Love Without Rules (Contemporary Romance) (9 page)

Sydney sat at her desk, laptop in front of her. She was going over her finished book, adding bits of information, editing. She still hadn’t figured out what to do about the money. She frowned as she paused in her editing, resting her fingers on the white keyboard.

“Something wrong? You look upset, baby,” Drew called from the kitchen, where he was whipping up some mac and cheese with his own special little twist. “Are you thinking about my offer to move in?” He winked as he stirred the pot.

“Ah… Not that. Promise, I’ll give you a response soon. But… it’s just the book.” Sydney didn’t really want to tell him, because it was her own problem and she didn’t want to ask Drew for help.

“What about it?”

“Just something I’m sorting out. I trying to find a way to publish my second book.” Sydney tried to compose her face into one of neutrality; she didn’t want to worry Drew further. Sydney had emailed Daphne a week ago, asking whether the price could be moved around, and well… It wasn’t good news. Daphne had basically said that the price was still the same, and that they were lucky that it hadn’t gotten higher. She sighed. It looked like she wouldn’t be able to publish her book after all. “Hey, baby, time for dinner.”

“Great.” Sydney didn’t want to think about the money any longer. “Let’s eat!”

***

For the next week, the issue of the money weighed somewhat heavily on her mind.

She sat on her couch, puzzling it over. Her phone rang. She checked the caller ID, and was surprised to see that it was Daphne who was calling. She hadn’t contacted Daphne at all, so it was a little weird to be talking to her. “Hello?”

“Hey, honey, we’re a go for your book! Send me a manuscript, I’ll read it over, and make the necessary preparations.” Daphne sounded very happy.

“We are?” Sydney was confused. “I thought I needed to pay the money?”

“It’s been taken care of. Speak soon!” Daphne said mysteriously before hanging up.

Sydney was still figuring out what Daphne meant when Drew walked into the room. “Hey baby, what’s up?”

“I just got the most confusing call. From Daphne.”

“The publishing woman?” Drew asked as he joined her on the couch, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. He kissed her on the cheek tenderly.

Sydney gave him an odd look. “How did you know she was the publishing woman? Are you… Did you…”

“Did I pay the money for you to publish your second book? Yes. I did.” Drew smiled as he nuzzled her neck.

“Where did you get the money?! How did you know?!” Sydney’s eyes widened as she pulled away from Drew to look at him incredulously. It was an amazing thing he had done, and she felt overwhelmed and very grateful.

“Well, I had a little money saved up for traveling, but it’s okay. I’d rather stay right here with you. And as for how I knew, well… I was a little concerned a week ago when you were upset about the book, so I checked your first book to see who published it. And you know, that led to me finding Daphne, so I got all the information from her,” Drew explained.

“Are you sure you’re not going to regret this, Drew? This is really an amazing thing you did… And I honestly cannot believe that you did this for me. But it’s your traveling money! I know you’ve always wanted to go traveling and I don’t want to take that away from you.” Sydney said reasonably.

Drew shook his head “no.” “I love you, Sydney. It’s worth it. And I also have another surprise. I’ve gotten in touch with the people from
The Debby Show
… And they thought it would be a great idea to have you back on, to see how you’ve recovered from the quote unquote scandal. What do you think? It’ll be in two months, to give you time to prepare to release the book.”

Sydney blushed. “Oh, Drew, this means so much to me.” There were tears in her eyes, for she was so touched that he had done this for her. Her book was going to be published! And Drew had put his own dream on hold to help her reach hers. “I love you. So much.”

Love Doctor Tip #63:
If a man is willing to put your needs before his, especially on something important… He’s most likely a keeper!

Drew and Sydney stood backstage on the set of the show, waiting for their cue to go on. It was supposed to be any minute now, and Sydney was feeling the pressure. It looked exactly like it had half a year ago, and Sydney remembered what had happened
that
time. But now she had Drew with her.

There was quite a sizable audience here, and Sydney felt pretty anxious. It was nice to know that there were so many people here to watch her.

“You’re on in three minutes. How are you feeling?” Drew asked as he squeezed Sydney’s hand. “You look kind of nervous.”

“Yeah… Last time I went on this show, it didn’t end too well,” Sydney murmured as she leaned in closer to Drew for support. “And of course, being on national television is pretty scary in itself.”

“Don’t worry, Sydney, I’ll be right here watching you. Don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging,” he grinned as he kissed her gently.

Just as it had six months ago, the jingle of the show started. Debby was already on the set, sitting on a comfy sofa. “Hey! Welcome back everybody, to
The Debby Show
! Now to introduce our next guest. You may remember her from a few months ago. Now she’s back, and better than ever! Please join me in welcoming Miss Sydney Stone!” Drew had opted not to go on, which Sydney had no problem with.

Sydney walked on to a cheering crowd. “Hi, Debby! Thanks for inviting me here. I’m really glad to be here, again.”

“And we’re glad to have you! Now to start us off, we asked our audience to email or tweet us some questions for you! We actually received an overwhelming amount of questions, so we at
The Debby Show
spent some time and picked out the best ones. I’ll just grab my phone here, and read out a few!” Debby exclaimed with her usual enthusiasm as she grabbed her iPhone from the glass coffee table between the sofas.

“Sounds good to me!” Sydney grinned at Drew who was standing in the back, watching her. He winked back at her flirtatiously.

“First question… When is your new book coming out? Actually, I’m very curious about this too. Could you also tell us more about it?”

“Ah, yes, of course!” Sydney felt like she was dancing again, and suddenly had courage. She didn’t have to be afraid. All these people here today and on TV were there to watch her, and she couldn’t be prouder. “My new book is called
Love Without Rules
. See, Debby, I used to believe that to make a relationship work, you need to follow a certain set of rules. But really, you don’t.”

Sydney knew that she had to be honest. Millions of people were watching, and she knew that if she just said what she felt from the heart, it would be better than any kind of sales pitch. “As I’m sure you all know, my previous relationship did not end up in a happily ever after. And I’m not going to lie and say that I bounced back after it. It was hard. All of us will go through some sort of heartache but you know what? It gets better. Over the course of these past six months, I’ve rediscovered myself, and found a new perspective on relationships. And that’s what my new book is about.”

The audience exploded with cheer. Clearly they agreed with her, and liked what she was saying. Sydney blushed as she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Debby also was delighted. “That sounds absolutely fantastic! I can’t wait to read it. I simply
loved
the first book! Now, on to the second question! ‘Have you thought about opening a relationship counseling sort of clinic? I know I would go!’ Wow, an excellent question. Well, Sydney? Has the idea ever crossed your mind?” Debby smiled warmly. The audience seemed to be enjoying the show so far, and Sydney was getting more and more confident.

“Actually, the idea had never occurred to me! But thank you so much for suggesting it, and I’m going to think the idea over and we’ll see what happens from that!” Sydney smiled warmly.

Debby continued on in this fun, spirited talk show manner for a while, playing all sorts of games with Sydney like doing celebrity impressions (she did a mean Angelina Jolie) and even an improvised karaoke session. Soon, it was almost time to finish the show. Sydney felt somewhat sad about it, for she had really enjoyed it this time.

Debby and Sydney collapsed into their respective sofas, tired out from the karaoke. “Oh, Sydney, we’ve had so much fun! Now, I have one last surprise for you.” Debby had a mischievous look on her face.

“Another one!? Wow. Alright, surprise me!” The lights suddenly dimmed. Backstage personnel helped bring out candles and roses. One person even scattered rose petals around the ground. Sydney watched as Drew walked out from backstage and onto the set. “Huh? Drew? What’s happening?”

“This is Drew Young, Sydney’s boyfriend!” Debby introduced.

Sydney was confused, but Drew had a very calm and confident look on his face. “Sydney…” He started as he sank to one knee and reached inside his suit jacket.

Her mouth dropped open as tears welled in her eyes. Her hands flew to her mouth.
No way!

“Baby, I know we’ve only been dating for half a year. But I love you more than I’ve ever thought possible, and I know you’re the woman I’ve been waiting for my whole life. Sydney Stone, will you do me the honor of being my wife?” Drew said sweetly as a collective “aww” came from the audience.

Sydney smiled amid the tears, and nodded furiously. “Yes, oh my God, yes!” She allowed Drew to slide the ring onto the ring finger on her left hand before he stood up and embraced her tightly.

The crowd began to cheer, and Debby looked very proud. “And that’s our show! Thank you for tuning in to
The Debby Show
, and I’ll see you all very soon!”

The lights switched back on, and Sydney pulled away to look at Drew. “I can’t believe you pulled this off,” she said incredulously as she kissed him.

“For you, baby, I’d steal the moon.” Drew laughed as he kissed her again.

“This is so amazing. I mean, my book is being published, I just got ENGAGED, and I just had a successful talk show episode!” Sydney said.

Sydney suddenly spotted Anna and Derek running towards her. Anna’s arms were outstretched, and she pulled Sydney in for a tight hug. “Oh. My. God! Girl, I am so happy for you! I swear, I had no idea! But this guy…” She glared at Derek, “knew something and refused to tell me!”

“Guilty as charged.” Derek shrugged as he gave Drew a high-five. “Nice job! Congrats. You’re so cheesy though!” he joked.

Drew punched him in the shoulder playfully. “Shut up.”

Anna rolled her eyes. “Boys. Whatever. Come on, let’s have a celebration dinner!” She hooked her arm in Sydney’s and led her off the set towards the parking lot.

***

Later that night, Sydney had some time to herself as Drew had left to sort out some emergency at work with a diva celebrity. Though he had apologized profusely about leaving her on their engagement night, she didn’t mind it at all. She wanted the time to reflect on her life.

“I’m so happy,” Sydney said out loud, as she gazed at the beautifully cut engagement ring on her finger. Obviously Drew had spent a lot of time planning that proposal, and it had gone off perfectly. “I’m
so
happy.”

Sydney thought back to six months ago, when she had broken down in tears in the parking lot right after Scott had told her he had cheated and rejected her proposal. It felt like it had been a million years ago, but in reality, it had only been less than a year. Drew had come into her life like a hurricane, completely changing her. She owed it all to him.

Sydney reached beside her bed to the nightstand, where a rough copy of
Love Without Rules
sat. It was set to officially release in two days, and Sydney couldn’t be more excited. Already, thousands had pre-ordered the book. People wanted to read more of her writing, and this book was definitely going to be better than her last one. It was greatly influenced by her experiences.

Drew had actually chosen the title for the book, which made it even more special. She also was thinking about the clinic that one of her readers had asked about. It was actually a brilliant idea, and one that she had not thought about before. It would be an extra income, and she would still be able to blog while doing it. She decided to call a real estate agent the next day, to see if it was possible to open one. Sydney flipped to one of her favorite passages and began to read.

Success Story: Ask the Love Doctor #50 – Waiting

Dear Love Doctor,

I’m twenty-nine and I’ve been dating my boyfriend (he’s thirty-one) for around six years. I’m so in love with him, but recently, he’s been pulling away. We’ve never really talked about marriage or kids or any of that, but he’s really not being as loving and responsive as he used to. I don’t want to pop the question myself, but I have no idea if he ever wants to settle down with me! It’s making me so upset day after day, and I wake up every day feeling so bad! I don’t know if I should just keep waiting! Love Doctor, what do you think?

-
         
Sick of Waiting

Dear Sick of Waiting,

Good for you. You know what you want from him, but it seems like he’s not sure himself. So ask yourself, is it really worth it to keep waiting? Sure, you can ask him yourself, but that has the potential to end badly. Remember that you’re still young. You’re a sexy, powerful woman and you don’t owe it to him to stay at all. He hasn’t made any commitments to you, and that’s not what you deserve. So no matter how much it hurts, do what YOU believe in and what is best for YOU. He doesn’t seem to care about you, and so YOU have to do yourself a favor. You got this. I believe in you.

Good Luck!

-
         
Love Doctor Sydney

Dear Love Doctor,

It’s been a year since I took your advice and left that non-committal jerk! Right now I’m happily engaged and living with my new boyfriend. We’re getting married next month! And I owe it all to you. I can never repay you for saving my life. Thank you SO MUCH. I tell everyone I know how much your advice and your books have helped me. You are the absolute BEST!

-
         
Happy

Love Doctor’s Prescription:
If you find yourself constantly waiting and unsure of his feelings, it’s usually not worth it to stay. Somewhere out there is a man who will treat you the way you deserve, and you will find him. Just don’t give up hope.