Second Chances: Novella One Read Free

find her, he had forgotten it. He struggled to compose himself once more before looking up again. As he did so, he caught Layla staring at him wistfully.
    “ I’d better get going before the traffic gets too heavy,” he said, even as continued to stand in the same spot, rather than moving.  His legs refused to listen to his brain’s request to walk towards the door, seeming to deliberately choose another route instead.
    As Layla raised herself from the sofa, Evan finally managed to act, catching her unawares as he moved swiftly to stand in front of her. Raising his arms, he brought them to rest on either side of her waist before she had time to react. Pulling her close, his lips brushed against hers urgently before Evan released her from his grip with the words, “As much as this hurts, I know loving you means I have to let you go.”
    Layla didn’t get a chance to reply as Keely interrupted them by entering the room.
    “ Keely, thank you for allowing me to descend upon your home uninvited, but I won’t intrude any longer,” Evan said, turning stiffly from Layla to focus on her friend. I have to get out of here, he thought, and his unreadable mask of emotions was back in place once more as he strode from the room.
    Keely followed him out into the hallway.  Despite his pretence not to hear, Evan was fully aware of Layla sobbing in the lounge.Outside in the driveway, it was a desolate man who got into the driver’s side of his car.
    Clutching the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles went white, Evan tried to compose himself. In frustration, he pulled out the object from his jacket that he’d been fiddling with earlier and hurled it across the car, with such force that it cracked against the passenger door before falling into the foot well. The outer box broke apart to reveal its contents: a double-banded, single solitaire diamond ring. The sight of the gem sparkling in the remains of its container cracked Evan’s composure altogether. Bringing both hands up to his face, he sobbed

Chapter Two
    Layla
    Nearly five years later
    Stepping on to the pavement outside the hotel, Layla drank in the final images of her favourite part of New York on the Upper East Side before flying back to Manchester. It had been a short trip to make sure her newest boutique was running smoothly, as well as catching up with old friends from her modelling days. The city had been her home back then, and it still held a special place in her heart as it was where her son, Bennett, had been born.
    “ Good morning, Madam. Are we heading directly to the airport?” the hotel’s chauffeur asked as he held open the car door for her.
    “ Yes, please,” she replied, smiling as she slipped inside the plush vehicle.
    Smoothing her dress down over her thighs, Layla pulled out her newest electronic gadget from her shoulder bag. The iPad was the latest rage, and she’d already loaded it up with enough music for her journey home.
    Layla had managed to grab one of the last available seats on a plane flying to Manchester airport. The airspace above some of the Western European countries had been closed off for several days due to an ash-cloud plume drifting over from an ongoing volcanic eruption in Iceland. She had arranged to stay with her older sister, Ava, and her husband, Cameron, who lived a convenient fifteen-minute drive from the airport.
    As the door of the car shut firmly beside her, Layla settled back into the soft, leather seat. Pressing her fingertip against the tablet screen, she browsed her schedule, which she’d already synchronised between her phone and tablet. The girl had a week of family time planned to celebrate her upcoming birthday, but knew she wouldn’t be able to escape the odd business-related Skype call. In her absence, Luke, the designer she worked alongside, would be overlooking the latest design changes to her ready-to-wear summer collection.
    Despite not having much of a business brain, Layla had managed to juggle a