Luna’s POV
“Hey, why don’t we go shopping today? we can go into the travel agents and look for a holiday, call it a celebration for getting your book published” Carrie spoke with so much enthusiasm, she has been trying her best to cheer me up over these past seven weeks.
I began writing a year ago, it’s always been my true passion although I never shared this with anyone other than Carrie, she was the only one who knew about my writing and the one who sent my novel out for publishing without my knowledge so I guess I have her to thank for my publishing offer.
This morning I received an email from a publishing company who agreed to publish my novel. I have to go to London this weekend for a meeting with the publisher, I’m not sure how everything happens but I’m sure they will explain it to me when I get there.
“Carrie, I cannot afford a holiday, I’ve quit my job and I’ve got this London trip to think about, if I decide to go I will need to save my money” I told Carrie.
“what do you mean if you decide to go? It’s all expenses paid, in a high class hotel and you get to take a plus one, you’re going” Carrie grinned.
She knew I would be taking her with me if I decided to go and I think she was secretly more excited than I was. Plus I did have a few thousand saved away from the house which I put up for sale two days after everything that happened. It was a quick sale as I wasn’t really interested in profit, more so just erasing all memories. I was saving this money for emergencies but it could come in handy for this trip.
“Fine, we’ll go to London, but it’s just for the weekend then I need to get back and sort out my career” I said.
“Girl, your career is just beginning, you’re an author now, plus we’ll have so much fun, the worst is behind you” Carrie said with a sympathetic tone.
I must admit I have felt so much better this past week, mainly because Carrie has kept me busy helping out at the beauty salon but also because I learned that the monster Ethan was finally caught by the police after hiding away since the whole ordeal. Before he was caught I felt like I was constantly looking over my shoulder but now I feel a sense of relief.
I drove my Ford fiesta to the shopping complex about 5 mile from Carrie’s house, I’ve been living with her until I get myself sorted, although it’s a bit of a pain as she refuses to take money off me for bills. We parked up and walked to our favourite coffee shop, we always started our shopping days off with a vanilla latte and a delicious crepe. It was a family run coffee shop which always made me feel right at home. The owner Jeff would often join us for our morning coffee, we liked to think of him as our very own grandfather, he was always so sweet and full of beautiful stories of his dear wife, they were so lucky to have each other. Unfortunately Jeff lost his wife last year, I think having the coffee shop keeps him from feeling lonely.
Walking out of the coffee shop, Carrie spotted a dress in the window across the road. Her eyes lit up as soon as she spotted it, it was a long red flowing dress which sat off the shoulders, it had a split up the right leg which would look perfect on Carrie as she had the most beautiful figure with long legs. In-fact we had similar body shapes although Carrie was much more confident in her body than I was in mine. We often got compared to as sisters as we were quite similar in size, with a slim face, high cheek bones and a nose which curled up a little at the end. The only significant difference was the hair colour, mine was a dark ash brown while Carrie’s was a glowing golden blonde.
“I need that dress” Carrie stated, “it will be perfect for when we go to dinner at a posh restaurant in London” she laughed.
I couldn’t help but laugh at her, she was so excited about going to London. Carrie began walking towards the store, I followed suit, as we walked into the store we were met with stunning surroundings. There were dresses placed perfectly on mannequins with spot lights on each one making them look like they were made for celebrities. I bet its expensive in here I thought, I was right. I noticed a price tag on one of the dresses hanging from a rail on the right side of the store £1500 it was a plain simple mid length dress with long sleeves, nothing spectacular however still quite elegant.
“Luna” I heard Carrie shout.
I turned around and she was stood beside the most amazing dress I have ever seen. It was similar to the dress in the window although something about this dress really had me awestruck. It was a straight floor length gown with a strapless heart shaped bustier top and a slit up the left leg, it was a beautiful golden colour which reminded me of a goddess, it was made for a model I’m sure of it.
“This dress was made for you” Carrie stated, I couldn’t help but laugh.
“I’m sure the price is made for me too” I said sarcastically.
“just try it on, come on treat yourself, you deserve this” said Carrie, I must admit now that I have seen it I don’t want to leave the store without it, and Carrie is right I do deserve it.
We tried on the dresses and immediately complimented each other, we were only going to London for a weekend and probably would be way too overdressed if we were to turn up at a restaurant in these dresses but then again Carrie did always like to stand out and knowing Carrie she would convince me one way or another to be just as vibrant as her.
We left the store with two bags each, not only did we get the dresses but we also ended up buying shoes, bags and accessories to match. This weekend better be worth the money spent today I thought to myself.
As if reading my thoughts Carrie stopped me in my tracks, turning to me “I promise we’ll have the best time, you won’t want to come back to this shitty place, in-fact I might not even bother coming back myself”
I laughed but something about Carrie’s words got me thinking, maybe it was time for a change, maybe London could be my new home, I guess I’ll have to wait and see what the weekend brings.
Luna’s POVI was woken by my 5am morning alarm, it was Friday morning and we had decided to drive to London rather than get the train. As the drive was six hours long we decided that I would drive for the first three hours and Carrie would drive for the rest.I slowly dragged myself out of bed and searched through my belongings for something comfy to wear, I decided to settle with a pair of black leggings a black vest top and a nude oversized shirt, it was the kind of outfit you could dress up with a pair of heels or dress down with a pair of boots, obviously I chose the latter due to travelling all day. The hotel we were staying in was five star, I wanted to look at least somewhat presentable, Carrie on the other hand always went to the extreme. When she found out we were staying in a five star hotel she went and bought a whole new outfit just for our arrival, High wasted jeans a white shirt and blazer and a pair of high heeled stilettos, however, she did decide to drive in her train
Romano’s POV“So what’s our next move” Santos asked.“Arrange a meeting for tonight, they can come to us. If they want this deal to go ahead they need to accept our offer” I replied.Santos is my cousin, although he’s more like my brother, we’ve been through so much together and I trust him with my life. This is why I have him running most of my business, he deals with the clients and all the gritty stuff that goes with it, of course I oversee everything to make sure it’s exactly how it should be but most of the time I trust Santos enough to deal with it.Santos is speaking on the phone with the client while I stand in-front of the floor length window, the view from the hotel is spectacular, even better from the penthouse.I’m deep in thought, I can’t get that woman out of my head, who is she, I need to know. Just those few minutes of watching her in the lobby had me mesmerized, when her eyes met mine I was completely hooked. It’s strange I’ve never looked at a woman and been so taken
Luna’s POVI woke from my sleep by the banging on my hotel door, I took a look at my phone and see it is 7.10pm, “SHIT” I say as I jump off the bed. I’m meant to be ready for 7.00pm, Carrie had booked us a table in the restaurant downstairs. I scurry to the door as I wipe the sleep from my eyes, I open it to find Carrie looking as stunning as ever. This girl never fails to amaze me, she always looks so glamourous.“What the hell are you doing, our table is booked for 7pm and you’re not even ready” she says looking annoyed.“I laid down for 5 minutes, I must have fell asleep, the next thing I know is it’s 7.10, I’m sorry I’ll quickly get ready now” I say.“Ok but be quick, I’ll go down to the table and get the drinks in while you get ready, don’t be long” she replied as she walked out of the room.I quickly showered and returned to the bedroom pulling all my clothes from my suitcase, I hadn’t even unpacked yet. I decided to go with a black strapless jumpsuit with slightly flared legs
Romano’s POVThank fuck this meeting is over, Santos and I stood from our seats with everyone else following suit. We shook hands with the three men, telling Stefan I’d call him next week to arrange a start date, before he turned to leave. Just then I noticed Luna walking this way, she looked incredible.“Roman, sit back down we need to celebrate” I heard Kate say.I looked at everyone who had already taken their seats once again. I could see them looking from me to Luna, I knew they had seen me staring at her but I didn't care. Kate however had a face like thunder, what the hell was her problem.Just as Luna got close to where I was seated she was suddenly pulled back, some asshole with a scar down his face had grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. I could see Luna trying to pull away from him but now he had his arms around her waist.“Get the fuck off me” I heard her shout, I could see her struggling to get out of his grip.“I’ll show you a good time” he slurred while another
Luna’s POVI was stood staring at myself in the mirror of the ladies room, what the fuck just happened I thought to myself. My hands were trembling, I swore to myself I would never let another man put his hands on me again and there I was with some asshole holding onto me like I was a piece of meat, the same asshole I met a short time earlier in the elevator.I can’t believe I did nothing I should have punched him right in his face, instead I ran off.Mr Callaso, why did he help me? I thought to myself although I was actually grateful for his help. My mind wondered to that accent of his, He wasn’t from the UK, he had an American accent, New York if I’m not mistaken but his name sounds Italian or Greek, his voice was so deep it sent shivers down my spine.“Luna” I was snapped out of my thoughts by Carrie, she looked worried. Shit I completely forgot about Carrie and ran off leaving her with the friend of Mr Callaso.“Are you ok?” she asked with concern in her voice as she ran over to
Luna’s POV“I’m glad to see you’re ok”.That voice, something about it gives me butterflies, I turned to my right and there he was stood beside me, towering over me and staring me right in the eyes. I’m almost certain time stood still for a moment.“I’m fine” I said, breaking the silence between us. Just at that moment I noticed Kate walking passed furiously heading back into Olive’s, I also didn’t miss the dirty look she thew my way as she walked by and I know Roman noticed it too.How can he just stand here talking to me while his wife is clearly upset with him. seriously she may be as bad as Jenny makes out but she doesn’t deserve to be treated this way, especially not by her own husband.“shouldn’t you go after her?” I asked Roman. His brows creased and he looked surprised by my question.“No, she’s fine” he replied with no remorse.How on earth could he be so cruel, she was clearly upset with him and rightly so. He had a beautiful wife and he was treating her like she meant not
Luna’s POVI was woken by my 6.30am alarm. I rolled over to the bedside table, grabbed my phone and noticed I didn’t have any messages or calls off Carrie. I hope she’s ok. I messaged her when I got back to my room last night and told her to enjoy her night and not to worry about me before putting my phone on silent.I’ll check up on her on my way to my meeting I thought.I dragged myself out of bed and headed straight towards the kettle, I desperately needed my morning coffee.I rummaged through my wardrobe to find an appropriate outfit for today’s meeting.When I got in last night I couldn’t think straight, my encounter with Roman was playing on my mind so I decided to go through my suitcase and hang all my clothes in the wardrobe. It didn’t really work he was on my mind all night long, it’s fair to say I didn’t get a good night sleep either.I pulled out my grey tailored trouser suit with a white camisole top, pairing it with a some black stilettoes. This will work, it screams prof
I stood outside of the hotel entrance, looking at my watch it was only 9.10am. My meeting was in a small restaurant situated 5 Minutes from the hotel, if I leave now and get there too early I may look overly eager I thought to myself.“Let me walk you to your meeting” I heard Roman’s voice as he walked up behind me. He was stood close enough for me to feel his warmth, almost touching.I didn’t turn to look at him, if anything I felt completely embarrassed about the way I spoke to him and Jenny. I can’t believe he let me speak to him that way and didn’t bother to tell me Kate was his ex-wife. He let me believe he was still married all this time.“No, my meeting isn’t for another 50 minutes. I just need some fresh air, you should go back inside” I said hoping he would walk away and save me from further embarrassment.“Then let me take you for breakfast, there’s a small café around the corner. You should eat something before your meeting”.I was about to decline his offer until he unexpe