Single Wide Female: The Bucket List Mega Bundle - 24 Books (Books #1-24) (45 page)

I felt my vulnerability, my hope, and many other emotions shining through. As I read the final words I boldly met his eyes.

“Well?” I was impatient to hear his reaction. I knew it wouldn’t be scathing, but his opinion mattered to me.

He lifted his gaze to mine and I was startled to see what looked like pure admiration in them.

“You wrote that?”

“Do you think I’m lying about it?” I laughed a little.

He broke into a smile and shook his head.

“No. I just never expected something like that to come from you.” He shook his head with amazement.

“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” I was starting to feel anxious about what he really thought.

Chapter 9

Max reached out and took my hand in his. The warmth of his touch was all it took to sweep away all my fears. I knew whatever he had to say was going to come from a place of kindness.

“The poem is powerful, Sam. I just didn’t know you were carrying such heartache.”

“Heartache?” My breath caught in my throat.

Had he been able to figure out what the poem was about? Was it more obvious than I realized?

“Isn’t that what it’s about?” He stared into my eyes.

It was another one of those moments—a chance to confess how I’d felt about him for so long. He was looking at me so openly, almost eagerly. But I simply could not bring myself to do it.

“It’s about heartache in a way. It’s about me feeling disconnected from my passion.”

He continued to stare at me, waiting for more.

“My writing,” I clarified and lowered my eyes.

“Oh!” He laughed a little too loudly. “Oh, wow. I didn’t catch that. But it makes sense now. No matter what the poem is about, it’s really great writing. You know I’m no expert, but you certainly know how to convey emotion.”

“Well, thank you.” I tried to sound cheerful.

I was happy that he liked the poem. But I was disappointed that I hadn’t been bold enough to tell him the truth. A part of me wanted to write that story, to see where it ended up. How would he react if I looked him right in the eye and told him that every last word told how I felt about him?

“I do have a question, though.”

“What is it?”

“Why are you reading this to me when you should be reading it to that writing group you signed up for?”

“Oh, them.” I shook my head and stared down at the piece of paper in my hand. “I don’t exactly measure up to their standards.”

“What? Why?”

“I don’t know. They’re all about getting published and how every word has to be thought through. I read them some of my novel and they just really tore it to shreds.” I sighed and tucked the paper back into my pocket.

“Well, you had to expect some constructive criticism. Right?” He frowned.

“Constructive? Yes. Getting sneered at and degraded? Not really. It was like I had jumped in the middle of a pack of wolves. They are very traditional. I even brought up self-publishing, and that was the end of the world. It was like I had just burned every book that ever existed.”

“Now you’re being dramatic.” Max’s words were a little accusing, but I could tell that he was annoyed.

“I’m not. It’s the truth. They only want real writers in their group, and apparently I’m not real enough for them.”

“Well then, you need to go back there.” He stood up from the couch and grabbed my hand.

As he started to tug me up off of the couch I stared at him, horrified.

“What are you talking about? Why would I ever go back there?”

“Because, Samantha—you are a beautiful, talented, amazing person and you should never let anyone make you feel otherwise.”

He finally got me up off the couch, but he still held onto my hand.

“I didn’t say that they did.”

“You don’t have to say it. I can see the doubt in your eyes. They don’t get to do that to you. You’ve got to walk in there and show them that you don’t care what they think of you, that you are proud of who you are. Isn’t that what this whole bucket list is about? Or do I have that wrong?”

The way he looked at me made me feel like I could accomplish anything. I shook my head and gave his hand a squeeze of affection.

“Max, you really are my best friend.”

“I know that. So your best friend is going to drive you to this coffeehouse tomorrow. I’m going to watch you flaunt your stuff, and then if those little pencil pinchers give you any kind of attitude I’m going to take them out back and—”

“Okay, okay, no violence.” I laughed and hugged him. “You don’t have to do all of this, you know.”

“I know.” He looked intently at me as he pulled away. “But I want to. Because one day I hope that you can get a glimpse of yourself the way that I see you.”

My heart melted. But I tried not to let my emotions show on my face.

After Max left that night, I took some time to post an update on my blog. I even included my poem. I was feeling bolder about my writing. I wrote about my experience at the coffeehouse and how I planned to go back the next day. I just hoped that I would be brave enough to actually read my poem.

I waited for a little while to see if Blue would comment. When he didn’t, I headed to bed. I lay awake for a while thinking of Max. I wondered if he really had seen me naked. It wasn’t like him to peek, but he might have if he thought I was in trouble.

Strangely, I wasn’t upset by the idea that he might have seen me. I trusted Max and knew that he would never do anything to hurt me. I just wished that he would see what potential we had between us. I drifted off to sleep thinking of him.

The next day Max showed up to drive me to the coffeehouse.

“Are you ready for this?” He smiled at me.

“I think so.”

“You should know so. You’re going to blow them all away.”

“I guess.” I looked out the window at the passing traffic.

It wasn’t long before we were parked in the lot of the coffeehouse.

Chapter 10

I marched to the front of the coffeehouse. The man behind the counter looked at me with an odd expression. I thought it might have something to do with the commotion I’d caused the day before. I ignored the look and grabbed the small microphone that he used to announce when orders were ready.

“I just need to borrow this for a moment.” I smiled at him.

He looked bewildered but only nodded.

I turned around to face the table of hecklers that called themselves a writing group. Max stood close by and shot me a smile of support.

“Attention. May I have your attention, please?”

They looked in my direction. Charlie broke into a wide smile. He was the only one that was smiling.

“I know that all of you have very strong opinions about my writing and I thought I’d share a little something with you.”

I could tell from their dismissive expressions that they weren’t the least bit interested, but I was determined not to be ignored. I smiled broadly at the group.

“I have come to understand that writing is not meant to seek approval. Writing is meant to create thought, to get the attention of a slumbering mind. You may have your traditional way of doing things, which is just fine. When you put someone else down just because they do things differently, you are part of the problem. You know what writing the same thing one hundred different ways actually is?” I didn’t wait for a response before answering my own question. “Boring!”

Sheldon glared at me. Audrey didn’t look too pleased. I ignored them both and launched into the poem.

Once I started reading, I forgot about the coffeehouse and all of the people in it. I felt as if I was reading it directly to Max—as I had the night before. When I was finished, there was a smattering of applause. Max of course was clapping the loudest. I gave the bewildered barista his microphone back and headed over to Max. He gave me a quick kiss on the cheek.

“You did wonderful. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thank you.” I smiled at him.

He slipped away to use the restroom and Charlie gestured for me to join him. All of the other members of the group had scattered. He was the only one who had stuck around.

“Good work, Samantha. Can I buy you a cup of coffee?” Charlie offered.

“I’d like that.” I smiled and sat down beside him. It was nice to have a new friend in the writing world.

He signaled for the waitress. She walked over with a cup of coffee in hand.

“Here you are.” She set the coffee down on the table.

“Oh, I didn’t order that.” Charlie said. “But I would like to buy my friend here a cup of coffee.”

“That’s great, but this one is already paid for.” The waitress smiled secretively. “Courtesy of Blue.”

“Blue?” I was so surprised that I nearly knocked the cup of coffee off the table.

Charlie caught it before it could slide off the edge. A small amount of coffee splashed out, which the waitress quickly wiped up.

“A friend of yours?” Charlie raised an eyebrow.

“You could say that.” I wasn’t sure whether to be thrilled or a little frightened.

A man I had never met had just bought me a cup of coffee. Had he been there the whole time? Did he hear me reading the poem? I was absolutely stunned by the idea.

“Did he say anything else to you?” I looked at the waitress hopefully.

“No, I’m sorry. He did leave me a nice tip to make sure you got the coffee, though. You can have anything you want added to it.”

“Thanks. This is fine.” I stared down into the coffee cup. I didn’t even want to drink it. Not because I wasn’t dying for a cup of coffee, but because this wasn’t just coffee, this was coffee from Blue.

“Hm, a mystery man buying you cups of coffee. That sounds like something that you could put into a book.”

“Yes, it does.” I was still marveling over the revelation when Max walked up to the table.

“Hi. I’m Max.” He offered his hand to Charlie.

“Charlie.” Charlie shook Max’s hand and then glanced at me. “Not Blue?”

“No, not Blue.” I laughed a little.

“Who’s Blue?” Max asked. He cast a look in my direction that showed he was more than a little curious.

I stared at the two men, both of whom I found fascinating in different ways. I had no idea how to answer the question. I had no idea who Blue was, or how I could explain our relationship.

“Honestly, I’m not entirely sure.”

“Well, he did buy you a cup of coffee.” Charlie smiled.

“He did?” Max glanced around. “Who is he?”

“Just someone who admires my writing.” I decided that was the safest answer.

Both Max and Charlie seemed satisfied with that answer. They began sharing some small talk, but I wasn’t listening. My mind was on only one person. Blue.

I wondered what it meant that he’d gone to all the trouble of coming to the coffeehouse where I was reading a poem. He had obviously seen me in person now. Instead of being frightened by that, I was excited. I had a secret admirer.

I couldn’t help but be curious about him. Maybe the next item on my bucket list would be asking Blue out on a date. I wasn’t sure if I was brave enough to go through with it, but I was determined to find out.

When Max dropped me off at my apartment, I headed straight for my computer. I opened it up to find Blue’s comment.

SWF,

Your words were so beautiful, I had to hear them aloud. I hope you’re not upset with me. It was beautiful. You are beautiful. I hope you enjoyed the coffee.

Blue

I stared at the words on the screen. There it was. He had admitted to being the one who had ordered me the coffee. There was no getting around it now. The only question was, how would I reply?

I thought about it for a moment. My heart pounded. Suddenly I knew what I wanted to write. I was so nervous that my hands were sweaty as I began to type.

Blue,

I would have enjoyed it a whole lot more if you had shared a cup of coffee with me. Thanks for the support.

I sat back and waited. I was hoping for a quick response—I was very curious about where all of this might lead.

Single Wide Female: The Bucket List

#13 Enjoy a Spa Day

By

Lillianna Blake

Copyright © 2015 Lillianna Blake

Cover design by
Beetiful Book Covers

All rights reserved.

LilliannaBlake.com

Chapter 1

Of all the things on my bucket list, the one thing I hadn’t really done was truly pamper myself.

I guess growing up I’d been raised with the image of fairy tales. A woman had to suffer until a man swept her off her feet and made her life paradise. As a result, I never really felt right about truly indulging myself.

I would get my nails done now and then, although I didn’t really enjoy it all that much. I would get my hair cut and styled once a year. But never had I truly and one hundred percent spoiled myself.

Since I had the entire weekend off from Fluff and Stuff, I decided that I was going to treat myself to a spa day. The only problem was, I didn’t really know how to do that.

I realized this dilemma when I began to type up the blog post about my latest task. I wanted to explain to my readers why this one was actually a challenge for me.

My life had been a series of steps. None of those steps involved slowing down and appreciating myself and my body. Maybe that was why I struggled so much with my weight. I wanted so badly to look in the mirror and see a healthy happy me looking back. Yet, I so rarely treated my body in a healthy or happy way.

So all of that was going to change today. I’d decided that it was time for some serious pampering.

After I posted my blog entry, I grabbed my purse. I had an appointment to make. One of the customers at Fluff and Stuff had recommended a new spa that had opened down the block from the laundromat. I was ready to go and enjoy it.

Of course before I could actually go the spa I had to get my body looking great. I’d already spent the better part of the morning shaving, tweezing, and primping. By the time I was done, I looked good enough to go out to a fancy dinner.

Instead, I was going to feed my soul.

I left the apartment with a bounce in my step. I was looking forward to glowing when my treatment was through. I’d made plans for Max to pick me up directly from the spa to grab a bite to eat. That way I could show off to him in all of my post-spa splendor.