My Best Friend Read online

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  EPILOGUE

  MY BEST FRIEND

  Written By: L.M. Sousa

  Copyrighted ©2018

  All Rights Reserved

  Disclaimer: The following story is a work of fiction, any names of real persons, places & events are purely coincidental & are incidents of the author’s imagination & are used in a fictitious manner. Names of actual places, persons or businesses are for atmospheric purposes only.

  Cover Design by: Rocking Book Covers

  Copyright Disclaimer © 2018

  The following book is copyright by the author L.M. Sousa and any electronic or hardcopy reproduction and distribution of the book of any kind without written consent from the author is strictly prohibited.

  Dedication

  To the Love of my life; my best friend <3 <3

  Table of Contents

  CHAPTER ONE

  Present Day…

  Twelve years earlier…

  CHAPTER TWO

  Present Day…

  CHAPTER THREE

  Ten Years Earlier…

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Present day…

  Ten Years Earlier…

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Present Day…

  Nine years earlier…

  CHAPTER SIX

  Present Day…

  Five Years Earlier…

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Present Day…

  Three Years earlier…

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Present Day…

  CHAPTER NINE

  Present Day…

  CHAPTER TEN

  Two Months Earlier…

  Present Day…

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Five Years Later…

  Free Preview

  CHAPTER ONE

  Present Day…

  Victoria

  What’s taking so long? I’m thinking to myself as I sit outside in the reception area. I look at my watch and it’s twenty to eleven. My interview was supposed to be at ten. One of the things I hated was waiting. I wasn’t a very patient person and I was going to lose my mind if I had to sit here and wait any longer.

  I look at the receptionist trying to get her attention, she looks up at me and shrugs her shoulders apologetically. “He should be done any minute. Sorry Ms. Jones, the meeting is taking longer than expected.”

  I want to roll my eyes, yeah right. If I didn’t need this job so bad, I would walk out of here. Victoria, think about your life and your future.

  I take a deep breath trying to calm myself down. I worked hard my entire life and I deserved this job. It wasn’t easy balancing my home and my school life and if it wasn’t for my parents’ help, I think I would have dropped out of college the first year.

  I looked around, S & J Investments was an internationally known and recognized company. They provided their employees great insurance for the entire family, an incredible pension plan and those were things I needed to think about now. I was thirty years old and I had to start securing my future, I wasn’t getting any younger.

  What was worrying to me was that I haven’t done a lot of research on this company. I wasn’t sure who the CEO was and it was bothering me that I should have spent some time last night researching. I’ve had a lot of interviews since I moved to the city, but I haven’t received a call back. I was about to give up when S & J called me yesterday requesting an interview. My hopes went up because my options were limited and I needed to get this job or I would have to look at working for minimum wage. The money I would make from that wouldn’t cover my student loans and take care of things at home.

  As I was contemplating leaving before I hear a throat clearing. “Ms. Jones?”

  I get up from the chair and walk over to a beautiful woman dressed in an expensive looking pantsuit. She had long black wavy hair and dark green eyes hidden behind a pair of red framed glasses. It seems as though she didn’t want to be here talking to me because her smile doesn’t reach her eyes but she sticks her hand out anyway for me to shake, “I’m the Executive Assistant to the CEO, Tara. Nice to meet you. Please right this way Ms. Jones”. I nod and don’t say anything. I follow her down a corridor with offices on both sides and some of the doors open, allowing the conversations inside to be heard. I heard a lot of shouting and I even saw a man walk past us and slam his door shut. These people seem to be pretty stressed out and tense.

  We walk to the very end of the hall. There are a pair of double doors, she knocks on them twice and waits for a reply from inside.

  “What is it?” I hear a deep voice come from inside. She opens the door a little and speaks to whomever is inside, I couldn’t see anything.

  “There’s a Ms. Jones here to see you sir for the interview. Shall I let her in?”

  “Yes, of course. Please take this files off my desk, will you?” Tara goes inside closing the door behind her, leaving me out in the hallway. I wait as the door opens again and she comes back out with a stack of files.

  She lifts her head directed at the door, indicating for me to go inside. “Mr. Santos is ready to see you now.” I nod, here goes nothing. I walk into the enormous office. The space is unbelievable. There is a sitting area furnished with a deep red leather couch and there is even a fire place in front of it. On the far side there is what looks like a bar stocked with bottles of liquor and a carafe. There in the middle of the room is a mahogany desk. The black leather office chair was turned away from me, facing the beautiful view of New York City, I would love to have an office like this one day.

  This CEO is currently on the phone, I can hear him speaking in a low voice about finances sheets or something so I wait.

  I was standing there, unsure of what to do. Do I sit on the chair across from him? I study the room, standing and waiting for him to finish his call. When he finally does, he doesn’t turn around right away. He seems to be writing notes in a legal pad. After a few minutes of silence, he finally speaks.

  “It’s been a long time, Tori.” I freeze unsure of what to do or what to say. Have I met him before? The only people that call me Tori are family and the few friends I have. I wait for him to say something else because right now I want to run out of here.

  He finally swivels around and faces me. My fears were confirmed, it is who I thought it was. Those dark brown eyes that haunt me every night and the dimples on each cheek as he smiled his gorgeous smile. He still looks the same striking guy I knew all those years ago, except now he’s older and somehow even more handsome.

  My mouth feels like I swallowed a bunch of cotton balls and my throat feels like it’s blocked. When I feel like I’m able to speak, I whisper his name, Alex?

  Sitting in front of me is the man whom broke my heart years ago, Alexander fucking Santos.

  Fourteen years earlier…

  Victoria

  “Tori, Wait up!” I hear my name being called, I turn around to see my best friend, Alex running towards me.

  “Alex, you’re always late. You know how I hate being late.” I turn around and continue to walk to school. He walks and keeps up with me and is at my side as we head to school.

  “You are too uptight and stressed all the time. You need to relax, you’re going to give yourself a heart attack before you even start college.” He says, playfully.

  I look at him as we walk down the main street. We live in a quiet town with a population of 5,450 as of 2016 called Bradshire in New York State. Not much g
oes in here except the occasional family of tourists or maybe someone’s husband was caught having an affair with the neighbour’s wife. But nothing important that would make me want to stay here when I grew up.

  “Are you going to Mick’s party later?” He asks me casually.

  “What party? I didn’t hear anything about a party.” My face drops but it’s not unusual for me not to get an invite because I’m not popular, Alex is.

  “You’re hearing it now. Mick is throwing a house party and I said we would go.”

  “You were invited to the party. They don’t want me to tag along with you.” I say.

  “Of course, your invited, you’re with me Tori.”

  I roll my eyes, he’s like a big brother. He’s always trying to include me in his social life and he’s always trying to protect me. Sometimes, I think because his mom and mine are best friends that he feels obligated or maybe he feels sorry for me so he continues to hang out with me. Unfortunately, I’m not outgoing and I don’t have a lot of friends. He is the popular one, I’m not. I’m chubby with freckles and dark brown curly hair.

  Alex is one of the hottest guys in our high school. Girls line up for a chance with him. He has black hair that he shaves on the sides for the ‘fauxhawk’ style. He has wide shoulders and is at least six feet tall. He drinks a lot of protein shakes in the morning so he’s developing large muscles, not that I looked or anything. I’m sure he’s going to grow even more considering we are only sixteen. I’m five foot seven and I still have to look up to look at him.

  You could say that Alex and I are complete opposites. I am invisible, everyone notices him though. If we hadn’t grown up together, I don’t think we would have been friends.

  I’ve known him my entire life, he is like a big brother to me. Lately though, I’ve been having these feelings that seem more than just friendship to me. I don’t want to ruin our friendship and make things awkward between us so I haven’t said anything. He probably sees me as his kid sister.

  “I can’t wait until I have enough money to buy my car. I’m sick of walking everywhere.” He utters.

  I smile, it’s been the same conversation every single day, he tells me he doesn’t want to walk and then I tell him to let his parents drive him to school. He then says that they would pick me up as well on the way and I say that I like the walk. He becomes annoyed and agitated and says that I shouldn’t walk to school alone. Then he shows up and walks with me every single day. It’s a pattern that we just keep repeating.

  “Why don’t you drive to school, Alex. I can walk by myself, you know I like walking.”

  “You shouldn’t be walking by yourself around here. You know how I feel about you walking on your own.”

  I smile as I shake my head in exasperation. He’s so stubborn and frustrating sometimes.

  “So, you are coming tonight or what?”

  “I don’t think so. They’re your friends, not mine. I’ve also got to study for my math exam Monday.”

  “What are you talking about? It’s Friday, there’s no school tomorrow. Don’t tell me your going to stay at home on a fucking Friday night and study when you should be enjoying your last few weeks of tenth grade with your favorite guy.”

  “That’s presumptuous of you, I love my dad too.”

  “How about one of the top two favorite guys.”

  “There’s also the pizza guy I love, because he brings us pizza. Than there’s the…”

  He grabs my arm and pulls me interrupting me, “C’mon smartass let’s get to school. Wouldn’t want to be late or anything.”

  He then continues, “As I was saying, you have to come with me to the party. My friends like you, you just never say anything.” He says.

  “They put up with me because of you. Big difference.”

  He shakes his head in frustration, “You’re coming. I’ll borrow my mom’s car, I think she isn’t going to need it tonight.”

  “Yeah, yeah. You stubborn fool.” I say as I shake my head in exasperation. He puts his arm around my shoulder and gives me a kiss on the top of my head as we walk the rest of the way.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Victoria

  I was finishing up my science lab when I hear Alex talking from somewhere in the back of the classroom. I try not to eaves drop but the conversation gets louder. I hear an irritating voice followed by annoying giggling, most likely coming from Libby Mathews. I turn my head and there she is, the head cheerleader and Alex’s on and off again girlfriend since ninth grade. Alex for some reason see’s something in her but I don’t involve myself in his love life.

  “You better come tonight, Alex. It won’t be fun without you.” I see Libby pressing her chest practically in Alex’s face as he’s sitting at his desk working on his lab. He looks up at her every now to answer her questions but continues to work. He seems to be oblivious to her advances which is funny to watch.

  Libby is used to getting all the attention from the boys and I think that she can’t stand that Alex won’t give her the attention that she’s used to getting.

  I put my books in my back pack and get ready to leave the classroom when I hear my name being called. I turn around and Alex is shoving his school stuff into his bag. I walk slowly towards his desk where Libby is and she looks at me with hatred. I’ve never said or done anything to her to make her hate me so much. I don’t know what her problem is.

  “You were supposed to let me know when you were leaving, babe.” He says, completely oblivious to the fact that Libby looks like she’s going to bitch slap me. I try to look at Alex and ignore Libby’s glare but she’s standing with her arms crossed tapping her foot against the floor.

  “I didn’t want to interrupt your little conversation. I was going to meet up with you later.”

  “Alex, you’re supposed to come over and help me pick out an outfit, remember? My parents aren’t going to be home” She grabs on his bicep and squeezes.

  “Sorry, I’m walking Tori home. I’ll see you guys later at the party.” Libby looks like she’s going to explode with fury.

  Alex’s brow furrows at me like he senses my uneasiness and grabs my hand and we walk away from bitch face and out of the classroom without so much as a backward glance.

  “Alex, I told you I didn’t want to go to the party.” I scold as we walk away.

  “Tori, c’mon for me? You’re not going to stay home tonight and read. Your wasting the few years left we have of careless living. We got to enjoy life before we go to college in a couple of years. You’re going to some fancy business college and I’m probably going to a clown college.” He jokes.

  I use my elbow to hit him in the stomach. “You’re smart, if only you applied yourself and actually tried, you would be going to any college you wanted.”

  We still had two years until we had to go to college but we have to already start planning our career paths.

  “Well I saw that crappy movie last week with you, so you owe me. You’re coming with me tonight and you’re not going to say no.”

  “That movie was awesome, you told me you liked it!” I say.

  “I watched it because you wanted to see it. I hate Rom Coms. I wanted something with explosions and cars, maybe with some naked chicks.” He says amusingly.

  I roll my eyes and pretend I didn’t hear that.

  We walk out of the school and we head to my house.

  Present Day…

  Victoria

  I don’t move an inch, I don’t even think I’m breathing. I see Alex’s face staring back at me but I’m not sure if I’m dreaming or if it’s actually reality.

  “Are you just going to stand there gawking at me or are you going to come here and give me a hug?”

  “No, I’m not going to gawk or hug you for that matter, I’m leaving.”

  I turn fast and start to walk out the office but Alex jumps quickly out of his seat and rushes towards me. He grabs my arm before I can even open the door.

  “Hey, where are you going? I thought that
after all these years, you would be excited to see me and catch up.”

  He’s standing close to me, I can feel the heat radiate off his body. I slowly turn around to face him. He’s bigger than what I remembered, he seems like he has bulked up in the last few years. I can’t be sure because he’s wearing an expensive looking black suit with no tie and his shirt has the top few bottoms unbuttoned. His hair isn’t in his usual fauxhawk anymore but he now sports very short hair.

  “I have nothing to say to you, Alexander Santos. If I knew you were the CEO here I would never have applied for the job. I may be desperate for work but not that desperate.” I turn again to leave but he holds the door shut so I can’t open it. I lean my forehead against it contemplating banging my head so I could walk up from this nightmare.

  “Please, Tori…”

  “Don’t call me that. You don’t get to walk into my life and pretend that nothing has changed.”

  “Please, just hear me out. I know that you don’t like me right now, but I have some things I need to tell you. I want to make you understand what happened.”

  “Are you kidding right now? Did you know it was me when you looked at my resumé?”

  “Your resumé was sent to my email yesterday. I didn’t plan on you applying to my company.”

  I don’t say anything, I just look anywhere but him, not wanting to make eye contact. He used to be able to see right through me and he always knew what I was thinking.

  We just stand there beside the door without saying anything.

  “Are you married or seeing anyone?” He asks out of the blue. What an asshole, we haven’t seen each other in years and he asks me that question within five minutes of us meeting?

  “That’s very rude to ask someone you hardly know. I do have somebody at home waiting for me.” I say not meeting his eyes. I’m not really lying to him, I mean I didn’t say who was waiting for me.