Make Believe: A Novella
MAKE BELIEVE
A Novella
By Sharlay
Copyright ©2014
All rights reserved.
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the author and publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
MAKE BELIEVE
is a work of fiction. All characters, places and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Copyright ©2014 by Charlene Antrobus
Cover Art
by Charlene Antrobus
Editing by
Amy Stirnkorb of
www.stirnkorbdesign
.com
Titles By Sharlay
Pretend Series
PRETEND (BOOK 1)
MAKE BELIEVE
: A NOVELLA (BOOK 2)
Single Titles
LIVING WITH THE BAD BOY
THE BOY WHO PAINTS ME
Dedication
To
my Wattpad fans, where the dream first began...
CONTENTS
- Monday, October 7
th
at 5:17pm - Ten Days Earlier
- Monday, October 7
th
at 5:57pm - Nine Days Earlier
- Monday, October 7
th
at 5:58pm - Eight Days Earlier
- Monday, October 7
th
at 6:18pm - Seven Days Earlier
- Monday, October 7
th
at 6:28pm - Six Days Earlier
- Monday, October 7
th
at 6:40pm - Five Days Earlier
- Monday, October 7
th
at 7:00pm - Four Days Earlier
- Monday, October 7
th
at 7:01pm - One Day Earlier
- Monday, October 7
th
at 7:15pm - Present Day
- Monday, October 7
th
at 7:25pm - Present Day
- Epilogue (Ten Months Later)
Chapter 1: Monday, October 7
th
at 5:17pm
APRIL’S POINT OF VIEW
“This is not a joke, April. Why are you laughing?”
“I’
m not,” I replied, trying to stifle my laughter.
“Yes, you are
, and it is not funny. I am telling you, she bit me, OK? Why doesn’t anyone believe me?” Jess groaned as I got out of my car.
“Because she doesn’t have any teeth
, Jess. She’s not even two weeks old.”
“It doesn’t matter if she was one day
old, she’s Anthony’s daughter. Does it surprise you that she bit me? Really?”
“No, no of course not,” I said,
humoring her.
“You know, I can’t wait until
you and Aiden have a baby and you get bitten while trying to do something as courageous as breast feeding. Let’s hope someone actually believes you,” Jess declared. As I giggled to myself, I happened to look up at my front door, and suddenly the smile on my face vanished.
“Great,” I mumbled.
“What’s up?” Jess asked.
“Leah is s
itting outside of my house.” I could not believe she had the nerve.
“You have got to be kidding me.”
“I wish. Look, Jess, I’m going to have to go,” I said.
“OK,
call me later, and don’t forget.”
“I won’t
.” I ended my call with Jess and walked toward Leah. “What are you doing here?” I asked, softly.
“I know you probably don’t
want to see me, but I need to talk to you.”
“No, Leah
, I’ve done all the talking I can,” I said as we both stood outside my house. The lights were off so I knew Aiden wasn’t home, which meant I had just wasted my time.
“April, please
. I’m trying to make things right here….”
“Things were right before you
spent the night in a motel with my fiancé. I tried to be nice to you despite my friends’ warnings, but they were right.”
“
I know, I’m sorry,” she said sadly.
“
Fine. Now I think you should leave,” I breathed.
“OK
,” she whispered.
“Good
,” I said, standing there awkwardly.
“I guess I had better get going then,” she said
, bouncing slightly on her feet.
“Yeah, I guess so,” I replied
, guiltily.
“Bye
, April.”
“Bye
, Leah,” I said and then she walked by me. It was not that I wanted to be cruel, but things were getting complicated between Leah, Aiden, and me, and I wasn’t even sure what was happening anymore. She had been great in helping Aiden out, but there was something else going on with her, and until that was sorted out, we needed space.
“Oh, April?
” she said. I spun around and faced her.
“Yeah?” I asked.
“I forgot to tell you that you don’t make the rules. I do.” By the time I saw the baseball bat in Leah’s hand, it was too late, and everything melted into darkness.
Chapter 2: Ten Days Earlier
APRIL’S POINT OF VIEW
“Come in,” I said when I heard the knock on my office door.
“Hi, am I disturbing you?” Marie asked as she peered around the door.
“No, come on in,” I replied in a happy tone.
“Great, I just wanted to check if it was still OK for me to take off next week for my sister’s wedding?”
“Yeah, of course it is. I’ve already got it on my calendar,” I said, smiling at her.
“Sorry, I just keep feeling like I’m going to forget something, so I have to keep checking. This maid of honor role is making me nervous,” she said. We both began to chuckle.
“Yeah, I can imagine, but don’t worry, I have it all sorted for you.”
“Thank you so much, April,” she said, smiling.
“No problem.”
“Aren’t you supposed to be going now?” she asked, looking down at my paper-filled desk.
“Yes, I just wanted to make sure we have all of the new health forms in,” I said. “Do we?”
“Almost, I’m just waiting on Mrs. Baker’s form for Charlie. I gave her a call, so she should bring it in when she comes to pick him up today. Will you just make sure that you put it with all of the others, please?”
“Yes,” she replied.
“OK, I’ll leave you to it. Oh, did you say that Kyle was picking you up today?”
“Yes, I’m still waiting for my car to be repaired,” I said as I thought about how many problems it had been giving me lately.
“OK, I’ll call you when he is here then,” she said, disappearing through the door.
“Thanks, Marie.”
Sitting at my desk, I finally felt a calmness come over me. Everything had changed so much in the eight years since the accident, but they were good changes.
Four years ago, I decided to open up my own day-care center. I’ve always loved children, and I guess it just came naturally to me. One thing I learned was that running your own business is far from easy. I really struggled in the first year, trying to compete with already established day-care centers. It came as both a surprise and a relief when Crystal and Jess decided that they wanted to join the business two years ago.
Since we
became partners, we have opened up four different locations and each averages about fifteen children who attend almost five days a week. We officially changed the name from “Reinharts” to “JCA’s Angels” a year ago. We each run a different center and hired a manager to run the fourth one. We stopped breaking even two years ago, and now earn a nice profit every year. I really can’t ask for more.
Life in general has been great. We’ve officially moved into our beautiful new house. We are hosting a house-warming party today, which is why I need to get my head out of these papers and get a move on. I’m just….
“Hey, Kyle’s here,” Marie said, interrupting my thoughts.
“Oh, great. Tell him that I’ll be out in five minutes.”
“OK.”
I quickly gathered all of the papers on my table, packed them neatly away, picked up my purse, and headed for the door.
“Hey,” I said, smiling and giving Kyle a kiss on the cheek.
“Hi.” he said and smiled back.
It didn’t matter how many times I would see him walking, it still put a huge smile on my face. The accident had changed so much for us all, and I’m so glad things have turned out the way they have. I guess everything really does happen for a reason.
“Right, I’ve sorted everything out. Are you sure you are OK about locking up?” I asked Marie.
“Honestly, its fine. You just get going to that house-warming party of yours. Don’t worry about a thing. I have it all under control,” she said as a huge smile filled her face.
“OK great. Don’t forget to get Charlie’s health form,” I said.
“I won’t.”
“Bye,” I said as I watched all of the children and my staff in their own little world.
“Bye,” they all sang in unison.
“Ready?” Kyle held the front door of the day care center open for me.
“Yep,” I said and headed to his car.
The scent of fresh pine greeted me as I stepped into his car, and it never fails to put a smile on my face. He traded in his Audi about three years ago and replaced it with a silver and very attractive Mercedes CLK. I have tried to persuade him to let me drive it a few times, but that hasn’t happened, yet.
“I love the smell of this car,” I said smiling at him as he put the keys in the ignition.
“I know, that’s why I always buy these fresheners. You’ve got me addicted to it,” he said, pointing to the scented tree that hung from his rear-view mirror.
“So, tell me about your day?” he said, keeping his eyes on the road.
“It’s been OK.I wasn’t really around the kids that much today because I had a lot of paper work to do. I’ve got all but one health form back though, so that puts a smile on my face,” I said, looking at him.
“Let me guess, Mrs. Baker’s?” he said as he chuckled to himself.
“Of course, that woman never brings anything in on time,” I said, laughing with him.
“Yeah, I gathered.”
“So, how was your day?” I asked as I glanced out of the window and saw an old couple holding hands.
“It was good. I wanted to talk to you about it actually.” He glanced over at me nervously, which made my stomach drop.
“Why? What happened?” I kept my eyes on him.
“I got the promotion!” he beamed.
“Oh my gosh! That’s wonderful! I’m so proud of you,” I said, smiling. He had been working so hard these past few months to get this promotion. He truly deserved it.
“So, when do you start the new position, boss?” I joked and winked at him.
“They want me to start on Monday,” he said, sounding sad.
“That’s a good thing, isn’t it?” I asked, noticing that his facial expression had suddenly changed.
“Yes.”
“OK, so why do I feel like there is some sort of bad news coming?” I asked, suspiciously.
“Because there is.”
“What?”
“Getting the promotion means moving away,” he mumbled as he tried to keep his eyes on the road.
“Moving, where?” I asked.
“To London,” he said, glancing over at me.
“London? You never mentioned anything about moving away,” I said annoyed.
“I know, but I wasn’t even sure I would get the position. I just wanted to see if I could before I told you anything,” he replied.
“So, you didn’t think that might have been a vital piece of information for me to know?” I asked, angrily.
“April, I’m telling you now. Please don’t do this. I just wanted to discuss it with you before everyone comes over tonight,” he said calmly.
“You should have discussed it with me before, Kyle. The job starts on Monday, and you expect me to just take all of this in now?” I said as the car slowed down.
“I want to know how you feel about it,” he said still sounding sad.
“No, if you wanted to know how I felt then you would have told me before.” I stormed out of the car.
“April, wait.”
“Leave me alone,” I grunted and walked up the steps and knocked on the big, red door.
“Oh, hi April,” Janet said, smiling as she opened up the door.
“Hi Janet, are you OK?” I asked, forcing a smile.
I still couldn’t believe Kyle hadn’t told me that the promotion meant moving to a completely different country. Did he not think that was worth discussing? I was too angry to think about it right now, and this also wasn’t the time or place.
“I’m OK. Thank you, yourself?” she asked sweetly.
“Yeah, I’m great. How is she?” I asked.
“Oh, yes, she’s fine. I think the
sickness
is completely gone,” she whispered behind her hand as we both chuckled.