Hold On (Broken Hearts #1)
Chapter One
Aliannah Stackton was your typical American girl. She was blonde, 5’5’’, freshly tanned from a summer in Europe and had eyes as blue as the Adriatic Sea. As she stepped off the plane at JFK airport, the smell of approaching autumn clung to the air. The sizzle of the Croatian sun and glitter of the glorious sea had been replaced with concrete buildings and grey skies. She had spent the last three months working on one of the mega yachts that dock along the Croatian coastline.
Aliannah was happy to return home to her family and friends but was definitely disappointed to leave summer behind. She sighed as she made her way through the usual security and baggage reclaim. She was not looking forward to returning to her internship at the Museum of Antiques. The mundane just didn’t appeal to her after experiencing the high life of a European summer. The trip absolutely lived up to the hype and beyond. She had spent the entire first year of her internship planning this trip instead of being focused. She planned to fly to Dubrovnik and spend a week exploring the city before continuing her travels across the continent. Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Albania, and Greece, before possibly getting a flight up to Paris and then returning to the States. She had a list of sights in each country she wanted to visit, as well as many restaurants and vineyards.
That all went out the window. She landed in Dubrovnik, checked into her hotel for the week and went out for dinner. While strolling along the marina after dinner, admiring the boats, from local fishermen's boats to the extravagant billionaire yachts, Aliannah couldn’t help but stop and watch as there was shouting coming from one of the mega yachts. It was a large three-storey boat with a black exterior. It looked like a floating hotel. In large letters on the bow was the name “Serenity”; the scene playing out before her was anything but serene. Three women and a man were arguing on the back deck when all three women stormed off the boat, luggage in hand. The man, exasperated, spotted Aliannah on the boardwalk and asked if she knew how to do laundry and set tables. He hired her on the spot for the week – and so her summer of adventure changed. It was an adventure, just not the one she had planned.
The cab home took over an hour in the usual New York traffic, but she eventually made it back to her apartment. Her key had barely turned in the door when she was knocked over by a squealing redhead. Michelle Westbrook was Aliannah’s best friend. They had been inseparable since they met in kindergarten. They always dreamed of leaving Hartsgrove, Ohio, to live the big life in NYC. Aliannah always thought of Michelle as her sister, as they both lacked siblings. She had returned just in time for Michelle’s 23 rd birthday that weekend.
“EEEEEEK! I am so happy you are home!!” Michelle shrieked as both girls got up from the floor.
Aliannah dusted herself off. “Next time, can you not floor me when I’m wearing white?” Michelle shrugged this off and helped bring in the luggage.
“I know we spoke every day, but tell me all about your summer” Michelle was so excited to hear Aliannah retell her entire story – no detail was allowed to be spared. So Aliannah obliged and retold how she was hired to work on Serenity, what the boat was like, and how the crew was.
“So…. Did you sleep with any of the deckhands? I know you denied it in all our phone calls, but I am certain you did!” Michelle, if anyone could sniff out a scandal from ten miles away. There was no way Aliannah could tell her about Ivan. She would never hear the end of it.
“No, sure, the rules were strictly no co-ed staff quarters, and we were too busy, between the constant duties aboard the ship or genuinely sleeping from exhaustion. Being a stewardess is all go! go! go!” Michelle appeared to have bought Aliannah's story, at least for now.
“We should go out for cocktails before this jetlag kicks my ass” Aliannah knew this distraction would get Michelle off her case. So the girls got changed and went out to the bar down the road.
Ger’s bar was the standard sports bar. They served crazy good chicken wings with amazing Malibu Sunset cocktails. The girls were easily pleased. They sat back, enjoyed their meal, and soaked up the atmosphere. There was some sort of ball game being displayed across all the monitors in the bar. Aliannah was not really into sports, so she didn’t know who was playing; just that the patrons of the bar were happy with the progression of the game.
At 10 pm, Aliannah decided she had had enough and desperately needed to get to sleep and adjust her body clock back to NYC time. They paid their bill and walked home. It was the end of August, so it was not bitter cold at night yet. On the plus side, the consumption of the cocktails also kept them warm. She was sure she wasn’t drunk, but between the cocktails, jet lag, and then the fresh air hitting her on the walk home, Aliannah felt a happy buzz.
The doorman – Harry, smiled at them as they entered their apartment building. There had been many a night he was witness to their drunken stumbles returning from a night at Ger’s or whatever club they had been to. Harry was like the grandfather of the building, part of the furniture, one could say. He was in his 70s and never took a day off work. NEVER. He was always there.
“Welcome back, ladies. It is always good to see you return safely.” he would always say when they came home. Having Harry there made the girls feel safe. It’s rare to find such a genuine doorman who does not have untoward intentions.
After finally getting up to the apartment – those lifts take forever! She felt so content to be back in her own room that she didn’t even bother to remove her makeup. She simply threw on her pyjamas, crawled into bed and instantly fell asleep.
It was a sleep so deep it was dreamless. She didn’t wake up until late in the afternoon the next day. Michelle was shrieking again. Aliannah would need to have strong words with Michelle if she was going to keep up with this shrieking nonsense. She didn’t used to do that? Did she? Maybe the three months living apart has desensitised Aliannah from it. By god, was it noticeable and really annoying now!
Aliannah cursed her friend for such a ruckus and dragged herself from the comfort of her bed to the sitting room. She could not believe what she was seeing. She rubbed her eyes to be sure. Peonies, a gigantic bouquet of white peonies, easily 200 dollars’ worth in one huge bunch; there was a red envelope with a card in it in the centre of the bouquet. Aliannah asked Michelle who the mystery man was.
“These are not for me; the card is addressed to you!! So the real question is who your mystery man is! Who is “I”??” Michelle resumed her shrieking with added bouncing as Aliannah took the card from her to read it herself.
Aliannah, please forgive me – I.