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Christi

Today is the day. Today IS the day.

After weeks of smiling at the same guy as we passed on the sidewalk every day on my way to work, I’m going to do it. I, Christi Domari, am going to say hi to my friendly stranger.

After changing from a flirty knee-length dress to a cute yellow blouse and jeans to a pale pink sweater and vivid green skirt I pull back on the dress and shake out my newly straightened hair. If I am going to speak to the man I need to have as much confidence going into the encounter to ensure I don’t stall out, chicken out, stutter, or blush myself into oblivion with embarrassment.

He is always dressed so well, I figure I can dress to match for our first official meeting. After all, it isn’t every day that I introduce myself to my future husband. Ok maybe that’s a little much. I am just beyond jazzed about making our casual nods and hellos become more.

I leave at the exact same time I always do to ensure that I won’t miss him. Usually I see him as I cross over to the park next to the chocolate store I manage for my former roommate and her husband.

My shoulders slump as I pass the spot where I would normally smile at him and he would smile back and I would float away on clouds of romantic fantasy as I entered the store and got to work.

Today is different. I don’t see him. That’s it. Today is going to be miserable.

The bubbly anticipation I had been feeling all morning dissipates as I shove open the door to Candi’s Chocolates. I know, it’s an odd name for a specialty chocolate shop but Candice loves the twistedness of it. I can’t even bring myself to fake a cheery hello. My whole day is ruined. I had worked myself up to say hi and now I feel like I had fallen flat on my face…into a snow drift.

Candice blocks me at the counter, not letting me in. Looking up, her extra wide grin has me smiling back automatically. When she doesn’t say anything I try again to get past her. It doesn’t work.

She hands me a plate with one of our specialty premium hot chocolate mugs perched in the center of it. “Could you deliver this to our customer?”

“Since when do we deliver drinks to the tables?” I whisper.

I didn’t think it possible but her smile grows even bigger. “Today.”

“Why me? I don’t even have my nametag on yet.”

“Go.” She scolds.

Taking the mug I carefully turn to look for the needy customer who must have insisted it be delivered. Lucky for me, I am being so careful or I totally would have totally dropped it.

There he is, sitting at one of the small white wrought iron tables near our chocolate fountain display. My stranger is the one I am supposed to be delivering it to.

Blushing atrociously I walk over. “You must have done something to impress the owner.”

“What?” The man looks up from the book he had been reading.

My thoughts stumble over each other as his eyes meet mine. Don’t ask me what color they are because my mind has gone blank.

“I know you.” He peers closer at me.

I watch as he studies my face.  A few seconds before we hit awkward I laugh. “You’ve seen me.” I clarify. “In the park, on my way to work usually.”

His eyes light in recognition and I smile back. “Yes.” He says. “Now I remember. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you. There have been several times when I wish I would have stopped to do more than say hi. You have become a part of my morning routine.”

In the midst of my battle to hold back what I feel might be a psychotic looking grin I manage to laugh. “Except for this morning.”

Setting his book down he reaches for the hot chocolate I am still holding. “True. This morning I had a wickedly early meeting so my whole day is kind of going out of order.”

 “And you somehow ended up in here?”

He looks back up with me. “Lucky me. Could you sit for a few minutes or will that get you in trouble?”

I look over to the counter where Candice is trying very hard to not look like she is eavesdropping.

“I’m sure Candice won’t mind since we aren’t busy. You missed the morning rush.”

“So did you.”

“I help her restock after the morning commuters clear her out.”

He leans back in his chair. “Are there that many people coming in here to get chocolate in the morning?”

“You’d be surprised. Also our morning options include chocolate muffins, chocolate scones, hot chocolate, chocolate crepes, and chocolate power bars. It took a while to get the word out but now I come in to help her make more of everything to refill all her empty shelves.”

“Oh you are a baker?” He sits up.

I nod. “Candice is a certified and trained chocolatier. I do the baking.”

He stands and walks quickly over to the display cases. “I guess I will need to start coming in here in the mornings and see what you have. There isn’t much left.”

“I’ll miss saying hi to you in the mornings. Because once you come in for our chocolate muffins, you’ll be in here fighting over whatever is left in the display case with the rest of them.” 

“Or come in late enough that you have done your magic and restocked the shelves.” His wink has my heart pounding. “I don’t think I’m ready to not see you every morning. Though I now know where to find you if I don’t see you. I hope from now on I’ll know your name when we say hi.” He pauses. “And maybe stop to say more than hi. Jay Hawthorne.”

“Oh. I’m Christi. And you are welcome to come chat and eat here anytime.”

His smile is warm as he stands. “As odd as it sounds, I am glad we missed seeing each other today in our normal spot. Especially if it means I get to know you better now.” 

 “It has been a pleasure to finally meet you Jay.” I hold my shriek of delight in and settle for a smile. “I look forward to our next chat.”

“Next time it should be over your chocolate muffins.” His eyebrow raises in question.

I laugh. “Deal.” 

Ashlee

Ashlee rushed through the office balancing two hot drinks, her purse, and the large folder she had been handed downstairs by one of the receptionists. She quickly deposited her tall hot chocolate on her desk and set her purse on her chair before continuing on and rushing into the bigger office adjoining hers. Dodging around the dark mahogany executive desk that Marcus loved, she softly set the other cup down to rifle through the cabinet behind the tucked in chair for a mug and the small cup warmer she had bought the month before.

Glancing at the chair settled directly across the desk, where she had been sitting the night before chatting and laughing about their coworker Cecily’s matchmaking antics. She even tried to set Ashlee up with one of the new interns. That had been its own mini comedy series that she had kept Marcus updated on, just to hear him laugh.

She poured the hot chocolate into the mug, turned on the computer, set out the files he would need to look at first when he came in for his upcoming meeting, and turned on the lights as she made her way out. After working with him for so long it was a mere matter of routine. Just because she was late, did not mean she would be careless.  All in all, it only took her a matter of minutes to have everything situated and be back out of his office.

She was barely seated at her desk when he burst through the glass doors and stormed into the office. Ashlee looked up with a smile and was determined to keep it from sliding when she saw the scowl on his face. His dark look melted as he crossed the room. By the time he reached her desk he was smiling slightly.

“Ashlee.” He acknowledged her with a nod.

“Mr Stone.” 

Marcus Stone, CEO of Stoneworks Inc., continued into his office in a less forceful storm than when he had entered hers. Before closing his door he leaned back out. “Give me ten minutes then we can go over the day.”

At the appointed time she grabbed her tablet and headed into his office. 

He didn’t look up when she entered but raised his mug to her as he spoke. “Dylan Reyse called me at four this morning to set up a meeting for today. I said 2 would work because it was way too early to be thinking clearly or calling you, do I have anything then? I didn’t think I had anything today that couldn’t be shuffled around.”

“2 is good.” Ashlee wrote it into the calendar. “HR is still bothering me about hiring new staff for the IT and finance departments.”

“I’ll take care of it. You work too hard. How early were you today?”

“Just a few minutes.” She fought to hide her smile. 

“Enough time to have grabbed me my favorite hot chocolate, get the files I needed to go over this morning and be seated at your desk working when I came in.” His eyes darkened as they sharpened. “How can I convince you that you work too hard?”

“You can’t.” She shot back with a playfully snarky grin. “Anything else?”

“Have you thought about what we talked about yesterday?” His gaze didn’t stray from her face. Her breath caught.

“I thought we agreed to forget that conversation.”

His jaw-dropping smile was back as he leaned forward to straighten the papers on his desk and her pulse skittered. “I believe you expressed a desire that it would be forgotten, however I didn’t agree. I want to take you on a date. You are an incredible woman and I want to spend time outside of work getting to know you.”

“I figured it wasn’t worth pursuing since I said I would not date my boss. There are far too many cliches and warning stories about that being a bad idea.”

“So I’d have to fire you to get a date. But if I fire you, you’d hate me and never agree to a date anyways. Why don’t you just say ‘no, I’m not interested’?”

“I’m not going to lie.” She cleared her throat and looked away. “I’ll get back to work now.”

She left without looking back but she was sure that he watched her leave.

The rest of the morning passed uneventfully. Files, emails, notices, reminders. She only communicated with Marcus when she had to for her job. When it was almost time for his meeting she headed across the hall to open up the conference room. Once the upper management was in she sent off a quick text that they were ready for him. 

She went back to scheduling meetings and appointments with the various clients that needed Mr Stone’s attention. Caught up in trying to convince the lady she was on the phone with that she was dialing the wrong number, for the 5th time that day, she almost didn’t notice him emerge from his office. She looked up just in time to catch him nod her way. 

“No, Mrs Peterson. Again, this is not your pharmacy. You will need to find the correct number to find out when your prescription is ready.”

He must have overheard as he passed because she didn’t miss his low chuckle as he pushed the door leading to the hall.

“Don’t work too hard.” He winked back at her. 

Luckily he was already out the door and moving decisively to the conference room. Ashlee could safely fall apart into giggly mushiness in private. Since he never looked back whenever he left the office, Ashlee took the chance to study the man. She had a feeling that one date would more than likely turn into more and it would either end in a wonderful love story to last her lifetime or she would be finding a new job. Would it be worth the risk? She loved her job and she didn’t want to give up seeing him every day, laughing at his desk over whatever ridiculous things had happened to them that day while organizing his schedules, meetings, and clients.

Was it silly to say that she liked him too much to date him?

Auren

Auren stared longingly down the cliff at the forest surrounding the cabin. Her self imposed exile from civilization had helped her breathe again. Now when she woke up, she didn’t see work piling up and an endless to do list needing to be done, she saw the sunrise. Her painting sessions had become less austere and structured, less of a homework assignment being completed. 

Glancing in at the half finished self portrait she was currently attempting, she smiled. Her skills and range as an artist were growing. Of course, being surrounded by all the natural beauty of her grandfather’s cabin helped. It sparked her imagination. She found herself dreaming of frothy churning ocean waves and rippling sandy desert hills with a clarity and detail that bespoke of her traveling the world. All while she was surrounded by snow-covered peaks, towering evergreens, and clear blue sky.

She wasn’t a great traveller but she wanted to be. Her last great expedition into the unknown world outside her hometown had been to the big city of Casper for art school.

School had been good. Life outside school wasn’t.

When grandpa had offered his cabin in the mountains she leapt at the offer. The trek into the nearest town was nearly an entire day ordeal so she had stocked up as much as she could when she had first come in. Unfortunately those supplies were dwindling and she would have to make her way back down into town soon. 

“Gotta go sometime.” She groaned to the wind. A few minutes later she was still standing there smiling out at the view. “Tomorrow sounds good.”

She was halfway through her afternoon paint session when she heard noises that sounded oddly like a horse and crunching snow. And since she didn’t have any horses she quickly cleaned off her brush and headed outside.

Sure enough, a horse stood just inside the nearby treeline off to the side of the house with a trailer-like sled filled with something attached and covered with a pretty quilt.

“Hello?” She called from the doorstep. Someone had to have brought the horse and sled but she couldn’t see who.

Seconds passed and nothing.

“Hello?” She said again.

“Hey. Sorry.” The man who walked out from around the horse was covered head to toe in winter gear. “I was just checking on a few straps.”

Auren chuckled. “Is it really that cold? You look ready to take on the bitterest of cold.”

He shrugged. “I was warned that the trip up the mountain would be cold and I didn’t know how cold they meant.” 

Nodding, Auren looked back at the pile on the sled. “So who sent you up here? Are you sure you have the right cabin? I didn’t order anything.”

“This is the Cartwright cabin right?” The man started unwrapping his scarf and pulling off his hat and gloves.

“Yes.” It was her turn to shrug. “I still didn’t order anything from anywhere.”

“Someone did. I can check on the order to see who it was if you’d like.”

Auren couldn’t stop staring at the man who had emerged from beneath the layers. He was a scruffy sort of handsome. She had definitely missed seeing him on her last stop through town. 

“Who are you?” Auren pulled her jacket tighter. Maybe it was cold enough to bundle up.

He almost dropped the papers he was shuffling through at the question. He did lose a few when he quickly stuck his hand out. “I’m so sorry. That should have been the first thing out of my mouth. I’m Dan Gibbons. My mom is the owner of the market.”

“I didn’t see you last month.” She smiled at her audacity. She never was good at talking to guys when she was at school. 

“Last month?” He looked confused. “No I suppose not.” He paused and looked at her with more pointed attention. “Were you in Phoenix? Have we met before?”

“I…no.” Auren blushed, wishing she hadn’t said anything. “I meant here.”

He chuckled and shook his head. “I’ve never been to your cabin before.”

“Not what I meant Mr. Gibbons. I meant at your mother’s market. I stopped there on my way up here but if you were in Phoenix then it makes sense that I didn’t see you. Did you have that order receipt for me to see?”

“Call me Dan.” His smile lightened his whole face. “And I’m sad I missed you when you came by. I would have remembered you.”

“Thanks.”

Pulling out the paper he thrust it toward her. “Here’s the right one. It says it’s from a Miranda Cartwright? That you?”

Auren’s hand went to her face. “My mom. If that is food under that blanket of yours then she is probably assuming that I am starving.”

Dan moved back over to where the sled was. “Food it is. If you show me where you want it I’ll get it inside for you.”

“Oh I wouldn’t want you to waste your time.” Auren hurried to stop him.

His chuckle quickly turned to laugh. “So you want me to dump all your food in the snow right here? Or is this your way of saying that you want to keep the sled?”

“When you put it like that, I’ll show you where the kitchen is.” The blush returned and she was sure it was more red and blotchy than a cute little flirty pink blush.

“Lead the way.” Dan unlatched the straps and threw off the blanket to reveal several crates full of cans, produce, and meat.

It took several trips to get it all inside even with her helping and once it was, Auren glanced outside. 

“Do you have time for some hot chocolate before your trek back down?”

“I think I will have to make time. How can I say no to an offer of chocolate from a beautiful woman?” He winked. 

“Is that all it takes?” Auren stepped into the kitchen again to grab mugs, chocolate and milk.

His laugh filled the cabin as he plopped onto the couch next to the fire. “No. I’d say I would also need to be very very interested in getting to know that woman as well.”

“Does that mean me or do you really really want hot chocolate so that you don’t freeze on your way home?” Auren knelt next to the fire and the pot hanging over it to pour in the milk and plop in the chocolate.

“You. Even if you didn’t have the hot chocolate I’d have found a way of finding some excuse to stay longer…or to come back up. Do you mind?”

She flashed a smile back at him. “Not yet.”

Jaya

Glaring up at the broken entry steps Jaya tried really hard not to use one of the loose boards to take a swing at Wade. Unfortunately he was too busy picking his way through the overgrown weeds to peek in the front window, which was also broken, to notice her irritation.

…and she loved him too much to actually whack him with it, darn it.

“You bought this?” She finally managed to say aloud as she continued to take inventory of all the things wrong with the house that needed fixing. Windows, siding, doors, weeds, overgrown bushes and trees, missing steps, rotting wood floors. And they hadn’t even made it inside yet.

His thrilled nod had her stomach dropping. 

“Just imagine it Jaya. Could you imagine all the stories this house could tell? It’s vintage old victorian. This porch railing detail trim as well as up there on the cornices, you can’t find it in any of those stupid new houses they build these days. I mean look at it.”

“Wade.” Jaya moaned and once again attempted to reach the front door. “Wade, why this house?”

“Potential. This house has so much potential, baby. It’s drowning in it.” The grin he shot her had her heart flipping. There was a reason he could get away with buying a house that would need to be stripped down to nothing.

He climbed over the wobbly porch railing and was at the door before she was, carefully pushing on the old peeling paint. The entire front door fell with a crash into the house, except for the handle that Wade was still holding.

“One less thing to wonder about.” He was unfazed. “Now Jaya come see what I have in mind for your kitchen and you will be singing this house’s praises before long!”

“This mess of a house has a working kitchen that I am going to love?” Jaya laughed. “Wade there is no way.”

Wade stopped to reach his hand out to escort her in. “My sweet Jaya. You know that I will make you the kitchen of your dreams. Why settle for a plain cookie cutter of a house with a generic little kitchen when I know I can make and build you whatever you want.”

“Whatever I want?” Jaya could see the bright twinkle in his smile as she spoke. Dratted husband. He knew he was on the verge of winning her over.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her inside. “Double oven. Plenty of storage. Lots of counter space. An island. Space for all of your cool kitchen toys. Now just be careful where you step. I’m gonna call Dave in the morning to go through the whole house with me and check floors. Based on what it looks like on the outside we are going to be stripping down to the studs and starting new. Plus side is, we can switch the layout to be whatever you want. Bigger kitchen, an extra room or two, study, amazing master bath, whatever.”

Step by tentative step they made their way through the living room. There were several spots that looked about to collapse and even a few holes.

“Did someone come through here with a sledgehammer?” Jaya laughed, pointing to a random hole in one of the walls.

“The guy that sold me the house said that some ambitious start up was going to try and renovate the house as a model for what they could do.” Wade laughed. “They obviously didn’t get very far.”

Jaya shook her head and stepped into the kitchen first. Looking around she wanted to cry. The kitchen was going to need a lot of love to be anything. The grand vision for her dream kitchen faltered. Everything in the room looked like it had been shredded and destroyed. 

“Wade?”

He came in after her and sighed. “Someone really didn’t like the kitchen setup.”

“This is going to be a lot of work.” She moaned. “And a lot of money.”

Before she could fully collapse into that pit of worry, he pulled her into his arms. He didn’t say anything as he slowly tucked her head into his shoulder so she couldn’t see anything but him. Slowly he began to sway, his arm around her waist moving her body with his. For several minutes they slowly danced, half shuffling around the little space in the kitchen until she sighed and leaned into him.

When he started humming ‘So This is Love’ Jaya chuckled into his shoulder. “How do you do it?”

He stopped swaying and looked down at her, the twinkle back in his eye. “Jaya, you are the love of my life and I want to give you everything, the world if I could. When I saw this house I knew I could make you your own world the way you wanted.” As she pulled back to look at him he threw her a huge grin. “Besides. You don’t know what a killer deal I got for this house and how much I have saved to put into fixing it up.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Care to share?”

Seconds later he was pulling her further into the house. “I have the plans all laid out in the back. The floors are a little better back there for some reason. With what I have planned we won’t go very far into debt with a loan at all. And you’ll love the house. I’ve been planning and designing for months while I waded through all the paperwork involved with buying this house.”

Jaya stopped following him. “Wait. How long did you say you have been planning this? I thought this was a spur of the moment kind of impulsive buy.”

With a shrug Wade blushed. “I may have made it sound that way so I could surprise you.”

“And?”

“I found the house six months ago.”

“Wade!” She smacked him on the shoulder. “Why would you keep this from me?”

His laughter filled the empty house. “It wouldn’t have been much of a surprise if I dragged you over here to a house that looks ready to fall apart, with no prep and no plans, six months ago to tell you I wanted to take on a huge project and drag you into all the stress involved. I wanted this to be a fun, happy surprise.”

Throwing her arms around his neck Jaya squeezed him close. “I love you mister. Even if you drive me crazy sometimes.”

Stacey

A shriek somewhere between a delighted giggle and a witch’s evil chortle resounded through the once silent, vaulted ceilings of the library where I was desperately trying to finish up my paper before the library closed. 

I had thought that retreating to the farthest corner of the library would be the best place to remain undisturbed. Oh how wrong I had been. 

So far, about half the kids in my school had thought the same, for entirely different reasons. Blushes had abounded, including mine. So when I heard the irritating shrieker getting closer I couldn’t hold in my moan of frustration. I did not want to know who thought little Miss Shrieky Giggles would be a good kisser. And I definitely did not want another guy laughing at me for actually doing my homework in the back of the library.

Apparently my groan was loud enough to be heard from several rows away because the giggling abruptly stopped. I hadn’t even been found and I was already blushing.

Lady Shrieks-a-lot stumbled around the end of the last row of books blocking me from sight and began laughing. It wasn’t much better than her attempt at flirtatious giggling. Seeing Heather, I wished deep down that Owen, her latest fling, would not be with her.

I know that wishing for Owen to not be there was a dumb thing to wish. I mean, who else would she be sneaking around the back parts of the library with? Actually I take that back. With her, she could have showed up with any boy from school and I wouldn’t have been too surprised. Heather had a tendency to flit through boyfriends like a mosquito flitted from one unwitting blood donor to another.

“Don’t worry. It’s just some loser doing her homework. She won’t care.” I heard her mock whisper.

Of course fate chose to not smile down on me as Owen rounded the corner. One look at me and his jaw went tight.

Why was he mad at me? I didn’t ask for them to come back here and embarrass me.

Heather dragged Owen to the table next to mine and tried to pull him in for a kiss. I closed my eyes in frustration, or maybe it was from utter embarrassment. They wouldn’t sit there and make out right in front of me, would they? I mean I know that in Heather’s eyes I wasn’t even there but it would still be unbelievably awkward.

However, Owen didn’t allow himself to be pulled in. Despite her attempts at cutely grabbing his jacket to draw him to her, he did not move. He remained where he was, glaring at me.

“What are we doing here Heather?” He growled in a half whisper, moving his head enough to be looking at her while still keeping me in sight. I shivered. I couldn’t figure out why he looked so irritated with me. Well, other than the fact that I was ruining his chance at kissing his girlfriend. 

Maybe they would just go away like all the others had. 

Heather tugged again on Owen’s jacket, trying to get his full attention. “Aww come on Owen. I told you I wanted to show you something.”

He shook his head. “No.”

Heather flung her arms around him and landed her bubblegum glossed lips on his. I slumped further into my chair and refocused on my open history book. 

Nope. It was not to be.

When Owen not too gently pushed Heather away she once again glanced my way, her gaze hardening as she took in my mess of books and papers.

Heather sauntered over and shut my book. “Beat it, loser.”

I didn’t have time to do more than glare up at her before Owen was beside her, all 5’11” gorgeousness of a senior.  

“Quit it Heather. She was here first.” His arms were crossed and his heated gaze took in my scattered papers. “Lampton’s essay?”

I nodded. Maybe I nodded for longer than was really necessary. To be honest, I was a little stunned he could recognize what homework I was working on with just a glance.

“You know her?” Heather gaped at him. 

Owen ignored her, peering down at my stuff and tapped the paragraph I had been currently crossing out for the third time. “Need help?” 

“I…uh…” I couldn’t think of how to retreat from the glare being leveled at me in combination with Owen being so heart-stoppingly close. Heather was going to kill me and I hadn’t done anything. My gaze flicked up to Heather. “You seem a little busy.”

Owen glanced over at where Heather was tapping her foot impatiently, looking ready to smack him or maul me with her bare hands. I’m not sure which. Or maybe it was both. With a shrug he pulled out the chair across from me and plopped down.

“Owen!” Heather shrieked.

From where I was sitting, now hidden from Heather’s view since he was facing me, I could see him taking a deep breath as he tried to wipe off a very irritated scowl from his face. In seconds it was gone, replaced by his normal charming smirk as he turned to look at Heather.

“My mom promised you one date with me. You tricked me into agreeing to meeting you here. I think I’m going to help Stacey with her essay now.” He turned back towards me and blinded me with a dazzling smile altogether different from the look he had given Heather.

My breath stalled when he said my name. How did he know my name? How was I even on his radar? I didn’t think he even knew I existed. It was a struggle to get my breathing steady as Heather’s malevolent glare snapped to me as her hands shot to her hips. She stomped.

I didn’t dare say anything.

“Goodbye Heather.” Owen smiled tightly, no irritation in his voice whatsoever.

Did I just cause a break up?

I gulped as he turned his full devastating smile on to me once more.

“Hi.” It came out before I could stop myself.

“Hey.” He chuckled. “Thanks for the save Stacey.”

Karalee

Slowly coming to, I noticed that I was standing in a shimmery metallic dress, the strangest and most stunningly beautiful dress I’d ever seen…or worn. Looking down, I stared at the flowing billowy yards of fabric swirling about my legs and almost lost myself in the thoughts of floating away. My sight was blurry and my mind was off balance, maybe disconnected was a better word. I swished the fabric a little as I smiled. This dress made me feel dazzling! 

It was only then that I noticed the odd arc of my feet. It was almost as if I was standing on the tips of my toes, like those ballerinas that flit across the stage. Poking my foot out from under the fabric of my dress I saw my feet in these gorgeous-as-all-get-out gold stiletto shoes. My whole outfit was so out of character from my usual slip on sneakers, t-shirt and jeans. 

It was while I was admiring the sparkle of my new ankle-breaker shoes that a horn blared. I felt it reverberate down my spine. It was so loud.

Jerking straight, I grabbed the thin ornate rail in front of me and finally noticed that I was not alone. Further, as I attempted to shake my thoughts clear I saw that I was standing on a small platform on the upper ring of an amphitheater or maybe coliseum would be a better word for it. Ok I take it back. The more I looked at the platform, it looked more and more like a pedestal with no way down.

Looking around, I could see that all the people there were cheering. I guess I should have noticed all the noise sooner but it was like I was coming out of a mental fog. Was I in the capital city? It looked like how I had imagined the capital would look. If so, how did I come to be here?

“Ladies and gentlemen! Rise as we welcome the royal family!” A deep-throated voice blasted through unseen speakers around the stadium. It was incredible to watch the waves of people standing up and cheering even louder.

The royal family appeared in a shaded pavilion off to my right. The King and Queen emerged first, heads held high and calm smiles on their faces. When Travis walked out next I nearly stumbled off of my tower pedestal prison thing. What was he doing with the royal family? Travis walked out, bold and confident, and easily caught my gaze. And while I was blatantly staring he gave me a jaunty nod. If I was close enough I would have slapped him, prince or not. Maybe that’s why I was stuck up here surrounded by thousands of people I didn’t know. Imprisoned for the safety of others.

The announcer’s voice sounded again. “King Drow, Queen Sheilah, and Prince Travon. It is a pleasure to have you here as we embark on this final testing ground to find our new princess.”

So unless I was still loopy from whatever had me waking up dressed in a fancy formal gown and mile high shoes, Travis wasn’t Travis but was actually Prince Travon. The only thing I’d heard about the prince was that he was getting married to some random princess. Accurate details of the goings on at the capital rarely reached us in Halla.

If only I could crawl back in bed and start the day over. Especially since I don’t remember the day starting at all.

“Let us meet our competing champions! ” 

A massive screen rose up into the air, finally letting me see the face behind the voice. The brightly dressed announcer was gesturing off to his left at who I assume were the champions.

The announcer continued. “The people’s champion, Vestral Targon hailing from our capital city.” A hawkish woman with her shiny black hair pulled into a tight braid nodded to the crowd as the cheers for the crowd soared. Her tight black dress went to the floor but looked thick and unyielding, like a leathery type of armor. “Our King’s champion, Milini Grasta of the Tiran province.” The screen showed a wisp of a girl, golden curls woven artfully around her head and tumbling past her shoulders. She shot the announcer a bright cheery smile as she waved to the crowd. I fought the impulse to sit down on my pedestal platform thing and groan. Was I going to be stuck up here for the whole testing?

“Our Queen’s champion, Cerena Folta of the Grameeon province.” This woman looked menacing as she scowled at the camera. I shivered. Whatever the test was for these potential new princesses I was glad I wouldn’t have to be up against her in a physical contest. She looked strong.

“And our Prince’s champion, Karalee Walsham of the Halla province.” At the sound of my name I jerked. Had they mispronounced the woman’s name?

My gaze locked onto the massive screen and gaped in shock. There I was, standing on my pedestal, looking every bit an elegant warrior princess in my shimmery gown. Even my hair looked phenomenal in a top knot ponytail. Luckily I didn’t look like a caged animal ready to flee. However, my head was screaming at me to jump, run, and hide.

I looked back over to where I had seen Travis and fought not to glare at him. He stood there watching me, still smiling. With a slight shrug he blew me a kiss. Without thinking I smiled at him. There was the sweet guy who I had just started dating, the one who had walked me home from the orchard and brought me flowers and books whenever he could just to see me smile. I wanted to go back to that.

The announcer’s voice drew my attention back to him. “Tomorrow will be the second of 10 public tests of worthiness and suitability to determine the best choice of princess for our own beloved and ever popular Prince Travon. Get your seats early so you don’t miss out!”

Another horn blared and again the people packed in the stadium rose to their feet. “Of course tonight wasn’t just about meeting the competing champions but also to get to know them. Our first test begins now.”

My pedestal slowly began to lower to the ground where I found a long set of stairs.

I don’t remember agreeing to any of this. I had only said yes to being his girlfriend! Yet here I was in a gorgeous dress, making my way to one of many contests to see if I qualified to marry the guy. A little warning would have been nice and maybe a little more time of getting to know him before he basically shoved me into making life altering decisions about my life and our relationship on a hugely public scale.

Though, I guess I didn’t have to wonder if he really liked me anymore. 

Maria

After a long, monotonous hour of trudging through this endless field of Tolon’s odd pale blue wheat-like plants, I was struggling to remain upright from the exhaustion. Why were there no roads on this planet? 

Exploration was definitely not as thrilling as the discovery center back home had led her to believe. In fact, it wasn’t even enjoyable. See new worlds they’d said. Be a part of something great they’d said. Nowhere had they said that she would be slogging through blue stalks of overgrown grass to meet some alien ambassador over imagined slights supposedly caused by her survey team. She wasn’t a diplomat. She was a scientist. And apparently she was a scientist who was meant to be in a lab or office, not off exploring alien planets.

Jones had reported that he had encountered a well-muscled humanoid male who demanded to meet with our team leader to discuss our purpose on their planet. Apparently headquarters had forgotten to mention that there was a civilization that would be bothered by my team poking around, or I would have sought these people out first before getting to work on the field study.

Now I was stuck being an intermediary ambassador with no clue what was going to happen. I didn’t even have any background on these people. I had no idea how I was even going to understand them. Well I take that back. Jones had understood just fine. However he hadn’t told her anything about it. Hopefully they weren’t a violent culture.

I stood there for what felt like hours, alone at the designated meeting spot.

After waiting for most of the afternoon I spotted a figure slowly walking toward me from the opposite direction. I stood from where I had flopped down to wait. As he approached, the scientist in me started cataloguing facts and from that sprang so many questions. Were all the males here as muscled as him? Was he the one that Jones had met earlier? How did their skin pigment to that color? Were there different variables with the planetary light source that caused their skin to almost glow?

He stopped several meters away from me and I blinked rapidly. He was tall, or at least he felt tall. “Halar gotong?” He called.

I shook my head. This was going to be harder than I originally thought. How was I supposed to communicate with him? How had Jones managed?

He crossed the remaining distance, hand extended. He stopped again, this time he was right in front of me and nodded down at his hand. It was empty. Again I shook my head.

I watched as he then placed his other hand in his outstretched one. After holding his hands together for a few seconds he let go and once again stretched it back out to me.

Hesitant, I reached my own hand out. He nodded but didn’t move to grab me. It was several more heart pounding seconds before I got up the nerve to put my hand in his. I was grateful for his patience. He didn’t seem to mind waiting, simply watching me with his rather luminous gaze.

The second I touched my hand to his I heard a deep male voice echo in my mind.

Can you understand me now?

Without even pausing to think I jumped back, severing the connection of our hands. When I looked back up at him he hadn’t moved, his hand still outstretched. He smiled, waiting.

It took me a few minutes to get up the gumption to place my hand back in his.

Nothing.

Hello? I ventured.

Are you well? I did not mean to affright you.

I tried not to gape, but I confess, I did.

C-can you read my thoughts?

He laughed, deep and hearty and rich. My nerve endings tingled and my chest tightened. No my lady. I can not.

But you can hear me?

Only when you purposefully speak your thoughts to me.

Oh.

Your hair shade is mesmerizing. Do all of your people have such a unique shade of oak?

No. I put a hand up to my honey blonde hair. It was then that I noticed that his hair wasn’t black as I had first assumed. It was a very very dark purple. Is your hair naturally purple?

Purple? He looked puzzled for a second. Our people’s hair is many varying shades of amethyst and slate, no oak.

I nodded. And kept nodding.

He spoke first.  I have the name Kheal. You?

Maria. My name is Dr Maria Danton. A sharp zing raced up my forearm to my elbow, just short of painful. I winced. 

His grey eyes flashed, his gaze breaking with mine to stare down at our still-clasped hands. Startled by the heat emanating from his hand I also peered down at where we were touching, albeit with much less intensity than him.  I was surprised when he dropped my hand, practically throwing it away, and turned abruptly. I stood still and waited. After all, he had been so patient with me.

For a second I wondered if maybe I had hurt him in some way, without realizing it. There were too many unknowns for me to reasonably hypothesize what was happening with him.

After several minutes Kheal reached his hand out once again. As I took his hand I noticed his eyes had turned silver, not at all like the pale gray they had been earlier. Now they were shimmering, almost metallic. They were stunning.

The moment our hands connected again his voice, low and strong, rang in my head.

Dr Maria Danton. I felt the cazah when you gave your name to me. I claim you as my life mate as custom requires. You are to come with me.

He didn’t let go of my hand as he turned and strode back in the direction he had come, ignoring my verbal and mental protests. I struggled to stay upright as he pulled me along behind him. Wherever we were going, we were getting there quickly. His long strides forced me to practically run in order to not be dragged.

So not what I had signed up for.

Ava

Attempting to keep a steady hold of all her books and papers and her picture of her parents AND step off the elevator looking all professional for her first day on the job was not easy. Especially in stilettos and a pencil skirt. Regardless. Ava knew she looked professional, from her frizz free bun down to her shiny black shoes.

As she did her best ‘new-to-the-office’ strut she noticed the sign posted on the wall in front of her. NO SHOE CLACKING.

Inwardly groaning, she now had to struggle to not clack her 3 inches of high heeled shoes while carrying all her stuff and look cool, collected, and professional. However it was nearly impossible to walk with confidence while trying to keep stilettos from making any noise, no matter how much, or how little, one was holding in their arms.

Her preplanned confident stride turned into an almost embarrassingly slow walk down the hall.

“Problem?” A warm male voice behind her chuckled as she was passing the receptionist’s desk.

“No. No problems here. Just walking.” It all came out rather fast. Then she made the mistake of stopping to look at who was speaking to her. Why did the first person to talk to her have to see her walking with all the awkwardness of a newborn fawn?

And apparently he had not been expecting her to stop because he barely managed to not run her over. Quickly Ava resumed her careful non-clacking crawl and Mr Nerdy Hotness himself was talking to her and matching his pace to hers.

“Where are you headed?” He gave a sort of gentlemanly head bow. “If I may be so bold to ask.”

“My new job. I didn’t know that shoes making noise was a problem so I’m wearing the wrong shoes. I’d take them off if I wasn’t so worried about making a good impression. Not that I could take them off with everything I’m carrying. I just can’t believe I’m going to mess up the first impression with my new boss because of my shoes. I was going for professional and now I feel more like a mess. Sorry.” Forcing her mouth shut so as to stop the verbal spewing, Ava almost bit her cheek.

“If I offer to hold your things you could take off your shoes until we get to your new desk. Would that help? You could slip them back on as soon as we get there.”

“What if he saw me?”

He shrugged. “Most of the top execs with offices on this floor are either away at meetings right now or heavily ensconced in their caves and won’t reemerge till they need more coffee. Who’s your new boss?”

Ava could feel herself relaxing. He was so calm. If she could make it to her desk then she could re-center herself and still start the day off on the right shoe…foot.

“A Mr. Harcourt. I’m his new personal assistant.” She handed over her armful of everything and bent to take off her shoes. When she reached for her things back he was already a few steps ahead of her and not looking back.

“I’d be happy to show you where you’re going if you don’t know already.” He nodded further down the hallway.

Ava quickly caught up to him, shoes in hand. “I figured I’d just go down the hall looking at the names on the doors. Your way sounds much faster…and more efficient.”

His laughter was warm and low as he glanced her way.

It didn’t take long to make it to the large door with the words Mr Daniel Harcourt emblazoned on it.

Ava followed him in where she found a desk sitting beside another large door.

“Your desk.” He announced, placing her bundle in the middle of the clear space.

“Do you think I should knock and let him know that I’m here?” She moved closer to the door. She was just about to knock when she looked down at her feet. Jumping back with a muffled squeal she dropped her shoes and hurried to put them on again. She set about straightening herself and threw her shoulders back. “Should I knock?” She hesitated again.

Ava couldn’t understand why he was blushing when she looked back at him.

“No need.” He glanced to the door leading out to the hallway, his hands shoved into his pockets.

“Why? Should I wait until he comes up for air?”

“Under normal circumstances I would say go right on in. However, since I know he isn’t in there right now, I’d say no.” He still wouldn’t look at her.

“How do you know?” Ava moved to the desk to start organizing her things. “Oh. I completely forgot. I guess my manners have been completely frazzled by it being my first day and everything. I’m Ava Michal.” She stuck her hand out across the desk to him.

Again he blushed. This time a small half smile appeared as he squared his shoulders and reached out to take her hand. “A pleasure Ms Michal. I’m Daniel.” He hesitated, taking a slow breath. “Daniel Harcourt.”

If she could have dropped her hand away from his, she would have. However he held tight, keeping eye contact with her, as if daring her to not be embarrassed. Before she could reply to the stunning news that she had been making the worst first impression of her life to her new boss, Mr Malone, the one who had hired her, popped his head in.

“Ahh good. I see you two have already met. I will stop back in after I track down the other new PA for Sherman. Then we’ll go on a tour.” With that he was gone, leaving Ava to stare up at her new boss.

“A-any chance you’ll forget the last twenty minutes and pretend we just met?” She ventured, absently fingering the pages of the book she’d been holding.

His chuckle was enough of an answer for her but he replied anyways. “No Ms Michal. I must admit I am a little glad of the way we met. Now we don’t have to pretend that we are stuffy professionals all the time. Besides, I rather like knowing that you took your shoes off.”

If it was possible for embarrassment to be fatal, she would be dead.

Abigail

Dear Mr Abernathy,

It has come to my attention that an agreement has been made regarding marriage between you and myself. After overcoming the great shock of not having a say or even an inkling of knowledge regarding this endeavor and apparent subsequent proposition, I have taken it upon myself to write to you now.

Having looked over the contract I do not see a way of breaking the terms without great financial loss to us both. Since I do not know you beyond a vague meet and greet several months ago, I am going to assume that it was my mother’s stipulation that there would be so much financial loss incurred with backing out.

Now, the question is how amenable are you to making this arrangement agreeable to both parties. I assume you have a life outside of work that will be affected by my mother’s meddling as will mine. Please respond at your earliest convenience to set a date where we can meet to discuss details.

Ms Charles

Abi gave a quick nod after she reread the email and sent it. It was several days before she received a reply. 

Ms Abigail Charles,

I apologize for taking so long to respond. Since receiving your letter I have had to first track down what agreement you were referring to because I was completely unaware of its existence before you wrote to me. Apparently you are not the only one who has a meddling mother.

Forgive me for being brief, I can cover the loss stated in the contract for termination if that is what you wish. I would not force you into any arrangement or situation to which you are not in full agreement. 

With chagrin I must also confess that I believe my mother went to such great lengths to secure this contract in the first place because of something I said. I may have mentioned you in an argument I was having with my mother about marriage prospects, as an example of someone who would be a wonderful partner and wife. Apparently she took that to mean that she could get away with arranging our marriage.

As smart, beautiful, and strong as I remember you being, I am sure you wish to quickly put this past you. I will not be informing my mother and I hope you will do the same to avoid the drama both our mothers intend to provide if we do not follow through with this marriage.

If I am correct in my assumption, my mother was intending to hide this contractual agreement from me to marry until the day of the wedding, and spring it on me .

If you are able to meet next Wednesday at the fountain park in front of your building at 2, I will be happy to discuss what can be done regarding the stated agreement until monetary recompense can be provided.

Grayson Abernathy

Abi stared at the screen. She was inclined to write him back and schedule a different time, just to prove she could. This whole ordeal was embarrassing enough. But to find out that it was because he had said that she was an ideal wife? To his mother, in an argument. Was the admission supposed to come across as some sort of compliment?

Scrunching her eyes closed she tried to better recall meeting Mr Grayson Abernathy. He had been one of so many new faces that night at her mother’s gala. All she could remember was his solid warm handshake and his laugh. Not a single thing about what he looked like. 

“Ms Charles.” Her assistant scurried into the room and quickly shut the door behind her. “Justin’s here.”

Abi groaned. Now was not the time to be dealing with her overly persistent ex. They had broken up several years ago but in the past month he had been stopping in three to four times a week to bug her.

“Joanna, simply tell him that I am too busy to see him.”

With a nod Joanna left, firmly shutting the door again. Abi returned to her letter staring. 

When her mother had laid down the contract on her desk Abi had been stunned. She had read through it several times to find a way around it. However, her mother had planned on the resistance and made the thing irritatingly concrete.

And now to find out that she hadn’t even made it with Mr Abernathy himself. She was going to be the unwanted trophy wife she had studiously fought to avoid her whole life. Rage filled her at her mother’s betrayal.

At that moment, Justin popped his smarmy head in with a smirk.

“Hey baby. I assured Joanna that I wanted only a quick minute to say hello to my favorite girl.” His simpering cockiness grated on her shattered nerves.

“Get out.” She didn’t yell. She wanted to. But she didn’t.

It wasn’t surprising that he ignored her. “So Abs I was thinking we could go to dinner tonight. I brought you that slinky red dress you know I like. I figure you can change real quick and we can get going.” He dropped a black dress bag on her desk.

Abi shot a glare in his direction and picked up her phone. “Joanna, dial security and have Justin removed immediately.”

She turned back to her computer and pretended that Justin wasn’t there. His folded arm power stance did nothing to convince her.

“Abi. Baby. There’s no need for security.” He pushed her chair out from her desk and sat in front of her, leaning against her desk. “If you would just forget our little breakup scene we can get back to being the awesome, gorgeous couple that we are. Just get that pretty little dress on and I’ll forgive you for the scowl you gave me when I came in.”

“Little break up scene?” She pulled her chair even further away from him. “You brought the press to make a formal announcement that I was a horrible mistake and an even worse girlfriend. Then you proceeded to give exclusives to anyone who would listen about how unethical and horrible you thought I was.”

He gave a little pout. “Just blowing off steam, you know. I had too much pent up.”

She growled and left her office until security came.

As he was being removed Abi plunked back down at her desk and pulled up the internet, typing in Grayson Abernathy. Several pictures popped up and she found herself wondering for a second if she wouldn’t mind getting to know her future ex fiance a little better. He wasn’t difficult to look at by any means.

“Joanna.”

In popped Joanna’s bouncy blonde curls. “Yes, Ms Charles. I am so sorry I didn’t manage to stop Justin this time. He was in your office before I could get up from my desk.”

Abi waved her excuses away. “Don’t worry about it. I didn’t call you in for that. Please clear next wednesday at 2 for a 90 minute block. I have a meeting with a Mr Abernathy.”

Instantly Joanna was all business, taking down the information and nodding. Abi didn’t see her leave as she clicked on Grayson’s picture to see what else she could learn about the man her mother had arranged to become her fiance.

Molly

“Slow down, Baring.” 

Molly could feel people stopping to stare as she marched noisily down the hall, maybe it could be considered more of a stomp then a march. Zeke’s low, menacing command seemed to echo off the lockers. Several girls to her left twittered and blinked their besotted flirty gazes in the direction of the man belonging to that irritating voice. She struggled against the impulse to run, throwing in a laugh or two for good gossip material.

“Why?” Molly shot back, yelling over her shoulder. A few of those same giggly girls gasped at her audacity. She didn’t slow down one little bit but neither did she speed up.  The halls of high school were too narrow to stop and battle the barrage of students all heading to the exit. And she wouldn’t have, even if the hallway was empty. She could hear his growl in response. Ignoring Zeke Walker was not something one did if they wanted to survive high school.

Out the doors and past the grassy quad Molly again fought the urge to run. Her car and escape were so close. She didn’t want to deal with whatever confrontation he had in mind when he singled her out in the hallway back there. She would rather talk to him when he was smiling. He was much more fun to be around when he wasn’t upset with her for whatever her latest stunt happened to be. Today, however, she had no idea what he was mad for. She hadn’t pulled anything in days. 

 Somehow he didn’t manage to catch her until she was almost to the parking lot.

“I told you to slow down.” Zeke grabbed her arm, forcing her to halt and turn to face him.

Yanking her arm out of his grip, she took a step back and folded her arms. “Whatever you need to say to me is going to have to wait.” Her calm voice did not betray the seething anger swelling up inside her at his high-handedness. At least they didn’t have an audience anymore.

“No.” He took a menacing step forward. As tall as he was, Molly held her ground and lifted her chin a little.

“Zeke.”

He ignored the warning in her voice.

“Baring. I said I need to talk to you and I am going to talk to you. And you are going to listen.” If he hadn’t sounded so brutalizingly strong he would have sounded like a whiny two year old. Either way she dealt with him the same as she always did.

“Zeke, you are in my face and I don’t appreciate it.” Her voice didn’t waver and she was oddly pleased that she sounded so together.

Apparently he was reduced to growls and the like, because he gave a bellow of frustration before stepping back. Molly watched as his arms shot up behind his head and he took several deep breaths. When he turned back to face her he huffed and let out a little bit of a rumble. While he still looked too angry to talk to, he was not as on edge as he had been before.

Instantly she put her hands up to stop him from crowding her. “I won’t talk to you when you are in bully-mode.” 

Instantly he pulled back and deflated. His eyes sparked their annoyance but his arms dropped.

Molly almost felt sorry for calling him out. Almost. He looked a little lost. 

The Zeke she knew when he came to hang out with her on weekends in the park was not the Zeke who would stomp around the halls of their high school to keep everyone scared and at a safe distance. And yet his looks kept him high on the popularity list.

A hint of a snarl still echoed in his tone. “I need to talk to you.”

“Why don’t you take a few minutes and cool off? When you no longer sound like you want to beat me into the ground, we’ll talk.”

“Molly.”

“No.” Her answer was soft, like silk wrapped around steel.

She resumed her steady stride to her car with Zeke following a few steps behind. As she threw her backpack into her car Zeke stopped next to her and shot her a semi-chagrined smile. “Molly Baring, you are going to be the end of me.”

“We wouldn’t want that.” She grabbed his hand for a second and squeezed. “See you in a bit.”

He chucked her on the shoulder and shook his head. “Only you.”

Molly didn’t have to wait long after arriving home. Zeke was at her door within the hour with a small grin on his face. As she opened the door further to let him inside he held out a small, slightly rumpled white daisy. “Sorry.”

“For?”

He blinked, drawing his focus up from the floor and onto her face. “My temper, I guess.”

Molly folded her arms and leaned back against the wall. “You guess?”

“No. Yes. No.” He shook his head. “I’m sorry for yelling at you at school today.”

With a slow nod she slid her hand through his arm. “Thank you for apologizing. It hurts when you yell. You don’t have to go all macho on me to get my attention.”

“I needed to talk to you all day and when I saw you leaving I lost my head a bit.” Zeke shrugged, not looking at her.

“What about?”

Without needing to ask, they both began walking over to the park across from her house. It wasn’t more than a bit of grass, trees, and a little bench but since no one else ever went there, it was theirs. It was several minutes before Zeke answered her.

“This morning my parents told me we are moving. Not far. But far enough that I have to change schools.”

“No.” Molly fell back against the bench. “No.”

“I’ll still see you here every weekend. I promise.” Zeke’s head dipped lower trying to catch her gaze. “I promise Molly.”

Molly nodded and tried to smile at him. “How soon?”

His shoulders drooped. “One month.”

Molly flung her arms around him and held on tight. It took a few seconds before he sniffed and hugged her tightly back.