Recovery Read Online Free Page B

reports she needed to complete. The memory of the hurt in O’s voice had been haunting her for the past few weeks. She deserved so much more than Max was delivering. The jackass hadn’t returned since that night and it had been driving O crazy. Pursing her full lips, she tapped her fountain pen against her teeth and wracked her brain for ideas. She needed to pull her little sister out of her funk. Maybe all she needed was to know she had more options than Max.
    The two had been together so long it was like they had become entwined. Two souls that shared the same heartbeat. Once, it had been a beautiful thing to witness. Now, it had turned into a twisted codependency. Her bright green eyes narrowed as a plan began to form then sputtered out. Frustrated, she threw her pen down in disgust and rose, standing on her black Christian Louboutin heels. She slipped her scarlet Christian Dior purse over her shoulder and headed out of the office.
    Aurelie believed you should work hard so you could play hard. For her that meant designer labels. The one thing she’d always had in addition to a mind for business was an eye for fashion. Her job at Dubois Incorporated allowed her to indulge both. Not that being the boss’s daughter meant she had it easy. More often than not it meant working three times harder to prove to everyone she deserved to be there. It was a motivation she used to fuel her hunger to be the best she could be. The sounds of her heels were muffled on the navy carpet as she headed out of her office.
    “Laura, I’m taking lunch,” she told her secretary. This dilemma was too big for her alone. She needed to call in reinforcements. Once she was outside she pulled the sleek, black android phone out of her purse, calling her best friend.
    “Henri, mon amour.”
    “Hello my love.”
    “Can you talk?”
    “Yes, luckily for you, I’m in between clients,” Henri said “You just buttered me up like a roll, so tell me what you want,” he said, his voice full of mirth. “Do you need me to tame that mane of yours?”
    “My hair is just fine, thank you.”
    “Mmhmm.”
    “Henri!”
    His laughter came over the phone in waves as she made her way to the local deli. She’d met Henri years ago when she’d gone into a salon that had been recommended and it had been love at first style. They’d exchanged numbers and the rest was history. If Henri had liked ladies, she’d have married him in a heartbeat.
    “So tell me, petite, if this isn’t for an emergency appointment why are you calling me before eleven?”
    “Oceane.”
    “Is she okay?”
    “Physically, yes, but mentally the girl’s a hot mess.”
    “Max still can’t get it together can he?”
    “No, and it’s taken its toll on her. She’s so somber, holing up in that apartment like a hermit. If we didn’t have family dinners I’d doubt she’d venture outside of those four walls much.” Her sister did freelance writing to keep a steady income, with song writing and poetry to feed her soul. Though to be fair the things she loved had begun bringing in more than her  “day job”.
    “Our little sunbeam needs a night out with some fabulous friends, and by fabulous I mean us.”
    “My thoughts exactly! This is why we’re best friends, Henri.”
    “Great minds do think alike. We should go to the new jazz bar, Dizzy’s.  I’ve heard nothing but good things about it and you know our little nightingale would love it.”
    “Perfect!”
    “Why do I sense a ‘but’?”
    “There was another area I needed your expertise in.”
    “Oh, this I don’t like the sound of.”
    “I need you to provide an eligible bachelor who’s all the things Max isn’t.”
    “You know she’s nowhere near ready for that.”
    “It doesn’t have to be serious, Henri, I just want to show her what she’s missed and that life after Max is possible.”
    “I’ll do it, but you’re going to owe me if I’m going to face her wrath.”
    “O’s wrath?”
    “You Dubois