Page 12 of The Forbidden Fling

Faye pushed her ridiculous sunglasses up her face to get a better look, squinting under the light. Wide blue eyes stared back at her, and a surge of warring emotions rose in her stomach.

This isn’t happening.

Nausea won out, overpowering the rest. She darted to the purple flora, falling to her knees to spew her guts into the flowerbed.

Chapter Four

Faye

Faye spat into the flowerbed and wiped her mouth with a tissue from her pocket. She didn’t want to turn around and see the looks on the women’s faces, but she had nowhere to hide. Humiliated didn’t even come close.

Ella leaned over her, casting a shadow that swallowed Faye’s withering frame. “Are you alright?”

Faye’s mind stalled. Malfunctioned. Another wave of nausea, and her head swayed. The sour and putrid stench of her mess overpowered the sweet flowers. Should she leave it? Cover it up like a cat? Oh my god.

“Do you want help getting up?” Ella offered her hand, and Faye accepted, moving off her grazed knees onto unsteady feet.

Worst-case scenario: Molly is here, witnessing you throw up into a flowerbed with stupid sunglasses on your head. Best-case scenario: it isn’t her, and you’re overreacting, acting completely unhinged in front of a stranger trying to enjoy their holiday.

Her feet rooted in place, all the earth’s magnetism pinning her there. She wished the ground would split open and suck her through the cracks. As if she’d ever be so lucky.

With heavy limbs, she forced her body to turn as adrenaline fired through her veins, swirling the sickness in her throat again.

Molly wore white denim shorts and a cute crop top, her belly-piercing catching the light. Her blue eyes widened, but the surprise didn’t mask the sharp edge behind them.

It’s her. Oh god, oh god, oh god.

“Faye?” Molly’s voice came out. “What’re you doing here?”

“Do you two know each other?” Ella asked.

When neither of them answered, Ella cleared her throat and backed up towards the buggy. “I’ll give you two some privacy.” She hopped in and started the engine, calling out behind her, “See you at the introductions!”

Left alone, Faye swallowed the acidic remnants of the fruit juice trying to push its way up her throat. Say something. Anything.

This was supposed to be her reset. Her “stop moping and get your shit together” moment. To help her discover her enigma. She wanted to be moving forwards, not backwards.

But she still couldn’t find her voice.

“You look different,” Molly commented. Her gaze fell over Faye’s outfit, making her skin prickle.

Faye didn’t know if she was referring to her clothes, her stricken hangover-face, or the fact that she’d gained weight since her surgery. Either way, the “different” didn’t fill her with confidence.

Molly hadn’t changed in the year since she’d last seen her. Her soft blue eyes held the same puppy expression, her small, round face only enhancing the adorable image. Faye knew how misleading that image could be, though. That puppy had bite.

She wrapped her arms around herself. “You…look the same,” she managed, her voice quiet and pathetic. It was supposed to be a compliment, but from the way Molly’s eyebrows pinched together, she didn’t seem to take it as one.

Molly glanced over her shoulder, but no one was there. She scratched at her neck. “I’m going to the beach.” She lingered on Faye for a moment too long, enough to make the prickles on her skin turn into a burning wildfire. “I guess I’ll see you around.”

Faye watched, dumbstruck, as Molly strutted down the hill and out of view.

Out of all the retreats in the world, she had to be here.

She dragged her case inside her cabin and closed the door. The image of Molly, wide-eyed and rooted in spot, smacked her between the eyes with another splitting headache.

She sank to the cold tiles, her back to the door, tears spilling down her cheeks. Powerless and exhausted, she let them fall.

Her ex-girlfriend was here. Seriously, Universe? Last she knew, Molly was on track to graduate as a lawyer. Before Faye had muted her on social media, she seemed to be having a great life without her.