Happy Sunday everyone!! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend.
For today, I will be giving a sample of my upcoming book, How Deep Is Your Love. This is the third chapter from the third book in The Love Chronicles series, as Andie experience a typical day at her internship. She also goes into dream mode about a happy moment with Dexter.
Remember, How Deep Is Your Love will be available on November 8th. Until then, enjoy this wonderful, unedited excerpt. 🙂
“Beeeeeppppp!”
I stared at the ceiling, realizing another day has begun. It was also another day at the internship from hell.
My alarm continued to disturb me as the bright sunshine from the window made me even more irritated. I hit the alarm, causing more force than I expected, and it fell on the floor.
“Damn it,” I muttered.
I pulled the covers over my head, not wanting to get up when I felt someone yanking them from me.
“Must we go through this every morning? We both know you hate your job, but you still have to go, so wake up.”
I stared at my roommate and sighed. “I don’t want…”
“To go. You say that phrase every morning too. What happened to the Andie Williams that I used to know? Even though I couldn’t stand you then, you have really become very annoying.”
I slowly rose and looked ahead at the white wall. “That Andie is long gone.”
“Yeah, and whiny Andie took over. Get your ass up so we can make it to the office on time.”
She pulled me up and put her hands on my shoulders. I shook my head and sighed. “Thanks for the small pep talk, LaToya. You definitely know how to get my day going.”
She smiled. “Of course. Who else is going to tell it like it is to you?”
“I know a few people, but you’re the only one who’s available.”
She smirked and I smiled. I guess I should mention that LaToya, my ex-friend and Dexter’s ex, is also my roommate. I still couldn’t believe it. Although the two of us couldn’t stand each other, we helped each other out when we got this studio apartment. Rent in New York is not cheap, and with the salary I had, it was a no-brainer that I needed a roommate. Since LaToya also works at The Region as an entry-level accountant, we decided to get a place together. That, and because we didn’t know anyone else in the city.
I can admit that since the two of us are staying together, I have become acquainted with the LaToya that I used to know. We were good friends back in the day, until LaToya revealed her true feelings for Dexter. Now that is under the bridge, we sort of have something in common, which slowly made us rebuild our friendship. Although she gets on my nerves sometimes, it’s a lot better having her here than being lonely in an unfamiliar city.
“I already took my shower, so the bathroom is yours.”
“Thanks,”
I gathered up my outfit when LaToya started tapping her foot on the hardwood floor. I stared at her, wondering why she was doing that.
“That’s annoying.”
“Sorry; I was just trying to find something to do.” “Try something else.”
“Ugh! Did you finally open that letter from Regina?”
I turned around and stared at her. She had a look mixed with sadness and anger as she tapped on her foot again.
“Can you please stop with the tapping.”
“I do this when I get nervous. So, did you? What was it? It looks like a wedding invitation. Is she and Damien getting married?”
I put my outfit down on the bed and walked to her. I sat beside her as I didn’t say a word. She looked at the wall and sighed.
“I guess that’s a yes.”
“Sorry I didn’t tell you last night. I tore up the invite anyway.”
“I’m happy for Damien. I hate how things ended between us, but if he’s happy, then I am too.”
“That’s good.”
“Are you going? I know you probably don’t want to because of Dexter.”
I sighed. LaToya pretty much know everything that happened between Dex and me. She was actually a great confidante during that time. It was a bit awkward at first talking to her about it, but she was there when I needed a shoulder to cry on. And there were a lot of nights when I needed one.
“I don’t know. I think it’s best if I don’t go.”
“Aren’t you and Regina friends, though?”
“We kind of fell out after what happened with Dexter.” “She only got upset with you because of a certain person; it wasn’t because of your break-up with Dex.”
“All the same. That was a mistake anyway.”
“You wanted to see what else was out there. There’s nothing wrong with that.”
“Only because of what I did to Dexter. I felt things wouldn’t have been the same after I left. It doesn’t matter anyway. That relationship wasn’t going to work. Just like the relationship I had with Dexter.”
“You know you’re lying to yourself. You got scared and left.”
“I didn’t get scared.”
“Andie, you can say what you want, but you got scared when you felt your life wasn’t going according to your plan and you bailed. You thought you could handle it without being with him until you saw him that day. You reconnected, but got scared and left again. Do you see a pattern here?”
I rolled my eyes and sighed.
“You jumped into something thinking that it was really over between you and Dexter, but it didn’t work because you were still in love with him. You’re still in love with him now; that’s why you don’t want to go to Regina’s wedding.”
“I don’t want to go because it could be a set-up. I haven’t been back to Houston in four years. Do you really think everyone hasn’t gotten over what I’d done to Dexter? I’m pretty sure Aunt Tia will have some choice words to me about how I hurt her son.”
“Oh, she definitely will. She gave me a couple back in the day.”
“That’s because you cheated on him.”
“True, but I never had his heart like you did. That’s worst compared to what I did.”
She got up as I continued to stare at the wall. I really didn’t want to cry right now. It was too early to already be feeling sad.
LaToya gently tapped my shoulder and I suddenly turned to her. “There’s no time to daydream. You wasted enough time talking. Get ready for work.”
I really wanted to crawl back into my bed and sleep the day away, but there’s no point in moping around. That wasn’t going to solve anything. Besides, I had a job to do.
***
Once I was finally able to get ready, LaToya and I took the subway to The Region office. I still had my car, but I’m still not used to New York traffic, so I just ride the subway with LaToya. It’s actually pretty interesting to be around different people and have that experience to ride on one. You haven’t visited New York if you haven’t been on one.
Twenty minutes later and we both rushed inside the building, holding our badges to security and running to the stairs to the sixth floor.
“You want to go out tonight? Cecil was telling me there’s a great happy hour at Wilson’s.” LaToya asked.
I really didn’t want to, but I barely ventured out since I’ve been here. Maybe it’ll do me some good to be around other people.
“Why not.”
“Cool. Meet you outside when we get off. And leave the depressed attitude behind, please. We don’t need that tonight.”
I rolled my eyes and LaToya smiled before going to the accounting department. I headed to the editorial side of the office and sat down at my desk.
I stared at my computer, thinking about what LaToya said earlier when I heard a thump. I looked up and saw the senior editor, Kelsey, giving me a smug look. I looked down and saw the stack of papers she placed on the desk and sighed.
“Seriously,” I mumbled.
“Good morning to you too, Andrea. Now that you’ll here, you can get started on these.”
“What are those?” I asked.
“They’re letters for our advice column, Ask Region. Since no one wants to do them, you finally can show your writing skills. Aren’t you glad about that?”
“Advice column? I didn’t know the paper had one.”
“Like I said, no one wants to write for it, so it goes unnoticed. We need it by tomorrow, so get to it.”
I sighed. I guess it’s better than walking her Shih Tzu and picking up poop everywhere.
I pulled out a letter from the top and read it. I had to shake my head at how ridiculous this person sounded. How am I going to give anyone relationship advice when my life is in ruins? Maybe I could ask Mashawn about some of these letters. She’s in love, so she would know.
I put the letter to the side and picked up another one. I started to read it, becoming interested in this person’s dilemma. It was a female contemplating on if she should follow her boyfriend to another state. He just accepted a job offer in Florida and have to leave by the end of the month. She didn’t want to leave her family and friends, but she loved him and knew that they’ll get married soon.
I stared at the letter, thinking about my own life and how happy Dex and I was when we arrived to our new place. That was when things weren’t so complicated…
January, 2037
“We’re here!” I exclaimed as Dexter and I entered our new place. It was a tiny one-bedroom with a closet for a bathroom and barely enough storage for our belongings, but it’s our home for the next three years.
“Yes, we’re here, so we should do it right.” Dexter said. He picked me up, causing me to shriek as we entered the apartment. We got to the couch when he put me down.
“You know that only happens when we’re married.”
“Who cares about traditions. Besides, we’re engaged, so it’s close enough.”
He pulled me to him and kissed me. I put my arms around him as he gave me a kiss on my neck.
“I can’t believe we spent four days on the road, so I’m happy to be spending a night in our own bed.”
“Me too. The trip was fun at first, but I felt like it was never ending.” I said and sat down. Lucky for us, the apartment we got was furnished, although Uncle Charles had to pay an additional deposit. Of course Dexter will have to pay him back, but it was worth it not to come into an empty apartment.
“I really don’t feel like getting our bags from the car.” Dexter whined. He sat down beside me and leaned his head on the back of the couch.
“Leave them out there for tonight. Besides, it’s not like we’ll need clothes anyway.” I said and gave him a sexy grin.
“Look at you; you’re trying to get me out of my clothes already, aren’t you?”
I laughed. “I’m not doing no such thing.”
“Please. But you don’t have to ask, because I’ll gladly do it. I’ll help you out of yours too.”
I blushed as he gave me another kiss.
“You do know our toothbrushes are in our suitcases.”
I smiled as I pulled out our travel bags from my tote. Dexter smiled. “Race you to the room,”
I quickly got up as he playfully tackled me. I started laughing as he turned me to face him. He held me as his lips grazed the side of my neck. His hand went underneath my shirt, causing me to moan.
“I thought we were going to race.” I whispered.
Dexter smiled. “I like this much better.”
His hands caress my back as he led me to our bedroom. I think I liked this better too…
“Andrea! Andrea!!”
“What!” I exclaimed.
I looked to see Kelsey giving me a nasty glance. “We need you to go to Starbucks and get a round of Caramel Frappuccinos asap. And stop daydreaming. That’s not part of your job,” she said and walked away.
I sighed. “Neither is being an errand girl.” I whispered.
I looked down at my desk and noticed she didn’t even leave any money for the drinks. I shook my head. I didn’t even complain as I got up and grabbed my crossbody bag. Since I’m paying, I might as well get me one too.
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