Chapter 1

Chapter 01

{ G R A C E }

I felt a wave of nostalgia hit me as the breeze brushed against my skin.

My eyes wandered around, a warm feeling in my chest as I took in my surrounding. Everything felt so different and it looked so as well. The house next door was now painted a different colour and the red jeep which was always parked out front was no longer in sight. The tree which was just across the street looked bigger and healthier.

A lot of things had changed.

Which was only right and understandable; it had been over two years since I stepped foot here.

So much changed since I left for England. My first book, which I had later named Sandalwood, was published and rapidly became a bestseller. The amount of recognition and publicity it got was a shock to even me. It really got my name out there and was a great start to my career.

The first few months were kind of tough, to be honest. It wasn't easy trying to adjust to a system I was new to and in a place where everyone was literally a stranger. It wasn't easy trying to get used to a completely different environment. I felt homesick almost every single day.

Working at Spring Publishing House was a great joy, really. I loved my job and I had a great passion for it. My co-workers were very welcoming when I had just newly arrived and I eventually formed great friendships with some of them. Everyone was older than I was but that didn't make them treat me any differently. In addition to my book blossoming at the time, working as an assistant editor was a major accomplishment for me.

Kendra Mayfair was the sweetest person to me. She was one person that made me feel encouraged and loved through the whole adjustment process. We became really close as time progressed and she was like a second mother to me. Her friendship was very important.

I tried my best to keep in contact with my loved ones back at home. They were all really supportive and always made sure I knew I had them at my corner no matter what.

Chris would always make sure we talked frequently. Between the phone calls and numerous FaceTime sessions, it was safe to say that we never stopped being best friends. Although sometimes, both our busy schedules would get in the way of our communication, it didn't really seem to affect us that much.

Due to one reason or the other, it wasn't possible for me to travel back for any of the holidays over the past two years. It was either never convenient at the time or something important would come up.

But not this time.

I had been planning to travel back to LA for spring break for months and when I was given a brief leave of absence at work, I wasted no time in jumping at the opportunity.

Pushing my thoughts aside, I let my legs begin to move, strolling my suitcase along with me.

I had barely reached the front door when it flew wide open, revealing my brother, Tommy.

"Grace!" He shouted excitedly. His voice was so loud that I'm certain it could've been heard by half the block.

"Tommy!" I launched for him in a matter of seconds. "You've gotten so tall, Jesus. What has mom been feeding you?"

He laughed as he lifted me off the ground, "I've missed you so much dude, you have no idea."

"Aww." I smiled genuinely, still a bit surprised that I was hanging in the air because of my little brother, who was not so little anymore. "I've missed you too."

He placed me back on the ground and flashed a wide grin, "Mom's in the kitchen. Let me help you with your bags."

"Thank you." I expressed my gratitude.

I let him take my bag and suitcase in his hands as I walked into the house.

The familiar sweet smell of our home was the first thing that hit me. Not much had changed around the house, just a few decorations and household items here and there. My eyes continued to wander as I made my way into the kitchen where my mother stood over the stove.

"Mom!" I exclaimed happily.

My mother's eyes quickly turned to me and she was making her way to me in a number of seconds. "Gracie!"

We shared a long warm hug before we both pulled away.

My mother looked good and that made me happy. She looked healthy and happy. It made me feel satisfied knowing that things were falling in place for her. Two months back, she had called to tell me that she had gotten a huge promotion at work and she sounded genuinely happy about it. She had really been working her ass off and I was just grateful that it paid off.

We were all really proud of her.

"How have you been baby?" She smiled at me. "How was your flight? Again, I'm really sorry I wasn't able to pick you up at the airport."

"It's no problem, mom." I told her honestly. "I've been good, my flight was good."

"How about you go freshen up while I finish fixing dinner up?" She said sweetly. "We have a lot of catching up to do."

"Sure thing, mom."

I headed upstairs to my room where Tommy had already helped me place my things. It was almost like no one had come in here since the last time I was here. Absolutely nothing had changed.

I sent a quick text to Chris informing him that I had arrived home before hitting the showers. It was indeed a long flight and I was feeling a bit jet lagged. But after a long warm shower, I got out of the bathroom and changed into something comfortable.

Chris launched for me immediately he came over and set eyes on me. We both fell to the floor and squeezed the life out of each other. He was one person I had missed the most.

My mother and Tommy were also very excited to see him, seeing as it had been long since we all gathered together like this.

In no time, the table was set and we were all having dinner like old times. It felt nice to be with the people I cared about again and it was good catching up.

Tommy had graduated from high school last year and had gotten a football scholarship to his dream school, Coastal California. Tommy had always been a star player and I was happy that he was going after his dream of making it to the NFL someday. He had gotten offers from other schools which he was interested in but Tommy really wanted to be close to home, making Coastal his best choice. He was currently in his freshman year.

Chris, on the other hand, was in his final year at Stanford. He had been doing really well actually. Apart from school, Chris had worked extremely hard to get his work out there and he even started selling some of his photos online. I felt proud for him.

He and Julian started dating eventually. Julian moved in with Chris after some time and they were both pretty happy with each other. It was quite ironic that Chris, who had never let himself be in a serious relationship before, was in one of the most healthy and happy relationships I had ever seen. They both have been together for a year and six months, if I recall correctly.

Laughter filled the table.

"I'm surprised you even had the time to come visit this time, G." Chris expressed. "Between your new book and all you've had going on for the past couple of weeks, I thought you'd cancel on this trip too."

"Yeah, we saw photos from your book launch, sweetie." My mom said to me with soft eyes. "We were all so proud of you."

"Thank you mom." I said sweetly.

"I really, um," mom took in a breath before she continued, "I really enjoyed reading your new book."

My new book, which I had long been working on, recently got published. It was a book about my father and Borderline Personality Disorder in general. Dear Lucas was what I named it. I had really poured a lot into writing it, it was so personal to me. I had gone through a lot of mental breakdowns in the process of writing it.

Over the time that had passed, I personally took an interest in BPD research. I had so much more insight on what my father had been going through. Mental illness really had its way of screwing with people just as bad as the physical.

My book had been getting a lot of recognition, even quite faster than my first one, if you ask me. I had gone on a lot of interviews, media rounds and whatnot. Generally, I had gotten a lot of publicity as a writer and it felt good to be well known for what I do.

"Thanks mom." Her compliment meant a lot to me.

I really didn't know how my mother would feel reading the book, that was one thing I was skeptical about. I didn't want to open up old wounds and I didn't want it to upset her. But hearing her say those words about them was comforting.

"You're really big shot now, G." Chris said, giving my shoulder a playful nudge in his seat beside mine. "Do you still have that interview thing at the Sasha Chorus show tomorrow?"

"Yes, actually." I said with a light crease between my brows because it had almost slipped my mind.

"You're gonna be on the Sasha Chorus show?" Tommy asked, surprised and I nodded. "Grace, that's big!"

I smiled, "Yeah, she reached out to me a long time ago saying she'd love to have me on her show if there was ever a time I was back in LA so I informed her when it was certain I was coming."

"Yeah, and you also have that three day conference thing the Ronald brothers are hosting, right?" Chris asked me.

I nodded.

"The Ronald brothers?" Mom's brows shot up. "Look at you being great."

"Thank you mom."

"A lot of successful people are gonna be there." Chris spoke again. "It's like this multi-business thing."

"That's pretty awesome." Tommy said before taking a spoonful of food in his mouth.

"I would love to be your plus one to that, Grace." Chris looked at me with puppy dog eyes. "Pleaseeee, it could really be a great opportunity for me."

"Chris, there's no one else I'd love to have as my plus one." I smiled at him.

"Really?" He faked a sniffle. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

I smiled softly as I watched everyone at the table. Everyone was so happy and accomplished and I was proud of every single one of us.

It really did feel good to be back home again.

* * * *

"Grace Anderson!" I turned to see a very recognisable face exclaim my name.

It was the next day and I was backstage with the crew of the Sasha Chorus show. I was dressed in a blue mini dress which firmly held my upper body, flaring from my waist to my mid thighs. I had black stilettos worn on my feet and a black clutch in hand. I was personally sat down by members of hair and makeup, where they helped style my hair down in loose curls and touch my face up.

Sasha was currently finishing up with an interview which was scheduled to be before mine so I sat around, waiting for it to round up.

"Oh my God, Bresha!" I shared her excitement as we both approached each other for a hug.

Bresha was a very popular social media influencer. She was a chef who shared cuisine content on her I*******m and recipes on her twitter and she was quite famous for it. She sent me a DM months back about my book and we became quite acquainted online.

Bresha was light skinned and had black curly hair. She was also very tall. She was dressed in a red trouser suit and black heels. Her makeup was done perfectly well and her phone was held close in hand.

It felt good to see her in person.

"What are you doing here?" I asked her with a smile on my face immediately we pulled away.

"Sasha's a great friend of mine, I just stopped by like I always do." She informed me, her smile still so wide. "I'm assuming you're gonna be on the show?"

"Yeah, I'll be going in soon." I let her know.

"I think the last interview just wrapped up. Sasha should be-" she looked around and said again, "oh, there she is."

I averted my gaze to her line of sight to see Sasha Chorus in the flesh. She was just walking out of set and she had people surrounding her, touching her hair and makeup.

Bresha started walking over to her and I did the same, beside her.

Sasha smiled immediately she noticed both of us, "Grace Anderson, it's so nice to officially meet you."

"You too, Sasha." I returned her smile. "Thank you for having me."

"We'll be in there and started in no time." Sasha said to me. "We're just taking a brief commercial break to have me rejuvenate."

"It's no problem at all." I told her with a nod.

Bresha and Sasha started conversing with each other and to be honest, I kind of zoned out while mindlessly fiddling with the name tag hung loosely around my neck.

"Oh, there you are!" Sasha exclaimed with a smile on her face, her eyes focused on someone who Bresha and I clearly had our backs to. "He's the one I just finished doing an interview with."

Bresha and I turned to face the person Sasha was referring to and immediately my eyes landed on them, I felt my heart stop for a second.

Then it started pounding, vigorously.

"Guys, this is-"

"Dean."

"Grace."

Both those words were said, almost breathlessly, at the same time.

______

Thanks for reading!

~Chris xx.