Total pages in book: 59
Estimated words: 60131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60131 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 301(@200wpm)___ 241(@250wpm)___ 200(@300wpm)
“Deal.”
FORTY-FIVE (B)
HARLOW
Istared at my bedroom ceiling, convinced that the past forty-eight hours were nothing more than a nightmare. That the tears drenching my sheets were merely a twisted ruse from my imagination.
Pierce and I are still together.
He doesn’t know about my one sweet lie.
I still have time to tell him, and I will.
I will definitely tell him.
In the next few minutes, I knew Pierce would send me a message about changes in today’s routine, along with a subtle note about where we’d have sex later.
One hour passed.
Then another.
My phone remained silent.
The only thing I received was a text from an unknown number.
Hey girl, hey! It’s Belinda from high school! Are you still making those cute cupcakes or nah? Can I get a freebie discount since we took classes together?
~
Countless missed diaper changes and sleepless nights later
FORTY-SIX
HARLOW
My heart ached as I stepped through the departure doors at LaGuardia Airport. Today was the first day I’d gotten out of bed, and only because I’d never missed hanging out with Sasha before she took off for her international book tours.
“Over here, Harlow!” She waved at me from our usual coffee spot. “Here!”
I forced a smile and sat next to her.
“It’s good that you finally quit your nanny job,” she said. “I’m proud of you for realizing it’s time to focus on starting your bakery. I bet you’ve been working on it nonstop, huh?”
“Yeah.” A lump rose up my throat. “That’s all I’ve been doing these days.”
“I still can’t believe he gave you that huge building as an early birthday-slash-parting gift,” she said. “It might be true love after all.”
I really am a liar.
“Why do you look so sad?” she asked. “You should be the happiest woman in the world.”
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Okay. Well, seeing as though I’m not going through security until it’s closer to boarding time, what do you want to talk about?”
“Your books,” I said. “Are you working on any new ideas?”
“Oh my god, yes!” She pulled out her notebook. “Tell me what you think about this one: He’s a cinnamon roll style hero, and he has a heart of gold.”
“Okay, go on…”
“He proposes to his long-time girlfriend, but she says no and embarrasses him in front of millions of people. And then…” Her eyes darted around the terminal. “He returns to his hometown to find the first girl he ever loved, but his old house is filled with vampires and half-dead zombies!”
“Wait, what?”
“Turns out, his first girl is now a vampire, and she must bite him and turn him into one as well, in order for them to be together.”
I burst into tears.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” She placed her hand on my shoulder. “Is my story idea that bad? Should I make it a reverse zombie cowboy romance instead?”
My chest constricted, and I choked back sobs.
“Oh, Harlow…” She pressed tissues against my face. “What the hell is going on with you?”
“I didn’t quit my job with Pierce,” I said. “He found out I was a fraud and he fired me and cut off all contact. He didn’t even let me say goodbye to the kids.”
“What?”
“Then he suspended most of his staff, and I feel like one of them is going to press charges against me for ruining their lives, and I’ll be spending the rest of my twenties baking cookies in prison.”
“The guards don’t let inmates bake cookies in prison.”
“What about biscuits?”
“They might let you warm up some pre-packaged honey buns from time to time.”
“Oh, god…” I buried my head in her chest, and she hugged me.
“You’re not going to prison,” she said. “Why didn’t you tell me about this earlier?”
“I didn’t want it to end up in your upcoming nanny-billionaire book,” I said. “I was planning to tell you next week.”
“That’s fair.” She nodded. “Take some deep breaths and relax.”
I obliged, and she slowly let me go.
“First off,” she said, “Pierce Dawson had a super high turnover before you ever got there, so he should be grateful that you lasted as long as you did. Second off, your old coworkers probably hate you, but something tells me they’re also grateful to have a brief break from him…”
That’s possible.
“You’re going to take your broken heart and bake all your pain and tears into some amazing, edible art while I’m away, okay?”
“Okay.”
“You’ll fix up your storefront, and when I return from this tour, I expect to see some huge results in there.”
“You will.” I nodded. “I promise you will.”
“Good.” She waited for me to take a few more deep breaths. “I’m glad we could sort that out. Now, back to my book idea. Is it good?”
“It’s terrible.”
“You don’t even like small bits of the plot? Like, maybe I can salvage parts of it?”
“Please burn it all.”
FORTY-SEVEN
PIERCE
Jerry
Your newest nanny just quit.
Michael will pick up Olivia and Clara will handle the twins.