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Fifty-Two
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Monte helped carry Breanna’s many bags of clothes into her apartment. The time spent with her today had been Heaven on earth. He couldn’t think of another time in his life when he’d enjoyed himself so much. Unfortunately, the day was drawing to a close, and soon he’d have to say good bye.
But before that happened, he had to change her mind about her so-called boyfriend.
She piled the bags on the floor by the couch before plopping down on the cushion and releasing a gush of air from her mouth. He set the bags in his arms down beside her and then joined her on the couch.
“Whew, what a day,” she exclaimed wearily.
“You can say that again. But we got so much done, so it was worth it.”
She nodded. “It was worth every minute.” She leaned her head against the back of the couch. “I can’t believe I let you talk me into getting all of those clothes.” Frowning, she rolled her head t
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Breanna felt like she was a teenager entering a new school when she walked into the office building. As she readied herself for work this morning, her stomach was in knots. What would her co-workers think of her new look?Ashley was the first to see her. Her jaw dropped, and she jumped out of her chair so quickly it bumped against the cubicle wall.“Oh… my…” Ashley shook her head. “What happened to you?”Because of Ashley’s loud voice, the others in the room were alerted to Breanna’s presence. Within seconds, all of her co-workers swarmed around her, oohing and ahhing over her hair, new dress, and shoes. Breanna didn’t really want to tell them every little detail, so she explained that the party had convinced her to get a new look.Ashley laughed and elbowed Jackie standing next to her. “Yeah, I bet it was Monte who changed Breanna’s mind.”Heat rushed to Breanna’s chee
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Breanna blinked her teary eyes and shut the door. Tom had just left her apartment, angrier than she’d ever seen him before.Just as she thought, he didn’t like her new look. His first reaction was accusing her of being with another guy. Guilt had nearly choked her, but she couldn’t confess who had really instigated her transformation.When Tom began throwing insults her way and calling her degrading names, she knew it was time to put her foot down. It scared her half to death, but she told him to leave her apartment if he couldn’t calm down. He’d shouted out a few more degrading names before storming out the door.This wasn’t how she wanted things between them to go. It was hard not to remember what Monte had said about Tom. Could Monte have been right all this time? Because of Tom’s reaction, she could see that he was trying to control her. All these years, he’d been suffocating her, and she hadn’t even real
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“Of course I wasn’t thinking of you,” she lied and turned back toward the paintings. “If you must know, this house and the paintings, reminds me of the Victorian era, and I was just imagining what it might have been like to live back during that time.”Monte moved beside her as his attention shifted to the paintings. “Believe it or not, I would have loved to live back in those days.”She stared directly at him. “Really? Why?”“Because people didn’t look down their noses at the sons of rich men. Back then, people didn’t mind if the son of a rich guy didn’t do anything during the day. In fact, having a laborious job was frowned upon by high society gents and ladies.” He folded his arms across his wide chest. “Sons of rich men were the kind of guys the old bats wanted to marry their ugly daughters to.”Breanna understood the point he was trying to make, but she st
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“I understand now,” she whispered. “And I appreciate your attention toward me. Too bad some wonderful man couldn’t have swept Linda away.”“You don’t know how many times I think that. If only someone cared about her, she would be alive today, and she would be a successful woman. If only she had waited, her life would have changed. I just know it.”She nodded. “I wonder what my life would have been like if my parents had lived.”He rubbed her fingers. “But it’s useless to look back. We must move forward.”“So true.”He closed the space between them and cupped her face with his hands. “Tyger, my love, thanks for being here with me tonight. You don’t know how much it means to me that you came.”“You’d mentioned that you’d go crazy by yourself, and I… I didn’t want that to happen to such a sweet man.”
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Monte’s mind scurried in several different directions. There must be a way to break free. Tyger had the right idea. They needed to get these bindings off their wrists first, and then they could plan their escape.He breathed heavily for several seconds, trying to calm himself in order to think properly. Suddenly, and idea sprang to his mind and he sat up straight. “Tyger, you might be able to untie my hands.” He turned his back to her.“Okay, I’ll try.”When her fingers touched his, he held them for a few moments, enjoying the feeling of her skin against his. Slowly, she pulled her touch from his. Her fingers awkwardly fumbled with the ropes.Holding his breath, he hoped she’d be able to do this, but her quiet sobs of failure were growing louder.“I don’t think I can,” she said with irritation in her voice.“Don’t give up. I know you can do this.”“I&r
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