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Sunrise Kisses: Chapter 25
Last Updated:
2024-10-29 19:42:56
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The flight to Florida was short. The private jet was just as huge as the one we had arrived on, but it felt too small now. I was confined by the plane. Confined to going back to my life. Alone.I stayed awake, keeping myself busy with paperwork, but I kept having to redo it. I couldn't concentrate. Every time I had to write Sebastian Belrose's name as the owner of an item, my brain would freeze and I would picture his face. The way he smelled. The touch of his skin.“Miss?” the flight attendant caught my attention, smiling politely. “We need to refuel. You're welcome to go into the airport and walk around for a few minutes.”I looked down at the blank form in my hands. All I had accomplished in the past thirty minutes was filling out Sebastian's name. Twice. In the wrong locations.I sighed, folding the paper into fourths to throw in the trash. “Thank you, I think I will,” I said, standing. “The fresh air might clear my head.”I carefully navigated the stairs out of the plane and onto
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Someone touched me and I nearly jumped out of my seat to punch them.“We've landed, miss.”It was just the flight attendant. I was glad I hadn't started swinging.“Thank you,” I mumbled, wiping drool off my chin. I hated the time change already, more just because it was a change.With bleary eyes, I collected my things and hurried off the plane. A cold wind ripped at my light jacket as I stepped onto the dark tarmac and hurried away from the last bits of life with Bastian. It smelled like snow here. Snow and airplane fuel. I felt sick to my stomach. And cold. So very, very cold and alone.Someone was waving to me at the end of the tarmac. They were big and hidden within a winter coat, but I knew that coat. I knew the worn elbows and faded blue denim of that coat like it was home. I dropped my bags and took off running. It was exactly who I needed to see. My Dad.“Hey there, kiddo,” he greeted me, wrapping his big arms around me as I nearly knocked him over with my hug. I held on to hi
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I plopped the groceries onto the counter and stared at them for a moment, trying to summon the energy to put them away. Usually, I loved putting groceries away. The act of organizing and filling my fridge and pantry always seemed to make me feel ready to tackle anything that might come my way. But not today.I stared at the sliced cheese and thought of Bastian's grilled cheese. The tomatoes made me think of him. So did the bacon. Everything in my bags reminded me of him somehow and how far away he was. Four days away from him and he was still all I could think about. I wished I could hear his voice.But he was respecting my wishes and leaving me alone. Just as I had asked. I hated it.“You okay, Ava?” Jackie asked, coming into the kitchen. She frowned slightly and pushed her short gray hair out of her bright blue eyes. “Want some help?”I smiled. “That would be great.”She came over and began efficiently taking all the food out and putting it right where it belonged. Even though Dad w
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Flying coach sucked.Flying coach with three layovers sucked even more.I arrived on the island bleary-eyed and exhausted the next morning after scrambling to get a last minute ticket. I had paid through the nose, but as I took a deep breath of tropical air, I knew it was worth it. I had to see Bastian. I had to tell him how I felt or I would never be able to forgive myself.I stopped in the tiny airport's bathroom and did my best to straighten my dress and fix the disaster that was my makeup. Sleeping with a stranger's head on my shoulder while my legs cramped under me was not a beauty regime I could get behind. I sighed at the mirror and put on a brave smile. I was here to see Bastian, not to look pretty. It shouldn't matter how I looked. He would still be excited to see me, not my makeup.I hoped.I took a deep breath and went to find a cab. The ride back to the mansion was longer than I remembered it.What if he doesn't want to see me? What if he's found someone else? What if he h
Billionaires And Beaches: The Kisses Series Sunrise Kisses: Epilogue
It's dark outside. The stars twinkle and the gray promise of dawn has started. The sun will rise in exactly 9 minutes. I know this because I have had the hour and minute circled on my calendar for the past six months.“Your mother would be so proud of you,” Dad whispers. He's said it at least fifty times already today, and a thousand more yesterday, but I still smile. I wish she could have been here for this. There is an ache in my heart for her, but I know that she's here in spirit. She wouldn't have missed today for the world.“Five minute warning,” Charlotte announces, stepping into the small room where I've been getting ready. “Sunrise in seven, but we have to get you down there.”Butterflies alight in my stomach. I press my palms against the smooth satin of my dress, trying to tell the butterflies to settle once again.Dad clears his throat. He stands in front of me and takes my hands in his. Tears make his eyes glisten and I can tell that he's holding his emotion back. I hug him
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“Do I know you?”I looked up from the event table I was desperately trying to organize. A man wearing a salmon pink polo shirt with khaki shorts that were just a little too short stood in front of me. He reminded me of a plastic Ken doll with his bleached hair that was gelled into submission and what looked like a fashion shoot pose.“Excuse me?” I asked. There was a massive gala tonight to showcase the items available for auction tomorrow, and this table needed to be set up and fixed. The auction of this multi-million dollar Caribbean estate was very important to me and really, everything needed to be perfect, but I was focusing on this table for the moment.The man grinned. “Do I know you? Because I'm having a hard time recognizing you with your clothes on.”I stared at him, dumbfounded. There was no way he could be serious.“That's seriously what you're going with?” I asked after a moment. I was way too busy for crappy pick up lines. “You're at a million dollar event hosted by a bi
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“YOU CAME BACK!” I yelled, running down the steps toward Ava. My hair spread out behind me in the tropical heat. I jumped the last step, being careful of my heels before taking off at a run. Bastian never understood how I could do it, but I'd been wearing heels for work long enough to know how to run in them.I wrapped her up in a giant hug. The last time I had seen her was a little over a week ago. We had become friends just before I had left to go work on the phone app for our company. That was right around the time she and Bastian realized they were perfect for each other and were giving the most obvious love-filled glances in the kitchen. I had been glad to get out of the house and give them some alone time.To be honest, I was surprised when I came back to work on the auction and found out that she had gone back home, leaving my brother broken-hearted. Bastian claimed she said she just didn't fit his world, but that made no sense to me. They were so perfect together that I was ha
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10 Years Earlier...I sat carefully on the old wooden chair in Bastian's dorm room, looking around the room in awe.So, this is what college looks like, I thought to myself. I had imagined it to look a little less like a boy's gym bag and more like an academic library, but I wasn't going to complain.How many thirteen-year-olds got to go to college anyway? Or at least, got to visit their older brother in college and play pretend for the weekend.I checked my watch. I still had another fifteen minutes before Bastian would come back from his “project.” I rolled my eyes. Project- yeah right. It was obvious he was doing some cool college-y thing that he didn't want his little sister participating in. He just told me he had a group assignment he had to work on. Sure, Bastian. Sure.The room was a small square with two twin beds on opposite sides, two desks and a small TV perched on a mini-fridge in the center. Per Bastian's instructions, I had the door open and the resident assistant had a
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I had been fairly sure that I would never see the inside of Gabe's house ever again, but now I was standing on the deck watching the ocean once more. Not that I was complaining, though. I was happy to be there. In fact, the view of the ocean with the sun overhead never looked so good.“I’m glad you came over today. We need to talk. I’m ready to work through this and make things right again. But first, we both have to come clean with each other,” Gabe said, leaning against the railing of his deck.“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea,” I agreed. My palms were sweating, but I felt calmer than I had in weeks.His surprise visit at the restaurant had happened just the night before and this was the first time we had really had a chance to hash things out. This conversation needed to happen. It had been a long time coming.“Where should we start?” he asked. The breeze from the ocean ruffled his dark hair.“I guess what I really don’t understand is why you hid it from me?” I asked, starting th
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“So all of your readers think you’re out with Brian right now?” Cora asked.I nodded. “Yep, I’ve duped them all into thinking Brian is a real person that loves me just the way I should be loved. It’s too bad I had to make all that up, though, isn’t it.”“Whatever. I think it’s fine.” Cora just shrugged. “But I have to ask you an important question, Harper.”“What is it?” I asked, a little nervous.Cora turned to the side and set her jaw, making a serious face. “Do I look like a Brian to you?”I busted out laughing. Her goofy antics got me every time.“You know, you actually do!” I exclaimed. “You make a perfect Brian! Wow, I’m one lucky girl to be on a date with such a handsome man.”“Aw, thanks!” she said, as she turned back to face me and grinned. “If I talk like this does it make me sound like a Brian, too?”She lowered her voice as much as possible and crinkled her eyebrows together. I was laughing so hard that tears were streaming down my face. The good kind of tears, though, not
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I sat down at my computer and clicked on the Internet. It was always the first step in starting a new blog post and I could almost feel the writer’s block start to set in as a blank window popped up on the screen and began loading.It had been just over two months since the breakup and about a month and a half since I had introduced Brian.Brian was a tall guy with a toned body, dark hair and eyes bluer than an open sky on a summer’s day. He was funny, smart, a hard worker in his career as a physical trainer, a huge sports fan and… completely fake.I had decided to create Brian in order to appease my Mother and to use as a marketing tool for the blog. After my readers had obsessed over my relationship with Gabe, Brian was designed to be Gabe 2.0 and to carry the burden of a new and passionate relationship. And completely fabricating a fake relationship was much easier than actually getting consumed by one.Brian took me on elaborate dates to all the exciting places around town without
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I took a break from watching my blog to make some belated dinner. I heated up some left over lasagna and made a milkshake with some of the ice cream still left in the fridge as post-breakup comfort food. I couldn’t help but make fun of myself and my current state of affairs. It felt only fitting to throw on an episode of Grey’s Anatomy on Netflix.After about a half hour I heard the phone ring.Immediately my heart skipped a beat. I had posted my blog late at night and had done so purposefully to avoid an instant reaction from Rosie or my Mom. But with as late as it was, realistically they were the only ones that would be calling.I checked the caller I.D. on the phone before answering. It was Rosie, which was better than Mom. I took a deep breath and clicked to accept the call.“Hey, Rosie,” I attempted cheerfully.“Hey, Big Sis!” she exclaimed.“What are you doing up so late?” I asked.“I fell asleep kind of early, and then the baby woke me up. My sleep schedule is so crazy now, thi
Billionaires And Beaches: The Kisses Series Island Kisses: Chapter 26
Well, the time has come. Every beginning has an end, and my relationship has found its end. Two weeks ago, Mr. Perfect Match and I broke up and it is time for the corresponding blog post (because blogging about breakups is the best way to move on, right??)It’s not the typical kind of post I’m used to writing. My life is filled with many more bad dates than bad breakups, and maybe that’s a good thing. But it also means that I’m entering new territory without the right map to guide me. They say it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have lovedI stopped writing and glared at the screen. I highlighted the last sentence and hit delete as if the force of my click would hurt the words as they left the page. Love. It was like a bad word, something I had been conditioned not to say. And Gabe deserved no exception, even if it would appease an old stupid cliché about breakups.After a few moments of contemplation I picked up again where I left off.Time is a weird thing. It has the a
Billionaires And Beaches: The Kisses Series Island Kisses: Chapter 25
The plane ride to Orlando only took less than an hour, but it felt like an eternity. I spent the entire trip trying to hide my sobs, but of course it was impossible. Luckily, I had sat in the window seat and was able to face away from everyone while I cried, but I still knew that people were looking at me. The older lady sitting next to me even asked if there was anything she could do to help. I responded with, “If you can make men honest, that would help.” She just laughed and said, “I don’t think there’s anything I can do about that one.”My makeup was ruined, my hair was a mess and the clothes I had on were a day old. Needless to say, I wasn’t looking like I was ready to hit the town when I crawled off of the plane. It didn’t matter, though. Cora didn’t care what I looked like. She wouldn’t judge me. That was why I had come to see her in the first place.I had only taken a few steps out of the front doors of the airport before I heard Cora calling out my name. I hadn’t even gotten
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After storming out of Gabe’s office, I went back to the bedroom and got dressed as quickly as possible. I was teeming with emotion, but I didn’t want to let out a single sob. I could save that for later, when I could enjoy a pint if ice cream and a few days of binge watching my favorite TV show. But for now, I needed to keep it together and act tough.So once I was dressed, I gathered my makeup from his countertop in his bathroom and tossed everything into my overnight bag. To think, I was considering what it would be like to spend my life with the guy and now I was doing everything possible to speed up the process of leaving his house for good.I can’t believe this. I should have known that it would only be a matter of time before something like this would happen to me, I thought. Why did I fool myself into thinking I could actually meet a decent guy?I zipped up my bag and tossed it over my shoulder. Before leaving the bedroom, I took one last look at the bed, where the blankets wer
