Love In Rewind (38 page)
I told Louis about St. Lucia but I didn't go into details about William Knight, yet. I'm not about to break our new promise to each other about not keeping secrets by lying to him. I still haven't called Will back as promised. I feel I owe Louis an explanation first..
I need to get this out of the way now and deal with my husband's reaction. I walk into his office to find him hard at work and sit down across from him.
"Louis, I want to talk to you more about St. Lucia. I only told you part of the story."
"Should I be sitting or lying down for this?" he asks in a mocking tone, while still answering emails at his desk.
"Just sitting. I want to start by telling you that nothing happened. I have always been faithful to you."
He sits up in his chair, giving me one hundred percent of his attention now.
I continue, "I met someone in St. Lucia."
"Em, are you trying to give me another heart attack? Who the fuck did you meet?"
He gets up from his desk and starts pacing the room like a caged lion.
"Louis, if you want me to be honest with you then you better sit down and relax. I just told you nothing happened."
"If nothing happened why are you telling me about it just now?"
"Because something almost happened. I met a man as soon as I got to Le Spa"
"Did you say Le Spa? You didn't tell me that's the hotel you stayed at."
"What difference does it make where I stayed? It was the first place that a baggage porter recommended to me at the airport. I had no idea where I was going that day. St. Lucia was the first flight to leave New York and I just went."
"Okay, go on … you met a man."
"Yes, the resort was sold out when I got there so one of the managers came by to help me."
"I'm sure he did." Louis is seething. Steam is coming out of his nostrils. Maybe I should've kept my big mouth shut. In hindsight maybe ignorance is bliss?
"Louis, he was very nice. He gave me his room so I had somewhere to sleep."
"You're fucking kidding, right Em? Let me guess—he very gallantly gave you half of his bed?"
"Louis, it wasn't like that. I was a mess. I was crying. He was just offering a shoulder to cry on."
He is now sitting back behind his desk with his hands wrapped around his midsection. Brooding is one way to describe his facial contortion. Louis is ready to fight. Who? I don't know but he looks as if he's about to ricochet off that executive chair.
"Em, get to the part where something almost happens."
"We got drunk. I wanted to forget about you. I wanted to dull the pain. I woke up in the morning and we were in bed together. Just sleeping! Louis, don't give me that look. I didn't have sex with him. I didn't even kiss him." My husband can't possibly think I slept with Will! But here he is, getting all worked up for no good reason. I add, "Will assured me nothing happened."
"Were you naked?"
"I had my panties on. He didn't touch me."
"Was he naked?"
"Yes, he was naked. But Louis, we didn't do anything. I told him I'm still married and that I love you and only you. I told him I wasn't interested in him, sexually. I didn't do anything for you to be upset with me. Will was the one who flew me home on his private jet."
"What did you just say?"
"I said, I didn't do anything for you to be upset with me about."
"Did you say Will? Was it William fucking Knight who came to your rescue?"
"How do you know his full name? Do you guys know each other?"
Louis is running both hands in his hair, talking to himself with hand gestures and facial expressions. I've seen my husband mad and angry before but this is a Louis Bruel I have never witnessed.
"Louis, calm down. You need to tell me what's going on. How do you know Will?"
"Emily, in the whole wide world why did you have to go and find William Knight? Am I ever going to rid myself of that treacherous woman?"
"Louis, can you please explain to me what's going on? I don't know what you're babbling about. What woman?"
"William Knight is the late Isabella Knight's younger brother. You walked into her parent's hotel in St. Lucia."
Fuck. My. Life…
There are truly many people I need to thank for helping me make my dream of writing a novel a reality. First, I need to confess that I'm slightly in lust with my husband. Well, more than slightly. So, to the man who makes my heart beat, thank you for inspiring me to be the best Tali that I can be. Thank you for loving
me,
and understanding all the crazy little things that make me happy. I started writing this fantasy for you and will continue writing many more fantasies because of you. Know that
Everything I do, I do it for you
(I'm going with the story that Bryan Adams stole my line). It has always been us against the world and I wouldn't want it any other way. Me, you, our babies and Chewbic, you are all my little slice of heaven. I LOVE YOU.
Next lets talk about all my bitches. Yea, I said bitches! You know who you are, but I will list you anyway: Irene, Maya, Vicky, Rita, Karina, Angela, Ella and Alla. Thank you for being my sounding board, my crash test dummies, my beta readers or whatever you call it. Some of you had to endure this manuscript before it would be considered appropriate for human eyes or ears. I appreciate every single one of you ladies for supporting me, encouraging me and being proud of me. You spent hours on the phone with me listening and dissecting Emily and Louis ad nauseam. Without your valuable input this story wouldn't be what it is today. Writing this book was that much more fun because we got to do it together. I think it's been agreed that Louis Bruel will be played by:
David Gandy
with a dimple, in our fantasies. Emily is: you, me, and every other woman who reads this book.
I would also like to thank my best friend and the woman who gave me life. I am very fortunate to have such a cool mom who doesn't judge her daughter for using the word "fuck" in her book like three thousand times. Mom, I love that you are always here for me and that you are part of every one of my life's endeavors. When I told you out of the blue one day that I was writing a novel you were excited and impressed and you didn't laugh in my face. You read
Love in Rewind
and loved it. You were one of my first supporters who urged me to finish writing this story and try and get it published. I hope that I make you proud. If I can be half the mother to my kids that you are to me, then I've succeeded.
I also want to give thanks for my little sister. Michelle, life is just not worth living without you making me laugh every step of the way. You are the first person I speak to each day and the last person I text at night. I know how nervous you are for me, and how you want everything that I touch to be a success. I love you for that and for many other reasons and I appreciate you always. I hope you will continue to inspire me and hopefully give me some good material to keep writing. I live vicariously through you. So, don't let me down!
To my A-team, Koa Beck and Rob Alicea. Thank you for being my sunshine when all I felt was rain.
To Stephanie Lott from Bibliophile. Thank you for doing all the dirty work. I know it wasn't easy navigating the spelling/grammar minefield I put down on paper. But, you did it and you lived to tell about it, punctuations and all. All kidding aside, you really made sense of my rambling mess of a book. I bet you're reading my acknowledgment right now cringing and hitting your head against the wall…LOL
Also, many thanks to my last line of defense Marie Piquette. You helped me
so
much,
so
very much. You are
so
smart, and
so
meticulous. I am
so
thankful … And I promise to never use
so
again,
so
help me God
Lastly, thank you to each and every person who took the time out to read my book. I hope you all fell in love with Emily & Louis Bruel and enjoyed their love story as much as I enjoyed bringing it to life.
xoxo Tali
"Nothing really to tell, what you see is what you get."
I am every woman out there that has fantasies in her head. I am a daughter, a granddaughter, a sister, a wife, a lover, a mother, and a friend. I happen to also be a Doctor of Pharmacy and a business owner by day, and now a writer by night. Writing and reading help me escape the scary world we live in. I hope my stories help readers experience many different emotions and ultimately, I hope I make them smile…
Writing keeps me sane. I hope reading does the same for you.
Many Thanks,
Tali Alexander
At:
www.TaliAlexander.com
Look for Book II from the
Audio Fools
Series
Sara's Love Story
Coming in 2014