Feminine 101

If you have not already done so, or if you are new, I recommend starting with Chapter 1. This is a linear story and will make a lot more sense read as a whole. Please leave a like, comment, or subscribe to my blog to get notifications when a new chapter is published. If I get 100 views on a single post of One More Life, I will self-publish a digital and printed copy with an exclusive Epilogue. If you only missed the last post, you can read Chapter 10 here.

“It’s not polite to stare,” he said blandly without looking at the attractive woman who had joined him by the railing. “I do believe you’re following me.”

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She said nothing, but from the corner of his eye he noted the brief upturn of her mouth. She really was attractive with luxurious, ebony hair and full, scarlet lips to match the silken folds that hugged her curves. He grimaced inwardly and fixed his gaze on the horizon. He didn’t have time for this. 

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“It is never enough, is it?” She finally spoke, keeping her eyes on the array of lights stretching away before them. The words came softly, laced with empathy and tenderness. They cut like a knife all the same. 

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Nathan was a man of action, driven. He was successful because he was competent. That’s what he told himself. When he jet-setted around the country in tireless pursuit of his career, touching down in his hometown only to pack up and set off again, he convinced himself that he was chasing excellence. He enjoyed what he did and it was gratifying to be capable.

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And excel, he did. He was the youngest senior consultant in their organization by over a decade, in most cases two. His assignment to Cargill’s hotel acquisition only reinforced the growing assumption among his peers that he would probably be running the whole operation before long. What then? He could only guess. But he pointedly ignored the restlessness that ensued whenever he sat still. 

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At one time he thought, maybe, a girl would help. His standoffish nature had, oddly, charmed more than one woman though he couldn’t imagine why. He felt nothing for them, and could not summon even a pretense of warmth. It was all for naught. Several awkward relationships later–relationships with eligible, perfectly suitable and lovely women–had fizzled with dissatisfaction. He saw other men his age courting the fairer sex so effortlessly–whether many or settling down with just one–but he couldn’t bring himself to even go through the motions anymore. It always felt contrived, and incongruous. None of them fit. Assuming it must be him and, consequently, accepting in dolor a loss he felt but couldn’t comprehend, he’d moved on to other things. He always did. He must keep moving. 

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But now he was frozen in his tracks. This fetching stranger and her unsolicited commentary, so precisely on target, voicing his own unspoken fears unnerved him. The unwarranted mountain of desperation that now surged in him made him angry. He gripped the railing in a fist, his defenses springing into action. It was time for the skirt to go. 

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He rounded on her to meet her face, forming a rebuke that would deter any further advancements. Already tonight he’d disabused several errant notions in heels regarding his interests and this was surely no different. They were all wrong and he didn’t have time for this. But when his eyes met hers, the words died on his lips. Bright, green, piercing. 

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She saw him. 

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He could sense her knowing, and, unexpectedly the comfort that came with familiarity–inexplicable familiarity. The inner panic that rocketed through him every time he even thought about taking time off, that she had stirred up with her unlooked-for observation, slowed immediately. Here was someone who understood the forces that goaded him onward. He didn’t recoil as she raised a hand toward his face. Soft, cool fingers touched his jaw…

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It was like an electric current jolting through him; the kind that would knock you to the ground if you could ever manage to let go. And he remembered…

To continue reading click here for Chapter 12.

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