"I slid to the ground, my back to the tiled wall and I pulled my knees to my chest as I cried.
Scratch that, I sobbed, bawled, I just let go of everything I should have felt an hour ago.
I cried until my throat burned and my tear ducts were empty. Then I just sat there, on the floor, in the stranger's bathroom, when I heard a familiar voice.
'Hey ness', He called softly from the other side of the door. My heart began to speed up at the nickname.
I sniffled loudly to signal that I was there.
'Can you come unlock the door?', He asked just as cautiously.
I slowly stood to my feet and walked to the door.
I turned the lock and closed my eyes as I felt him push it open.
Suddenly, I felt large hands cups my cheeks, his thumbs rubbing underneath my eyes causing my to shiver slightly.
'Open your eyes', he commanded, and I slowly let my eyelids lift up only to see exactly what I thought I would.
Green eyes. "
Vanessa Moore is a twenty two year old girl, with the mission of getting all of the girls at the orphanage her mother owns, that she happens to live in with her, adopted before her mother passes. This maybe tricky since she doesn't much time with her mom being diagnosed with cancer. After a long day of work, Vanessa has a... "run in" with a mysterious man and practically saves his life. Now he's willing to return a favor.
As Claire aims to leave her oppressive stepfamily behind, she befriends Zion. Will he be her ticket to freedom or a distraction in achieving her dreams?
*****
Claire Olsen has had a crush on Zion Petrakis since the first time she laid eyes on him, but he never noticed, instead only having eyes on the school's it girl, Maddie Jennings. Knowing she couldn't compete with Maddie, Claire hid her feelings for Zion, satisfied with admiring him from afar. However, when a series of events led Claire closer to Zion, her feelings for him grew from infatuation to love. And despite fighting hard to keep her feelings contained by distancing herself from Zion, he was determined to show her that he's earned a spot in her life.
[[word count: 100,000-150,000 words]]