Chapter Three
1084 Words
Fleur
I woke up to the shrill sound of my phone ringing angrily and one look at the flashing alarm clock on my nightstand told me why.
It was almost ten.
I wasn’t just late; I was really, really late.
Rolling out of bed, my clothes from last night stuck st to my body in a crinkled messy mass of material as I sprinted towards the living room. Grabbing up the phone just a second before it rang off.
“I’m here.” Breathless I bent over; my eyes fixed on the flashing light of my answerphone.
I rarely slept past five am, so to find that I had slept for almost twelve hours was surprising. And not just that I had slept well. The best I had in years. Even now knowing how late I was and how many appointments I had missed I felt oddly at ease.
I felt good.
I hadn’t felt so good in years.
It was like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders.
“I’m so sorry.”
The man on the other hand sighed heavily. As my boss, he had every right to chew me out for missing appointments, but I already knew that he wouldn’t go too far.
I was his star agent. I never failed to close a deal. I made his company too much money for him to be too mad at me.
“Fleur this is….”
I groaned. Cutting him off. “Look Jeff I overslept. It won’t happen again.”
There was a moment of silence as he took in my words. “You overslept?” He repeated dumbly.
I didn’t say a word, I didn’t have to. My sleeping habits or lack of sleeping habits were well known in the office.
I ran on nothing. And I was still the best.
“Look Fleur, if you need to take today, catch up on some rest. and by god you need it.” He trailed off.
“I’m fine,” I answered quickly, I couldn’t think of anything worse than spending a day alone in my own company. Me alone with my own thoughts was always a bad idea. I dwelled too much on the past.
I knew I wasn’t the only one to ever lose a mate. my father requiem had gone through the same and so had countless other shifters, but it was a lonely existence. My father had found my mother, his second fated mate but that was a rare occurrence.
I couldn’t imagine finding someone else to spend my life with. I had casual relationships. Meaningless s****l encounters that scratched a certain itch, but they never amounted to anything because I didn’t want them to. I was too comfortable in my own misery.
“Honestly you only have one more showing today. I am sure one of the other girls could do that for you.”
“No.” My voice was clipped. My face screwed up as I tried to remember that day's schedule. “I have another appointment? I am pretty sure my last one was at nine forty-five. And then I was back in the office trying to close the Hartford House.”
“It’s a last minute one, he asked for you by name. seemed pretty adamant it had to be you,”
“Then it has to be me, doesn’t it?” I hadn’t gotten so good at my job by passing on people who asked for me by name. Reaching for the pen on the table, I slid the pad of paper closer. Cradling the phone between my ear and my shoulder. “Give me the details.”
***
The house I was showing wasn’t one at the top end of my pay scale, but it was one of my favourites. It was the kind of place I had imagined living when I was a teenager. It reminded me a lot of the wolves’ packhouse. All warm wood, and comfort but on a much smaller scale.
It was a family home. The perfect place to raise children. An oasis in the city limits.
The thought of children brought a bitter taste rushing into my mouth as I slid my fingers across the gleaming table, big enough to seat eight easily. I would never have children.
The chance of being a mother died along with Noah.
The sound of a car pulling up the drive brought me back to reality with a bump. Casting my eyes downward, I quickly reread the file which lay open on the gleaming surface. I knew it already; like I knew every detail of every house I managed. But it never hurt to remind myself of the particulars.
There was a sound of heavy footsteps stepping into the house and I turned, my wide customary smile on my face.
Running my hands down my tight trousers I waited for the person to show himself.
He didn’t.
“Hi,” I called out in my sing song voice. “I’m through here, come on in.” Taking a step forward I frowned.
That smell.
That delicious smell of a pine forest after a thunderstorm assaulted my senses. All woodsy musk and electricity.
My heart slammed into my chest.
It had been so long since I had smelt anything so delicious. And the familiarity of it brought tears to my eyes.
The man who stepped into the doorway was tall, well over six foot four. His shoulders seemed to fill the entire space.
My smile slipped; my breath caught in my lungs. Desperately I clawed at my throat as I stared at him.
I knew his face; I knew every inch of it.
I knew and craved his scent, as it swirled around me.
A ghost of my past stood there, smiling at me and I felt myself break. The years of loneliness finally broke down my defences.
I stumbled backwards, my ass hitting the table and sending papers flying. And still, I couldn’t breathe. My mouth flapped like a fish.
“Hello, Flo Bo.”
I snapped, my body folding in on itself at the sound of his voice. I didn’t fight it. I was losing my mind. Finally, the madness that I had held at bay for so long had taken hold.
Opening my mouth wide, I let out all the pain and misery I had been holding on to in a long screeching scream as I curled myself up into a ball on the floor.
- Writer
