Total pages in book: 29
Estimated words: 26992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 26992 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 135(@200wpm)___ 108(@250wpm)___ 90(@300wpm)
“Did I mention that there are pictures of me that somehow got passed around?” She lets out a gasp. When I hear a loud crash I know it’s her desk chair.
“You might not realize it, but Jay is kind of a big deal.”
“Oh, you mean like he has a Pulitzer Prize and yet he somehow lives in a shit apartment next to mine?”
“Huh.” I can tell she’s thinking. “That is weird. Why did I never think of that?”
“Oh, I don’t know because within days he had us staying in a penthouse.”
“That place is killer, Dove.”
“That’s not the point! The man I’m in love with lied to me. Do I even know him?”
“Dove—”
I cut her off. “The fact that you knew and didn't tell me—” I pause for a second, trying to get my thoughts together. “You’re supposed to be my person. He was also supposed to be my person. You were the two people I trusted, and now, now I…” I decide to hang up. I turn off the phone because I don’t know how to feel. What I do know is that once again I feel alone in the world.
When the taxi gets to the building, I pay and head straight for the elevator. When I get into our place, I can tell he’s not here. I go to his office and start flipping through the folders on his desk. The first ones are pictures of the city. They're all beautiful.
When I make it to the next, my eyes start to sting. They are all of me in different parts of the city. I flip through them, mesmerized by what he’s captured in them. For the first time I truly see myself, how I see the world, and most of all how he sees me. Tears run down my cheeks as I continue to take in one picture after the other.
When I hear a noise, I look up to see Jay standing in the doorway of his office.
“Dove, I—”
I hold my hand up and he stops talking. “I know. I know everything.”
He shakes his head. Some of those pictures in that book were from before I’d ever met Jay.
“I just have one question. Do not lie to me.”
“I won’t.”
I run my finger across the one picture I’d gotten of him one time.
“Have you done this with other women?”
“Never,” he says instantly, taking a step further into the office. “I’d been lost for a while. My camera and I couldn't capture anything. Then I saw you. I snapped one picture and then another. I couldn’t stop. With each shot life and color seeped back inside of me. All of it is because of you.”
He steps closer to me. I come around the desk. “Have I hidden things? Yes. I knew one day you’d find out. I also knew that I’d rather have you for a moment in time than not at all. I’d rather risk living the rest of my life with a broken heart than never having you in it at all. To me it would be worth it.”
“Jay.” I whisper his name. I can’t get the tears to stop. He was right. I don’t think I would have given him a shot. So instead he moved in next door to me and took his time. “You’ve been trying to make me fall in love with you.” It’s not a question.
“Blue jays mate for life. It’s you or no one.”
My mouth pulls up in a half smile. I pick up one of the pictures he took of me. I was looking right at him when he snapped it. “You have to know I’m already in love with you. You and that camera miss nothing.”
“If I’m in love with you and doves mate for life, then what does that mean for us?” Any space between us he clears as he lifts me off my feet. I wrap my legs around him and kiss him back as passionately as he kisses me.
“No more lies or half-truths,” I say between kisses.
“Then I should probably tell you I’ve been working on getting that Thomas fucker disbarred.”
I laugh against his mouth. “It doesn't matter. I quit. Or maybe I was fired. I smacked him. He had some of these pictures and said some things that were out of line.”
“Fuck. I’m so sorry. I’m working on finding out how some of them got leaked. Some of those were for our eyes only.”
“I’m the one that’s sorry. That’s your work, Jay.”
“But some of the pictures were a little…” He doesn't finish his sentence, but I can see the jealousy all over his face.
“I looked pretty damn good so I’m not complaining.” I laugh. Jay doesn't seem to think it’s as funny as I do. I kiss him again. As upset as I was when I got into that cab, it was all worth it.