I hope you all enjoyed these frequent updates today. I am on a three-day weekend and I am trying to get you all as much of the story as I can. For those of you wondering if I will be continuing this story to a logical conclusion...of course, I am! They will have their HEA! I promise. But before we get there there will be trials, there will be trouble, and there will be mystery and adventure. Don't worry, I won't grow bored and set it aside for a different book. I have several books going at once, but that doesn't mean I will neglect this one (I usually have 3-4 books going simultaneously). This book will continue to be updated daily through June! Thank you all for your support! If you are enjoying this story so far, consider giving it a gem or two in appreciation.
[Cordelia]The sun had completely set before we had made our way back to the studio flat I share with Tilly. Or rather, had shared. There is nothing left to share now.“Gone,” I choke as I struggle not to cry. “Gone, all gone.” Atlas doesn’t interfere as I search through the remains of the rubble by the radiant glow of the streetlamp from across the street. It might be after 8pm, but it is never truly dark in LA, more of a perpetual twilight. The neon signs from a nearby billboard casts the ashes and soot covered beams in an eerie, ghostly green. It doesn’t seem quite real. Just a few hours ago everything was normal, the way it had been for months. Even when I had disappeared, taken to that blasted island, everything remained where I had last placed it. I was only gone for an afternoon. It was still so perfect when I left. Blinking through tears, I see a shiny bit of metal gleaming in the ashy dark. It is so small I could have easily missed it, had my head not been turned in just t
[Cordelia]Tomorrow was not better.As I looked up at an unfamiliar ceiling, the realization that I no longer had any of my work from the past few months made my eyes water and my heart clench. How am I going to keep from falling into debt if I have to pay back all of my buyers when I fail to deliver on their orders?When I looked over my accounts that morning I realized it was even worse than what I had previously understood. I knew that I was doomed because I lost all of my patterns and samples but my loss was much deeper than that. I had vendors I still needed to pay for fabric that is now a pile of ashes.Vendors that I cannot pay because I needed that fabric to make the orders to pay them.Now I will need to repurchase it, even though I don’t have the funds, which means I will need to take out credit, and as a business owner with no financial history, this might prove impossible.It's such a mess my head hurts trying to figure it all out.“You need to call Atlas and just take tha
[Cordelia]When Clark arrives later that afternoon, he comes with a beautiful orchid as a “housewarming present” and a teddy bear for the baby and me as an “apology” for being so upset the day before. I give him a big hug and wonder if what Atlas was suggesting could be true. Did Clark keep Atlas away from me? It doesn’t seem to be in his nature to be jealous. “I’m sorry too,” I apologize as I release him. “I should have been more honest with you about it from the beginning.”He accepts my apology with one of his signature smiles, although it doesn’t go all the way up to his eyes like it usually does. He is thinking about something else, something that is adding a bit of a shadow over everything. Today.Tilly takes the plant from Clark, and as their fingertips touch briefly, I see a flush of color rush to her cheeks. I know my friend well enough to know what that means. Tilly DOES have a crush on Clark,My first thought is that it is a shame we are fake engaged because they would ma
[Cordelia]Clark didn't stop by to visit the next morning. Nor did he come by the morning after that. It seems that he was so upset by the way things happened between us that he needed more time and space than a single evening to work things out. While I'm fine giving him space, I'm also worried about him. I've tried texting, but he hasn't returned any of my messages. This isn't like Clark. He's usually so attentive and responsive. I sent a message to Atlas, asking him to look in on his little brother. He wrote me back later that evening letting me know that Clark had gone on a little trip to "clear his head." I guess my words hurt him more deeply than I intended. Wanting to make sure he still feels loved and appreciated, I left a card taped to his door. I included the ultrasound he had forgotten and a note of apology letting him know that I still want him in this baby's life and my life as well.I might not be in love with him, but I will always love him. Tilly has more than fill
[Cordelia]I called 15 banks and emailed at least a dozen more. By the end of the morning, I was exhausted.At the end of three days, I had heard back from only one of them, an older bank with a solid reputation. In their message, they said the loan was as good as mine, all I needed to do was come down and sign for it.I called back and set up an appointment to meet the very next day. They suggested I bring along any necessary documentation and proof of intention for this loan, to save me the trouble later.This is why I am standing outside the loan manager's office wearing my only suit with an elastic waistband holding my portfolio and rocking back and forth on my heels. "Mrs. Steele," the pretty blonde receptionist waves me into the main office. "Mr. Jones will be ready to meet with you in a few minutes."I thank her as she leads me into a small but elegant office. Taking a seat in a small leather armchair across from his desk, I nod as the receptionist asks if I'd like something to
[Atlas]When Cordelia called to tell me she was coming over, I panicked. I wasn’t expecting to hear her voice. I didn’t think to tell her not to come. I also didn't have the chance to tell her that her mother is here throwing her sister a bridal shower.A bridal shower she had not been invited to. Intentionally. Angelica and her friends are taking up most of the living room, magazines spread out all over the floor, as they work together to plan the perfect wedding. Meghan Greyson, Angelica and Cordelia’s mother is in my kitchen helping April make scones for their impromptu wedding party. Things have been getting weirder between Angelica and me the longer we live together. Most of the things she does are fairly harmless, like throwing last-minute parties or surprising me with cupcakes for a birthday that happened three months ago. Other times her behavior is more erratic.For example, Angelica has snuck into my bedroom several times now, and when I ask her about it the next day she c
[Cordelia]By the time I reached the Steele family home, I was exhausted in both body and soul. Knowing that I need my ex-husband’s help to get a loan infuriates me, but I can also see why a bank might not want to give me a loan. As a woman with no job experience other than being the wife of Atlas Steele, it doesn’t matter to them how much time I’ve spent working on this new enterprise. They just see numbers and statistics, probability and chance. Cordelia Louise Designs is too much of a gamble. I know Atlas will have no problem co-signing the loan. Not because he loves me as the bank officer implied–he’s never told me that he loves me, not once during our whole 5 years of marriage, and I’d be a fool to expect more than like, or maybe a bit of lust at this stage of our new relationship. We were just starting to make progress as a couple before I was taken away to that blasted island. If I hadn’t been kidnapped, maybe Atlas and I would have started a real relationship, one where I co
[Cordelia] "Clark," I turn around into his embrace, gaining strength from his arms wrapped around me. "I missed you." He holds me like this until I stop crying and then helps me back up to my apartment. Tilly is gone for the day. She's been gone a lot lately. She's been promoting a new line in Malibu and it has taken up a lot of her time recently. "What happened, Cordy?" his newly tanned face is drawn with worry. Wherever he spent the last week must have been sunny. Fall is starting to settle around us here, the hot days finally giving way to chilly afternoons but he looks like he's fresh from the beach. "I failed," I fight to not start crying again. "The fire, my business, I can't even get a loan." I sob. After I spend the next 15 minutes explaining my situation, he wipes my face, puts a hand on each shoulder, and says, "Let's go. I'll drive." "Where?" I ask as he pulls me up by the hand. "The bank of course," he tucks my hand into his arm, pulling me towards the door, givi