Written in the Stars (A Short Story) (7 page)

“All I can say is I’m sorry.
I never meant to hurt you in any way.
It’s just a job. I get paid to lie to people every day, but I really started to like you and wanted to get to know you better.
”

“But it’s not just a job James
, that’s the thing
. People really believe what you say and they follow your advice. It’s wrong to prey on them li
ke that.
I
,
of all people
,
should kno
w.”

He picked up a coaster and began tearing it into small pieces. “I know you’re right.
When Serenity first hired me
to take care of her online readings
,
I never worried much about it. To be honest I thought if people were
stupid enough to believe some stranger
on a computer could predict their future, they de
served everything they got.
”

“That’s really
awful.”

“To me it was just a way
to make some extra cash.
After I while
I started to feel
bad
. So many of the problems people have are really sad
, and a lot
of them just want someone to talk to.
I tried to help as many
as I could. I even tried to help you
,
if you remember.
”

It was true, he had tried to tell her to take control of her own destiny and stop relying on psychics, but she had refused to listen.
“That still
doesn’t justify it.”

“I know.
When you agreed to meet with me I handed in my resignation.”

“Really, so you don’t work for Serenity anymore?”

“No, I wanted to start with
a clean slate with you
,
and that mean
t no lies. Well, no more lies.”

“That’s kind of sweet, but I’m not sure if I want to forgive you. You must
have a lot of bad karma
,
and I’m
clearly far more spiritually evolved
than you
.”

“At least give me another chance and say you’ll go out with me again. That’s not too much to ask
,
is it?”

“
Considering what you did, yes. And w
hat about all those
other girls you
’ve
picked up on Hearts of Destiny
? I bet I’m not the only one.”

“I create
d
that profile just for you.
Check out my joining
date if you don’t believe me.
It’s the only way I could think of to meet you without having to physically stalk you. That would have been far creepier.”

“
Don
’t kid
yourself,
w
hat you did was pretty high up on the
creepy stalker scale.”

“You’ve got to admit
,
though
,
that
it could make a great story to tell our grandchildren one day.”

“Not helping your ranking on
the creepy stalker scale.”

“Okay, just let me buy you ano
ther coffee now, that’s all I ask
. No more talk about marriage or grandchildren till at least our second date, I promise.”

“I’m an old-fashioned
girl,
let’s make it the third date. Even better, let’s just enjoy the moment and let the future take care of itself. A wise person once gave me that advice and I think
it’s time I started taking it.”

“I agree. That’s the wisest thing I’ve heard in a
very
long time.
”

“I guess o
ne good thing that’s come out of this whole situation is that
I don’t ha
ve to pretend I’m something I’m not with you. Y
ou’ve already seen me at my craziest.
”

“Yet I still turned up today, so what does that tell you?”

“It tells me that you’re just as crazy as I am, and that means we’re going to get along just fine.”

“I think this could be the
beginning of a
beautiful friendship
,
which
may
,
or may not
,
be written in the stars.”

“We could always check with Serenity.”

“Don’t even joke about it.”

THE END

About the author

Francene
Carroll is a tru
e romantic at heart. S
he has written a number of books
in the
romance
genre
ranging from paranormal
romance
to
comedy and suspense. She enjoys writing stories with interesting twists and tur
ns, and she tries
to keep her readers guessing till the end.
You can visit her blog at:

http://francenecarroll13.blogspot.com.au/

or
her website at:

www.francenecarroll.com

Other books by
Francene
Carroll:

Pleasure Island

When Jackson Moore and Allie Read are paired up for reality show Pleasure Island the challenge is simply to outlast their opponent. Both believe they will win with ease. What they do not realize is that they are about to face the greatest challenge of all – falling in love.

Jackson Moore is a typical Hollywood bad boy and millions of women would love to be stranded on a desert island with him. Not every woman finds him irresistible though.

Allie Read is an uptight documentary filmmaker with no tolerance for men like Jack. It does not take long for the sparks to
fly between this mismatched pair,
and no one is more surprised than Alli
e when she finds herself becoming
attracted to him.

As their physical attraction heats up Jack and Allie struggle to control themselves in front of the cameras, while at the same
ti
me dealing with their unexpected
feelings for each other.

EXCERPT

“And that brings us to the end of the show,” said Pam as she beamed at them from the security of a studio in L.A., thousands of
kilometers
away. “You might not be seeing us for a while, but we’ll definitely be seeing the two of you. I’d like to remind you that this is the last time you’ll have any contact with another human being besides each other until the show is over. Good luck, and remember to keep it real.”

The screen went black, and he was suddenly alone with Allie again. He wished that Pam hadn’t felt the need to remind them of just how cut off from the rest of the human race they were, because the thought sent a cold shiver down his spine. He looked across at Allie to
see how she was taking it, but she was already off the lounge and walking toward the kitchen. She shot a disdainful look his way, but she didn’t say another word. Pam had explained that they didn’t officially have to start spending time together until eight o’clock the next morning, and after picking something out of the fridge, Allie made her way straight to her room with her dinner, closing the door loudly behind her.

For the first time in a long time, Jack was completely on his own with nothing but the unfamiliar sounds of the night to keep him company. He stretched and yawned and then went to scratch his crotch before remembering that he wasn’t alone at all. There were people out there watching his every move, and even though he was used to being filmed and dealing with the paparazzi prying into every aspect of his life, this was different. He’d never been a fan of Big Brother-type shows because he couldn’t understand why people were interested in watching other people sitting around all day or doing stupid stunts. His own life was far too exciting for that, but he supposed that most people out there lived really meaningless existences and he should feel sorry for them. He couldn’t find it in his heart to feel sorry for anyone but himself at the moment, though.

All he wanted was to lie down and go to sleep for a long time, but he knew sleep was going to be very hard to come by that night. His cravings for a cigarette and a drink were there, niggling at the back of his mind constantly, occasionally giving him a knifelike jab in the guts to remind him of their hunger. He got up and paced the room, checking that he’d closed the sliding doors earlier. Allie hadn’t even noticed that he’d locked the place up. So typical of a woman like her to expect him to do everything and not even acknowledge it. He stood at the door for a moment, staring out at the moonlit beach, and was again reminded of what a fantastic time he could have had here with the right woman and a bar. With a sigh, he leaned his head against the glass and then, on a whim, decided to go outside for a walk on the beach. It might help to tire him out a bit, and the fresh air would do him good. He knew that the cameras could zoom in on him anywhere, at any time of the night or day, and the highly sensitive audio equipment could pick up every sound he made even though he wasn’t wearing a wire. There was no escape from prying eyes or ears even outside, but he felt a sense of freedom as he walked down the steep stairs and onto the empty white beach that seemed to glow in the darkness.

His walk started off well enough, and he was enjoying the fresh air in his lungs, when a loud crashing sound from the jungle behind him made him jump. It was probably just a branch falling down, he told himself. It happened all the time in the jungle. It was no big deal. He continued walking up the sand for another five minutes as he remembered all the great times he’d had on beaches in the past, playing football, surfing, jogging, camping, screwing. What right did she have to tell him that he was soft when he’d roughed it plenty of times, in much harsher conditions than this? It was true he hadn’t done anything physical for a while, but how hard could it be for a seasoned outdoorsman like him?

“This is going to be a piece of cake,” he said out loud. “How can Allie hope to beat me when I was practically raised on the beach and she’s hardly set foot on one in her entire life?”

At that moment, he heard the loud sound from the jungle again, but this time it seemed much closer. It was followed by a low wailing noise, like a very large cat that had just spotted its prey.

“Maybe it’s time I headed back to the house.” He turned around and made his way back in the direction he’d come. He tried to look like he was in no hurry by sticking his hands in his pockets and whistling as he strolled up the sand. The moon had gone behind a cloud now, and the beach was much darker. Then he heard the crashing sound again, but this time it seemed to be right next to him. Something screeched, and he heard a flapping sound, like wings. He pictured a huge prehistoric bird swooping out of the jungle, and he gave up all
pretense
of trying to look cool as he ran back toward the house as fast as he could. He was already winded from the walk, and before long, his legs began to feel like lead. He could feel his muscles burning as they tried to cope with the unfamiliar exertion, so he made his way down closer to the water, where the sand was firm, and slowed down to a walk. The cool night air had irritated his lungs, and he gave in to a coughing fit that seemed to last forever.

“Looks like I need to do some work on my fitness,” he said with a laugh when he’d managed to recover himself. He pulled his shoulders back and tried to look confident, but after a few minutes of walking, he stopped and scrutinized the tree line uneasily. He hadn’t walked too far up the beach, he was sure of it, but he still couldn’t see the house. He remembered how difficult it had been in broad daylight for them to spot it through the trees, and his panic started to mount. He had turned on a couple of lamps in the living area while he waited for Allie, but the house was so high up that it would be very hard to see them, and he vaguely remembered
Tye
saying something about the eco-friendly lights switching off when no one was in the room.

“Stupid greenies,” he muttered. After the noises he’d heard coming from the jungle, he really didn’t want to get any closer to the trees, but he realized that he had no choice. The wind had risen, and it was getting cold.