when it comes to their father.”
“Wow.” I’m having a hard time absorbing all of this news. “What was the fight about?” I can’t help but think that William is left all alone now. I don’t know much about his company or him, but I had the impression that he liked his job very much. He must be really upset. It makes my heart hurt for him.
“Edward didn’t say. But he’s the CEO now, and up to his ass in work. I don’t think he really knows what he’s doing. I guess William always handled pretty much everything.”
I shake my head at the craziness. “I should probably call him.”
“Who, Edward?”
My eyes cross. I feel like I’m talking to Barbie. “No, not Edward, William.”
“Do you have his number?”
“I think so.” I pull the cell off my ear and scroll through my received calls, looking for that number that came in several times many days ago. The ones I ignored. I want to kick myself now for giving him such a hard time. He must have had a ton of things going on that were stressing him out, and I was just adding to the pile.
Mia’s voice starts up again so I put the phone back to my ear. “… well, call him if you want. I’m going to lunch with Edward today if you want me to pass on any messages to him.”
“Okay,” I say absently, taking the phone away from my head again and looking at the screen, wondering if I’m seeing William’s number on my phone right now. I wish I hadn’t erased his other messages.
I shake my head when I remember who called me at the time stamped on this particular message. Not William for sure. This one was from the apartment manager who left me a voicemail telling me my rent is due. William’s number is nowhere on my phone.
Mia disconnects on her end and I put the phone down on the table.
I immediately feel like slapping myself when I realize I could have gotten William’s number through Mia via Edward. I call Mia right back, but her voicemail picks up after the first ring. I disconnect without leaving a message, knowing that she could talk for an hour before taking my call. There’s got to be more than one way to skin this cat.
A quick search of William’s name does me no good. His phone number and address are unlisted or don’t exist online. I’m chewing my lip trying to figure out who besides Mia might know how to reach him when the idea comes to me.
I quickly do another search and then dial the number I find.
My heart skips a beat when a young woman’s voice comes on the line. “Stratford Investments, how may I direct your call?”
“Hello. I’d like to speak with the assistant to the CEO,” I say, using my professionally polite voice while trying to hide my nervousness. I don’t know why, but I have this insane idea that someone there is going to yell, “
Why are you calling here, stalker?!”
into the phone at me. I feel like an intruder on a life I have no business being a part of. Obviously I need medication.
“And who may I ask is calling?”
“Ummm …” I panic, trying to decide if I should use a fake name or not. Then I feel silly for even considering it. It’s not like I’m living in a spy novel. “This is Jennifer. Jennifer Moorehouse.”
“Please hold.”
My palms begin to sweat as I wait for the call to connect. Is this out of line, trying to track William down through his assistant? What if she’s so loyal to the current CEO that she scolds me? I’m really glad I’m doing this by phone and not in person. I’ll hang up if she so much as has a tone with me, and I’ll never have to look her in the eye again as long as I live. This knowledge makes it possible for me to stay on the line and wait for her.
“Oh em gee, it’s you!” a voice squeals into the phone.
I nearly drop my cell in surprise, but quickly recover. At least she’s not yelling in a mean tone. “Hello?” I can’t remember the girl’s name, even though visions of her red hair are very clearly in the front of my mind. This has to be her. I can totally picture her tangled in a paper tray right now.
“Hello? Can you hear me? This is Rachel, William’s … I mean
Edward’s
assistant.” Rachel has actually learned how to put an eye-roll into her voice, giving me the distinct impression that she’s not impressed with her new boss.
“Hi, Rachel, how are you?”
“Ugh, I’m terrible. But who cares about me, how are
you
is the question.”
“I’m okay, I guess. But I was wondering … have you heard from William?” I hope she doesn’t consider this to be prying into business issues I have no right to be discussing.
I wait with baited breath for either the answer or the anger. Do I sound like a desperate woman trying to find out why a guy who isn’t interested hasn’t called? If she says,
“He’s just not that into you
,” I will die. I will die of shame right here on my nasty brown shag carpet.
Her voice drops to a near whisper. “No, not a single peep. Have you?”
I’m whispering too, thrilled that I’m not being called a lunatic yet. “No. That’s why I called. Would you happen to have his number?”
“You don’t?”
Embarrassment sets in and I stop whispering. My ears are on fire. “No. I mean, I used to, but I erased it.”
“Why’d you do that?”
Yes, I am the dumbest woman on earth. Thank you for pointing that out.
“It was a mistake. Do you think you could get it for me?”