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25. Only A Little
Last Updated:
2024-06-07 21:34:50
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Better In Every Way 26. Just Some Guy
I do not bother to knock before I burst into Rachel’s office just before lunch time on Monday with a bag of Chinese takeout. To no one’s surprise, Dominic is sitting across from her at her desk with his laptop open. They both look up from what they were doing with semi-confused looks on their faces. “Dariana, it’s nice to see you again.” Dominic says, fixing on a professional demeaour. “Mr Russo.” I smile. “Do you think I could borrow the lunch hour with my friend? Or are you two already bonded at the hip?” I joke. Rachel looks like she’s about to say something when her thought is seemingly cut off by Dominic’s chuckle in response. “Not at all.” He closes his laptop and stands up to leave. “Though I do expect her back after.” He says, going along with it. I see a blush creeping up on Rachel’s face from the corner of my eye. “I’ll try my best.” “Oh and Dominic?” I stop him as he walks out. “If you see him, tell Mr Blackburn that I will be waiting on that ten thousand. He’ll
Last Updated : 2024-06-08Better In Every Way 27. The Presentation
The rest of the week went by in a blur of meetings and final preparations for the presentation. Everything seemed to be pulling me in every direction all at once. I had to oversee the final touches on the models my team rendered for the building. If all goes well and they like them, we can begin construction while we work on the design of the interior. That would mean that this will be handed over to our design team, thus my above average involvement in this project will start to simmer down. Fingers crossed, from today on Rachel will be taking over the regular operations for this project. And not a moment too soon, seeing as the design aspect would mean that this will be in the hands of Eliza’s team. I hadn’t spoken to or interacted with her at all since that conversation in my office my first week back. Which is how I preferred it. However, these past few days, whenever I have a spare moment to myself and my brain forces me to ponder on what Emma said to me on Sunday I find myse
Last Updated : 2024-06-16Better In Every Way Quick Note
I am so sorry for the sparse updating these last few months. Like a fool, I started this book at the beginning of the semester with no real updating plan or schedule. All I had was an idea that I thought was worth sharing. But now that exams and the semester have ended I have had time to sit down and really work on chapters. Starting from the 1st of July there will be far more regular (hopefully daily) updates. Thank you to anyone who has read this far. I am truly grateful for your support and patience. 🙏🏽
Last Updated : 2024-06-24Better In Every Way 28. Up Tempo
I honestly don’t know what I expected. Alec and Dominic showing up to Melody Line anyway is somewhat very on brand for them. And now Rachel and I are fielding questions from Emma and Rory on their half expected presence. “Did you invite your boyfriend here?” Rory asks, pointing her question in mine and Rachel’s general direction. “No, Dar?” Rachel answers rather quickly. “Nothing to say about him being your boyfriend I see.” I say, raising my eyebrow at her attempt to throw me to the wolves that were our nosey friends. A blush quickly flushes Rachel’s features as she just silently nods at her defeat and takes a sip of her virgin cocktail. “Whatever, I’m just going to invite them over.” Emma says, she scoots Rory out so she can stand up from the booth and walk over to where they are before giving any of us—particularly me— time to process what she just said she was about to do, never mind come up with a sensible objection. Very soon after she gets to their table and s
Last Updated : 2024-07-01Better In Every Way 29.Elevator Doors
“I think I’m going to head out, it’s getting late.” I announce to the table when I get back. “Ah what? No!” Rory says to me before directing her gaze behind me. “What did you do? Have you been bothering her?” She shoots a hard glare at Alec. “Me? Why would you assume I did something?” Alec scoffs. “I just know you did something.” She looks him up and down with a suspicious glint in her eye. “Don’t you need a ride?” Emma says, breaking through Rory and Alec’s bickering. “I could take you. Let me just get my stuff—” “No. Sit.” I wave her off. “I’ll be fine. I can just get a cab, you don’t have to cut your night short because of me.” I give her a reassuring smile as I grab my coat and purse from the seat. I pull a few notes from my purse to pay for my part of the tab. “I think that should cover it. Plus a little extra if you get yourselves another round.” I say. I still see everyone giving me a weird look as if to say they’re not all that convinced that I’m okay to go alone. “Guy
Last Updated : 2024-07-02Better In Every Way 30. Mad
As soon as Alec disappears from view, my discomfort gives way to annoyance. I try to dig my keys out of my purse and open the door to my apartment quickly so my neighbours don’t have to be disturbed at close to midnight by the inevitable argument that will ensue between Cam and I. This night just keeps getting longer and longer. I storm into my apartment and toss my purse onto the kitchen counter before turning around and facing Cam. “What are you doing here?” I ask him as soon as he shut the door behind him. “I already told you—” He starts to repeat the same story he gave when Alec was here, pretending to play the part of the worried, doting “friend”. “I’m serious, Cam. What do you want?” I interrupt. He takes a deep breath. “You’re mad.” He says. “Not yet, but I’m definitely getting there.” I gesture with my hands for him to answer my question. “Why?” He cocks his head to the side, studying me. “What the fuck do you mean ‘why’? I find you at my door close to midnight, u
Last Updated : 2024-07-03Better In Every Way 31. Headache
Alec My head kind of hurts. I can’t even begin to think of why because it is pulsing so hard. Thank god for blackout curtains because daylight would have made this so much worse. I can barely remember when the cause of this hangover happened. All I remember is taking Dariana home, that mind numbing kiss in the elevator, and finding Cam sitting outside her door. An unwelcome interruption to could have been a very wonderful end to the night. It takes a while to figure out that that pounding sound that has defined my headache isn’t actually my head, but rather my door. It’s odd, who knocks like that? Rhythmically, for such an extended amount of time. I crack one eye open to see the time on the clock on my dresser reads a little past seven in the morning. Now I’m annoyed. Someone is knocking at my door like a weirdo at a time when most people would rather be sleeping on a Saturday. I can’t even ignore them. They’ve been at this for so long, I’m sure they wouldn’t mind contin
Last Updated : 2024-07-05Better In Every Way 32. I Get Busy
Alec I don’t usually have a problem with waiting, but these days it seems like my patience is constantly being tested. So I have begun to truly despise waiting, especially in these circumstances. Sitting in this gynaecologist’s waiting room just to ambush Eliza as she comes out of her appointment is the furthest thing from my finest moment, but it has to be done. I haven’t been waiting long, but this is a little humiliating. The other inhabitants of this waiting room, and it’s receptionist, are all looking at me like I’m the deadbeat dad that’s being kept out of the appointment for not showing up on time. It definitely doesn’t help that Culture Converse’s older editions are part of the reading material in this waiting room. One of them even has a not so flattering picture of me on the cover. I’d do anything to make that appointment go faster so I can get out of here. I really do need to get out of here. Eliza is only the first stop on a list of people I need to go see on my
Last Updated : 2024-07-07
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Better In Every Way 55. Just About Done
AlecI could barely manage to keep my composure for the rest of the night. The second Carlos left that conference room I wanted to rush to Carter or Lachlan and smack the shit out of them for ending up in this situation.More importantly, they deserve to have their shit rocked for hiding it until their fuck up was forced on me. I guess that habit is hereditary. Can’t blame Cam anymore for his bad genes. It’s a wonder I turned out the way I did. It’s a wonder Barry or Rory turned out so much better than their parents.It takes all of my will power to put a pause on my anger and continue with the evening. As the host, I can’t just leave while the party is going hot, so to speak. I have to paste a smile on my face and put on the performance of a lifetime despite my own feelings about the direction the night has taken.I’m just about done with these people. And to make matters even worse, when I came out of the conference room and returned to the banquet hall, Dariana and Rachel had lef
Better In Every Way 54. Undermine
Alec I don’t know what she’s doing here, but clearly her plans for the evening do not involve getting herself back in my good graces. If they do, she has a really fucked up way of showing. About fifteen minutes after Dom and I walked away from Hadley and we went on to shmooze some more; I see Hadley move across the room from where she was stewing and plotting all the way to the table where Dari and Rachel are sat. I internally cross my fingers, hoping that she’s not there to cause trouble. There are some heavy hitters in the finance industry sitting at that table. Aaron Pryce alone would be a decent sized fish that could introduce Carrington Holdings into the workings of the game this side of the pond. Im hoping she can be mature and put potential business interests over her personal ones. Besides, she knows fuck all about what could possibly be between Dari and I. Hadley approaching her sideways would be jumping the gun on an unsure situation, and she’s too strategic, too
Better In Every Way 53. Late Additions
AlecIt took quite a bit of time and a lot of deep breaths and unsavoury thoughts for me to calm myself down after I let Dari out of the bathroom. I would have probably enjoyed the alternative a lot more, but that would have been a lot messier and harder to hide.I walk out of that bathroom almost ten minutes later, and I go to try reconnect with this crowd of people as best as I can. I spot Dom at our table, with a sour look on his face that he probably doesn’t realise he’s making as he talks to someone who’s face I cannot see as they are turned away from me. But I don’t need to see her face to know who it is, because only one raven haired head could put that expression on Dom’s face.And once his eyes meet mine, I can tell he’s more annoyed with me for putting him in this situation than he is with Hadley for yapping his ear off. “So it seems you were serious about coming.” I say, standing next to Dom. “Of course I was. But you probably had a feeling, seeing as you went through a
Better In Every Way 52. Someone Else’s
Dariana Emma was right. Once again to my annoyance, she was right. And damn her for it. A little quickie in the bathroom really does make things better. I walked out of that bathroom high off the fucking pheromones. A little post-nut-euphoria if you will. I feel like I might even be able to give Rachel a little more time that initially bargained for. I came out of the bathroom first, leaving Alec to sort himself out in the bathroom like he asked me really nicely to. But obviously not before making sure that I don’t look like what I just did. And once I do, it’s like my social battery has been recharged. I suddenly have the energy to deal with the rest of the night. “You look like you’re doing much better.” Rachel looks me up and down once I make it back to our table. “Yeah, I think I just needed some fresh air and time to myself.” I say. “Mmhkay…” She furrows her brows, eying me suspiciously. “I knew you did. Now. Let’s go and try to make the most out of the rest of this e
Better In Every Way 51. Anchor
DarianaI don’t know how long I stand in front of the mirror. Staring at my reflection and trying to summon my best smile for the next one or so hours that I am bound to this place. I close my eyes and try to imagine myself back at home, on my couch or in my bed, gorging on a large bowl of popcorn while watching some trashy reality television.I sigh. My god, when did my fantasies get so depressing.“Was I boring you?” Suddenly being made aware of the fact that I am no longer alone in this relatively small space had my jump a little.“What the hell!” I scold Alec as I look him in the eye in the reflection once I manage to calm myself from the scare. “Why are you in here?”“I thought we could use a moment.” He says, in an annoyingly nonchalant tone. He starts to walk up to me, and in the mirror I see his eyes trailing all over my body. “Just us, no one else around.” His voice a little low.“What if someone saw you come in?” I ask, I am unwilling to let myself forget all of the potenti
Better In Every Way 50. My Knee
Dariana Dinner started shortly after we found our seats, but not before more people decided to graciously share their opinions on my life. Almost all of them falling somewhere within the realm of the same things my parents had been saying. About how it’s my fault because Cam was a “low class pick”, and in a somewhat mocking tone suggesting my career would ‘of course’ drive away the ‘better ones’. God, I forgot just how vapid and conservative these types could be. Unfortunately Shelby and I were at different tables, but thankfully I was considered enough to not be put at a table with a bunch of strangers. But that means, however, that I was put at the main table between Alec and some other HapheusTech exec I couldn’t be bothered to maintain a conversation with. He’s not bad or weird, just… old. And he works outside of any department I would need to collaborate with so there’s nothing for us to talk about. And Alec spends a majority of the time talking to Dominic on the othe
Better In Every Way 49. In Our Seats
Dariana “Is that a question?” I ask her, but she’s not looking at me anymore, she’s too busy watching Alec walk away. Can’t say I blame her, it’s a good view— one that I will never admit to watching myself. And I won’t begin to acknowledge it now. But seeing her drift off while watching after him makes me feel a bit…. weird inside. But that’s another thing I won’t begin to acknowledge right now. “A little bit…” She finally manages to mumble. “Come on.” I say, pulling Shelby toward one of the tables so we could sit down. “These shoes aren’t exactly meant for standing around.” I say. They may be gorgeous, but this may be the last time I allow Emma to pick my shoes, the stiletto heal is biting into the heel of my foot. “This isn’t our table.” She says once we get to one. “We can always just move later.” I shrug, nudging her into a chair and not-so-gracefully plopping into one of my own. “Sweet relief.” I breathe out. “So… You and Bradley Greene, huh?” I say in an attempt
Better In Every Way 48. That Friend
Dariana The sound of the doors opening is immediately drowned out by the music and the sound of chatter coming from the event hall. The familiar mixture of sounds does very little to comfort me, but it does serve as a sort of switch. Sending me into a practiced, almost robotic, stance; moving me through the room with an ease and grace I wish I felt. At first I try to convince myself that no one cares, that there are much more important and much more interesting people here for people to look at. That everyone is staring at Dominic and Rachel, the co-host and his new girlfriend. That would, of course, make for better news. It’s new and interesting, where I hopefully have made enough rounds around dinner and tea tables that my scandal is old and tired. That hope dies in me when I separate from Rachel and her beau when they head for the bar and the eyes still follow me. People look at me out of the corner of their eyes, some don’t even pretend to look like they’re not tal
Better In Every Way Sorry For The Mistake
*DON’T PAY FOR THIS CHAPTER!!! SKIP IT!!!* This was supposed to be a chapter but there was a mistake that I didn’t notice pre-publish. It was an error with the title. Then I forgot I could just edit it so I re-published the chapter *insert facepalm here*. I am very very sorry for the inconvenience this may have caused, I’ll get better about these things, I promise. The rest of this is just going to be the first quarter of the next chapter because I cannot put less than five hundred words down and I really do not have much to say outside of my deepest apologies. Especially considering that I did warn you in the first line so you wouldn’t be subjected to this. But if you are comfortable enough to have your settings set up in a way where you auto subscribe to chapters… *shrugging my shoulders* I feel like this is your lesson to be more careful. Because what if you don’t like a book? Now you have wasted valuable coins on a book you don’t like…. *sigh* tsk tsk tsk. I’m glad I cou
