One Night in Foxbrooke by Evie Alexander

Author:Evie Alexander [Alexander, Evie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781914473258
Publisher: Emlin Press

4

Leia ran away from the manor and down the high street, her footsteps a percussive slap-slap-slap that broke the night-time silence.

Foxbrooke was a small town, with streets so ancient and picturesque they were often used for filming period dramas. This late in the evening it was quiet and peaceful which was what Leia needed. She reached a glass-fronted shop, the windows papered up on the inside, a sign outside reading ‘The Clear Palate – opening for business soon.’

Fumbling to unlock the door, she let herself in.

Inside, her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness and the space. Tables and chairs were piled high in the middle of the room, covered by a dust sheet. At the back end was the kitchen, and a corridor that led to the toilets, utility rooms, a small office, then the rear of the building.

This had been her dream. To open her own restaurant. It had been their dream. Her and Tim. But somewhere along the line he’d fallen out of love with her and into the arms of her friend, Leanne.

‘It’s your fault. You never made time for me. You always put the business first. I’ve tried to make it work with you, but you make it too difficult. I need you to buy me out.’

Leia pulled a chair from the pile and sat down, staring at the whitewashed walls as memories continued to needle and taunt her.

‘We can’t have any colour on the walls and definitely no local artists exhibiting their crap. We’re not a community café. The food should be the focus, not some tasteless painting some old git did in the church hall.’

‘You pretentious FUCK!’

She stood, pushing the chair back with a screech, and stalked towards the back of the building.

Flicking on the office light she went to a pile of boxes, rooting through them until she found the one she was looking for. She carried it back into the main room and turned on the lights.

Fuck Tim. She wasn’t going to let him ruin this for her. She was going to make this place her own and that started tonight.

Inside the box were small tins of paint she’d bought to try out different colour schemes. They were unopened after Tim’s pronouncement on the necessity of sticking with white. ‘We’re called The Clear Palate, Leia. Let’s have all our messaging on-brand, okay?’

She prised open the first lid. Inside was a golden sunny yellow. She held it in one hand, a small paintbrush in the other and faced the white wall.

Thoughts of Tim flooded through her like an overflowing storm drain, full of filth. She couldn’t do this with his energy tainting her.

‘Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to suffering,’ she said out loud. ‘The dark side are they. Once you start down the dark path, forever will it dominate your destiny.’

Her eyes fluttered closed.

‘Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force.’

She let out a long, slow breath.

‘Let go of your anger. Let go of your hate.’

In her mind, she imagined standing beneath a waterfall of pure white light as it flowed into her body.

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