Free The Prince Charming Hoax by Elyse Grant Page A

Leah Gold
    Leah sat back in her chair, glumly staring at the screen. She changed the salutation to “ Dear Ms. West, ” hoping the sarcasm of the note would come through anyway, and hit “ send. ” She closed her eyes and focused on numbing her brain and squelching her inner critic voice, which was having a field day at her expense right now.
    The phone rang. She opened her eyes to check the call screen, but didn ’ t recognize the incoming number. “ Please be someone I want to talk to, ” Leah muttered as she picked up the phone. A voice broke in before she had a chance to say hello.
    “ Leee-ah. It ’ s Friday! ”
    “ I have a desk calendar, Jonathan. You could have saved your minutes. Where are you calling from, anyway? ”
    “ I ’ m on a friend ’ s boat, using his phone. You told me to call you today, remember? To give you the details about the gallery opening tomorrow. ”
    “ Oh, I forgot all about it. Sorry. You know, tomorrow ’ s not good after all. It ’ s Ali ’ s prom. ”
    “ So you ’ re not going, too, are you? ”
    “ No, but all the kids meet in one place before going to the prom and all the parents come, too. It ’ s a real photo opportunity. ”
    “ What time is that? ”
    “ I don ’ t know. Early, I suppose. What time is the opening? ”
    “ Starts at 7:30, but we don ’ t have to be there until later. Why don ’ t I take you to Ali ’ s little get together and then we ’ ll go to the gallery? I ’ d love to see Ali all dressed up. I bet she ’ ll be the prettiest girl there. ”
    Leah felt her ill humor softening. Jonathan really did care about Ali, which endeared him to her. Ali was crazy about him, too. They could talk for hours about their artwork, and Ali often consulted Jonathan to help her with her school projects.
    “ All right. Come here around 6:30 tomorrow. That should be enough time to take her over to her party and take pictures, too. Remind me when you get here, and I ’ ll fill you in on her date disaster and why she ’ s going alone. I ’ m trying to get some work done now, though. See you tomorrow. ”
    “ Later, Leah. ”
    Leah scanned the rest of her email. Junk. She hit “ Select All ” and then “ Delete. ”
    “ There are a few people I ’ d like to be able to get rid of that easily. ”
    Leah was restless. She felt like she had so much to do and yet nothing to do. She looked out at the lake, but her frustration remained. “ The beach is calling my name. I think I ’ ll send out those query letters later. ”
    She stuck her head in Ali ’ s room. “ Ali, what time is your exam? ” The pillow over Ali ’ s head muffled her reply. “ Ali, do you have your alarm set? I ’ m going to the beach. ”
    “ Yes! Leave me alone! ”
    The big difference between Leah and Ali was their personal timing. Leah was a morning person—up at 5 a.m. and usually in bed, asleep, by 11 p.m. Ali was the complete opposite. Even as a little girl, she stayed up all night, singing and talking to her dolls. She never slept through the night as a baby, and she didn ’ t now. But although she preferred until sleep to noon, she was responsible about getting to school and work on time, so Leah left her alone.
    It was a perfect morning for a run. The weather was unusually cool for June in Florida, and Leah felt the need to purge last night ’ s demons. She could not shake the uncomfortable feeling that came over her yesterday. Only two things helped when she was overcome with the fear. She could write in her journal or go to the beach. Weather and daylight permitting, she chose the beach. In the black of night, she wrote for hours in her journal.
    But not even the one-mile run to the beach dispelled the demons this morning. She still had the nagging sense of doom. Hot and sweaty when she reached the beach, she bought a bottle of water and sat on her favorite bench.
    Leah took out the small notebook she carried with her wherever she went from the pocketed sports