Welcome VIP Readers!!!

Currently, you all are picking how a story goes for the newsletter. This is your chance to get the story that you want. Vote A or B at the end for the story to go in that direction. The letter with the most responses will determine the next turn the story will take. (The full story is in the VIP Room.)

Last time you voted: You wanted B, the person notices her.

PART ONE: GOING HOME AGAIN

Becky had vowed that she would not return to Blossom Valley. As her tires crossed town lines, her new temporary work assignment had made her break that promise. She knew that there would be a lot of questions considering how she left things. And honestly, she could not blame them. She was young back then and highly ambitious. But now with a tan line on her ring finger and a past relationship in the rearview mirror, she was glad to be home. Even if it was just for a couple of months, the quiet town would be a nice change of pace.

Now inside the town, she knew where she was headed. Within moments, there it was, the old familiar coffee shop in the center of town. When Becky parked, she noticed that although time had moved seven years, it seemed as if the coffee shop had not changed at all. Becky smiled as the familiar chime of the door’s bells jingled upon her entrance. 

As all locals did, she took her favorite seat without formal seating. Her favorite was a booth by the window. She gazed out over the town and felt warmth while all the old memories washed over her. To her left, there was the tree she had hit while learning to drive. To her right, just there, there was the roller rink that was the first job she ever held. Straight ahead, there was a statue of the iconic town bear in the heart of the park. Nearby, on a bench, Becky saw the newspaper reading Mr. Rockland. Beside him was his longtime pal who desperately wanted to be more, Greta. She was posted on the bench no doubt doing what she always did. Greta was monitoring the town gossip.

Becky could only imagine the things Greta probably said about Becky when she tore out of town. With it being one of the most eventful happenings in that small town, Greta with her squad of motormouth, ladies must have talked about it for weeks on end. But what could Becky expect? She had given them plenty to talk about when she slipped out in the night without a word to anyone. 

She had known all too well the seductive power he held over her. She had not wanted to get hypnotized by his shimmering eyes and reasonable-sounding plans. Instead, in her bravest moment, she just got in the car and started driving and didn’t look back. 

Shaking the thoughts from her head, she refocused her thoughts on the present. All of that was old news. He was old news. She had not thought about him in years. At least not to the point that she would admit it to anyone, especially not to herself. 

She dropped her eyes down to the menu. She didn’t really even need to look at it. She knew her order before she had even entered the restaurant. With a bright smile, she delivered it to the waitress.

“Burger, fries, and—“

“Let me guess, a chocolate milkshake, honey,” the familiar silver-haired grinning lady completed Becky’s signature order.

“You remembered Lucy.”

“You bet dear. So good to see you. You back for good?”

“Not sure,” the answer popped out of Becky’s mouth and even surprised her. Becky immediately winched. From the second she had accepted the assignment, she had been clear. She had no intentions of being there longer than she had to be. The moment she was finished with her work assignment, she was out of there. However, her mouth had expressed something else. Becky chalked it up to nerves and nostalgia. After all, that coffee shop held a lot of good memories for her. Instead of overthinking it, Becky decided to move on with the conversation.

“No small talk with you,” she teased the waitress.

“Never been one for that as you recall.”

“Do I ever, Lucy?” Becky giggled out, amused. 

Lucy joined in on the giggling. Without warning, Lucy’s poster stiffened, and she stifled her laughter. Something, rather someone gripped Lucy’s attention. As Becky turned to see who it was holding Lucy’s attention, the older waitress leaned toward her and mumbled, “Incoming.”

****

Becky's eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. It was Hurricane Harriet, in the flesh. Without thinking twice, Becky's reflexes kicked in, and she ducked down in her seat. She hoped the girl did not see her. 

"Get my usual. I want it ready by the time I return from powdering my nose," Harriet barked and snapped her fingers in the air crossly. 

Becky heard the woman's heels clicking on the floor in route to the ladies' room which thankfully was in the opposite direction. 

"Lucy," Becky said, sitting up once the coast was clear, "I'm going to have to take a rain check on that burger." 

Lucy snickered out, "No problem love. I understand. I would duck out too if I could."

Becky smiled, promised to swing back by, and exited before Harriet had returned.

The moment Becky was a safe distance away, Becky's stomach growled almost as if it was formally filing a complaint. It let Becky know it was not too pleased and that she needed to get something to take the spot of the burger. She stopped off at the corner market. She popped in, grabbed a few groceries, and headed to her rental house.

Becky smiled as she pulled into the long dusty driveway that was hers to call home for the next couple weeks. It had once been owned by the Parkers. The sweet older couple had since moved all the way to Italy. At least that is what she had heard from the realtor, who also happened to be her oldest friend.

While parking, her phone rang. Her best friend Sarah had impeccable timing. It was as if she knew that Becky had just arrived at the house.

"Hey Sarah, I just got here," Becky voiced as she took the stairs to the porch and then up to the door. "It looks as beautiful as I remember. You're breaking up. Sarah, can you say that again?"

"l said, there's been a small change."

"Okay," Becky returned as she opened the door and headed to the kitchen with her bag full of groceries. 

"Well, the Parkers double booked their house."

"Wait. What?!" 

Before Becky could inquire further, she saw the kitchen table with papers scattered all over it, a man's tie and suit jacket on the chair, an open laptop, and a cup of fresh coffee. Apparently her roommate was there already; however, he was nowhere to be found.

"I guess that's okay. This place is more than enough house for two people."

"You're not mad, Becky?"

"I'm too hungry and too tired to be mad," she giggled.

"Thanks, Bex. I'll be by tomorrow to help you settle in."

"See you then."

****

PART TWO: NEW BEGINNINGS

As she hung up, she heard a noise down the hall. She called out, "Hello."

The person did not respond. She rounded the corner and headed into the room where the noise had originated from. Within seconds, she understood why the person had not answered. Becky now saw him behind the semi-frosted shower glass. The chiseled hard and sexy bodied man was showering, and he obviously had not heard her approach. 

Becky tried not to gawk, but despite her best efforts she could not pull her eyes away. With shampoo streaming down his face and his eyes shut, she allowed her eyes to follow the trail of soap suds as they made their way down his muscular frame. She scanned his lean model like physique from his dark slicked back hair down to his strong large feet. 

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, as she glanced back up and appreciated the size of his manhood. She giggled softly as she noted to herself that the age old large feet equated to a large package lore was no myth. To avoid it being awkward, should she get caught, she forced her eyes not to linger. In the quick survey of his body, she took one last look of his broad shoulders and arms, perfection. His abs were carved deliciously like the etches between candy bar squares, yummy. His waist was tapered, double yum. His body and sparkling eyes were sheer perfection. 

Suddenly she froze as she noticed those sparkling eyes were looking right back at her. 

“Like something you see?” he chuckled and cut the water off.

She was busted and heat rushed into her cheeks. 

His words caught her by surprise. She had not intended to get caught up in a trance, but she had done just that. He had a body like a god. 

Overcome with embarrassment she ducked out of the bathroom, grabbed her purse, and headed for the door.

She tossed the door open and froze. There was someone familiar at the door. It was someone she had not expected to see.

There he was in the flesh. It was her ex, Glenn. She had known the moment that she had gotten the assignment that there was a possibility that they would come face to face. She just didn't realize it would be in such a short span of time. But there he was, looking all broody and annoyingly attractive.
 

"So the rumors are true."

Just like that, the sound of his voice had brought her back to when she was younger. Different emotions swam through her. To her dismay, not all were negative.  That feeling caught her off guard. All of their time apart, she had been crystal clear on how she felt about their past. The way things ended, she had thought that only the bad memories existed. Seeing his face, she now remembered all of it. Not just the thorns.

What do I do with that? She thought to herself. She knew those thoughts were too much to unpack at that moment.

At that point, she decided to stop staring at him and answered, "Yep, I am back in town."

He smiled and said, "And even prettier than when you left."  

She remembered why he was her ex. Although his words were sweet, she knew what followed. He must have wanted a favor. That's the only time he ever poured on that much syrup.

"What do you want?"

"Come on, can't I just be being nice?"

She raised her eyebrow.

"Fine, I was wondering if you can do me a personal favor?"
 

"Which is?"
 

"Can you volunteer tomorrow?"
 

She felt a crease set between her brows as she asked, "Doing what?"
 

"Just a quick something."
 

It was best not to give him the benefit of the doubt. She had learned to be cautious when it came to doing a favor for him. She still had phantom pains in her legs whenever she thought about a 5K Run disguised as a quick morning walk. He had volunteered her to get hit his quota for work. She learned that day, with him, there was always a catch. And it always worked out to benefit him.  

"Nice, try but if you really want me to do this then I'm going to need more info."

He closed the space between them and tried to get a bit too close for comfort.

"Woe, what was that?"

"I thought we were flirting?"

"You thought wrong. I was pressing you for details. I'm taken."

She didn't know why she said that. She panicked. All she knew was that she was not about to take another go on the heartbreak merry-go-round with him.

He moved in, placed his arm on the door frame above her, and said, "Really or did I just make you nervous?"

"Hey Babe. I didn't know that we had company," her roommate said as he made his presence known in the room. 

“Yes, Honey, we do—” she trailed off, now distracted by her roommate’s fiercely sexy appearance. Holy Hell. He had looked hot in his birthday suit, but his low-hanging jeans and absence of shirt wasn’t a bad look either.

“Hunter,” he said and extended his hand to her ex, Glenn.

As a stunned Glenn shook his hand, she took the opportunity to put distance between them. She now positioned herself safely behind her new fake beau. 

Hunter slipped on his dark blue t-shirt and said, “Well, we were just heading out.”

Becky had not meant to, but she felt her lips push out into a pout. She did not mind the view of his near-naked canvas.

Glenn, who had looked dumbfounded for a minute, seemed to have recovered as he said, “If you have somewhere to be, I’m sure that Becky and I can finish our conversation another time. After all, I’ll be picking Bex up tomorrow to volunteer.”

***OKAY, IT IS TIME TO PICK WHERE THE STORY GOES. A OR B?***

A=  Say that she was going to invite Hunter to come and will meet Glenn there.  

B=  Say sure whatever just to get rid of him.

Updated 8/11/2021