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Chapter 33
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How We End II Chapter 34
Chapter 34For a moment, I stood there, awkwardly staring at her.The shock I felt was probably displayed on my face. She looked like she wasn't moved at my reaction, like she expected me to be this surprised.She finally spoke, "Can I come in?"I quickly collected myself and tucked loose hair behind my ear, saying, "Yeah, uh, sure."I stepped aside, giving her room to step into my house and once she had done that, I closed the door. Her eyes wandered round my apartment. Not in a weird way, simply in a 'taking in my environment' kind of way. I observed her as she stayed silent, trying to tell by her expressions what she was thinking and what she was going to do next.Did she find out that I kissed Dean?Was she here to tell me to stay away from her man? To pull my hair even?She didn't look like the type to fight over a man and even if she wanted to, she would've launched for me the minute I opened the door.Not being able to take the looming awkward silence anymore, I said, "Can I g
How We End II 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 s
How We End II Chapter 2
Chapter 02 I remained frozen in my spot. My eyes stayed fixed on him and I didn't, for the life of me, know how exactly to react. Dean Ryan was the last person I expected or, quite frankly, wanted to see in the time of my visit here. So, I felt it really surreal that he was standing in front of me at that very moment. Maybe it was just me, but he had grown taller. He was dressed in a neat three piece black suit with shiny black dress shoes to match. His dark brown hair looked well groomed and so did the beard which he had grown on his face. I felt my breath get stuck in my throat when my eyes made direct contact with his. His gaze didn't shift from mine, he let his ocean blue eyes stay piercing into mine.His entire aura seemed different, more intimidating.I’d have to admit it felt a bit nerve-wracking trying to hold his gaze. Sasha's voice snapped me out of my trance, "Wait, you two know each other?" I quickly gathered myself, clearing my throat, "Y-Yeah, um, Dean and I are old
How We End II Chapter 3
Chapter 03Amber was beautiful.She was a lot taller than I was and she had a pretty figure. Her brown hair cascaded in waves all the way to her lower back, it appeared healthy and shiny. She had big brown eyes and a structured face. She was dressed in a navy blue pencil dress that perfectly accentuated her curves. She held a designer bag in hand and her heels matched the colour of her dress.I flashed a small smile her way, "It's really nice to meet you, Amber."The look Amber was giving me wasn't particularly unfriendly, but it wasn't nice and welcoming either. She gave me a look that practically pierced through me, like she was observing and assessing me all in one go."Likewise." Was all she said back.Dean's hand went round her waist as he focused his gaze on her, speaking softly, "How are you?""I'm good, my love." She responded. "How was your interview?""It was good." He smiled at her."Did you have an interview with Sasha as well?" Amber asked me."Uh, yeah." I replied with a
How We End II Chapter 4
Chapter 04 It was Monday the following week. Chris had spent the entire weekend apologising for how the night at the bar turned out. I wasn't even mad at him but he really felt bad for how I left that night. He solemnly swore not to try to play Cupid and set me up with anyone ever again. I wasn't looking for a boyfriend and even if I was, I wouldn't need his help finding one. The three day conference I was invited to by the Ronald brothers started today and just as I had promised, I brought Chris along with me as my plus one. The building in which it was being held was as large as it was beautiful. The lighting was phenomenal and it was adorned with a lot of breathtaking artworks. The ceilings were high up above our heads and the marble tiled floors were almost spotless. And that was just the waiting hall, where everyone who had been invited stayed socialising and pacing around. The conference was yet to start and people were still filing in. A lot of successful people wer
How We End II Chapter 5
Chapter 05It was the third day of the conference.Not much had happened yesterday, really. The conference had gone smoothly, just like the first one had. The Ronald brothers brought in different guest speakers and they were just as inspiring as the previous ones had been. It held on quite longer than the first though but it was much more exciting.Chris and I didn't have the chance to speak with Dean the entire time. Between the herd of people he was occupied with and Amber who was glued to his side, to the amount of people Chris and I got to mingle with, there really wasn't any time.Being the third and final day of the conference, the Ronald brothers had decided to make it more of a dinner event. It was held in the same building, just not a conference hall this time. I, for one, felt it was a nice way to wrap it up.The setting was breathtaking.Everything looked so beautiful and luxurious. From the different tables arranged everywhere, to the glass and chinaware that were being f
How We End II Chapter 6
Chapter 06Dean was having a panic attack.That was clear by now.Apart from the mental breakdowns I used to witness after Dean would have a nightmare about Charlie, I honestly had never seen him like this. He looked completely disoriented and frantic.Luckily, I was familiar with panic attacks. Tommy used to suffer from them when he was younger and I watched my parents handle him enough times to know exactly what to do.Dean and I had found ourselves on the floor of the bathroom, his back against the wall. I pulled away from the hug so that I could face him squarely.Holding both his arms in each of my hands, I looked to him and said, "Breathe, in and out."He tried to do as I told."Dean, look at me." I whispered as calmly as I could manage. "Look at me."His ocean blue eyes met mine."Breathe." I instructed slowly. "In and out."He was able to do it this time."In and out." I said again, my eyes searching his. "Come on."He repeated the action but his body was still trembling.I pl
How We End II Chapter 7
Chapter 07"So, are you ever going to tell me what happened last night?" Chris asked, facing me squarely on the couch where we both sat."What do you mean?" I raised an eyebrow as I looked up from my phone.The ride back to my house with Harry last night was simply filled with us talking about random things. It was a good distraction from the event that had happened earlier. He was also able to get my number before I got down from the car.It was nice, really. He was a nice guy."What do you mean what do I mean?" He furrowed his brows, hitting me with a pillow. "What happened with Harry?""Nothing happened with Harry." I rolled my eyes."Come on-""For real, Chris." I told him. "He just dropped me off and that was it.""What about that date?" He nudged my foot with his."I already told you I turned him down.""Ugh!" Chris groaned. "What in the world is your problem?""Nothing." I shrugged my shoulders."Why do you keep shutting guys out? Are you scared to love again?" He said in a pl
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How We End II Chapter 34
Chapter 34For a moment, I stood there, awkwardly staring at her.The shock I felt was probably displayed on my face. She looked like she wasn't moved at my reaction, like she expected me to be this surprised.She finally spoke, "Can I come in?"I quickly collected myself and tucked loose hair behind my ear, saying, "Yeah, uh, sure."I stepped aside, giving her room to step into my house and once she had done that, I closed the door. Her eyes wandered round my apartment. Not in a weird way, simply in a 'taking in my environment' kind of way. I observed her as she stayed silent, trying to tell by her expressions what she was thinking and what she was going to do next.Did she find out that I kissed Dean?Was she here to tell me to stay away from her man? To pull my hair even?She didn't look like the type to fight over a man and even if she wanted to, she would've launched for me the minute I opened the door.Not being able to take the looming awkward silence anymore, I said, "Can I g
How We End II Chapter 33
Chapter 33My head was spinning.I needed everything to pause for a moment.So much had happened in the past 72 hours that I wasn't given enough time to process. It was crushing me.The drive back to my house was basically me trying to hold back tears. There was so much going on in my head that I feared it was going to explode. I had called Lydia and she sounded scared at how frantic I was. I could barely even form a proper sentence to explain what had happened, so she assured me that she'll be at my house soon and I should breathe.By the time I got home, I felt worse. I tried to simply take a minute to process and there was no thought that didn't hurt. From accepting the fact that I hadn't gotten over Dean to basically trying to end our friendship to Connor kissing me to witnessing Dean's panic attack.Dean's outburst tore me apart in more ways than I let on. I had always imagined the possibility of him feeling that way but actually hear him say them to me was another level of hu
How We End II Chapter 32
Chapter 32I'm certain the people at the cafe thought I looked funny, the stares they gave me said that much.But I couldn't blame them, I was wearing hotel flip flops on a fancy silk brown dress. My hair was also tied up in the messiest bun and I'm sure I had dark circles under my eyes. Well, I got my breakfast order and headed back to the fifth floor in the elevator. Just as I was careful not to make a sound when I was stepping out, I also applied the same effort when I came back. Dean was still sleeping soundly by the time I got back. I made my way to the dressing mirror and started placing the cups of coffee and wraps of bagels on it. One of the bagel wraps slipped from my hand and fell to floor."Shit." I cursed under my breath, picking it up.I heard a low sound come from Dean and I looked back at him to see that he had woken up."Grace?" His voice was low and deep as he sat up and rubbed his eyes."Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you." I apologised, feeling bad."What are you-"
How We End II Chapter 31
Chapter 31The lady at the reception almost didn't let me pass.Apart from the time I had come to pick Dean up the day we went to the art gallery, I had never really visited him here. Seeing as he was a special guest, his room number couldn't be disclosed due to confidentiality reasons. I had to go through our previous texts to find where Dean had lazily mentioned his room number. The lady tried ringing his room but he didn't accept the call. I was already agitated when I was trying to explain the situation to her and she still wouldn't hear me out until she recognised me as author Grace Anderson.Turns out she was a huge fan and an autograph on her copy was all it took the entire time for her to let me up.If my heart was pounding before, it was running a bloody marathon by the time I was going up the elevator. My worry still hadn't subsided by the time I had gotten to the 5th floor and was searching for his room number.When I eventually found it, I took in a deep breath before I k
How We End II Chapter 30
Chapter 30Lydia gasped dramatically, "He kissed you?!""Shhh!" I shushed her."Sorry." She whispered, probably realising we were at work and anybody could hear her. "Thank you.""Well, did you kiss him back?" She asked eagerly, still whispering."No." I whispered back. "I-I mean, kind of. It didn't really last long before I pulled away.""Oh, my God, you literally have the most interesting complicated love life ever." She exaggerated."I know." I whined."Then, what happened?""What do you think happened?" I furrowed my brows. "It was like the club all over again. He apologised for kissing me, went all extra silent and weird after and decided to drive me home. The ride back to my house was SILENT, bloody silent Lyd. And apparently, he called in sick today.""Oh, man." She made a face. "That's not good.""I mean, it just didn't seem like the right moment to be sucking faces." I explained. "He had just told me something really personal a-and I don't know, it was a really sad atmospher
How We End II Chapter 29
Chapter 29I fought the urge to call in sick today.God knows I wanted to.But it was either I went to work and just have to face one or two uncomfortable conversations and maybe a few lingering stares or I stayed home watching dumb TV shows while being alone with my thoughts and feeling sad all over again. At least at work, I had distractions.I had stopped at Starbucks to get breakfast, as per usual, on my way to work. I had skilfully slipped into my office without running into anybody, hallelujah and comfortably had my coffee and bagels while reviewing some of the work I had to do.I had scheduled meetings with writers I worked with so I stayed busy majority of the day. I would say they served as good distractions if I didn't find myself having thoughts of Dean every now and then.There was no truth to Harry's logic.Everything is harder now I've accepted it.I had just finished my last meeting for the day when my door was slowly pushed open, revealing Lydia who wore a dramatic lo
How We End II Chapter 28
Chapter 28"Whoa," Chris finally said something after watching me rant on FaceTime for about fifteen minutes, "all this happened last night?""Yup."Last night was a lot for me, really.It really did hurt having to go through all that; accepting that I wasn't even close to getting over Dean and having that semi-outburst in the parking lot. There were so many things I wanted to say but held back from doing so because it would've been too painful. Don't even get me started on the look on his face. I wasn't a fool. It was obvious that he was affected as well by the entire thing. Which was what I didn't understand, if he was so in love with his girlfriend, why was he here giving me all these mixed signals? Letting me be his 'tour-guide' and show him special places in the city. Why was he here letting himself get close to me again? I just didn't get it.Harry was literally God-sent last night though. He got me home safe and stayed with me a bit till he was certain that I was okay. At one
How We End II Chapter 27
Chapter 27I hadn't really processed what I had done.I had just, done it.I forced myself to look at someone other than Dean which was unfortunately Connor, who definitely wasn't a better option with how shocked and distressed he looked.Harry flashed a charming smile to the group of people staring at us and held my hand, leading me away from everybody. He guided me to a random empty office that was fortunately unlocked. He opened the door for me to step in and did so as well after me, closing the door behind him."What the hell, Grace?" Harry asked with a confused expression."I am so sorry, Harry." I apologised, starting to feel mortified about everything that just happened. "I don't know why I did that, I-""Hey, it's okay." He placed his hands on my arms. "Breathe."I did as he told me, practicing a breathing technique I had mastered for situations like this where things got too overwhelming."First of all, apology accepted although I didn't really mind the kiss. Just, you know,
How We End II Chapter 26
Chapter 26Saturday had come.It was the day of the BBA awards.It wasn't until the day before that I started fretting and feeling nervous about the entire thing. Anxious thoughts kept creeping in. Thoughts like "What if I don't win? Would everyone still be proud of me?" "Everyone has so much expectations of me. What if I let them down?"I tried my best to push them away but they were there; which was only human, frankly.The award show was nothing too extravagant. I did spot a lot of famous writers whom I had been reading and looking up to since I was a child and I felt honoured to be in their midst. There was a red carpet before the main event started where I was briefly interviewed with a couple of normal questions. There were also a lot of cameras flashing in my direction and I tried my best to look confident enough.Everyone who Kendra had gotten a ticket for showed up. Connor, who had made few efforts to speak to me since the whole Dean showing up at Spring thing, came all su
