FULL NOVELXO Chapter 2
Chapter 2: I Wish He’d Left Me Sooner
The video showed a young woman getting out of her car and into an elevator with Stan Laurier. The two looked like they had an appointment, and the top corner of the video indicated that the time it’d been taken was 3:00 in the
morning–just after he’d left Elsa’s place.
Elsa scoffed. She hadn’t expected him to have moved on so soon. She zoomed in on the video, and the woman wasn’t too difficult to identify–she recognized her as the newly–popular Dana Duke, who didn’t have much in the way of smarts or personality. Was Stan really into girls like this?
Whatever the case, Elsa was glad she’d escaped that situation herself. This relationship couldn’t have ended sooner.
She’d just arrived at the studio when Cherry caught sight of her and practically sprinted over. Cherry had introduced Stan to Elsa in the first place, but the two girls had grown up together, and she was a news editor at the same studio.
“What’s going on, girl? Wasn’t Stan at yours last night?” Cherry whispered. “Why did he show up with Dana in the middle of the night?”
“Who knows.” Elsa shrugged. “Hell, I wish he’d left me sooner.”
“I thought you wanted revenge! Where are you going to get another guy like him?” Cherry rolled her eyes, exasperated. “Well, any clues?”
Elsa shook her head. “He’s not stupid. If I keep using him like I‘ ve been doing, he’s…”
She rubbed the back of her neck. Cherry frowned and
hesitated.
“I could beg my father to…”
“You’ve helped me enough, Cherry,” Elsa said. She squeezed her friend’s hand. “I got through some tough times on my own, didn’t I? I’ll be fine. Don’t worry about me.”
Worried that Cherry would protest again, she changed the subject. “Did you get confirmation about the guest list?”
“Yeah, but…” Cherry looked awkward.
“Is someone not showing?”
“No, it’s just that…” Cherry sighed. “You should take the day off and go relax at home. It’s no big de-”
“It’s fine.” Elsa was amused. “What’s going on? Besides, if Stan really has dumped me, I’ll need this job even more.”
“I really just think you should take a break for today,” Cherry insisted, pulling Elsa towards the doors. “If you can’t find anything to do, I’ll take you shopping.”
Elsa let her friend pull her away, but something was definitely strange about all of this.
At the doors, they bumped into one of the other staff.
“Morning, Elsa,” the other host said, waving to the girls. “I heard Ryan Hyde is scheduled for the show today. I’m a big fan, but I’ll be busy later. Can you grab me his autograph?”
Ryan Hyde…
The name froze Elsa in her tracks, and she felt herself go cold.