Eternal Flame (Eternal Flame #1) Read Free

shrieking like a two year old child about?” her mother asked, glancing up from her phone.
    “Mama, Kristen’s sister n law is standing behind the car. Look!”
    “Sister n law?”
    “I wasn’t aware I was married to anyone in her family,” Kristen dryly replied, looking back at her phone.
    “Kristen, will you just turn around and look?”
    “What the hell do I want to look at Cameron for? Is she sprouting wings and flying around the yard or something?”
    “No, no you don’t understand. Look who’s with her!”
    Kristen loudly sighed and glanced over her shoulder; then immediately jumped and turned around fully. Her phone tumbled to the floor as she grabbed the top of the backseat with both hands and stared in breathless awe.
    “Roman,” she breathlessly said.
    “See? See? I told you!”
    Ms. Austin glanced up at the rearview mirror and eyed the battling siblings with open curiosity. The two of them were both gesturing now and all but screaming in one another’s face. Joy still couldn’t make out what they were saying; they were so busy talking over one another, it was almost like they weren’t speaking coherently. Kristen didn’t seem to notice the electric tension in the air nor did she seem to care. She hurriedly looked back at Joy.
    “How do I look?” she asked.
    Joy blinked. “What?”
    “How do I look Joy, how do I look?” Her voice was almost manic. “Do I look okay?”
    Joy wisely smiled, closed her eyes, and shook her head. “How soon, how soon they forget.”
    “Joy, I’m serious! I don’t want him to think I’m ugly!”
    Joy just sat there looking at her, dumbfounded. “Bitch, you are straight cray-cray. A minute ago, you were whining and pouting over losing your boyfriend; now you give a rat’s ass how you look to Roman?”
    “Joy please! I don’t want to meet the man looking like shit. How do I look? Do I need to put on some make-up? Does my hair need brushing?”
    Joy shook her head at a frazzled Kristen as she grabbed her purse, opened it, and took out her make-up bag, comb, and brush. “Isn’t it a little too late to be caring how you look? The man is standing right behind us.”
    Kristen pulled out a small compact and opened it, scrutinizing her appearance as she looked in the mirror. “I heard he likes natural looking women so I better not put on too much,” she distractedly said, applying a light coat of mascara to her already long eyelashes.
    “What about Carlos Kristen? Don’t you want to finish ogling over all those pictures of him in your phone?”              
    Joy flinched and cried out as her mother firmly pinched her on the arm. Ms. Austin shook her head and closed her eyes in a silent plea. “Please,” her mother said. “Don’t. I’ve had about fifteen minutes of peace. For God’s sake, don’t ruin it for me.”
    “I wonder what they’re back there arguing about,” Kristen said to herself as she applied lip gloss to her full lips.
    “I don’t know but it looks pretty bad,” Joy said.
    “Not as bad as it sounds,” Ms. Austin threw in.
    “I don’t want him to be in a bad mood when we finally meet,” Kristen said, trying in vain not to shake as she brushed her long thick curly hair. “Fuck, I’m so nervous. I’m so damn nervous.”
    “The girl is wacko,” Joy teased, moving her finger around by her ear. “One extreme to the next in 0.5 seconds.”
    “Joy leave her alone,” Ms. Austin reasoned. “At least she feels better.”
    “Roman!” All three ladies jumped and turned to look back out the window as Cameron screamed her brother’s name. “Roman! Roman, come back here!”
    Roman’s face was twisted with intimidating fury as he stalked in the direction of their car, his walk fast and purposeful. “Leave me the hell alone Cameron!”
    “You can’t do this! You can’t just walk away! You have responsibilities…  What about the fans? The girls from the contest will be here any minute now.”
    “I really don’t