Remember Me?

Chapter Thirty-Six

The black and white striped suitcase sat innocently on the black silk bedspread.

This was it.

Her flight to LAX departed tonight at 10:00pm sharp. Of course she had to be there an hour earlier to check in, store her bags and buy a magazine for the plane...

Was she really doing this? Leaving everything, everyone she loved behind her?

Closing her suitcase with resolution she deftly did up the zip.

Yes.

It was time for a fresh start. A fresh start without Blake Goldstein.

She sighed, putting her head into her hands. She missed him so much, sometimes, for just a split second she forgot to breathe. She would wake up in bed, stretch her muscles and try to curve into him, except there was no-one on the other side of the bed.

Blake Goldstein had ruined her.

There was no way she could ever be with anyone else ever again. Not after Blake.

He was everything. Her world started and ended with him, there was no doubt about that.

Ever since she laid eyes on him again in his office, behind the table, interviewing her, she knew he had captured her heart in a firm grasp and would never let go.

All of that seemed like a lifetime ago, a lifetime since she was waving goodbye to Dubai and settling back down into London, ready for a fresh start.

And here she was, nearly a year later, making another one, in yet another country.

It was hard. Hard being alone.

Previously, she had enjoyed her independence. A successful businesswoman, there was no need for her to rely on anyone else.

Now, though, it was a completely different story.

Dark emerald pools, jet black hair, bulging muscles, his jaw...

And his intelligence, the way he made her laugh, his hugs, his command, the way his voice broke in the morning.

"Hmm... good morning Blondie."

She sighed, picking up her bag, straightening her cream suit in the mirror.

Time to face the music.

She had resolved this morning, at around 3:00am during one of her frequent restless nights, that she would go into the office to say her final goodbyes and hand in her notice.

It would be hard saying goodbye to everyone, all the friends she had made in the office: Rob, her International Relations team, Kat Carter her PA, but the hardest goodbye would be to Blake.

How could she look him in the eye, knowing she was carrying his child, and simply walk away?

She had resolved that it would be better not to tell Blake about her pregnancy. He would be livid that she forgot to take her pill for 6 months. She knew it. It was best that she did this by herself.

Of course, James and Kait would help when they could, but otherwise, she'd be alone in California.

And perhaps that was the best way.

If you're alone, no one can hurt you.

Going to pick up her wallet, she dislodged her pillow and revealed a flash of khaki.

She gasped, picking up the shirt and clutching it to her chest.

"Oh Blake..."

She held it up to her nose and inhaled the faint scent of his masculine cologne.