by Terri Lane
Now that things had calmed down at the hospital, and everyone was used to me and Aron being together, it felt strange to recall that he was ever just a fantasy man. Actually, all the years I’d spent thinking about him really didn’t do him any justice. The Dr. Turner that I’d created in my mind was wonderful, but the Aron that I got to be with every single day is fantastic.
Still, I needed to use the difficulties of that experience to help others. It was what drove me every single day, just like being a nurse did.
“It’s got to be better having Nancy by your side?” he asked me nervously. Even though a long time had passed, Aron still found the subject of my complex friendship a difficult one to tackle.
“It is,” I answered honestly. “And not just because we’re friends again now, but because it shows another side of things. Workplace bullying often goes undetected because people don’t think it can happen out of school, and she’s living proof that you might not even realize that you’re doing it. I’m glad she’s working on my charitable foundation with me.”
“Well I’m proud of you too, and Edna would be as well.” Aron knew that I still liked to remember Edna, even though it had been a long time since she passed. She touched me and affected me in ways that no one else ever would. She was special to me, and would always be in my mind somewhere. “I bet she’s looking down on you now, thinking how well you’ve done.”
“I doubt it! I bet she’s spending time with her husband again, she missed him too much after he died…what are you doing?” I suddenly trailed off as I noticed that Aron was no longer standing next to me, but he was on the floor instead.
On one knee.
Holding out a small jewelry box.
Oh. My. God.
“Speaking of husbands…” he announced with that wonderfully wicked smile of his. “I think it’s time that you made me yours. You already know that I love you and that I’d do anything for you, and I hope I show you how happy you make me every single day. I want to make it official, I want to world to know that I’m yours.”
I could barely breathe, this was all so unexpected. One minute we were just having a normal conversation, and now he was asking me to marry him? He was insane!
Then again, his spontaneous nature was one of the things that I loved about him.
“So, will you do me the most wonderful honor of being my wife?”
“You’re insane,” I gasped with tear flooded eyes. “I don’t even know what to say.”
“Well, I’m sort of hoping that one of the words you’ll say will be yes,” he chuckled, but there was a definite awkwardness there. “That would be ideal.”
“Yes, you idiot! Of course, yes!”
As he jumped up and he scooped me up into his arms, I felt my heart thunder in my chest. Dr. Turner was the man who could never be mine, who was always at arms-length, but now Aron was forever mine and all I wanted to do was weep.
“I love you, so much,” I gasped, while crashing my lips into his for a second.
“I love you too, even if you did call me an idiot after I proposed,” Aron smirked back. “And I’m glad to be yours forever because you honestly are the best person I’ve ever known.”
A happy ever after for me, who would’ve ever thought it?
THE END
= Bonus Book 3 of 20 =
Never Ending Love
Book 1: The Rebound
Abbie sighed as she climbed off of the plane, just to head straight onto the train that would take her home. She absolutely loved her career as a dancer, which was great because she’d spent her whole life trying to achieve it, but it wasn’t as glamorous as she’d assumed it was going to be. She thought it would be exciting to travel the world, to see different places, and to dance for all kinds of weird and wonderful projects. But the reality of it was a lot of travelling, a lot of sitting around waiting, and a whole heap of very late nights. In fact, she spent most of her life absolutely exhausted!
The world tour that she’d just been on with a semi-famous female singer had been amazing. The celebrity might have been a massive, trouble-causing diva, but the rest of the dancers were great – and that made her job easier and a lot more fun to do.
However, the star had just been caught with cocaine around her nose by a newspaper photographer, and although it wasn’t public news just yet, it would be very soon, so they had been forced to cut the tour short while they sent her to rehab. Her clean cut (very false) image was about to be destroyed, and her PR team wanted to be on top of it before the story exploded.
Abbie was sad to leave all of her new friends behind in such an abrupt fashion, but she was very excited to get back to see her boyfriend of three years – Greg – whom she had missed like crazy whilst being away. They texted and spoke on the phone a lot, but it wasn’t the same as seeing him in person.
Greg had been acting a little strangely recently, and Abbie was convinced that she knew why. She thought that he was finally going to propose, and she absolutely couldn’t wait for it. She’d waited a long time for him to show any sign of taking their relationship to the next level, and she’d dropped enough hints, so it was definitely time.
She stared at the reflection of her tired expression in the window of the train, critically examining her long dark hair and her green sleepy eyes. This wasn’t how she wanted to see Greg for the first time after so much time apart, but she was also aware that he wouldn’t be bothered. That was the best thing about their relationship. They were so comfortable around one another. He loved her no matter what.
Abbie smiled secretly to herself, pleased that she’d kept this homecoming a secret. She couldn’t wait to see the look on his face when she burst in and completely surprised him.
He was going to be blown away!
***
Abbie crept through the front door, trying desperately to keep her giggles inside. The closer she got to seeing the love of her life, the more hysterical she became.
It was already late, so she knew that he would be in bed, and she half-expected to find him sleeping too. Despite that, she snuck quietly into the bathroom and made herself look a little more presentable, just in case. She smoothed down her hair and quietly washed her face, looking happier with each passing second.
The tiredness started to give way to something else, and she couldn’t wait another second longer.
“Honey, I’m hooome,” she sang out as she swung the bedroom door open.
But the sight that greeted her was the last thing in the world that she was expecting.
“What!?” she gasped, as her brain tried to process what she was looking at. Logically she understood perfectly, but it was taking a while for the emotional side of her to catch up on that. “What the fuck is going on?”
Greg was naked, on his knees on the bed, and in front of him, on all fours, was a woman that Abbie didn’t recognize. She was young, slim, blonde and very attractive. She actually noticed that fact before she realized that her boyfriend was fucking her.
This stranger was screwing the man she thought that she was going to marry.
“So… you aren’t going to propose then?” she heard herself asking stupidly.
“Oh my God, oh fuck,” Greg finally snapped into action and he pushed himself off of the stranger. “Oh shit, Abbie, what the hell are you doing home?” He ran his hands through his hair, looking like he wanted to tear some of it out. “I didn’t think… you aren’t supposed…”
“No,” she gasped, trying to actually get some breath back into her body. “I’m not supposed to be here. I’m still supposed to be away working.”
She watched in horror as the girl threw the bed sheets – Abbie’s bedsheets – over her naked body, growing redder by the second. She couldn’t work out if this girl knew about her or not… but she certainly looked more embarrassed than shocked.
But she didn’t matter. Not really – it was him in the wrong.
“Abbie…” said Greg. He put his hands on her shoulders and she flinched as
if she’d been burned.
“What the fuck are you doing?” she snapped angrily. “Don’t you dare fucking touch me!”
“Abbie, I’m sorry,” he continued pathetically. “I didn’t mean…”
“You didn’t mean for me to find out,” she snapped, before spinning on her heels and walking back outside once more. She couldn’t be inside there anymore, trapped by that horrible atmosphere. It had been making her panicky and claustrophobic. It was much better out on the cold where she could actually sort out her brain.
The only problem was, what did she do now?
***
Living back with her parents at the grand old age of twenty-four was not how Abbie envisioned her life, but she hadn’t been left with any choice. Her cheating scumbag boyfriend had made that decision for her.
Her breakup with Greg had quickly gone from awful and emotional, to downright nasty and she’d been left with no choice but to return to the city. It was unfortunate that as a very successful banker, he earned a lot more than she did. The house they had lived in belonged to him outright, so that left her with nothing.
She eventually found out that the woman he was screwing that day was just a random chick – even he didn’t know her. She was just one of many, which made Abbie feel very sick. Greg had obviously been acting like a single man the entire time they were together, which was horrendous. She’d been dedicated to him, faithful to him, and he hadn’t cared about her at all.
She wasn’t sure what that said about her judgment, only that it wasn’t good. She’d loved a man that had done nothing but fuck her over.
Luckily the one good thing about her being back at home was that it had allowed her to reconnect with her old school friend, Lauren. They’d been best friends through most of their youth, and had only drifted apart when Abbie moved in with Greg, so it was nice for them to find each other once more.
It certainly helped Abbie to begin the awful moving-on process.
“Come on,” Lauren moaned on the phone. “You’ve been back for weeks now and we haven’t been out once. This party will be great, I promise you.”
Abbie still wasn’t quite feeling up to it, but as this party had been organized by Lauren’s event management company she couldn’t see any way that she could say no.
“Okay, I’ll be there,” she sighed. “What should I wear?”
She suddenly panicked about the lack of decent clothing that she had sitting in her wardrobe. As she spent most of the time on the road, she had started to live in sweat pants, using only the fancy outfits they were given on set to make herself look good.
“Don’t worry,” Lauren insisted. “We get sent hundreds of outfits from designers wanting to get their clothes photographed. I’ll send something over to you this afternoon.”
“Okay, thanks.” That was the clincher. There was no way that she could get out of it now! “I’ll see you then.”
That afternoon, and as the party grew closer, Abbie tried to get herself in the mood, but she couldn’t stop herself from dreading it like crazy…
***
“Woah,” even Abbie couldn’t help but be impressed as she stared at herself in the mirror. The dress that Lauren had sent over was truly amazing. It was full-length and a gorgeous red, and it clung to every curve in a way that made her toned dancer body look amazing.
It was such a great dress that it meant she didn’t even need to do much else to get ready. She could easily get away with natural-looking make up and her hair hanging down her back. She still looked terrific.
In fact, it might have been the best that she’d ever looked in her entire life; a thought that was enough to actually have her feeling some more confidence inside of her. Enough to actually make her smile, something she had not done in a very long time.
“Okay Abbie,” she told herself. “Let’s do this for Lauren – who knows, it might even be fun!”
Even though she still didn’t believe herself completely, she found herself agreeing, a little bit. Yes, it might really be fun.
Abbie crept down the stairs, not wanting to bump into her parents on her way out. She’d been doing her best to avoid them ever since being home, and this felt like another night for that. She didn’t like being back with them, and although she was eternally grateful for their support, she couldn’t wait to get back out on the road again.
“Bye sweetie!” her mom called out, spotting her. “Have fun.”
“Thanks,” Abbie grumbled, feeling more like her teenage self than she had done in a very long time. “Bye.”
When the cab finally pulled up outside the hall where the party was being held, she couldn’t help but be blown away. Abbie had known that her friend was important these days, but she hadn’t realized quite how much. It was hardly surprising – Lauren had always been a go-getter – but she still felt a massive sense of pride for everything that Lauren had managed to achieve.
A few cameras flashed as she walked down the red carpet, but of course the journalists were much more interested in the big name celebrities that were coming. Abbie was a backing dancer, not someone that was ever noticed, which was actually just how she liked it. Especially now when she wasn’t looking for any kind of focus on herself.
As she entered the room, it all but took her breath away. “Wow, Lauren this is amazing,” she said to her friend. “I can’t believe you did this!”
“Well I can’t believe that you’re a world class dancer,” she replied in awe. “That’s amazing to me. I just can’t believe how much has changed since we were in school.”
“I know,” Abbie replied wistfully, suddenly wishing that she’d never left the city. Never mind, she could more than make up for lost time now.
The party quickly got into full swing. Abbie, still feeling not 100% about this party, wanted to cling to Lauren. But as her friend kept getting called off to do various tasks to keep the night running smoothly, Abbie found herself drinking more than she probably should have – just to get herself through it.
She wasn’t exactly drunk, but the buzz she had coursing through her made her feel far more confident than she normally would feel. It was a nice tipsy, the sort that had her feeling warm inside.
“Hey,” a voice murmured into her ear, making her jump. She spun around quickly to find a very tall, very gorgeous man standing in front of her. His face was friendly enough, and she certainly appreciated those twinkling green eyes and sexy dimples, but it wasn’t someone that she recognized, and that threw her.
“Oh erm… hi.” She could feel her face heat up and she started to shift awkwardly on her feet in embarrassment.
“Travis,” he said. He held her hand and shook it, sending an undeniable flurry of butterflies racing right through her. “And you?”
“Abbie,” she practically whispered as a reply. “I’m Abbie.”
For a brief, horrible second, she feared that he was going to ask her more about herself; a subject that she really didn’t want to tackle tonight. She wasn’t quite ready to confront it with a stranger, and she feared that she would fall apart.
But instead, he grabbed her hand and he led her onto the dance floor in a surprise move that she actually liked.
At first she awkwardly moved her body feeling like she wanted to be anywhere else in the entire world, but as she saw him lose himself in a way that displayed no self-doubt, she allowed the music to flow through her too and she really started to shake her hips in time with the beat, enjoying herself too.
Why the hell not – hadn’t she been through enough recently? Didn’t she deserve a little fun?
“Wow,” he leaned in and spoke to her quietly. “You’re a really good dancer… you should do it as a job.”
“Actually, I do,” she laughed loudly. “But thank you.”
“Oh really?” He pulled out a business card and handed it to her. “Well I’m a music producer and I am actually looking for a dancer with your look to have on my books.”
“Really?” She rebuffed the temptation
to roll her eyes because it was a line that she’d heard a million times before, but then she noticed the name on the card.
Travis Bunney.
Holy crap! Everyone knew Travis Bunney – he was big league. If he had a job for her, it could be the thing that would take her to the next level. It could move her from the lower rungs up to the top level in the entertainment industry.
This was something else!
As she glanced up into his eyes in shock, she thought that she could spot something else too; a sparkle that suggested he might like her in another way as well. And that reminded her of another thing she knew about Travis – he was a playboy billionaire that could not be trusted around women.
“Wow thanks,” she gasped, unsure of how she could vocalize her gratitude for him even noticing her, never mind offering her an opportunity that she really hoped was real.
“Make sure you call me,” he warned. “It’ll be good for you, I promise.”
Well that sounded good… didn’t it?
***
It took Abbie a few days to work up the courage to call Travis. She kept feeling really uncertain about the whole thing, convincing herself that it was all just a dream or that he hadn’t actually meant it. What if he had only contacted her because he wanted something from her? What if his reputation was accurate and he didn’t care about her career at all?
Then again, what if he did?
Travis Bunney was the sort of man that could take a dancer from the background to a big stage show, to the foreground of a music video. Once a dancer secured that sort of exposure, her career would go from strength to strength. With all the bad stuff that had happened to her recently, this felt like the big break that she really needed.
It was that thought alone that had her picking up the phone.
