Tuesday November 27th, 2018. 7:45 A.m.

"GOOOOODD MORNINNGG!"

Elle looks up to see her boss walking down the hallway up to her office. He's never here this early she thinks to herself. As she tells herself to smile and act "ok" He comes to her office door and asks her to come to his office. "here we go".. the conversations she's been dreading the last 6 months. Instant anxiety takes over her body, but she gets up and heads over.

Once in her boss’s office, she sits down and they have small talk about their weekends and what they did. " I did a little gardening, took the dog for a hike, cleaned the house and painting".. leaving out that she did each for maybe 15 mins until she crawled back into her bed, grabbing her kindle and reading another book.

" I know the last couple of months haven’t been the easiest for you. Your ability to show up and put in the work even after your life did a 180 on you is inspiring. I appreciate you and how much you have continued to show up and put the business first even for as much you have been hurting."

Elle looks up trying not to fall apart " thank you."

" Which is why I am sending you on a trip."

Elle looking at her boss with a confused but interested look " a trip" Elle asks.

" That’s right. We have gotten a request for start up for a new building in California, but we need someone to go there and do the inspection as well as look over all of the units and make sure we are sending the appropriate techs and that we have all of the information we need before flying multiple men out there for 2 weeks."

oh shit Elle thinks to herself. Even if this wasn't the vacation she had in mind, going away for 2-3 days sounds like fun.

" o ..oh, okay. Id be happy to help." Elle says

" oh any By the way, you wont be there for just 2-3 days like a normal start up. Since you have shown up and have continued to put in the work even with your life being upside down, I am personally paying for you to stay out there for an additional 2 weeks."

"HOLY SHIT" Elle says louder than she meant to.

" I figured that's what you would say. Everyone needs a break every now an than so this is yours. Get what you need to get done here today and head home to pack and do whatever you need to-do. You leave Tomorrow night."

" Wow, Thank you, so much." Elle says back to her boss.. thinking of what she has to do before she leaves.. I have to do laundry, find someone to water my plants, make sure the dog and cat have enough food for 2 weeks.. 2 WEEKS! 2 WEEKS IN CALIFORNIA .. wow.. this is surreal. Elle was so excited she had forgotten everything she had been through over the last 6 months.

On the drive home Elle is thinking of everything she needs to get done in the next 24 hours. Thinking "crap, I should go get a new suit to wear to the beach, maybe a cute dress and hat, maybe I’ll get my wedges out of storage and walk around all fancy".. she laughs at herself. and says " owww look at my woo woos" . She smiles and remembers her ex saying that in one of their late-night giggle session in “BW” .. ( Before Whore). ” fucking idiot”

Elle overpacks as much as she overthinks. Nothing new. She calls this " you never know" . As she pushes all of her clothes in to her suitcase she sees her nails are 3 weeks grown out. " fuuucck I need to get these done!!" Elle grabs her phone calls her nail lady PRAYING she has an opening this afternoon or tomorrow morning.

" Hey Kim, do you have an opening for a fill and cutdown?"

" yes honey, you come now?"

" I’ll be there in 20!"

"SWEEET"

Elle looks around her room to make sure she isn't forgetting anything since her room is now a mess. Grabs her purse and heads to the salon.

Elles nail salon is in her old hometown where she grew up. As much as she hates this little town and all of the memories it holds its nice to come back every now and then. Her parents moved hours away, so not being able to drop in when she just needs her mom and dad has been one of the hardest things the last 6 months, but her mother has gotten very comfortable with Facetime. Even if all she wants to say is what she bought today or anything that could have been a text, she still looks forward to her mom’s call.

While getting her nails done, Elle goes with her usual color. "Peachy Keen" its cute, Orange but light enough to not be obnoxious. “I love it.” Sitting there, another nail tech asks if I want a Pedi.. " she thinks to herself" .." damn do my feet look that bad? how long has it been actually"

" you know what, sure I’d love one, same color please"

While sitting in the Pedi chair, Elle is looking through her email, playing on Pinterest, trying to get an idea of what the hell she should do in California for 2 weeks BY HERSELF. The thought of being in an unfamiliar place for 2 weeks alone is a little unsettling but.. Shell be ok.

While flipping through her Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, everything to just pass the time and find something to do with her time while in CA. Its all Birthday posts, Engagement posts, "We're expecting!" posts , some Halloween or art posts, the randomly celebrity that she follows will post, Scrolling and Scrolling : boring: she thinks, until she comes across a " page you may like that is trending". She stops scrolling. The headline reads " Its Over!" with a picture of Katherine and Chris Pratt. Elle stops aww nooo, I wonder what happened she thinks to herself, then thinks "my turn". As if Chris Pratt an award winning, Millionaire or prob a Billionaire, heart throb would want anything to do with some random depressed chick from Maryland. "A girl can dream". She thinks that's prob why he hasn't posted anything lately. Someone she's never even met and prob doesn't even know she exists she was keeping tabs on. " I’m a loser, whatever" Elle doesn't care. Its the one thing her in life right now that's keeping her together, who cares if its someone she'll never meet or even have a chance with.

DING

Elle gets an email from her boss. " Hey, E,,..here is your itinerary along with reservations for this fancy bougie restaurant near the Air BnB you’re staying at in Pacific Palisades, called Moonshadows. Elle laughs at the " bougie: reference. He had teenage kids and would try to use their " hip" words whenever given the chance.

" Moonshadows" Interesting …Elle looks it up and its right on the water and has a great view for a cool sunset.

While googling everything to do in walking distance from her hotel, she get a text from her boss now.

5:37 p.m. - Bossman

"Hey I was just checking everything to make sure I didnt forget to send anything your way when I got an email from the Airline, your flight that was scheduled to leave tomorrow at 5 p.m is now leaving at midnight."

" Oh hell" Elle says out loud, glancing at the time, checking off a mental checklist to make sure she has everything taken care of that she needs to before she must head to the airport in less than 6 hours.

5:40 Me

Any chance you’re able to take me to the airport tonight at like…10 instead of tmrw night?

5:42 – Adelynnn

Flight change? That’s fine, Ill have the kids with me. But Ill come grab you around 10.

Once Elle is home she goes over everything she was going to do in the next 24 hours and tries to fit it in to 6.

Plants watered, Adelynn’s coming to water daily - Check

Dog and Kitty have enough food to last the next 2 weeks - Check

Laundry is done and put away - check

Trash has been taken out- check Elle hates coming home to trash in the trash can or dishes in the sink, Luckily she has been spending most of her time home and cleaning so there isn't much to clean before leaving.. doesn't mean she won’t come home to a mess with her brother being the only person home for the next 2 weeks.

Shoes- check Elle looks at her ADIDAS next to her bed and thinks " should I bring these?". Spending a lot of time at the gym the last 6 months, not going for 2 weeks will affect her mood more than she thinks, so she throws her ADIDAS in her bag with a couple pairs of socks , sports bra and some "running" clothes.. knowing damn well she's not going to go running. But whatever.

" ok I guess that's everything" Elle checks her watch for the time... 7:36 p.m.. She doesn't need to leave for the airport for another 3 hours, so she decides to take a nap since she will be going from the east coast to the west coast, that time difference is going to be killer.

9:30 P.m.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Elle eyes shoot open, ughhh time for work, she slowly gets out of bed half asleep and confused. She sees her packed bags next to her bedroom door then remembers her planned trip. " Oh right ". She hears that her brother is now home and watching his TV in the normal volume of " are you deaf ". She must have needed that nap since not even the TV on the other side of her wall could wake her.

" Where are you going" Her brother asks as she walks in the living room with all of her luggage.

" California" knowing she told him in a text earlier today asking if could just make sure kitty's automatic food dish was spitting out food for the next 2 weeks while she was gone, She didn't need to worry about her dog since her brother loved him like he was his own, and his dog and hers got along so well.

" Adelynn’s coming to get me, don't worry about water my plants, she will come do that when she drops the kids off at school, unless its raining of course. Here's where I’m staying, this is my flight number, I don't have a lay over so I should land in LAX at 5:30 ish west coast time, but you know how flights have been lately."

" ok" as he pretends to listen while looking at his phone.

" I'll text the group when I land, can you just please make sure kitty doesn't stay out over night? he can go out during the day, as long as there’s water. But Id just really like if he came in at night, Ill be sad if something happens while I’m gone".

Elle arrives at the airport. Her sister and the kids walks her to her gate and gives her a big hug.

" have so much fun!! but not too much. Text me when you land!!"

" haha ok"

" also meet people! don't stay in your Air BnB the whole time, you're in California!! Find a hot young doctor or something"

She knows Elle so well, she knows she'd stay in her Air BnB the whole time if she could.

" oh stop, I don't want a doctor" Elle laughs.

" fine, go find Chris Pratt " her sister jokily says.

" now that would be a dream that could do, I doubt his even in town after being in the news with his split from Katherine."

The plane starts boarding. " Everyone with seat numbers A1- A12 can now board." Elle hadn’t even looked at where she was sitting. She looks at her ticket " A5" . "oh fuck that's me!" Elle in line looking for her seat and realizes she's in First Class. " Damn First Class, Thanks, Dan". Before the flight attendant came on and asked for all electronics to be turn off and to go over the flight, Elle sent her boss a text.

11:40 p.m. Me

" Sorry for the late text!! On the plane about to take off. Thanks for great seat! First Class, I feel so Bougie.”

: SEND:

Elle knew her boss would laugh at his newly favorite word when he woke up the next day to read her text.

Elle puts phone on Airplane Mode, Puts her airpods in and gets comfortable for her over 5 hour flight. " Next stop LAX" She says to herself as she brings her Alabama hat down over her head, crosses her arms and slowly falls asleep.

" excuse me, Miss?"

Elle being shaken by the flight attendant.

Sitting up in her seat, to see they have landed at LAX, blinking her eyes a couple time while looking out the window trying to make sense of everything shes seeing.

" ohh yea, California." Elle says out loud.

" yes mam, I hope you have a wonderful time" The flight attendant says with a smile and a wink.

Elle makes her way through the airport, turning her phone from airplane mode to normal... " DING , DING, DING, DING ,DING,, DING." " OMGGG!!"

Elle HATES when her phone goes off over and over.. until she looks out and see's all of her texts and notifications.

Stopping to look at her phone for a moment and to grab a Redbull. Despite her nap on the flight, Elle is dragging ass. Pops a Vyvanse and a Wellbutrin with a big swig of Redbull.. “ugh so good” She checks the time.. 6:23 A.m. “ jesus fuck”. Taking a moment to wake up, Elle sits outside the shop she got her Redbull and looks through her phone. Work email, work email, Spam email, Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Texts from “Mommy”, “Sissy”, “Lauren” Group Chat with “ Austin, Sissy and “Mommy”, “BOSSMAN”..Which she checks first since hes the whole reason why shes on the other side of the United States in the first place..

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1:25a .m. BOSS MAN

" Hey Elle, I’m sure you’re over some corn field right now, most likely asleep drooling on yourself. I forgot to tell you, I have arranged a driver for you so cancel your Uber. He will be waiting for you in the arrivals after you get all your bags. Agency says his name is “Harrison” and he drives a black Tahoe. I asked to have him holding a sign with your name on it.

6:29 A.M ME

{ Picture of Redbull Can} “ Soooo Sleepy, but I made it. Damn a driver? Feeling extra bougee.

Locking her phone and saying to herself...” Too much to look at while tiring to navigate through LAX.” Elle puts her phone in her bag and heads to grab her luggage. Once she has collected everything. This place is so different. The people the atmosphere, feels sooo different than back home in Maryland. Looking down at her outfit. Checkered Vans, Sweatshirt that is now tied around her waist, a Red t-shirt from a Bar in FL and a black hat. “ Damn I don’t fit in here, Ill have to go shopping..” Elle heads out front to look for her Driver. As she opens the big glass doors, she sees an older man with salt and pepper hair with a serious scowl on his face holding a big red Sign that reads her name. This guy looks like he could kill someone with just one look..

" Hi, I’m Elle”

" Great! Good morning, Miss Elle, I hope you had a good flight. My name is Harrison, I was hired by your boss to make sure you get to where you need to be!"

"it’s nice to meet you, any good coffee places around here? A redbull isn’t going to cut it". Elle ask

" Yes, mam…we have a little less than an hour Drive to your Air BnB, I will stop at one on the way. It’s a personal favorite of mine, “Sweet Laurel”.. . which I’m sure you will love. Here, please let me take your bag" Harrison takes Elles bag and opens a side door as Elle steps in to the Tahoe. Walking around the back of the Tahoe, Harrison opens the back hatch and places her bag in the back before closing it and sitting down in the driver seat.

" Thank you for getting me.. Sweet Laurel looks good… I’m looking at their website right now. Their Iced Coffees look sooo good.”

" This is the best Caramel Iced Latte I have every had" Elle says as she takes another long draw from her cup "what would make it better is if I didn’t have to use this damn paper straw”

Harrison chuckles “HaHa, Yes, mam.. Welcome to California" …" This state loves their paper straws".

Driving from LAX to Pacific Palisades, It was like something out of a movie or the show with the college kids . Elle used to watch in Middle School. " wow”, “Jesus how many Dogs was that lady walking”, “These houses are stupid”. There were so many Fancy cars and fancy people walking around, The shops looked like something she would LOVE to check out, little restaurants with outside seating.. great for people watching.. Elle can only imagine the people that walk the streets here.. and hey, maybe she’ll see someone important. Knowing damn well she wouldn't be able to afford anything other than maybe keychain.. she’ll make it a point to get one.. or maybe she’ll indulge and buy herself something...because. when will she be in California again ..for 2 weeks on someone else’s dime?

------------------------------

20 mins of looking at crazy houses, restaurants the insanely overpriced cars driving by, Elle started doing what she does best.. Overthinking. Knowing shes doing this and will work herself in to an anxiety attack she decided to get to know Harrison a little better.

“ Mr. Harrison, did you grow up around here?”

Harrison looks in the mirror back at Elle and smiles. “Please, just call me Harrison.. and no mam’ I grew up in Huntsville, Alabama. Ever heard of it?”

Elle smiles… “ Roll Tide”

“ ah ha yes, Roll Tide.. Grew up down there met my wife in High School.. we got married not to long after we graduated… and 9 months later we were blessed with a healthy little boy. don’t wait around ..” Harrison Smiles back..

“ wow High School sweethearts.. you don’t hear that anymore.. Marriages nowadays are lucky if they make it to 10 years.. with Dating websites.. all the social media.. making it easy for anyone to send a message or picture without anyone else finding out… no one is loyal anymore… its kind of sad if you think about it.” Elle tried not to get to emotional when talking to Harrison, She knew she was over Logan… a 240 lb weight has been lifted off her shoulders.. and not the good 240 lbs with muscle.. 240 lbs of beer, greasy food fat. Elle wasn’t over what happened and how badly Logan Deceived her. Played her for a fool and ruined her trust forever.

“mam’ please tell me if I’m over stepping… but it sounds like someone must have broken your trust? Ive noticed that with this generation. Just as your said, you don’t have to work for the girl as hard as we did.. girls didn’t base their beauty off of “ likes” or follows.. always comparing themselves to people on the internet or on the cover of a magazine. When I was in Highschool. there was no Instagram or facebook or anything like it.. there was dances or dinner at a diner. Asking a girl out was scary but we didn’t have to worry about someone “ sliding in her DMs” taking her attention.. marriages worked. Someone must have happened?

Elle sighed and with a whisper spoke again.. “ yea you could say that. “. Harrison picked up on Elles mood change and the sad look on her face. “ Well I don’t want to overstep any more than I have. All Ill say is I hope whatever it is.. it works out for the best.”

Elle gives Harrison a small smile but looks back out the window at the passing cars. The car is silent for almost 5 minutes before Elle speaks.

“ I was married for almost 8 years…” Elle looks up at Harrisons eyes in the mirror before looking back out at the passing cars. She sighs…” he was cheating on me and he didn’t even try to hide it.. he started going out a lot to bars.. coming home late.. if he came home at all. The final straw was when he showed up at a bar with OUR friends.. one of my Girlfriends texted me wishing me well.. I apparently had the flu. Turns out he just wanted to have the night to himself. And Jessica Matthew “

“oh honey, Im sorry to hear that… this man sounds like a real piece of work” Harrison spoke with such emotion. Elle could feel him looking at her through the rearview mirror, but she continued to look out the window.

“The best part was the weekend after our Divorce I went away to clear my head.. and when I came home... he had taken EVERYTHING out of the house. Including a few of my things… THEN he dropped off the face of this earth and stopped paying his half of the rent.. so I had to sell anything I could that I knew would be of value just so I could pay rent.. I was barely scraping by..

As they pull up to the Air BnB, Elle sees a little white house with what looks like a deck overhead. " here you are Miss Elle” Harrison turns around with a smile handing her card. “Here is my card with my phone and personal if you need anything, I am happy to help. Now let me get your bag out of the trunk so you can start your vacation. Harrison exits the car and walks around Elles door and opens it for her as she’s stashing away his card.

Opening her door. Harrison reaches for her hand to help her step out. “Thank you, Harrison”. Harrison smiles as leads Elle to the side of the house. Walking up to the door, Elle takes out her phone to read the email from her boss on where the hideaway key will be. Unlocking the door and stepping in, Elle stops and turns around and smiles. “Miss Elle, this is where I leave you. You have my card so if there is anything you need please call me I am more than happy to take you wherever it is you need to go.” Harrison says with a smile. “Thank you again, Harrison. Ill call you if I think of something... it’ll be the 240 number.”

______________________________________

It’s a beautiful little place, has white walls with exposed beams, has "party lights" strung around the side yard with a deck that has steps to get to. Exploring the small property, Elle is drawn to the deck first. As she walks up to the deck she stops and just stares. " wow" Elle says almost a whisper.

“I’ll have to come up here at sunset". Elle could see, hills, mountains, the water, cliffs, the beach. It was beautiful and she got to enjoy it for 2 weeks! Elle snapped a picture of her view and sent it to the group chat with her mom, sister and brother. " Im here, who could be mad over a view like this?".

It was about 7:30 - 8 A.m. Elle was unpacking and looking up places to go get some food for her stay. The names of their stores were so different than back home. She's used to Giant, or Safeway... WEIS! Nothing around here. VONS will have to do, it’s about a 17 min walk, and it looks like the sell alcohol, "Score” Elle says out loud, "time to get fucked up on my deck by myself, it’s going to be sweet".

Elle is on her way back from VONS. She should have thought this through better. This 17 mins walk feels much longer when you’re sweating and holding 5 bags AND a case of beer. Not to mention she's in a strange place, " I hope no one tries to mug me” Elle says to herself, " I deff won’t be able to defend myself", as Elle chuckles at her stupid idea, a red Dodge pickup truck drives by slowing down just as its about to pass her. Elle thinks " just keep walking, keep walking, you're almost there". Keep her head down and looking at the ground as shes walking, trying not to make eye contact with the driver…"excused me, mam', Can I give you a lift?" the man in the truck yells out the passenger window . " don’t make eye contact, keep going” ... " No Im fine". As Elle Grabs the slipping case of beer. " Are you sure? you don’t look like you are fine". " Please, I assure you, Im fine keep going". The man doesn’t say thing for a few seconds and just watches her. “You have a good day mam”.

Elle hears the truck drive off she looks up to make sure its actually going... a few minutes go by, and Elle is kind of wishing she took the chance and let the man in the Red truck help her... as she makes the last turn on to the street her house is on, She notices a red pickup truck stopped at the gas station. " Oh fuck, is that the same truck?" Elle asks herself.

The man who’s pumping gas turns to look at the tank which happens to be in Elles direction.. "Fuck, he totally saw me” ... Elle quickly picks the pace of her walk. She had no idea if it’s the same truck, she didn't see the driver when he slowed down and she deff wouldn't be sticking around to find out, even if it feel like her arms are about to fall off.

Elle hears the truck start behind her, she turns around to look and sees the truck headed in the opposite direction. " Woo ok good"... " I should have called Harrison". Elle gets back to her house, still kind of spooked, she locks the door and puts a rolling pin next to the bed "for survival" she says as she puts it under the pillow knowing damn well it should be a gun but... got to love Cali.

Elle spends the next afternoon and day relaxing at the house. Way to jetlagged to do anything else. Thursday November 28th. Elle wakes up feeling refreshed, she eats a late breakfast. Looking over her emails and scheduled, making sure she looks her very best. “I look like a sick ghost; I need some color” Checking the UV index for the day. UV index of 9 at 1 p.m. FUCK YES!!

1:30, Elle puts on her suit and heads up to the deck with a few beers..."Man, this view is amazing... but hell its hot as fuck.” Putting on her sunscreen and laying down, she was rethinking this. The sun was a lot stronger here than it was at home. She stuck it out for about 3 hours before going down to make a late lunch and to get a shower. While relaxing she checked her work emails, looked over everything she needs for her meeting tomorrow at a potential customer building.

Friday November 29th

- be there by 10 a.m.

- Call Harrison to confirm

- Follow Covid protocol Mask, fill out covid questioner etc., etc.

- prepare proposal and present to customer. ( if all goes well of course)

- 201 Ocean Ave Los Angeles, CA

This was about a 12 min drive from the Air BnB, so Elle set her alarm for about 8 to shower again if needed and give herself enough time to mental prepare as well as prepare for her visit.

Elle spent the rest of the afternoon lying around and still trying to catch up on the time difference, looking up cool places to explore and popular places to eat that were in her budget. Making a small dinner with what she bought at the store, Elle sits at the counter and facetimes her mom while she’s eating.

7:28 p.m

“Hey Mom”

“Oh hellllo, how is the West Coast? Meet anyone famous yet?”

Elle Laughs... “No mom, I’ve been here for a whole day, and I’ve spent most napping, this jetlag is no joke. What are you and Dad doing?”.

Over the 45 mins Elle and her parents talk about life and Elle shows them around the property before coming back to the kitchen again.

“Alright Mom, I gotta jump off. I have some things to do before tomorrow and the sun will be setting soon and I do not want to miss it again. I was way to tired to walk up there and watch it lasynight….”

Elles Mom laughs “my girl... you and the sunset... enjoy your night. We love you.”

“Love you too, I’ll send pictures.”

Elles Mother knew her love for the sunset runs deep. Not just a favorite of hers… but more of a memory Elle wanted to keep alive. Allison knew how much it broke her daughter’s heart with the letters from Raiden stopped and she lost all contact with him. There’s nothing scarier than your first love but loosing your first love, its life altering.

Once Elle was finished getting her things ready for morning, she decided to go up to the deck and wait for the sun to set. it was about... 7:30p.m so it should start soon if not already started she thought.

Elle climbs the stairs to the deck and the view is everything she imagined it would be when she was up there last this morning. Gold, Orange, Red, Blue, Purple... the cool breeze coming off the beach... shortly followed by a warm breeze coming from the town behind her. Shadows slowly creeped over every house on the hills and mountains around her. Not noticing the "party lights" weren’t on until it was dark enough for them to come on, Thanks to the solar outlet it has. " I’ll have to get me one of those!".

" This view is to die for I wish I was able to bring my camera... but this iPhone will have to do…”

While the sun was slowly dipping down behind the horizon, Elle jumped nose deep into her phone... emails, Instagram, Facebook, everything, she realized she hadn't thought about her failed relationship since she landed. She deff noticed she’s had a little bit of a jump in her walk since being in a strange place. Before locking her phone to finish watching the sunset. Elle gets a Facebook Notification. “Melissa Kelton and 4 others were tagged in 109 photos.”. Curious, Elle Clicks on the notification on her phone opening Facebook. Flicking through the photos forgetting that Melissa had been tagged, Elle sees Logan and Jessica Fucking Whore Matthews. “WHAT THE FUCK!?” Continuing to click through the photos until coming to a photo of Jessica and Mellissa. Jessica has her arm around Melissa with her cheek on hers, like they were best friends. “Who does this bitch think she is?”.

By the look on Melissas face, Elle knows 2 things. 1. Melissa is hammered Because she would never willingly hang out with Jessica because “Girl Rules, 10 Commandments” (duh... Look them up, Elles Favorite author Ivy Smoak wrote the book on Girl Rules, Single or not.

Rule #1 Boys are Replaceable, Friends are forever. which brings me to point 2. You can see the look on her face. after being friends with Melissa as long as Elle had been, she knew a fake smile when she saw one… especially on her. “Friends are forever Bitch. Get your own”. Mad but not to the point she needed to text Melissa to bitch, Elle simply pretends she doesn’t see it. Exiting Facebook, Elle looks up right as the sunset is almost dipped behind the mountains. There are sunrays stretched across the sky. Elle smiles and for a split second, lets herself think of a happier time, a time when there was nothing to worry about or had anything to stress over. Elle thinks back to sitting on the roof of that Maryland home, back to him.

Raiden.

What ever happened to him? It had been years since they had spoken. He stopped sending letters and it broke her heart. Her first love and best friend. She’d never forgotten about him. Raiden was a part of Elles every day. She can’t ever escape him. He shows up every day. Drapes his warmth over her skin, putting on the most beautiful show of colors, until he is gone.

Only to show up again the next day. It had been like this for years. Raiden Cole still owned a huge part of Elles’ heart.