The Beginning of Goodbye by Lark Sullivan

Author:Lark Sullivan [Sullivan, Lark]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 196618510
Publisher: On A Lark
Published: 2023-08-12T04:00:00+00:00

The Closet

Hailey

The doorbell rang once, twice, three times. Haley cringed at her reflection in the mirror. Every damn time, three rings. Why was one ring not enough? Why did he need a whole trumpet blast to announce his arrival?

And a trumpet blast was exactly what the ring sounded like, echoing off the plaster walls of her apartment in Philadelphia. The open floor plan with the second-floor bedroom and a small landing overlooking the living room was why she had fallen in love with this apartment, but god, did it echo.

The doorbell rang out again–once, twice, three times. Haley took deep breaths as she counted the rings before slamming down her eyeliner and picking up her phone.

Stop ringing! she texted her boyfriend, Joe.

She picked up the eyeliner again. “At least let me finish my damn eye,” she muttered. Her phone buzzed, almost as if in response.

Ok :)

She sighed as she read it. Leave it to Joe to be happy in the face of her annoyance. But the response, as usual, had a calming effect on her. His good nature always made her feel steady. It was probably the thing she liked most about him.

She quickly finished her makeup and went downstairs, out her apartment door, and started down the three flights of stairs to let Joe into the old brownstone. The stairs creaked as she descended, and she ran her fingers over the peeling light green wallpaper to steady herself. She was convinced that the handrail would pull out of the wall if she put any weight on it. The carpet on the stairs was worn through, and the staircase crisscrossing the floors was impossibly narrow. She smiled in memory at the tough time the movers had getting her furniture up to her apartment.

The smile was still on her face when she opened the building door a moment later.

“Ha! I knew you were happy to see me,” Joe said as he swooped in to wrap her in a tight hug and give her a long kiss. It was late October, and the windy walk to her apartment had left his cheeks chilled, but his brown eyes still held warmth.

She laughed at his enthusiasm but gently pushed him away. “You know I don’t like PDA,” she admonished.

“Aw, c’mon, there’s no one out here to see,” Joe replied.

“Yeah, sure, no one but little ol’ me.” The deep, sultry voice rose from behind Joe’s bulky shoulders, which took up the entire doorway. Haley’s smile froze on her face before melting into a frown.

Joe looked at her innocently. “Did I forget to mention that Alex is going to walk over to La Jeune Fille with us?”

“Yeah, you might have. But look, I’m not quite ready. Do you guys want to come in and wait? I’ll only be a couple minutes.”

She was hoping Alex would volunteer to wait outside, but instead, she bumped Joe out of the way and squeezed her muscled figure into the stairwell. She wore a thin, gray T-shirt with skinny black jeans, and dark eyeliner ringed her deep brown eyes, making them pop against her pale skin.

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