Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler

Author:Genevieve Wheeler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

* * *

Three years, nine months, and two hundred minutes earlier, when Adelaide first met Rory Hughes at that boat race (albeit briefly), she believed him to be a prince. Her prince. There was something about him that spoke to the part of Adelaide that grew up watching Disney films, that had memorized every lyric from every song in Cinderella (and often performed them all for her family).

Two years, twelve days, and three hundred and three minutes after that, when they met again—a chill in the air, fairy lights and expectations hanging above them—she could practically hear the refrain: So, this is love / So, this is what makes life divine. This was it, she thought. This was love. She was certain.

But it wasn’t. Love was challenging, complex, unforgiving, yes. But love was also meant to feel easy, comfortable, not. Not whatever it was Adelaide felt—something akin to her heart being grated, slowly. Fresh cuts emerging each time Rory refused to adhere to plans, to say he loved her, to call her his person or his partner or his favorite.

Adelaide was imperfect, she knew this. She was stubborn and awkward, easily drunk, at times manic. She was opinionated and argumentative, too emotional about current events and old films. Obsessive about making the bed. But, particularly in this relationship, Adelaide had been overwhelmingly kind, patient, caring. Yet, she continued to feel as though she was not enough, as though she would never be enough to earn the love and respect of this prince, Rory Hughes.

Perhaps he wasn’t a prince at all, she thought. Perhaps he was yet another dragon she needed to slay, another hurdle to overcome on her own journey to self-actualization. Or love. Or something. And, perhaps, the only way to find the meaning of this relationship was to let it end.

So, for the first time in nine months, four days, and one hundred and eight minutes, Adelaide Williams considered letting this whole mess of a fantasy go.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.