Paradise Island: Complete Edition Read Free

he cut me off.
    “Forget it. I thought you were different. I guess I was wrong.”
    And with that, he went ahead of me, to only God knows where.
    I wanted to run after him. To apologize for my senseless cruelty, but I stopped myself.
    I went home instead and wallowed in my own misery. I kept replaying everything that happened between us, trying to somehow change the outcome. Yes, I wanted him to leave me alone. But I didn’t want him to be angry with me. I didn’t want to hurt him. If that pain I saw in his eyes was real, what I had just done was unforgivable, and I didn’t know if I could live with that.
    I wanted to be left alone in this world so that people would never hurt me again. But it seemed that now I had hurt somebody else myself, and it was eating me up inside.
    Lucy arrived as usual, but I didn’t notice until she had closed the door behind her. That was how far gone I was.
    “What happened?” She asked, concern in her voice and on her face. Her shoulder length red hair a bit of a mess, but she still looked quite beautiful.
    I tried to get the words out but all I got out were some tears.
    Stupid, stupid, I told myself. Who cries over something as silly as that? Jack Stark, famous movie star, had probably forgotten I even existed by now, and here I was bawling my eyes out because of an offhanded comment that wasn’t even meant to hurt him.
    “Please tell me what happened, and I’ll tell you how to make it better,” Lucy said, offering me a glass of wine.
    While I usually refused her offers of alcohol, this one I accepted. It was going to be a long night, and I might as well numb the pain with something.

Chapter Three
    I woke up groggy and with a headache like one I’ve never experienced before. I vaguely remembered telling Lucy everything and her laughing at me, after telling me what a bitch I was, of course. Sure, she quickly said that she was kidding, but it really didn’t make me feel any better. Then we proceeded to watch a marathon of Jack Stark movies: romantic comedies and action flicks being the prime example of his best work. I’ve gotta admit that I could see the appeal: he was pretty damn hot! And if it was possible, he was only hotter in the flesh.
    So, it was quite the night. Thankfully, today was my day off so I didn’t have to worry about trudging to work.
    I got up and took a long shower in an effort to wake myself. It was another cold and dreary day outside, but at least it was dry. I decided to go for a walk, since it always helped me feel a bit better when I got too far to thinking existentially.
    I took my thickest coat and my best rain boots. I thought about bringing an umbrella, but I really wasn’t in the mood to be carrying anything around. All I wanted to do was walk by the sea, breathing in the fresh sea air. It usually helped me forget myself, and I hoped it would do the same for me today.
    My jacket had a hoodie in case of a sudden rainfall (which wasn’t unheard of in this town) and I was ready to go.
    As I slowly walked down to the seashore I thought about what Lucy had told me. How I needed to start living my life and stop being so afraid of everything. Intellectually I understood her point, but when it came to actually implementing her advice, I felt a huge block in my way. I wasn’t ready for that kind of change, and I didn’t know if I ever would be.
    I walked by the seashore, watching the waves coming in and out, and let myself go with the flow of the sea, the tide of the wind.
    That’s why it was a shock when I practically fell face first as I tripped over something right in my path. Scratch that, I tripped over someone.
    “Oh shit, I’m so sorry!” I cried as I slowly got up.
    “It’s alri...oh, it’s you!” Jack Stark said, a not-too-happy look on his face.
    I shook off the sand from my jeans and jacket. “I said I was sorry!” I said in my defense.
    “Yeah, yeah,” he said, shaking sand off of his jeans as well. I couldn’t help but admire the