She quickly got sick of the ones that always had their hands out, the ones that only remembered that she was alive when she released a new book and acted like they were long lost best friends, the ones that never bothered to ask her how she was but made damn sure to ask her for money and free stuff only to disappear again when the hype for her latest book began to die down.
It only made her feel more alone.
She stopped responding once the hints started dropping, ignored the invites from the people who only saw her as an ATM, and moved on. She just...
She was sick of people hurting her.
So, when Amber was assigned to help her at a signing a little over a year ago, she did what she always did, she brought a thank you gift, kept her requests to the bare minimum and offered to take Amber out to dinner after the signing as a thank you, even as she mentally prepared herself for what she knew was coming.
Only, it never came.
Amber never asked her for anything. She simply helped her, engaged with the readers, and when she took her out that night, Amber pulled out her credit card before she got the chance and treated her to dinner. So, when she saw Amber’s email a few days later, Kristen wasn’t sure what to expect only to once again be taken by surprise.
Amber came across a book on Captain Kidd that she’d thought Kristen would like and wanted to send it to her. From there, they became friends only to have Amber realize just how disorganized she was and took over and she’d been with her ever since.
“I’m pretty sure she threatened my balls if I did anything to hurt you, if that helps,” Garrett explained as her head finally stopped spinning.
Nodding solemnly, Kristen said, “It really does.”
“She also thought that it would be a good idea if I looked over an international contract for the Spanish rights for your books that looked questionable,” Garrett said, taking her by surprise.
“I usually just forward them to my agent,” Kristen said as Garrett took her hand in his and gave it a gentle tug that reminded her that she had bigger problems at the moment than a questionable contract.
“I really don’t think this is a good idea,” Kristen said, licking her suddenly dry lips as they neared the automatic sliding doors and-
“I really do hate you,” she mumbled sadly when he kept going, forcing her to walk back into hell on earth.
“Use your hate to get you through this,” Garrett said as he tightened his hold around her hand and kept going, dragging her into the mall as she wished that she could damn Amber to hell and back again only...
That really wasn’t an option.
Amber wasn’t feeling good, which meant that it was up to her to pick up the iPad that Amber ordered for the giveaway that Kristen was hosting at her table this weekend. As they walked deeper into the mall, making sure to steer clear of the escape rooms because of the ban and all, she began forming a plan, one that would get her in and out of the store in less than five minutes flat with the iPad in hand, and back home in less than thirty.
Knowing that time was a factor here, she pulled her hand free and began searching through her bag for the receipt that Amber sent her, making sure that she didn’t let her pace drop below a speed walk and kept weaving in and out of people stopping here and there, groups of teenagers, elderly people enjoying an evening walk, moms trying to navigate strollers, toddlers racing in front of her and stayed focused.
When she spotted the store a few minutes later, she mentally prepared herself for what she was about to do and moved her ass faster, eager to get the hell out of this place. Once they reached the store, she slowly exhaled, nodded to herself and told herself that she could do this, and headed straight to customer service, absently noting that there were five people standing in front of her and followed that up with another nod as she noted that there were two employees working the counter.
Two was good.
Two meant that they would be out of here in half the time, Kristen told herself with a firm nod as she looked over the receipt that Amber sent her and-
Where the hell did Garrett go? Kristen found herself wondering as she glanced back towards the exit only to sigh when she didn’t see him. For a moment, she debated going back to look for him only to decide against it since he’d find her eventually, but just in case, she pulled her cellphone out of herbag and went to send him a text message only to sigh and shove it back in her bag when she realized that it was dead.
She really needed to get that thing replaced, Kristen thought as she stood there, willing the line to move faster. Twenty minutes later, a mix-up, and a five-dollar gift card later as an apology for wasting her night after finding out that the iPad had been sent to her address instead, Kristen was heading for the door and-
“Would Kristen Haven please come to guest services to pick up your child,”came the announcement that had her frowning as she reluctantly made her way back towards guest services only to find Garrett sitting on a bench with his arms folded over his chest, glaring at her.
Not really sure what that was about, Kristen went to open her mouth only to have the middle-aged woman working behind the guest service’s counter hand her a piece of paper with what could only be described as a pitying look. Curious, Kristen looked down at the piece of paper in her hand only to feel her lips twitch.
I’m no longer speaking with you.
When Kristen went to open her mouth again, the woman behind the counter cleared her throat and handed her another piece of paper. After sending Garrett a questioning look, Kristen looked down at the piece of paper in her hand only to end up rolling her eyes.
You left me to die!
“How is it my fault that you couldn’t keep up?” Kristen asked only to watch Garrett slowly narrow his eyes on her.
“I tried texting you, but my phone died,” she said, only to watch as he looked pointedly away and-
