Dear April (Sunshine & Shadow Book 2) (2 page)

I have a contract and I
can’t break it and end things with Vi or I lose everything. I never thought I’d
want to break it; it’s a great deal. The more money the movie makes, the more
money I make. I never planned on changing my mind. I never planned on meeting
you. 

I want to be with you,
April, but I know that if I breach this contract, my career is over. I’ve
worked too hard to throw everything away, even for you. I can only hope that
you’ll wait for me, and trust me when I tell you that it’s just business. I
don’t love her; I love you. I would give anything to have met you before
signing the damned paper, but I didn’t.

Please believe me.

Lex

April sat, shocked into
silence. Kip was quiet beside her.

What did that mean? Was
she supposed to just take it on good faith that Lex loved her? And what would
she do if he didn’t? What if he was
sleeping
with this woman, holding
her at night and kissing her? Could April look past that, simply because Lex
told her to trust him? She had trusted him before, and look where it had gotten
her.

She shook her head. She
refused to be taken in once again by the man she thought she loved. Hell, the
man she knew she loved. Who she was madly, unnervingly, irresistibly in love
with. But how? Every morning, she half expected to see his face at the dining
table. She couldn’t even enter the tack room without getting weak knees,
remembering their first kiss. She hadn’t given Triumph, her poor horse, any affection
in weeks. The memories associated with him made her heart hurt.

She couldn’t forget about
Lex while everything around her carried memories that brought him back into her
heart. She couldn’t stay at the ranch and try to heal. It wouldn’t work. She
had to leave.

Her father was downstairs
reading a book when April interrupted him.

“What’s up, sweetheart?”

“I found a school…” April
said. She tossed the brochure onto the couch beside him.

“Seattle, eh?” He picked
it up and began leafing through it.

“Yeah, but I need
experience to get in. I was thinking about looking for an internship before
September. If I start right away, I can get enough hours.”

“Where? In Seattle?”

April nodded. She looked
down at the ground, cautious of her dad’s reaction.

He leapt to his feet,
surprising her. “Honey!” he exclaimed. “That’s incredible. Alright, I’ll start
making phone calls right away. You find your mother and tell her what’s going
on, then start packing.”

“You think you can find
me somewhere that fast?”

Her dad nodded. “Of
course I can. Send your mom to the office when you find her and I’ll get her to
look for apartments. Ooh, this is so exciting! My baby girl, heading to the big
city!” he said, as he hurried away.

April sighed; it was
going to be a long few days before she could escape. Her parents had no idea
that she wasn’t interested in continuing her schooling. She just hoped a little
distance and a new place would be enough to help her get over Lex Mitchell so
she would be able to move on with her life.

She sat on her bed when
her dad bounded up the stairs.

“Well honey, your old man
came through, already; on my third call! I got you a 10 week internship with Highland
Books Inc. in Seattle starting next Monday. You’ll be assisting one of the
editors, Mr. Theodore Bradley.” He clapped his hands together. “You’re
welcome!”

April smiled weakly.
Anything
to get out of here.

“I still can’t believe
you finally decided to follow up on your degree! I’m so proud of you, honey.”

Three days later, April stood
outside the entrance of the apartment building in Seattle, waving goodbye to
her parents and Kip. The look on his face nearly made her cry.

Watching their car
disappear in the heavy traffic, she looked down the street. City people seemed
to rush everywhere; nobody took the time for a leisurely stroll. A heavy gust
of wind hit her and she turned away from the strange new world, entering the
warm, quiet comfort of her new home. 

Bridgeport was one of the
tallest apartment buildings in Seattle. April looked around the lobby. It
reminded her of a hotel she had stayed in with her parents as a child.

The receptionist, who had
introduced herself as Heidi, made April self-conscious. Her platinum blond hair
was slicked back into a tight ponytail, showing off her large diamond drop
earrings. April felt scruffy standing next to her, in her jeans and oversized
Canucks t-shirt.

She smiled shyly to Heidi
and took the elevator to the eighteenth floor. Her apartment looked empty, her
minimal belongings barely beginning to fill the rooms. When she had unpacked
that evening, she sat in the living room, feeling out of place and lonely –
even lonelier than she had felt at the ranch after Lex’s departure. She switched
on the TV to distract herself and Entertainment L.A came on.

There was Lex.

Lights flashed in his
face as he walked the red carpet of a movie premiere he’d attended the previous
night. A tall, lean blonde woman gripped his upper arm and sauntered along
beside him. 

The commentator spoke.

“Lex Mitchell and Violet
Rose were one hot topic at this year’s MTV Movie Awards, both nominated for
Best Onscreen Kiss in the film, If I Stay. But critics ask if the passion has
died off-screen, as the couple seemed to have lost the spark they once had.
Could they have been having a bad night, or is America’s favorite couple going
through a rough patch? Manager to the stars, Cash Mitchell assures us that the
couple is more in love than ever and can’t wait for the release of The Way You
Love Me, set to be in theaters in 2015. We’ll have more on stars and their
celebrity lovers tonight at 11. Stay tuned and find out if
your
favorite
couple is making…or breaking. I’m Candace Copley for Entertainment L.A.”

As the screen switched to
commercials, April mulled over what she had just seen. Could Lex have been less
devoted to Violet, because of her?

She shook her head. No,
she shouldn’t think like that. She was in Seattle to get over him. Thinking
about him wasn’t going to help at all. She turned the TV off and went to bed.

Highland Books Inc. was a
multibillion dollar company set in the business district of Seattle. Every employee
seemed to be female, blond and blue-eyed. April felt more out of place than she
had back at Bridgeport. A short, plump woman in a black pantsuit showed her to
Mr. Bradley’s office. A few minutes later he rushed in. April was stunned by
how young he was.

“Hi there,” he said.

“Good morning, Mr.
Bradley. I’m April Cooper.”

Theodore Bradley slid
into his chair on the other side of his colossal desk. He flashed a large,
white smile at her. She smoothed her pencil skirt over her thighs. His piercing
eyes seemed to see every move she made and she was suddenly nervous.        

“It’s nice to finally
meet you, April. Tell me a bit about yourself.”

“Well, as you know, I’m
from Canada. I grew up on a ranch.”

“You ride horses?”

April nodded, watching
the way his eyebrows twitched as he spoke. His grey gaze followed her.

“I’ve always been
fascinated with horses,” he said.

“You ride?”

He shook his head.
“Fascinated, but terrified.”

“I see.”

“Well, I think you’ll
find HB is a bit different from a ranch. Definitely less manure and more
paperwork.”

She laughed, already
relaxing a little. “If you don’t mind my asking, sir, what exactly are my
duties here? As you know, I have a degree in Business, not English Literature.”

“Well, the whole reason
why you got this job, Ms. Cooper, is because your degree
isn’t
in
Literature.”

“I don’t understand.”

“While it’s true that you
will be assisting me with some screening of authors’ submissions, your main
focus here will be organizing documents. Filing, etc.”

“Okay. Well, I hope I can
help.”

“I’m sure you can.” Mr.
Bradley got up, went to the filing cabinet in the corner of the room, pulled
out a file and placed it in front of April.

“Read this and get it
back to me with any notes that come to mind. By tomorrow, if you can.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Your desk is just
through the door, to the left. Make yourself at home. I’ll check in with you a
bit later.”

He opened the office door,
and April stood.  

“I feel like I should
apologize,” she said.

“For what?”

“For not being blonde.”

Mr. Bradley laughed a
full, throaty laugh that tipped his head back.

“I think you’ll fit in
very well here, April,” he said.

“Thank you, Mr. Bradley.”

“Call me Ted, please.”

April nodded. Her desk
sat behind two white screens just outside Ted’s office. There were a few others
scattered throughout the area and the people sitting at them typed at their
computers. She slid onto the hard swivel chair. The computer in front of her
was fancy, way fancier than her own and the crisp white keyboard shined. Brand
new. The phone next to her had labels on it and she spotted Ted’s name by the
number four. There was a small bouquet of fake flowers in a purple vase on her
left. She sighed. Fake. There was one window across the room from her but
besides that, the area was lit with florescent lights that made her eyes
hurt.    
Her H

April was glad she had
remembered to grab her blazer as the air was crisp inside the building. She
shrugged it higher up her shoulders. She knew she looked good in business
attire. Now if only there was someone around to notice.

The following days
consisted of mundane chores any intern would be plagued with. April fetched
coffee, and answered emails. Her highlights included accompanying Ted to a few
meetings and acting as liaison for the press at one minor press release. Ted seemed
to be a good boss and April found herself laughing a lot.

April was beginning to
feel at home in her spacious apartment as well. She had hung photos of her
family and friends on the wall that added a bit more interest in the main room.
She was comfortable in this city and, unlike at the ranch, there was no
constant reminders of the past.

One week after her move
to Seattle, Hailey called her.

“Oh my goodness, I’ve
missed you so much! What’s it like there? Have you met any cute guys? I looked
up your boss in Google, April ... holy, how on Earth do you get any work done?
He’s a dreamboat!”

April smiled fondly and
gave her friend a play-by-play of her time in Seattle up to date. Hailey
listened intently, asking questions here and there. She stopped short when
April admitted she hadn’t even noticed any cute guys.

“Well ... do you think
you’d be open to dating?” she asked.

April paused. “I don’t
know. I ... can’t even imagine it right now.”

“Because ...” Hailey
said. She sighed into the phone and seemed to bite her tongue.

“What? What were you
going to say?”

“Nothing.”

“Hailey, I swear when I
come back ...”

“Fine!” April waited for the
answer.

Hailey’s voice was low,
and careful. “No-one’s going to compare to him, right?”

April had to bite her
lip. She shook her head, realized Hailey couldn’t see, and said, “No. No, I
don’t think so.”

“Have you spoken to him?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“You know why not,
Hailey.”
Why not? Because then I’d have to see him,
April thought.

Hailey seemed to read her
mind. “A phone call isn’t the end of the world. Just to let him know you don’t
hate him.”

“I don’t?”

“I don’t think you do,
April. I just think you’re sad, and angry.”

April shook her head. “I
don’t want to talk about him, Hailey.” She checked the time. “I have to go; I’m
going to be late.”

“Where are you off to?”

“I’m going out for a
drink with everyone to celebrate my first week. Ted is coming to get me since I
don’t know where the bar is.”

“Ted? Like your boss,
Ted?”

“The very one. Look, I’ll
call you soon, okay?”

“Okay. Be careful, April.
We all miss you.”

April bit her lip again.
“I miss you too. Tell everyone I love them.”

As she hung up, the phone
rang again. She answered it, checking the time and deciding she could spare a
few minutes.

“Hi,” Kip said.

“Oh, it’s you. Hi.”

“How are things?”

April felt her lip
quivering. She missed Kip more than anything else. She missed his hugs, and his
laugh, and his warm smile that made her happy inside. He was the person that
she could count on to bring the umbrella on her rainy days. She knew him better
than she knew herself. And now that she couldn’t see him and talk to him every
day, she felt like part of her was missing.

“I miss you,” she
whispered.

She heard Kip suck in a
lungful of air. “April, I miss you too. More than you know.”

“I think I know.”

“So,” he coughed. “What’s
it like there?”

She wanted to tell him
about her life in the big city but then the buzzer rang.

“Kip, I’m sorry, but I
have to go. Ted’s here to pick me up.” She pressed the button on the wall and
spoke into it. “Yes?”

The receptionist’s voice
from the lobby sounded
through the speaker. “Ms.
Cooper, Mr. Bradley is here to see you.”

“Tell him I’ll be right
down.”

April rushed into her
bedroom, put her cell phone on speaker and threw it on the bed. Kip’s voice
came out in muffled tones.

“You have…a date?”

April laughed as she
changed out of her work clothes. She had been too lazy to change when she got
home, only now noticing that lounging on the couch had put a deep wrinkle in
her grey pencil skirt.

“No, Ted’s my boss.”

Kips mood immediately
lightened. “That’s great, April! I’m glad you’re enjoying yourself in the big
city. Just don’t forget us here when you get rich.”

“I don’t see that
happening any time soon, but I will definitely keep you in mind when I make my
Nobel Prize acceptance speech.”

“Later, April.”

“Bye Kip.”

Ted waited in the lobby
of Bridgeport. “Ready?”

April nodded. Outside,
the air was cool with a soft evening breeze making the trees dance and the
leaves sing. It smelled of hot pretzels and cigarette smoke and she could hear
the wind briskly rearranging the branches in the tall oak trees lining the
street on one side.

Ted walked beside her,
and stopped after a few minutes next to a building that was decorated in green
and brown panels. A large neon sign read, ‘Paddy’s’.

“An Irish pub?” April said.

Ted nodded. “This is our
usual hangout. Come on, everyone’s already inside.” He held the door open for
her.

“April!” she heard as she
walked into the dimly lit pub.

A blond woman hurried up
to her. It took her a second to recognize Meagan from the office. She worked
for the Chief Editor, Gerald Hyde. She was a short, plump woman with platinum
hair that was always perfected into a neat bob that curved around her ear
lobes. Her big, blue eyes were alight with laughter, and probably a little too
much alcohol. It was Friday night.

“Hi Meagan!”

Meagan grabbed April’s
hand and led her into the crowd of coworkers. April shot an apologetic look at
Ted, who grinned and turned towards a group of men by the bar. The girls April
headed towards were gathered around three round tables that had been pushed
together. She recognized a couple of the other assistants from the lunch room
where she often made coffee for Ted. She made her way through the warm bodies
until she stood beside them, followed closely by Meagan. Both girls slid onto
empty bar stools and April waved the waitress over.

“I’ll have a Bud Light
Lime please.”

Then she turned to
Meagan.

“So how did you start
working for Mr. Hyde?”

“It’s a long story,”
Meagan chuckled, “He was the only one who would accept my resume when I first
moved here. If it wasn’t for him, I’d probably be homeless.”

“Really?”

Meagan nodded. “I owe
everything to that man.”

The chatter turned to
men.

The girls took it in
turns spilling their secrets about their past and present loves and, while
Meagan was distracted by the gossip, April took the opportunity to use the
restroom. She looked in the mirror and almost didn’t recognize herself. Was she
imagining it, or were her cheek bones protruding more than they used to? Was
her face a little paler than it had been? She looked down at her body. She had
lost weight. She hadn’t been eating as much as she used to at the ranch.

April smoothed her hair
back, exposing the horseshoe earrings Kip had bought her for her birthday the
previous year. First she smiled at the memory, then she frowned. She missed Kip
so much. Her body physically ached for his hugs. She missed everyone at Blue
Haven, especially her father, but she knew how proud he was of her, and she couldn’t
let him down.

One last look in the
mirror told her she was prettier when she smiled. She plastered a fake one on
her face and pushed the door open.

Right into Ted.

“Oh! Ted, I’m sorry!” April
felt her cheeks heat up. Beer had spilled down his shirt. For a moment, he
looked angry, but it was quickly replaced by humor.

“Wow April, I didn’t know
you could be so aggressive.” He laughed.

April balked. She
couldn’t believe what had just happened. A week on the job and she had already
dumped beer on her new boss.

It took her a second to
realize that Ted wasn’t alone. Close behind him was Gerald Hyde, the Chief
Editor of the company, Meagan’s boss. Hyde smiled at her. April couldn’t help
but think it was more of a bearing of his teeth than it was a smile. She felt
uncomfortable.

“April Cooper, finally we
meet.” Hyde extended his hand. April shook it.      For an older man, Hyde was
attractive. But the look in his eyes unnerved April, like he was trying to
study her as a science experiment. She felt like she was under a microscope.

“Nice to meet you, Mr.
Hyde.”

“I’m sure we will have a
chance to work together soon. I look forward to it,” Hyde said, still holding
April’s hand. She tried to slide it from his grip and, after giving it a small
squeeze, he let it go.  

“Likewise,” she mumbled.
She looked at Ted, who stood beside her. “If you’ll excuse me, sir.”

As she walked away, she
heard Hyde whisper. “Look at that ass, Teddy. Don’t tell me you hired her for
her brain.”

She hurried to her table.

The weeks followed,
April’s duties repeating over and over. Before she knew it she had worked at
the publishing house for a month. It still didn’t bore her to get coffee for
Ted or read though endless pages of tedious submission proposals by aspiring
authors. She actually woke up every morning, excited to see her coworkers and get
to work. Her weekends were usually uneventful.

April knew she should
talk to Ted, tell him she had heard what Hyde had said about her that night in
Paddy’s, but they were friends and she didn’t know if she would be taken
seriously. Those two always seemed to be together. So she sucked it up, buried
herself in mountains of paper work Ted provided her and forgot all about  Hyde
and his off-putting, disturbing snarl of a smile that seemed reserved only for
her.

“Good afternoon, sir, do
you need me to get you anything?” April asked Ted one morning when he entered
the office.

“No, thanks, April,” Ted
replied as he passed her desk. “I’ll email some files your way in about ten
minutes.”

April nodded and busied
herself with organizing her computer desktop. She almost had it in alphabetical
order when she heard shouting and looked over the top of her cubicle.

Gerald Hyde was leaning
over a young intern April had met a few days prior. His name was Joseph and he seemed
very shy. He had stuttered when he introduced himself to her.

“Are you an idiot, then?”
Hyde was shouting.

“N-n-no, sir…” Joseph
said, quietly, his eyes fixed on the carpet.

Hyde swung his hand
through the air and knocked the papers Joseph was carrying to the floor. The
files flew in all directions.

Joseph bent to pick them
up but Hyde stopped him with a hand on his shirt. April saw Joseph close his
eyes and was about to say something when Ted stepped out of his office.

“Gerry!”

Hyde looked up, letting go
of Joseph. The younger man immediately began straightening his shirt, backing
away.

“Hey, can you help me
with something for a second?” Ted said.

Hyde followed Ted into
his office and the door shut. She walked over to Joseph, who was collecting his
papers from the floor. She bent down to help him.

“What happened?” she
asked.      

Joseph glanced at Ted’s
office door, obviously afraid Hyde would return before his task was finished.

“I have no idea,” he
said, “That’s the third t-time this week he’s lost it on me…I-I-I’m not even in
this department. It’s when I’m d-d-delivering files.”

April frowned.
“Delivering files to who?”

“Mr. Bradley mainly. And
Mr. Hyde is always t-t-there.”

They stood up and April
handed Joseph the papers she had picked up. He looked at the name at the top of
each and sighed.

“These are for Mr.
Bradley.”

April gently took them
from his shaking hands. “I’ll take them to him if you want.”

“Are you sure?”

She nodded. “From now on,
just put Ted’s files on my desk and I’ll make sure he gets them.”

“Thank you.” Joseph’s
eyes were filled with gratitude.

April returned to her
desk, placed the files in her top drawer and opened her email. Ted had sent her
an assignment and she got to work on it, but she couldn’t forget what had just
happened. She didn’t understand why everyone in the office seemed to have
unwavering respect for this creepy man. To her, Gerald Hyde just seemed like a
bully, with a convincing face.

After a few minutes,
Ted’s door opened and he and Hyde stepped out, heading straight for her desk.
April closed the document she was working on and retrieved the files from the
drawer. She stood up when the men reached her.

“Sir, I have the mail Joseph
was delivering. We didn’t want to disturb you.”

Before Ted could answer,
Hyde stepped forward. “Where is he?”

“Like I said,” April
said, turning her attention to Hyde, “We didn’t want to interrupt, and I know
how busy you both are, so from now on Joseph will deliver Ted’s mail to me, and
I’ll make sure he gets it on time. That’s what I’m here for after all; to make
things easier for everyone.” She looked boldly into Hyde’s cold expression.