Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 95295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 95295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 476(@200wpm)___ 381(@250wpm)___ 318(@300wpm)
On the fifth ring, I finally hear her voice. “I left you literally in front of your house twenty minutes ago.”
“Zoey,” I wheeze as all the breaths get caught in my throat. “Zoey.” Now, it comes out in a sob. “Daniel,” I say his name and just words come out in pieces. “I,” I start to pant, “can’t.” I lean down, trying to catch my breath. “It’s…”
“Zara, I don’t understand you,” she soothes softly. “Breathe.”
I take a deep breath in and then exhale it; the sound of beeping cars is all around me as I try to focus on inhaling. “It’s over,” I say softly. “The wedding is off.”
3
ZARA
The words slip out of my mouth, almost as if my mind is outside of my body. Like, I’m here, but I’m really not here. “The wedding is off,” I repeat, this time standing up straight and looking around, feeling lost. I continue down the sidewalk to the corner and cross the street because the light is green, walking farther away from my house.
“What do you mean the wedding is off?” Zoey shrieks, but then I hear Nash.
“Hey, Zara,” he greets softly. “I need you to tell me where you are?” he asks, and I blink a couple of times, looking around for the first time.
“I don’t know,” I answer. If I wasn’t in a daze, I would be able to tell him I was two blocks from my house.
“Okay, I need you to take a second and look around you.” His voice is calming. “Look for a street name or anything like that,” he says. I pause when I get to the corner and tell him the name. “Do you see a cab anywhere near you?” he asks, and I look around.
“No.” I shake my head at the same time I tell him.
“Zara, can you see if you can get a cab? Go to the corner and hold up your hand.” I walk to the corner, feeling like a stranger in my body as I follow his instructions. “I can come get you, but it’ll be faster if you can get a cab!” Zoey shouts in the background just as a yellow cab pulls up.
“I have a cab,” I tell him, just looking at the car.
“Get in the cab and give them this address,” he urges. My hand comes up, and I open the back door.
“I’m in the car,” I tell him, then glance at the man looking over his shoulder, waiting for me to give him the address.
“Tell the man you are going to—” he says, and I repeat everything he says to the cab driver. “You’re going to stay on the phone with me, okay?” Nash says.
“Okay,” I reply absentmindedly before looking outside. The cab zigzags through traffic. “Zara, are you still there?” he asks, and I nod but don’t say anything. I’m too busy wiping the tears off my face. “I’ll be waiting for you downstairs,” he assures me.
“Okay,” I say softly, putting my hand on my lap with the phone. I see he hasn’t hung up, so I just let it stay in my lap, my arm suddenly tired. My whole body is suddenly tired, but I don’t have a chance to do anything about it because the car comes to a stop, and the door swings open.
“I got you.” Nash holds out his hand to me while reaching in to give the driver something. “Keep the change,” he says as I take his hand and step out of the cab.
A gust of wind makes my hair fly around me, and I shiver. “It’s cold.” I look at him, feeling like my whole body is going to fall. I take one step with him, and my knees finally give out.
I’m expecting to land on my ass, but Nash wraps his arm around my waist and holds me up. “I got you,” he repeats, walking toward the glass door. “You’re okay.” I don’t know if I’m okay.
“Pretty sure I’m not okay,” I mumble to him as we step into the elevator when my knees buckle again.
“Do you want me to carry you?” he asks when the elevator doors open, and I shake my head.
“I can do this,” I state, not sure if I can do this. I take one step and then stop when I see Zoey there. Her face is white like a ghost, her own tears running down her face.
“Zara.” She closes the distance to me, wrapping her other hand around me. “Zara.” She says my name again as they walk me into their apartment. “What the fuck happened?” I don’t know who she’s asking, me or Nash.
“Let’s get her to the couch before she says anything.” He looks at Zoey, who nods as they walk with me to the couch. She turns me to help me onto the cushion. I plop down on it, letting my body go. My purse falls to the side while my phone slides to the floor and away from me. “I think she might be in shock.”