by Anna T. Pope
Fallin’
for
You
a novel by
Anna Pope
Copyright
Copyright © 2021 by Tijana Popov Trnovac
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Prologue
4 YEARS AGO...
The first thing Aria’s hazy mind registered was that she could barely move.
Her head was pounding, her left eye was completely swollen, and she was bleeding profusely from the wound in her abdomen if the warm liquid running over her hands was anything to go by.
She slowly managed to turn her head to the side in spite of an excruciating pain zipping through her neck and making her vision go white for a few seconds.
After everything came back into focus once again, the sight that greeted her made her remember the reason behind her current state.
“Please don't do this, David! Please, I’m begging you!” Aria moaned; her voice coming out hoarse and broken, so much so that she was left wondering if someone else had spoken on her behalf.
She saw him standing above her crying friend with the gun pointed straight to her head, the satisfaction of holding someone else's life in his hands, swirling in those dead, cold eyes.
Aria could still remember the time when she had foolishly thought that those were the most beautiful eyes that she had ever seen and now, after everything that had happened, she finally realized just how wrong she had been.
She felt helpless, as she lay there broken on the cold kitchen floor, unable to do anything to help her friend, as the horrifying guilt kept crashing over her in waves.
She knew the risk that they would be taking and she had chosen to ignore it, endangering her friend’s life in the process without so much as a second thought, too wrapped up in her own desires.
She knew that she shouldn't have brought anyone in her mess and had chosen to ignore it; and now because of Aria, Jamie was going to die.
There was a moment of complete silence only broken by Aria’s harsh breaths and soft pleads before she heard the sound of a gunshot, and then another and another...
“No!” she started to scream at the top of her lungs, as tears spilled out of her eyes before she saw Jamie falling to the ground; her friend’s pretty hazel eyes losing their light barely a few feet away from her.
Green eyes
She was running again, white puffs of air escaping her wheezing lungs as she jumped over a small bush, barely managing not to fall on her face in the process.
It was nighttime and the air was freezing cold, making Aria tremble in the flimsy clothes that did nothing to shelter her from the howling wind.
Cold rain droplets kept splashing across her face and combined with the pitch darkness of the forest, made it almost impossible to see where she was heading.
Her lungs felt like there were a thousand small needles puncturing them repeatedly, as she desperately tried to breathe through the pain; the wound in her stomach pulsing out more blood with each breath that she took.
All that kept going through her mind at that moment as she ran faster than she ever had before was the need to keep going and get away as fast as she could; from that house, and most importantly from Him.
And then, she was falling, her nose connecting harshly with a tree root sticking out of the forest dirt making her eyes water at the pain of it, as big hands wrapped around her ankles and started pulling her back to where she had come from.
Aria wanted to scream and beg for them to let her go, let her get away, but no sound left her mouth as the darkness swallowed her whole.
~
Aria woke up with a start, breathing harshly as if she had just finished running a marathon.
She sat up and leaned against the pillows, dragging a shaking hand across her sweat-covered face.
Another nightmare, she thought and closed her eyes with a tired sigh, disappointment prickling under her skin, feeling pretty foolish for hoping that the dreams had finally stopped since she hadn’t had one in the past couple of days.
For just a moment Aria considered calling Nura to ask her for her therapist’s phone number that the girl had offered her numerous times, but she quickly changed her mind like she always did.
The truth was that most of the time Aria couldn’t even think about the past without getting a panic attack, let alone talk to a stranger about it.
She quickly got out of the bed and went to the bathroom across the hall intent on getting a shower. After getting out of her soaked up shirt and the sweats that had seen better days, she stepped under the lukewarm water while she tried to calm her still rapidly beating heart.
She could feel the beginnings of a panic attack at the edges of her mind, so she started counting back from a hundred while breathing in and out slowly; one of the quickest ways to stop thinking about the agony of her dreams.
It didn’t matter how many times Aria had that same nightmare; the effects of it were always exhausting, leaving her a sniveling mess in the aftermath.
She quickly scrubbed her body with soap, trying and failing to ignore the marks carved into the pale skin that reminded her of the past that she was so desperate to forget, as her fingers moved over them.
After rinsing off and grabbing a warm towel from the rack, she made her way to the closet and pulled out a pair of black jeans, a white, cotton shirt, and her favorite black flats. She looked at her reflection once she was done with dressing and frowned.
Aria was on the rather short side, even for a girl, with barely-there curves, a head full of ordinary brown hair that fell flat over her shoulders, big blue eyes and full lips which she has always found too big for her small face. People often described her as cute and pretty, but try as she might, she could not see what they apparently did.
A small glint caught her eyes and they fall on the golden cross peeking out of her shirt. It was a birthday gift that her mother had given her a long time ago and the only thing that Aria had managed to keep from her childhood.
She felt a pang of sadness in her chest when she thought about her mother; about her beautiful, smiling face and always welcoming arms and the fact that Aria would never see her again almost brought her down to her knees.
She was brought out of her musings when a knock sounded off at the apartment door.
“Hello, love! How are we on this fine Monday morning?” her best friend Nura said before Aria had even finished opening the door to let her in.
With her wild, brown, curly hair, and fiery personality, Nura was a force to be reckoned with and Aria’s complete opposite.
She still wasn’t sure how they came to be best friends since the only things they had in common were their place of work and the fact that they both had questionable pasts.
They met the previous year when Aria got hired to be a bartender at the club called ‘The Echo’. Nura was already working there and she was the one to show her the ropes of the job.
After that, Nura wouldn’t leave her alone, always asking her out, telling her about her childhood and trying to befriend her even though Aria spend most of their time together actively ignoring her.
Aria had been reluctant at first, afraid of being hurt again, but if Nura was anything, it was persistent,
and over time she managed to worm her way under Aria’s skin.
“How can you be so happy on a Monday morning; I will never understand.” Aria said absentmindedly while looking for her keys and wallet.
“Well, my dear Ari, you would be too in my place. I spent the night at Nate’s and guess what!?” Nura said, practically vibrating with excitement, reminding her of a puppy preparing to go for a walk.
“He asked me to move in with him!” the girl suddenly screamed startling her, before proceeding to jump up and down around the apartment.
After getting over the initial shock, Aria joined her friend in celebration and hugged her tightly. She felt over the moon for her, since she knew very well how perfect Nura and Nate were for each other and after all the things that have happened between them, they deserved all the happiness that they could get.
Even though Aria was wary of the guys from the club or any guy in general, she thought of Nate as an exception to the rule.
You only had to look at the way he treated Nura; how much he loved her and cared for her, to know that he would never even think about hurting her intentionally.
“So, when are you moving?” Aria asked her once they were settled on the comfy chairs in their favorite café with cups of steaming coffee warming their hands.
“In a couple of weeks, since Nate has that conference in Europe next week, and he doesn’t want me to do everything by myself.”
“That’s great, Nura, I am so happy for you.”
And she truly was, but at the same time, she couldn’t help but be just a bit jealous of her.
Even though she tried to keep distance and all the regulars at the club knew that she was not interested in any sort of a relationship, a small part of Aria still desired someone like Nate; someone who would love and care for her.
But Aria knew that that was probably never going to happen even if she somehow managed to get over her fears and let someone in. She was sure that nobody would want her for long after learning just how much of damaged goods she was.
After parting ways with Nura, Aria went to her first class of the day at the local community college where she was studying to be a nurse. That had not been her first choice of career since, once upon a time, she wanted to be a pediatrician, but that was, like a lot of things in her life, a long-lost dream.
The day flew by and the last lecture finally ended. Aria had just started packing her things, desperate to get home and bury herself under a pile of warm blankets with her favorite book keeping her company when she felt a light pat on her shoulder.
She closed her eyes and sighed inaudibly, not even needing to turn around to know whom it was.
As soon as she turned, she saw a tall, blond boy smiling down at her with his hand still on Aria’s shoulder, which he was now squeezing lightly, making the brunette wholly uncomfortable.
“Hi, sweet cheeks!” the boy said, making her roll her eyes at the stupid nickname.
“Brian, I told you not to call me that.” she barely managed not to whine out, feeling already fed up with him after mere seconds in his presence, while she tried to discreetly move away from his grasp.
“I think it’s cute, just like you are, but fine, I’ll stop. Anyway, my friend is having this party tonight, and I was wondering if you would like to come with me?”
Aria sighed once again; not at all surprised by Brian’s question since this was probably the tenth time that he had asked her out. She kept making excuses to try to gently let it known that she was not at all interested because she didn’t want to hurt Brian’s feelings and flat out reject him, and also because confrontations were never really her forte, but the guy seemed unable to take the hint.
“I am sorry Brian, but I have to work tonight.” she said and turned around, making her way out of there as quickly as possible without being too obvious about it, lest Brian decided to run after her which would not surprise her in the least.
She wasn’t exactly sure why, since Brian was seemingly an okay, good-natured guy, but there was just something about him that always made Aria’s skin crawl.
Maybe she was just being her usual paranoid self and Brian was genuinely interested in her, but she wasn’t even remotely ready to take the chance to find out.
You could never be too careful with people and Aria had learned that particular lesson the hard way.
She was so lost in thoughts that she failed to pay attention to her surroundings which resulted in her running into a man, the impact making him lose hold of the cup of coffee in his hand which then fell and spilled on the concrete ground beneath their feet.
She winced and prepared herself for getting yelled at, the apology already at the tip of her tongue.
“I am so sorry Sir, it was my fault, I wasn’t looking…” but when she looked up at the man that she had bumped into, the words died in her throat as her eyes connected with the most beautiful green eyes she had ever seen.
A work of art
Will sighed, stretching his back before getting up and making his way into the bathroom to clean himself up, leaving the girl spent in bed.
He took a look at the mirror, his eyes meeting with a familiar handsome face.
He was dangerously close to forties, not that he minded since age was just a number in his book and, after all, he didn’t look a day over thirty.
No, he looked fine, but what did draw his attention were the bags under his eyes and the hollow look in them that he was sure only he could see.
None of his supposed friends saw it and certainly not the blond currently laid out in his bed.
Not that it mattered, he thought, since the girl was just another one in a long line of blonds and brunettes that have passed through this house, writhing and moaning underneath William’s skillful hands for one night, never more, and then forgotten came morning, as if they were never there.
He splashed some water over his heated face, washing the sweat off of it and pretending, for just a second that he could also do that with his morose thoughts.
He filled a glass with water and brought it back to the room and then sat beside the sleeping girl.
He watched her for a few minutes, her face looking so peaceful and sated in her slumber and he couldn’t deny that she was beautiful.
Will was sure that, if he bothered to give her a chance, the girl would be very good to him, but he couldn’t. He had made the mistake of trusting someone once before and after what happened; he could not allow himself to put so much faith into another person again.
~
“Good morning Mr. Jones.”
William heard the greeting before he even had the time to exit the elevator. As soon as he saw her, he smiled at the short, middle-aged woman and nodded.
“Morning, Maria. How are you this morning?” he asked while taking the coffee she was offering him as they walked through the main floor of his apartment building. He opened the glass door and motioned with his hand for her to go before him, which earned him a proud smirk from her.
“I am fine, Mr. Jones. How about you? Slept well?”
“Quite well, thank you. The previous evening was indeed very enjoyable if a bit strenuous.” he said, a smirk playing around the edges of his mouth as she huffed and got into the car; her opinion about William’s nighttime activities as further from positive as possible.
“And, how many times do I have to tell you to call me Will, Maria? It sounds weird when you call me Mr. Jones, I feel ancient, especially since you are older than me.”
There were times in his life when Will was grateful that looks couldn’t kill, especially in his line of competitive work, and the one currently directed his way was definitely one of them.
“Not by much.” she hissed and took her tablet out, furiously typing something and ignoring him for the rest of the trip.
He smiled widely feeling joyful since teasing Maria, his PA, was the highlight of his workday. It was all in good spirit, of course, since there weren’t a lot of people that William held in suc
h high regard as her.
It came as a shock when his father, the great Ezekiel Jones died from a heart attack at the young age of forty-five. He was a well-respected man and an incredible businessman who had built the family company from the ground. Then he died and William had to take over since his younger brother was just eighteen at the time and going away to college and their mother was already out of the picture; gallivanting around the world with her latest boy-toy.
So, there he was, twenty-one years old, barely out of college and as inexperienced as you could imagine; the co-owner of the company and CEO.
He almost gave up at the beginning, the responsibilities and the pressure proving almost too much for him to bear, but then Maria came along and most probably threatened to hurt him if he did such a thing, something he still wasn’t sure about since most of the yelling had been in Spanish.
She helped him learn; stood by his side through all the hiccups and problems that arose down the road, and now, fifteen years later, she was still there.
She was, in his opinion, the mother that his brother and he should have had and William loved her immensely.
The car stopped in front of a large, glass building and they got out and walked in. Several greetings and nods to the employees later and they were finally on their floor.
