What a novel idea!

Well, kids, it's official. I have dusted off what is creatively the largest undertaking I have ever incurred in my life...my novel (gulp!)

I am very excited to revisit this tale of angst and self-enlightenment. And, regardless of the result, I will be filled with an amazing sense of accomplishment when I am finished.

Here's a little bit to enjoy (hopefully!) and if anyone is interested in reading as I go, please let me know. I am looking for constructive criticism...I swear! Jessica has already endured many chapters and I never yelled at her once!!! (SIL <3 SIL)

Here's the basics of my tale:

1) Girl meets boy.
2) Boy strings girl along for years.
3) Girl and boy loose track of each other and girl grows up.
4) Girl and boy meet up again as adults, but boy is married and girl is engaged.
5) Girl makes a decision.

So have a look and PLEASE remember that this is still just a very rough draft!!!! My writing is MUCH better than this once it's polished and elaborated on!!!! Seriously, I am almost ashamed to let you read it in it's current state, but I am too excited to keep it to myself. Happy reading!

The Almost Affair

Chapter 1

How in the name of all that is good and decent did I end up here? Did I take one wrong turn or had I followed a series of bad directions for the past 18 years? Eighteen years. Enough time for a baby to be born and reach adulthood. How could that much time possibly slip by almost unnoticed?

I stood in front of the bathroom mirror and examined my reflection closely. Even in this luxuriously appointed bathroom nestled in the posh hotel suite he’d sprung for I saw myself for what I was moments away from becoming – a mistress.

Instead of reapplying lip gloss, I lit a smoke and sat down on the side of the tub. I lifted the lid to the toilet and tipped the cigarette ash into the bowl. Everything I’d ever wanted was on the other side of that door. The man I’d loved since he was just a boy was waiting for me; counting down the moments until he could put his hands on me. So why was I hiding in a bathroom?

“Darcy? Are you alright?”

The sound of his voice caused me to jump and I dropped my half-finished cigarette into the blue toilet water.

“I’m fine, Andrew,” I lied, trying to sound as carefree as possible as I wiped stray ashes from my lap. I wondered if he could hear my heart pounding through the walnut door. “I’ll be out in a second.”

I fished another ciggy from my bag, ignoring the recent “only one cigarette in an hour” rule I had mentally passed just last week.

“Oh well, fuck it,” I thought, lighting up again. Rules were just flying out the window tonight. And what was an extra cigarette compared to sleeping with another woman’s husband? As sins went, satisfying my nicotine fix didn’t rank high on the current list.

The doorknob began to twist back and forth. Thank goodness I had taken the cautious step of locking the door. “Are you planning on staying in there all night?”

I stood up and threw the contraband cigarette in the toilet. I pushed the handle and watched the two butts float in the circling water and get sucked down the drain. In high school I had learned about this phenomenon called the Coriolis Effect which caused the water in Australian toilets to swirl in the opposite direction when flushed from the bowl. I wondered if it was too late to emigrate Down Under.

I fluffed my hair, straightened my dress and opened the door that stood between me and my adventure in home wrecking.

He stood inches away from me, leaning on the door frame. If possible, he was more beautiful than I remembered.

“I was getting worried about you,” he said, sipping scotch on the rocks. He still drank scotch on the rocks. “God you look hot.”

“Don’t, Andrew.” I pushed past him, trying to ignore how familiar he smelled, and sat down on the edge of the California King-sized bed.

“Don’t what? You look incredible.”

“Don’t feed me a lot of bullshit just because you want to see what’s under my dress.”

“You forget, my dear, that I’ve seen it once before,” his full lips curled in a boy-like smirk. I was torn between wanting to punch him in the jaw and wanting to suck on his earlobe.

“I haven’t forgotten, Andrew. I remember everything. That’s why I still hate you.”

“Maybe so,” he picked up my left hand and began twisting the ring on my finger. “That’s a big diamond; he must love you.”

“He does,” I whispered.

“Do you hate him too? Is that why you came here?”

“I could never hate him. He’d never hurt me the way you did.”

He took his hand from mine and laid it on my knee. My heart fluttered as it moved along the seductive journey up my thigh. He was inches away from claiming his prize. Instinctively, I laid my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. Being close to him was still my “safe place,” even after all this time. I wondered if it was his wife’s as well.

Well, there you go...a little taste of The Almost Affair, a tale by me! I hope you enjoyed that small bit and were left wanting more.