Page 21 of The Forbidden Fling

Yes, she had colleagues, and Leanne, her agent, but when her phone quietened, loneliness festered. Not that she’d admit that to Marco Marcos, who seemed all too eager to scribble down her life’s failures. He frowned and vigorously erased something he’d written, wobbling his chair in the process.

My phone.

Faye still had it. Diana realised last night when she went to check her emails. She needed to find her after this.

The woman’s face flashed before her eyelids. The way those striking turquoise eyes lit up as she spoke about the different species on the island. Her long brown hair cascading over her shoulders. The unique Faye essence that flowed from her. There was something special there, something unique she didn’t quite understand.

Diana had wanted to continue their conversation from the hike, to understand what Faye meant by regretting the way things had ended at the bar. But she’d become distracted by Faye and how she viewed the world. The delicacy in how she treated living things.

“So your relationship with your husband didn’t end amicably?” Marcos asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

She repressed the urge to scoff. She wouldn’t call coming home to find her belongings waiting for her on the drive exactly “amicable”. Her fingers found the strap of her watch again, tracing the cool metal. She didn’t want to get sucked down that rabbit hole.

“Alright.” He eyed her and tapped his pencil on the pad. “I see we have work to do.”

* * *

Diana exhaled, turning her neck left and right to release some of the tension in her muscles. Her head throbbed at the temples, a consequence of fighting the repressed memories trying to surface in response to Marco Marcos’s questions. She’d been naïve, perhaps arrogant, to think she’d get off lightly on the mind-probing. With the storm disrupting them, Molly’s unfavourable reception, and Faye’s surprise kiss, her time here so far had been unpredictable. Not exactly the relaxing mother/daughter holiday she’d imagined. She’d barely had time to consider her proposal for Leanne.

The afternoon sun hung high in the sky, coating her skin with warmth. Molly had requested she give her some space today, so she figured she should get her laptop and start drumming up some ideas.

Remembering Faye had her phone, she decided to find her first. Except she didn’t know where Faye was staying. Diana assumed they’d all be in a similar area, but she couldn’t say for sure.

After a wander up the path provided no answers, she returned to the courtyard and sat beside the fountain, admiring the trickling water show. Occasionally, people walked past and greeted her. She recognised Louis and Charles from their course, an older couple who were using the retreat as their honeymoon. Personally, a self-work course wouldn’t have been on Diana’s list, but who was she to comment? It wasn’t as if she’d ever had a honeymoon with Jason. After years had passed and it started to feel more like a nag than a celebration, she accepted it was never going to happen.

She frowned, hating that Jason had popped into her headspace again. That man had occupied enough of her life already. She pushed herself to her feet and walked towards the stone wall, breathing in the fresh sea breeze. People milled about on the sand below. Once again, envy nipped at her.

She wished she could let go like they could. Not calculate and overthink every decision. Not let her emotions get the better of her, turning happy memories into something negative. For a brief moment, she wondered if Molly did something similar with her.

I hope not.

A sudden wave of guilt swept over her. Was that what she’d let her mother’s memory become? The feeling weaved between her vital organs, pulling tight and pushing bile up her throat. Her mother didn’t deserve that.

She took the path down to the cliffs, passing the spot where she’d watched the waves a few days ago, and kept walking. The windy gravel path became steps spotted with sand. When the steps disappeared onto the open beach, she stopped, her pulse hammering in her neck.

This is stupid. It’s just a beach.

It was just a beach, but it felt so much more than that. The weight kept Diana in place.

You have a doctorate in socioeconomics. You can do this.

Glancing up, she caught eyes with one of the sunbathers shaking sand from their towel. She probably looked like a peeper, standing there at the edge of the beach. She imagined Selena’s face lighting up at that news. Former Harvard Lecturer Arrested.

So she stepped onto the sand, her sandals sinking. Grains slipped between her toes, and she scrunched her nose as they scratched her skin. She kept her gaze on the ocean waves, counting as they rolled towards the shore, her hands solid fists at her sides.

She scanned the beach, looking for Faye, forcing her feet forward. Unable to spot her in any of the groups, disappointment curled in her belly. Was that just because of her phone?

Of course, it was.

With nothing else to do, Diana continued walking, following the curve of the shoreline. The soft whoosh of the waves teased her memories, but she pushed forward, focusing on the itchy feeling between her toes instead. She followed a flock of birds as they soared over the waves and landed on the cliffs. I bet Faye knows what type of birds they are.

She bit her lip. Stop thinking about her!

She needed to focus on her relationship with Molly, on clearing her writer’s block, on getting back to the top of her game so she could deal with anything Selena threw at her next. Not whatever this curiosity was with Faye.

But then she noticed someone with long brown hair crouched beside the cliffs. Her heart did a stupid little flutter, and she bit harder on her lip. It’d been so long since Diana had had any sort of time to consider a romantic interest that her body had gone completely overboard.

Never mind that Faye was the first woman to kiss her in a year—and she was at least ten years older than her.