Three Thousand Miles - Forever, (book #3 of Three Thousand Miles, Series) (41 page)

“There are so many rumours surrounding your husband. People don’t know
who he is or where he came from, he is such a mystery.” I frown at her –I hate
Noelle and her quizzing ways.

“What rumours?” I snap.

“Come on Alanna, you met him in London and then a few months later you
two were getting married. Of course rumours are going to be started with that
type of behaviour.” I frown at Noelle, how dare she question me on my
actions.

“Noelle that’s a little harsh,” my mom says in a soothing tone. Noelle rolls her
eyes and then she stares at me for my response.
“Adrian isn’t like anyone that you have ever met. He doesn’t like to share every
detail of his life with complete strangers and he isn’t like you and your friends.
He doesn’t live to show off and to compete with everyone else, like you do.
Now I am sorry, but I have to go.” As I walk away from my mom and Noelle I
can hear that my mom is apologising on my behalf. I clench my teeth together
as I can’t believe that my mom is taking Noelle’s side. I rush out of Bendels and
back into the cold street of New York. I whistle for a taxi and as a yellow cab
pulls alongside me, I hear my mom shouting after me.

“Alanna, wait,” I turn to look at my mom as she rushes towards me. “Alanna
what was that?” I frown at her.

 

“Seriously?” I snap. My mom looks at me with confusion in her eyes.

 

“I know that Noelle was a little harsh, but Alanna, you didn’t need to flip out
like that.” I roll my eyes at my mom as I cannot believe her right now.

“Mom how can you take her side, Noelle was ridiculing me and she was being
disrespectful towards Adrian. How did you expect me to react?” My mom
shakes her head at me and then she leans in and takes my hand in hers. She
looks at me with her sympathetic eyes as she tries to soothe my outburst.

“Sweetie, you know what Noelle is like; she doesn’t always stop to think before
she talks, instead she just says whatever is on her mind. You need to let this
one go,” I smile at my mom and then I agree with her –perhaps I did over react
a little.

Twenty-Five

I have been in New York for just over two weeks now and every day that I have
been here, my heart has ached for Adrian. I wake up in the morning –in a daze,
hoping that he will come and find me –but he never does. I know that it was
me who wanted this break, but now that I have had time to deal with
everything, I feel that I need to return to Adrian. Yesterday I convinced myself
to go back to London, but I didn’t because I am not sure that Adrian wants me
anymore. My head is jumping in all sorts of directions because Adrian hasn’t
called or emailed me since I got here. I am terrified that he has forgotten about
me and that he doesn’t care if go back to him or not. I haven’t tried to contact
him because I am scared that he will reject me and I don’t think that I could
survive it if he did. I have told my parents that I am pregnant and they are
ecstatic about the news and Penelope is buzzing about becoming an Aunt. It so
cute to watch her as she plays with her baby dolls and I overheard her the
other day telling my mom that she is so excited and that she hoping the baby is
a girl so that she can play dress-up with her. I personally think that baby is
going to be a boy with green eyes –just like his fathers, but only time will tell
the answer to that one.

My mom has started to nag me a lot more about Adrian since she found out
about the baby. She has been urging me to go back to London and to work
everything out with him –but how can I do that when he hasn’t called me? I
feel that Adrian doesn’t want to know how I am and even when he left me
because he believed that it was for the best, he still called the hospital every
day to make sure that I was okay. Now that I am the one who has left him, I am
scared that he feels that I have bailed on our marriage. The feeling that I have
every time that thought enters my mind is collapsing. I would hate for Adrian
to think that I have given up on us, because I haven’t. I love him so much that I
can’t breathe when I think about him. My stomach curls into a million pieces
and my eyes cover in a fog at the sight of his vivid green eyes. He completes
me in every way possible and now that I have time to heal from the incident
with Michael, I am ready to go back to him –but will he still have me?

I slowly rise up from the bed and I carefully slip myself out. I make my way over
to the writing desk that is on the other side of the room and I slide open the
drawer and I take out my mom’s spare laptop. I rush back over to the bed and I
climb in once again. I pull the silk covers over me as I wait for the laptop to
boot-up. The screen flashes on and I instantly click onto the Hotmail logo. I sign
into my emails and I frown when I see that Adrian still hasn’t contacted me. I
scan through the fifty emails that I do have, but I don’t open any of them as a
notification pops onto my screen –Adrian is online. My heart begins to race as I
try to decide what to do next. Should I email him or should I wait to see if he
will email me? I rapidly tap my finger against the hard surface of the laptop as
my impatience takes over and then with one swift movement, I open the chat
box and I compose a message to Adrian.

Alanna: Hello,

 

He replies almost instantly.

 

Adrian: Hello baby.
Alanna: How are you and William?

 

Adrian: William is fine, but I wish that I could say same for me.
Alanna: What’s wrong?

 

Adrian: I missing you like mad for starters.

I smile at his words as I have longed to hear him say that he has been missing
me. I know that we have only spent two weeks apart, but it feels like a lifetime
and I was scared that he had forgotten about me. My heart is still racing, but I
manage to compose myself as I reply.

Alanna: I miss you too, what else is on your mind?

 

Adrian: Work is crazy; I am the office just now. I have a meeting in a bit with
Jeff.

 

Alanna: How’s the case against him coming along?

 

Adrian: It doesn’t look good baby; I have been talking with my lawyers and
they seem to think that my only option is to pay him.

 

Alanna: Isn’t there anything else that you can do?

 

Adrian: I don’t think so, Jeff is about to become a very rich bloke.

 

Alanna: How much do you think that you will have to pay him?

 

Adrian: He is asking for ten million, but my lawyers think that they can halve
his asking price.

 

Alanna: Five million?

 

Adrian: Yeah, anyway how are you feeling?

 

Alanna: Apart from missing you like crazy, I am fine.

 

Adrian: Are you being honest with me?

 

Alanna: Of course I am and I miss you so much that I can’t breathe.

 

Adrian: I believe that you miss me, but I don’t believe that you are fine.
My heart is now pounding –why doesn’t he believe me?

 

Alanna: What are you saying?
Adrian: I am saying that you cannot be fine because you haven’t returned to
me yet.

Alanna: It took me a while to get over everything, but I have moved on now. I
never came home because you didn’t call me; I thought that you didn’t want
me to come back.

Adrian: How could you think that of me? I never called you because I respected
your wishes when you asked me for space, you never called me either.

 

Alanna: I wanted to, but I was scared of your reaction. I didn’t know how you
felt about me and I was scared that you were going to reject me.
Adrian: You are one stupid girl. How could I ever reject you?

 

Alanna: You did before.

 

Adrian: That was different and you know it.

 

Alanna: It still hurt me and it still does every time that I think back on your
words.

 

Adrian: I had to say those things to you, it was the only way that you would let
me go.

 

Alanna: It worked, I let you go, but you came back to me.

 

Adrian: I loved you too much and I couldn’t stay away from you, no matter
how hard I tried.

 

Alanna: Do you still love me?

Adrian: What kind of question is that?
Alanna: The kind that I need an answer to.
Adrian: I see that your smart mouth is back, then?

I gently laugh at his sarcastic comment and then I focus my attention back to
Adrian.

Alanna: This feels like when we first got together, me trying to get answers out
of you, whilst you put up your walls to fight me. I have missed this; I have
missed getting to know you.

Adrian: Then come back to me and I will let you get to know every part of me.
Alanna: I want to, but I don’t know if I can.

 

Adrian: What is stopping you?

Alanna: If I come back then so much is going to change. I have accepted that
the situation with Michael and Chad might not have been entirely my fault, but
I can’t be around their parents. I know that you adore Charles and Tabatha and
I would never ask you to choose between me and them, but I can’t have them
in my life. I am sorry.

Adrian: Baby, you were right when you said that Charles and Tabatha would
blame you, they have blamed you for what has happened, but I am no longer a
part of their lives. I am grateful to Charles for everything that he done for me,
but he lost my respect when he told me to divorce you.

Alanna: I knew that they would blame me and he actually told you to divorce
me?

 

Adrian: Yes baby he did, but I told him where to go. The Jenkins’s aren’t a part
of our lives anymore.

 

Alanna: How is Emma?

Adrian: Emma is fine, she has left the hospital and Maggie is staying with her at
The Dorchester. They do not blame you for any of this; I promise you that they
are on our side.

Alanna: I am relieved that Emma is okay. Have you spoken with your father,
lately?

 

Adrian: No actually, he is a little busy at the moment.

 

Alanna: Don’t be sarcastic!

 

Adrian: I wasn’t, I am being honest. He is in love and I haven’t seen him in ages.
Alanna: Who is he in love with?

 

Adrian: This might surprise you, but he’s in love with Maggie.
Alanna: That doesn’t surprise me because he told me that he was.

 

Adrian: Really? I thought that you didn’t like him?

 

Alanna: Come on I never said that I didn’t like him. I just didn’t like the
decisions that he made regarding his children.

 

Adrian: Okay, okay, I believe you.

 

Alanna: So has he told Maggie how he feels?
Adrian: He has!

 

Alanna: And?

 

Adrian: She has decided to give it another shot with him.
Alanna: What about Ryan?

 

Adrian: Maggie ended her relationship with Ryan a few months ago, but she
never told anyone about it.

 

Alanna: Now that’s surprising!

 

Adrian: I think that the bloke was a weirdo anyway. He never even bothered to
call and see if Emma was alright.

 

Alanna: Then perhaps they are better off without him. But Maggie and Edward
are back together? That is unbelievable.

 

Adrian: It is, but you should see them together, it’s like magic.

 

Alanna: I am happy for them.

 

Adrian: Baby, there is one more thing that I need to tell you.

Alanna: Go on,
Adrian: Zara has signed custody of William over to me. She doesn’t want to be
a part of his life anymore.

Alanna: I don’t know what to say.

 

Adrian: Say what you feel!

I pause as I reply to Adrian’s message –how do I feel about William living with
us permanently? I never thought that Zara would abandon William, but now
that she has, how do I feel about being his mom? I close my eyes and a flash of
his beautiful face spins around in my head. His plump, rosy cheeks and his
glowing green eyes fill my memories; I love William and I care about him as if
he was my own son. I love spending time with him and I can’t wait for him to
share the rest of his life with us.

Alanna: I feel that it’s wonderful; you know that I love William.

 

Adrian: I know you do and he loves you. He never stops asking me when you’re
coming home.

 

Alanna: Tell him that I miss him and that I will be home soon.

 

Adrian: Is that true? Will you be home soon?

 

Alanna: I don’t know, so much has happened in London and I don’t know if I
can get over it.

 

Adrian: Do you not want to live in London, anymore?

 

Alanna: I don’t think that I can, but I would never ask you to leave your home,
for me.

 

Adrian: Then don’t ask me!

 

Alanna: Being sarcastic, again?

 

Adrian: No I wasn’t, actually.

 

Alanna: Explain! Please!

 

Adrian: I am relocating my company to New York.

Alanna: Why?
Adrian: Because you’re right we can’t live in London anymore. There are too
many bad memories here and Michael knows exactly where to find us. I won’t
risk you getting hurt and I will not let you and our family live in danger. So, I
have started proceedings to relocate my company to New York and Samantha
has found me an amazing building on Wall Street and she has started looking
for a house for us.

Alanna: Are you sure about this?

 

Adrian: Yes, now what area do you want to live in?

 

Alanna: I don’t want to live in New York.

 

Adrian: You are making no sense and I thought that you wanted to be close to
your family?

 

Alanna: I do, but New York is not the right place for us to raise our kids.

 

Adrian: You grew up there and you are perfect.

Alanna: I am far from perfect. Growing up in New York is like growing up in a
fish bowl. Everyone knows every little detail of your life and you never get the
chance to be yourself. There are always a million eyes on you at any given
time, lurking and hoping to see you fail. People in New York are selfish,
pretentious and they stop at nothing to make you feel unwanted. I will not
expose William or our baby to that.