Amy Daws [London Lover 01] A Broken Us (epub)

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.Brody and I never wanted to get married.We were so confident and content with us, that marriage seemed irrelevant.To us, it felt like an archaic thing to do to make other people happy.We knew we had something above the normalcies of other couples; getting married and putting rings on our fingers would sully the commitment we had to each other.Our families were uneasy with our arrangement.We both come from traditional families in the Midwest.Get married, have children—blah, blah, blah.We assured them we were just as committed to each other as any legally-married couple—even more so.They gave up arguing about it so fervently, but still made small, snide comments here and there.When we finally revealed we were going to try to have a baby, they were excited.I think they thought if we had a baby together, we’d eventually decide marriage would make things easier as parents because then we’d all have the same last name.And maybe they were right, but Brody and I didn’t feel that way, so we were just taking things in stride.I guess they’ll all have a good laugh when they hear about this.I turn over and hug Brody as tightly as I can.Burying my face in the crook of his neck, I breathe in his musky bar-soap scent.“That wasn’t goodbye,” he softly whispers into my hair.I pull away and look into his eyes, and I finally see it.Defeat.“It was, Brody,” I whisper back, my eyes welling with tears.“I don’t understand.Why won’t you at least tell me where you’re going?” he croaks as his eyes become red around the edges.I rub the pad of my thumb along his cheekbone and thread my fingers into his hair.“You don’t have to understand.Just know it’s what I need.”I kiss him one last time with all the passion I can muster and he doesn’t even respond.His lips form a hard line against mine and I know it’s over.I creep out of the bed and quickly grab my clothes before dashing into the bathroom to clean up.I’m quiet as I step out, nervous Brody will be waiting for me in the hallway, attempting to prevent me from leaving.When he’s nowhere to be seen, I tiptoe down the hallway then step outside into a blast of unseasonably warm air.The last days of summer don’t appear to be leaving Kansas anytime soon.As I settle into the driver’s seat and glance at the suitcases in the backseat, I breathe a sigh of relief.He’s letting me go; this is what I want.To reassure myself, I reach into my purse and pull out my boarding pass, passport, and the British pounds I had transferred from American dollars.I glance at the time on my boarding pass and check the clock on my dash.In four more hours, I’ll be on a plane to London.Well, New York first for a layover, then on to London.I take one last look at the place Brody and I have called home for three years.This place used to be full of happy, magical memories—now it stares back at me with an ominous threat of disappointment.I can’t stay here and live this life.Not like this.London can be my new lover.CHAPTER TWOMy best friend Leslie gave me the courage and motivation to make the big trip over the pond.Leslie lives in London, in a flat with two or three other roommates.I can never keep track because it always changes.I’m sure Leslie fits right in in a big city like London.When we were kids, I always felt she was destined for something bigger than our small hometown of Marshall, Missouri, just two hours east of Kansas City.Leslie lived on a big family-run dairy farm and I lived on a small acreage, so we had a lot in common growing up around livestock and farmers.Together, we would get into all sorts of mischief, but we always managed to stay out of any serious trouble.Sometimes we would hang out in my parents’ cozy basement watching movies, eating junk food, and being ridiculous together.I remember one time Leslie and I laughed for hours about how her nostrils flared when she talked.She had the wackiest sense of humor and I was always along for the ride.In fact, I never laughed as hard with anybody as I did with Leslie, until I met Brody.That was one of the first things I told Leslie about the new, hot guy I met at college.I said, “Leslie! You won’t believe it! He’s one of us!”She understood exactly what I meant and was genuinely happy for me.So a few weeks ago, when I called her crying on the phone about another negative pregnancy test, it was her idea I come to London to get away for a while.She didn’t want me to break up with Brody, she just wanted me to relax and get my mind off things for a bit.But Leslie didn’t know all the facts.I was too scared to tell her I’d actually broken it off with him and planned to move to London indefinitely.I’d be damned if I let her change my mind.If there wasn’t room for me to live with her, I’d find a place on my own.She did it; so could I.Leslie moved overseas on her own and was a legitimate, proper, freelance designer.She is currently working on a big project for Nikon designing a camera-bag line.She’s been living in London for a year now, traveling back and forth between London and China, teaching factory workers how to create her designs.What an amazing life.She was seeing the world and thriving, she wasn’t worried about babies and fertility cycles.I’m full of nervous energy as I board my international flight at JFK [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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