The World That Was Excerpt #2
I know! I know, we're late buuuut yesterday was Sunday and....we were lazy. But, on this beautifully, horrendous Monday, we are back to work giving you all a second glimpse! So, sit back and enjoy! On sale 9/1/2019, preorder now!
Five hours after she’d initially shut her eyes, Lea quickly sat up in bed after a noise outside of the room startled her awake. She gasped silently before she leaned over her lap and gripped her forehead. Glancing at the clock on the side table, she saw it was well after four in the morning. But, that wasn’t what confused her, it was the fact Adrian was out of bed; again. Sighing to herself, she was used to him roaming at random hours of the night. His sleeping habits were utter shit and she’d find him on the sofa most nights; asleep.
Getting out of the bed, a palm rubbed along her face as she paced out of the room and paused. The second bedroom was unlocked, and the door was wide open. Her breath was stolen as she stared at the bright cluster of lights along the right-hand side of the doorway. Never, in her time of being there, had the door been unlocked, let alone open. Clenching her jaw, she silently placed one foot in front of the other and leaned over.
There he was, fully dressed with gloved fingers quickly tapping along one of the keyboards hooked up to a large mainframe. Multiple screens illuminated the concentrated expression on his face. Pictures of soldiers on a dark tarmac flashed rapidly across one, a blue screen with code constantly running across a log-in box ticked away with multiple encrypted black dots.
She stepped into the doorway with her breath held. Many of the screens looked like spreadsheets working on their own and constantly updating.
But Adrian, he was focused solely on the screen in front of him.
“Espero Communications” “Speranza Foundation” and “Hoffnung Realties” were just a few names she could see around his body.
As he clicked onto another link, he glanced coolly towards another screen and moved out of the way for an additional keyboard.
Lea blinked several times as she reread the same name: Viltis Enterprises. The same company backing her mother’s hospital.
Her shoulders visibly sagged, and in a moment, she panicked. Back stepping into the master bedroom, she flicked her gaze from one side to the other. With a light pant, she clenched her jaw and swallowed.
What was his interest?
She knew Flanders was his friend and he wanted answers, but just what did he moonlight in? How did he get those pictures? She could hear him fidgeting in the other room followed by his footsteps. Frozen in the spot, she stared ahead in the dark at the doorway; waiting for him.
Going over everything he gathered, he could feel the stress sitting on his shoulders and the reality of the situation sunk in. Everything brought a toll on him. He was ridiculously sleep deprived from expelling his energy all day with Lea and working late at night.
He stopped just outside of the door to rub between his eyes with a long sigh. He needed a break and a bed. The floor creaked underfoot once he got closer and cracked across the room with the next footfall.
She watched him in silence and saw the outline of his body against the semi-lit window. He pulled off his shirt only to freeze with the fabric falling from his fingertips. Her heart stopped as he did.
He quickly pulled off the gloves as he stared at Lea’s outline in the darkness. His mind was going a mile a minute, “Hey babe, did I wake you?” he asked. Before she answered, he stepped towards her and rubbed along her shoulder; his voice groggy, “My mistake, let’s go back to sleep.” He said kissing her head in a gesture showing his fondness.
Locked in place, she didn’t pull away from him as he gently caressed her shoulder. He wasn’t angry she’d caught him, and he seemed remorseful for being up.
Why?
Thinking it’d be best to leave the fact she saw his junk room alone for now, she instead wanted to see if he’d tell her. “No, you didn’t wake me. Where did you go?” she asked.
There was a significant pause.
His silence caused her to look down and away. He felt his heart sink because he couldn’t answer with any real truth without inciting more questions. Questions led to complications and complications led to… He didn’t want to think about it. Sighing, he shook his head with one knee on the mattress, “I couldn’t sleep, so instead of waking you up with my pacing, I went for a walk. Same old.” He lied.
She couldn’t dispute with what he said because she knew of his odd sleeping habits. This wasn’t the first time he’d left, and they’d gone for a late-night walk before. Not wanting to start an argument or get into a discussion she wasn’t ready for, she knew it was the wrong move, but he hadn’t given her a reason to lose her trust.
Not yet.
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Five hours after she’d initially shut her eyes, Lea quickly sat up in bed after a noise outside of the room startled her awake. She gasped silently before she leaned over her lap and gripped her forehead. Glancing at the clock on the side table, she saw it was well after four in the morning. But, that wasn’t what confused her, it was the fact Adrian was out of bed; again. Sighing to herself, she was used to him roaming at random hours of the night. His sleeping habits were utter shit and she’d find him on the sofa most nights; asleep.
Getting out of the bed, a palm rubbed along her face as she paced out of the room and paused. The second bedroom was unlocked, and the door was wide open. Her breath was stolen as she stared at the bright cluster of lights along the right-hand side of the doorway. Never, in her time of being there, had the door been unlocked, let alone open. Clenching her jaw, she silently placed one foot in front of the other and leaned over.
There he was, fully dressed with gloved fingers quickly tapping along one of the keyboards hooked up to a large mainframe. Multiple screens illuminated the concentrated expression on his face. Pictures of soldiers on a dark tarmac flashed rapidly across one, a blue screen with code constantly running across a log-in box ticked away with multiple encrypted black dots.
She stepped into the doorway with her breath held. Many of the screens looked like spreadsheets working on their own and constantly updating.
But Adrian, he was focused solely on the screen in front of him.
“Espero Communications” “Speranza Foundation” and “Hoffnung Realties” were just a few names she could see around his body.
As he clicked onto another link, he glanced coolly towards another screen and moved out of the way for an additional keyboard.
Lea blinked several times as she reread the same name: Viltis Enterprises. The same company backing her mother’s hospital.
Her shoulders visibly sagged, and in a moment, she panicked. Back stepping into the master bedroom, she flicked her gaze from one side to the other. With a light pant, she clenched her jaw and swallowed.
What was his interest?
She knew Flanders was his friend and he wanted answers, but just what did he moonlight in? How did he get those pictures? She could hear him fidgeting in the other room followed by his footsteps. Frozen in the spot, she stared ahead in the dark at the doorway; waiting for him.
Going over everything he gathered, he could feel the stress sitting on his shoulders and the reality of the situation sunk in. Everything brought a toll on him. He was ridiculously sleep deprived from expelling his energy all day with Lea and working late at night.
He stopped just outside of the door to rub between his eyes with a long sigh. He needed a break and a bed. The floor creaked underfoot once he got closer and cracked across the room with the next footfall.
She watched him in silence and saw the outline of his body against the semi-lit window. He pulled off his shirt only to freeze with the fabric falling from his fingertips. Her heart stopped as he did.
He quickly pulled off the gloves as he stared at Lea’s outline in the darkness. His mind was going a mile a minute, “Hey babe, did I wake you?” he asked. Before she answered, he stepped towards her and rubbed along her shoulder; his voice groggy, “My mistake, let’s go back to sleep.” He said kissing her head in a gesture showing his fondness.
Locked in place, she didn’t pull away from him as he gently caressed her shoulder. He wasn’t angry she’d caught him, and he seemed remorseful for being up.
Why?
Thinking it’d be best to leave the fact she saw his junk room alone for now, she instead wanted to see if he’d tell her. “No, you didn’t wake me. Where did you go?” she asked.
There was a significant pause.
His silence caused her to look down and away. He felt his heart sink because he couldn’t answer with any real truth without inciting more questions. Questions led to complications and complications led to… He didn’t want to think about it. Sighing, he shook his head with one knee on the mattress, “I couldn’t sleep, so instead of waking you up with my pacing, I went for a walk. Same old.” He lied.
She couldn’t dispute with what he said because she knew of his odd sleeping habits. This wasn’t the first time he’d left, and they’d gone for a late-night walk before. Not wanting to start an argument or get into a discussion she wasn’t ready for, she knew it was the wrong move, but he hadn’t given her a reason to lose her trust.
Not yet.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VZX8Q9L
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