Never Let Me Go ✔️

1 | voldemort

C H A P T E R
O N E

I knew I shouldn't have drunk that much last night, but I'm so damn hardheaded. It was either the loud music giving me a massive headache or the fact that my eighteen year old daughter treated me like I was the child and she was the adult.

Divorce is a bitch. I'm just going to say it. You think you love someone and know them inside and out, but you're clueless as a sack of potatoes. People change and he sure as hell did.

Okay, I won't blame it all on him— I was the problem too. Our marriage was very important to me. Trying so hard for eighteen years for the sake of your child isn't the way to go. Catching him with my best friend was apparently his way of going and that made it much easier for me to go as well.

Walking into work, dressed in black slacks and a button down pale pink blouse, on top of it all with a massive hangover, I take a seat at my desk and see Ashley with a mischievous smirk on her face.

"I wonder what it's like to be a kid again." She takes a sip of her coffee, holding onto the Friends mug I got for her last Christmas. I study her sarcastic tone which turns her cheeks into a light red color.

"I wonder what it's like to mind your own damn business."

"You know I always have to put my two cents into everything." Her smirk grows wider.

I narrow my eyes at her. "And that's why no one likes your ass around here."

"Only you, Val." She grins, making it harder for me not to smile back. She's lucky she's my best friend around here. 

"If you were someone else I would probably deckhand you right about now." My body relaxes as I lean my back against the chair. My fingers tap on the screen to my monitor, letting my computer come to life.

Fifty-seven unread emails later.

Her dirty blonde locks fall against her
shoulders as she giggles with me. "I'm honestly surprised that you haven't yet."

"Me too."

The next few hours go by and I'm amazed at how much work I got done. Several emails, documents, and quotes later made lunchtime approach rather quickly and I could use a sloppy ass burger right about now.

Would vodka interfere with that? Yeah, probably. "Hungry?" Ashley eyes me. She takes me grabbing my purse as a yes before I even stand my ass up to leave. "Let's go."

We head onto the highway to one of our favorite places to eat. Ronald's Fatty Meat. Honestly, I go there just because of the name. Screw sitting inside on a beautiful day like today. It felt amazing. The California breeze crept its way in, which helped my nausea drop. Thankfully I was feeling much better. Or it could be because Ash told the waiter to bring a pitcher of iced cold water for the drunk.

"How's Cynthia doing?" She murmurs, taking a sip of her sweet tea.

I gulp down about five sips before answering– pretty much trying to get over the brain freeze and nausea combined. "Great actually. She applied for college at three places, just waiting to hear back from them."

"What about Fred?"

"Do we dare say his name?"

"I'm sorry I didn't realize this was Voldemort we were talking about."

I gape into her soul as the waiter sets our food down on the table. Once he leaves I open my mouth. "He's the same, Fred. There's nothing really to say."

If he wasn't fucking my best friend then he was balls deep into work. Or was it the other way around?

"Such a shame." She sighs, grabbing a handful of fries to shove in her mouth. Instead of carrying on this wonderful conversation, I eat my burger in silence as she does the same. The grease interferes with my stomach and I start feeling sick all over again.    

"Please don't puke on me. For the love of God."

I chug the rest of my water. "Shit."

"What did you do last night?" She laughs.

"What I always do. Drink my life away."  

We tip our waiter and head on back to work. There's a lot of commotion coming from the conference room as we arrive back. You could hear the group of people from the elevator as you stepped out into the hallway.

"Was there a meeting we weren't aware of?" Ashley says, walking beside me through the hall.

I shrug and shake my head. "No clue."

A few girls snicker against the wall, whispering to one another like they were back in high school, gossiping about a crush. I take that as my cue and proceed... with caution.

"What's going on?" I keep my voice low, trying to match their level. Ashley giggles and nudges me with her elbow.

"We have a new marketing manager," Gina exclaims, letting Sarah follow. "He's the hottest man I have ever seen."

"Wow," Ashley mumbles sarcastically. "You're kidding?"

"No." They both shout in unison.

Oh, Jesus. They really are fangirling right now— or whatever these kids say nowadays. Perks to my daughters' generation.

A few more people leave the conference room letting a very tall man appear against the doorway. He is muscular than I would have imagined, hence the biceps bulging through his light blue tux. A dark full beard compliments his jawline, forming around a pair of mauve nude lips, and baby blue eyes that are hard for anyone to miss.

He catches me looking momentarily, letting his cerulean eyes stare back at me. Both eyebrows pull together, almost as if he recognizes me from somewhere.

I try to gather my thoughts while Ashley whispers into my ear, but I'm star-struck and sensing what feels like déjà vu. I can feel my heart rate increase and suddenly need to puke again.

"Is this a damn staring contest?"

I blink suddenly, returning to earth, and quickly shake my head. "I don't know what just happened."

"He can't take his eyes off of you."

"Mr. Penn?" Our project manager, Mindy, says standing oh-so-close to him. This is typical for her. She will fuck anything that walks. "Why don't you introduce yourself to everyone at River Estates?"

I'm puzzled the minute she said his last name. I think I know exactly who he was. Those blue eyes brought everything back.

"Penn? As in Elijah Penn?" I call out, letting everyone look my way— especially him.

I couldn't believe it.
How dare he do this.
After all this time.

His head slowly nods as he looks my way again. He starts to open his mouth, but unfortunately, I beat him to it. Maybe it was the vodka still in my system or the fact that someone I cared about more than myself returned back into my life, but this was absolute bullshit.

"What the fuck?"

• • •

Hi my loves. I'm starting to re do some things. Editing is a biiiitch 🤪 but I'm preparing for the Wattys. Don't forget to vote. I love hearing feedback from you. If you're a new reader- than welcome. If you are reading again, then I hope you like some changes. ❤️