Victory!

Forewarned, forearmed— to be prepared is half the victory. ~Miguel de Cervantes.

~•~

AMANDA

Victory! This one word rang out in my head like a triumphant yell.

I let the adrenaline wash over me like an orgasmic wave as I stared out the car window, watching the buildings flash by.

The cool breeze whipped through my hair, and I could almost taste freedom in the air, but there was also something bittersweet about it, an intangible longing that made my heart ache.

That sense of power—of finally accomplishing what I’d been planning for days, if not months—was gone, replaced by an unsettling sense of regret and...

‘Regret? 'What in the world was I thinking?' I pondered sharply, shaking my head slightly and smiling broadly.

I closed my eyes briefly as I let the sense of victory wash over me again, replaying the previous hours’ events in my mind.

Robert and Renee. The paparazzi and commotion I initiated. The press, the cameras, and the gossip.

Damn! I’d done well. And to think I was o