Free The Drazen World: Irrelevant (Kindle Worlds Novella) by Allyn Lesley Page B

someone who only has to take what’s dished out and served by others.
    I walk in my kitchenette toward the stove to turn on the kettle. I don’t have much but my rental studio apartment is mine. The emergency money left by Jon in the cottage’s safe helped finance the apartment, but everything inside shows off my personality, my growing style, and things I’m learning that I like.
    My verbal scuffle with Monica was an important step in my personal growth. But it was only a first step. One night when the mundane became overwhelming and I ended up crying rivers of tears watching a historical show featuring a hero who resembled Jon, I knew I needed an intervention. Not only to help me process my grief but one who could work with me to sort through my issues about my parents, my half sister and self-image.
    Paying for a therapist isn’t cheap but it’s worthy every cent. With her help, I’m even trying new things like yoga and cycling to see what I enjoy, to know who I am. There’s not a day that I don’t miss or think about Jon, but I think he’d be proud of the woman I’m becoming. Yeah, he’d be proud , I think to myself, sitting in front of the television with my cup of coffee.
    “We have breaking news. Channel Five has received word that Monica Drazen, wife of the late Jonathan Drazen III, was arrested late last night.”
    I choke on the hot liquid and grab the remote to increase the volume.
    “Mrs. Drazen and her mother, Marie Faulkner, were arrested in a murder-for-hire plot at the Drazen’s home in über exclusive Hyde Park.” There’s a video image of Monica looking smug as she’s escorted from her mansion with her mother behind her. I peer closer at the screen, and rather than remorse, Monica’s smiling for the camera and pronounces her innocence. “An insider close to the investigation told us that the plot to kill Mr. Drazen, founder of a multi-national technical security corporation, was put in motion before they married a year ago.”
    Well I’ll be damned!
    The reporter goes on to other news, but I’m still reeling even as I head out for my yoga class. I’m so distracted that I wobble through the worst warrior pose since my two-week start and almost lose my balance attempting a tree pose. I’m still beating myself up for not being focused in class as I head up the few steps to my front door. A distinct cologne wafts into my nostrils and stops my ascent. Maybe you’re losing it. Then I tell myself Jon wasn’t the only male who ever wore that scent. I take another step and stop dead in my tracks.
    “Hey, baby girl.”
    “Wha-what’s going on?” He’s here and alive, looking fine and healthy. “Yo-you were shot. In th-the chest,” I tell him through trembling lips, recounting the things I read in the newspaper about his death. “I-I don’t understand.”
    He stands up, and I back away, still not sure if it’s a ghost, a figment of my imagination, or someone playing a cruel joke on me.
    “Let’s go inside.” Jon stretches out his hand for me to take, but I hesitate. Maybe hearing about the arrest of my stepmother and my half sister this morning is still messing with me. I have been off since hearing about a murder plot. “Katie, please.” His eyes crinkle at the sides from his warm smile that’s so familiar yet cautious. Like he’s unsure of himself.
    I rush into his arms. “Is it really you?” When our chests meet, I know he’s real. Tears fall onto my cheeks. “How are you here?”
    He takes the keys from my unsteady fingers, helping me indoors to sit on the couch. I see his mouth moving, but everything is fuzzy, and I see two of everything.
    “Wait here,” he mumbles, leaving me alone. He’s back with a glass of water, feeding it to me with care and love. “Is that enough?”
    I nod because that’s the only thing I can do in this moment. My face presses into his neck, breathing him in. One of my hands roams over his chest to feel for deadly bullet holes where his