Page 13 of Don’t Forget Me

My heart pulsed so heavily that I felt like I would vomit. Greer and the rest of the publishing team had always been flexible with me and the other authors on their roster but it still didn’t lift the pressure off my shoulders knowing that I had a deadline.

I didn’t know what I did to deserve such a great team, but I was starting to have a serious meltdown as I thought about the fact that I’ll have to continue a story I thought had ended.

I gave them my best beaming expression before nodding. “Thank you for your consideration. I will try my best to deliver the first chapters before the deadline. I know we are in a time crunch.”

“Correct. Thank you, Lysandra. It is always a pleasure to meet with you,” Amelia said.

“Thanks again. We will let you know when we are ready to meet again,” Camille said with a firm tilt of her chin. She grabbed her thin, leather mahogany suitcase and headed for the conference room’s glass door.

We both walked out of the main office. I let out a breath.

“You did great!” Camille exclaimed, bringing me into her arms.

“Cami, I don’t know how I’m going to do it.”

“I heard your pitch and the summary you gave them. It sounds very similar to a story I know.” She eyed me with a smirk. Her black hair flowed with every heeled step.

I sighed, rubbing my eyes. “That story’s finale has been predetermined since we transferred to Lachlan Prep.”

Camille remained silent. She’d been staring to her left, and when I followed her stare, I wished I hadn’t.

There he was. All six feet of him. Dressed in his royal blue suit and tie. He’d seemed so refined, more mature, much more tortured. Our gazes met. Like a tether that’d been tied between us. I could not escape it, escape him.

His friend came out of the conference hall, his blonde hair at the same level with Ezra’s raven-black locks. Ezra was the first to break eye contact. I quickly turned back to Camille.

“I, for one, don’t think it has finished,” she argued.

“I am getting married to Aldair in a few months. Don’t say things like that,” I whispered hurriedly.

“A wedding that you don’t even have a gown for,” she argued.

I crossed my arms. She was right, but I couldn’t tell her that. I’d never hear the end of it.

“There’s some unresolved business there.” Camille pointed an index finger at me.

“No, there isn’t. I feel nothing for him.”

When did I become such a liar? I felt contempt, disdain, and hatred for him. It wasn’t the same emotions that she thought I held for him. However, I couldn’t forget his deep blue eyes and imagine the way his toned figure felt under his fine attire.

“The fact that he caused a reaction from you before the meeting means that there is something there. Don’t deny it. Deal with it. Because it is not fair to Aldair.”

Right, my fiancé. Aldair.

I glared at her. “Fine. I have to go. I’m exhausted, and I want to start the chapters for the new book proposal.”

She smiled while rubbing my arm. “I’ll see you later tonight, I’m gonna go run a quick errand.”

Then she walked down a glass corridor.

“Don’t get home too late because I sure as hell won’t be heating your dinner again!” I called. Knowing Camille, she would find someone to chat with and deviate from the previous topic until she realized she’d been talking for hours.

She waved at me without looking back. I was thankful for the friend I had in Camille; she never pushed me beyond my limits. There’d been moments where I’d share my past, not in the same way that I did with Ezra, but parts of it. And she always had a word to encourage me. At times, I didn’t even have to say what I felt because she already knew.

As if she were my twin at heart.

My eyes found their way back to the tall businessman who had once been the greatest sorrow of my life. Now he’d become a stranger. Another person. An unknown entity to me. Zack and he finished a small, practiced handshake before he looked back at me, his grin almost dropping. I gulped the lump in my throat and rushed to the elevator, lowering my gaze to the loafers that hugged my feet.

I clicked the lower button continuously, praying that the door would close before anyone else could enter. My eyes started prickling, my cheeks burned, and my chest contracted inward. If he entered the elevator, I would probably lose it.