The Dilemma by Paris B. A

Author:Paris, B. A. [Paris, B. A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: thriller, Mystery, Contemporary, Suspense, Adult
ISBN: 9780008244910
Amazon: B07SS7YTD8
Goodreads: 46220049
Publisher: HQ
Published: 2019-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

Livia

Josh stands on a chair, his tanned legs showing under the cut-off jeans he’s wearing with a loose white shirt. I watch as he waves his arms at the guests, who are busy chatting, trying to attract their attention. Max steps next to him and taps a fork against his bottle of beer until there are only murmurs.

‘Hello!’ he shouts and people cheer back.

I’m standing with my friends from work, smiling at Josh when, out of the corner of my eye, I see him. He’s standing in front of the marquee wearing a tuxedo with a red bow tie and my stomach clenches horribly. He looks so confident and sure of himself that for a moment I don’t know how I’m going to be able to bear being in the same place as him. Since I found out about him and Marnie, I’ve managed to avoid him completely, arranging dinners with other friends, pretending to be ill so that Adam would have to cancel the dinner he’d arranged at ours – although it wasn’t really a pretence, because the thought of having to sit down and eat with Rob made me physically sick. But I was damned if I was going to cancel the party I’d dreamt about for so long. All I needed was to avoid him, I told myself, which wouldn’t be difficult with another ninety-nine people around. But now that it’s here, the reality is very different.

The rush of hate I feel is so violent that I have to turn away for a second, and my cheeks flare as I try to control my breathing.

‘So for tonight,’ Josh continues, ‘we have a musical adventure for you all! At certain times during the evening I’m going to play a song that one of you chose, and it’s up to you to guess who chose it.’

There are more cheers and laughs and I try to focus on this, everyone’s enjoyment, to take my mind off Rob.

‘Do you understand?’ he cries.

‘Yes!’ everyone shouts back.

‘Then let the party begin!’

‘Celebration’ starts playing through the speakers, and before anyone can stop me I move away from the marquee and go and stand at the top of the steps, as far from Rob as I can. Max is hovering nearby, filming and taking photos, and I’m glad he insisted on being the photographer because otherwise we might not have had any. Adam confiscating everyone’s phones was so unlike him I nearly laughed, thinking at first he was joking. We’d never talked about a no-phone policy, so it must have been a spur-of-the-moment decision. Maybe he was worried that people would spend half of the evening checking their messages, but I don’t think any of our friends would do that.

I take a few deep breaths. This moment of solitude amongst so many people has calmed me and I smile as I watch my friends laughing together, already having a good time. I smooth my dress down, rearranging the skirt so that the hem is straight, and flattening the material that has bunched slightly around my waist.

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