Love Like Yours. Sophie Love

she’d found it, she hurried back into the living area and fetched her new tool kit. It was the first time she’d actually done any DIY, and though nerve-wracking, it felt really good to wield a hammer. Bashing a nail into the wall was also very cathartic. She could certainly get used to this independence thing!

      With the nail in place, Keira hung the painting and stepped back to admire it. It was such an inspiring image, reminding her of the wonderful Christmas she’d had in Sweden. At once, she wished she could be back there, back where things were calm and relaxed. Back to a time before all the craziness had begun.

      Just to the right of the painting was the large window with its view over New York City. It couldn’t have been a greater contrast; the serenity of Sweden with the business of New York. And the incongruity of how lonely the picture looked when her time in Sweden had been anything but, yet how full New York City appeared from her window when she was completely alone within it.

      She felt a strong urge to call Milo then, but remembered that she had homework; prepping for tomorrow morning’s television appearance. It was going to be a very early start – she was needed in makeup at six a.m. – so there’d be no time to practice Rick’s advice in the morning. Though her segment was prerecorded, it still had to be done in time for the early slot on the show.

      She headed into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror on the cabinet. Rick had advised her to practice her “natural” smile, which was as paradoxical as it was impossible. Every time she attempted to smile it looked forced, bordering on manic. He would not be pleased with her at all.

      Then she said some of her pre-prepared lines. Even though she’d written them herself, they sounded fake in her voice. Too rehearsed. Too unnatural.

      She sighed. This was the problem that no one had envisioned. Keira was only good with words when she wrote them down, not when she produced them from her mouth! She was going to make a fool of herself tomorrow, she could just tell.

      She heard her phone ping in the other room. Relieved to get a break from the strained practice, she headed out into the living room and retrieved her phone from her purse. She was expecting Bryn or Mallory. But the name on her screen took her by complete surprise. Cristiano.

      Heart hammering, Keira opened the message.

      I read your article. It’s great. Don’t forget me when you’re famous. I’m always thinking of you.

      Keira blinked, stunned. She had no idea what to reply, if, indeed, she should reply anything. Things with Cristiano had soured. She hadn’t expected to hear from him ever again. And for him to write to her in relation to an article she’d written about her rebound from him made it even stranger. Cristiano’s jealous streak had been a real issue in their short-lived relationship. Maybe he was trying to prove that he was above it.

      Whatever his reasoning, Keira wasn’t yet ready to handle it, or process it. There was too much going on for her to even devote an ounce of energy to Cristiano. She put her phone away and went back into the bathroom to resume her strained smiling practice.

*

      Keira arrived at the office the next morning before the sun had even risen. She felt awful. Sleeping on just a mattress was doing her no good at all, and waking up at five a.m. had felt like hell. Her coffee stall guy hadn’t even opened yet, so she’d not even had a chance for a caffeine fix.