The second installment of the Bombshell Beauty Series is available...and would make great reading this weekend! Everyone I've hear from (which I love, by the way!) has told me what a quick read it was, and that the cliffhanger has them anxiously awaiting the final installment. If you need to get caught up on the adventures of plus size blogger, Elizabeth Weston, and her work/life/love - start with Bombshell Blogroll ($1.99, Amazon & Barnes and Noble). Then download Redirect ($0.99 for a limited time, Amazon & Barnes and Noble) to continue her story.
Connect with me on my official website: www.sarabartlett.net to stay up on the latest news regarding book releases and more. You can also join me to talk about books, inspiration and more on my author Facebook page. And finally, if you're on GoodReads - let's connect there, too!
To get you started on Redirect, here's Chapter 1 in its entirety:
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2013 Sara Bartlett All rights reserved
Elizabeth Weston stood in the empty living room, keys in hand, watching the sun come up over Mears Park. She’d spent her last night in the downtown St. Paul apartment, sleeping on an air mattress with a Snuggie blanket. The place she’d called home for the past five years was now empty. This had been her first big-girl apartment, no roommate - the one she’d rented after landing a job at Everyday Electronics. She’d thrown countless dinner parties with her friends, watched a million movies from the couch with her boyfriend, and had written her very first blog post for Bombshell Beauty within this apartment. And now, it was time to leave.
Elizabeth picked up her overnight bag and a tote that contained the rolled-up mattress, Snuggie and her favorite pillow. She set keys to the front door and mailbox on the kitchen counter and, with one last look at her home, stepped out into the hallway. The door shut behind her, loud and final.
I feel sadder than I expected to, Elizabeth thought, as she trudged to the elevator and pressed the Down button. As she waited for the elevator car to arrive on her floor, she heard another door in the hallway slam shut. A moment later her neighbor, David, joined her in the elevator lobby.
“Heading out for a long weekend?” David fumbled with his keys and a reusable grocery bag. He was dressed in his summertime uniform of cargo shorts and tee shirt with the sleeves cut off.
Elizabeth remembered how odd he had seemed when she’d first moved in. They shared a wall–his living room and her bedroom–and Elizabeth had become accustomed to hearing episodes of Golden Girls blaring from his side each afternoon. Over the years, they’d exchanged pleasantries and holiday cookies, but David kept to himself for the most part.
“I’m moving out,” Elizabeth replied.
David looked up, surprised. “Moving out? Where are you going?”
“I took a new job in Ohio.”
David digested the news, frowning down at Elizabeth. “What if the new tenant is loud? Or thinks I’m loud? What if she complains about every little sound? Or what if she blasts rap music at odd hours?” David slowly worked himself up over a tenant that didn’t exist.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Elizabeth said, reassuringly. “You weren’t too sure about me when I moved in, and I turned out okay. Right?”
David nodded, begrudgingly. “We had a few tense moments your first week–all that hammering and picture hanging.”
“I’ll bet you’ll have one week of the new tenant moving furniture, and then she’ll be quiet as a mouse.”
The elevator arrived with a cheerful double ding, and they stepped inside. David pressed the button for the first floor, and Elizabeth reached over to press the button for the basement level. They rode down in silence. The doors slid open at the first floor and David ambled off the elevator. He turned to Elizabeth.
“Good luck in Ohio.”
“Thanks, David. Good luck with the new neighbor.”
The doors slid shut. Elizabeth rode down to the basement and walked through the underground parking garage to her Ford Explorer. She opened the hatchback and crammed the air-mattress into the one free millimeter of space left inside the vehicle. A moving truck was already on its way to Ohio with most of her belongings, but she’d packed her wardrobe, shoes, and accessories into the car she’d drive herself. Today was Thursday, and the moving truck was scheduled to arrive at her new house on Tuesday.
I can live without a couch and TV for five days, Elizabeth reasoned. I cannot live without clothes and shoes.
Elizabeth slammed the hatchback shut, climbed behind the wheel and fastened her seat belt. She eased the car out of the garage and took one last lap around her neighborhood. Then she turned the car toward the on-ramp for I-94 East and merged with traffic.
“Ohio, here I come.”
Elizabeth spent the first 90 minutes of her 10-hour drive in silence. She thought about everything that had happened over the past month to get her to this point. The Plus Style Blogger Conference had set everything in motion, although Elizabeth had to admit the changes that had occurred were overdue and completely necessary.
Her job as Director of Brand Integration at Everyday Electronics had been a terrific opportunity, and she had learned a lot over the past five years. But she’d lost her passion for the work, and had begun to feel trapped. She knew it was time to go when they’d offered her a huge promotion and instead of jumping at the chance, she’d balked at the required move to Montana.
“I still maintain that opening a design studio in the middle of Montana is wacko,” Elizabeth muttered to herself.
And breaking up with Matt, well, it hadn’t gone the way she’d intended. But again, it was a completely necessary move. For both of them. Their relationship was beyond unhealthy. And for as much as Matt didn’t make Elizabeth happy, it seemed unlikely that she really made him happy either. Their long-term relationship was more of a habit than a love connection.
Not that Matt agreed. Elizabeth sighed, remembering the final blow-out that had splintered their relationship and sent each of them going their separate ways. Surprisingly, it had not been the night of Plus Style’s shopping event at their Mall of America store. It should have been, since Elizabeth had arranged to meet up with Josh after the event…and it turned out both men were sitting at the exact same bar in the exact same restaurant. Talk about unfortunate timing. She hadn’t been back to Crave since then because she was so embarrassed by the scene they’d caused at the restaurant.
As the hazy, late July morning began to clear under the bright rays of Minnesota sunshine, she flipped open the glove compartment and pulled out a pair of sunglasses. She slipped them over her eyes before remembering they were the pair she’d bought with Josh during the Plus Style Blogger Conference. Josh…Elizabeth shook her head. That was a whole other situation. One that couldn’t have gone anywhere until the relationship with Matt was resolved.
After the embarrassing fight with Josh and Matt at Crave, Elizabeth had realized that she wasn’t handling her relationship with Matt with the dignity and decisiveness that they both deserved. So she let Matt cool off for a couple of days before calling and asking him to get coffee with her.
Elizabeth arrived early at the coffee shop around the corner from her apartment. She’d wanted to get situated and mentally prepare herself for the conversation. So she was surprised to find Matt already seated at a corner table, an Americano in front of him and a mug of peppermint tea waiting for her.
“Hey,” Elizabeth said, slinging her purse over the back of the seat and sitting down.
“Hi,” Matt replied glumly.
“I’m sorry about what happened the other night. That wasn’t fair to you.”
Elizabeth apologized simply and genuinely. Though there had been months and months of Matt not treating her right, this was about what she had done to him.
Matt nodded. “Who was that guy?”
“His name is Josh. He works for Plus Style and we met at the blogger conference.” Elizabeth took a sip of tea. “We hit it off.”
“What does that mean?” Matt ran a hand through his hair, irritated. “Are you cheating on me with him?”
“No.” Elizabeth searched for the right words. “We have chemistry and we like each other. But we’re not having a relationship.”
She thought briefly about the two drunken kisses that she and Josh had shared at the conference and wondered if she should own up to them.
No, she decided. Matt will focus on the kiss and won’t hear what really matters.
“So what’s going on, then?” Matt asked. “With us. With you two.”
Elizabeth wrapped both hands around the hot mug of tea. “I think you and I should break up, Matt.”
Matt gulped the Americano, his face turning red as the hot liquid seared his throat. He set the coffee cup down on the table very gingerly, as though he was taking great care not to slam it down.
“No.” His expression fell somewhere between miserable and defiant. “We’re not breaking up.”
“Matt,” Elizabeth reasoned, leaning forward and placing one hand on his arm. “That’s not something you get to decide, on your own. We’re both in this relationship. And I’m ready to end it.”
“We’ve been together for a long time, Elizabeth.” Matt‘s teeth were clenched tightly. “You don’t just end a relationship after five years. Especially when no one has done anything wrong.”
“When no one has done anything wrong?” Elizabeth exclaimed. She looked around, realizing that her voice was carrying. “I just told you that I have feelings for someone else.”
“You’ll get over it,” Matt interrupted. He shrugged. “And I’ll forgive you.”
With a deep sigh, Elizabeth looked out the coffee shop window. Outside, the neighborhood was coming alive. A group of volunteers had converged on Mears Park to plant flowers, while a bus pulled up at the stop across the street. People streamed off the bus and began to head in every direction.
“Matt, I like someone else. If you and I had a healthy relationship, I wouldn’t like anyone but you. And if we had a healthy relationship –,” Elizabeth held up one hand as Matt opened his mouth to interrupt her. “If we had a healthy relationship, you wouldn’t treat me badly.”
“I treat you badly?” Matt hissed, his wide set eyes bugging out. “I treat you badly? Oh that’s rich.”
“You make me feel insignificant. Like nothing I say or do or think matters. Whether it’s something you do in response to the way I treat you, I don’t know.”
Elizabeth looked down, unable to maintain eye contact. “If it is then I’m sorry for not making you happier. And if it’s not- if that’s just the way you are-then there’s nothing I can do about it.” Matt stared at Elizabeth in shocked silence. “I don’t want to rehash every little thing that’s ever happened in our relationship, Matt. I just want to move on. I want both of us to be happier than we are together.”
Elizabeth waited for Matt to say something, anything. She knew that he needed a little longer than the average person to respond when confronted with feelings.
Matt picked up his coffee cup and brought it to his lips, pausing before taking another drink. “I never thought you would be the one to break up with me.”
Elizabeth laughed out loud as she recalled Matt’s last words to her. It was just so perfectly, awfully him. She’d picked up her purse and walked out of the coffee shop without a backward glance. They hadn’t spoken since. She had packed up a small box of his personal belongings that were at her apartment, and mailed it to him. Several days later, she’d received a small box of her personal items from him. And that was it.
Landing the new job with Plus Style was almost as cut and dried, too. The groundwork had been put down during the blogger conference. Then the opportunity to meet with the VP of Brand and Marketing presented itself during the Plus Style Shopping Event at Mall of America. Before botching things with Matt and Josh, Elizabeth had spent a good 40 minutes talking to Lewis Chandler about her experience with brand development and integration, and the gaps that Plus Style was looking to fill within their team.
At the end of the following week, Elizabeth flew out to Ohio and met with the rest of the brand and marketing team to see if she would be a good fit with them. The meeting had gone extremely well, and within days Elizabeth had put her two weeks’ notice in with Everyday Electronics. Because of her high position within the company, Everyday Electronics let her go immediately, which left Elizabeth with enough free time to find a new place to live in Ohio and get packed up. She almost couldn’t believe how easily everything was coming together.
Elizabeth had found a cute little house to rent in historic German Village, an urban neighborhood near Columbus that felt a lot like her close-knit neighborhood in St. Paul. It would be her first house and Elizabeth was excited at the prospect of exploring the more domestic side of herself. She would need to find some new hobbies until she was able to make some friends in Ohio.
Elizabeth’s cell phone rang and she glanced in her rear view mirror before reaching for the device.
“Hello?”
“Are you here yet?”
“Hey Samantha.” Elizabeth grinned at the sound of her friend’s voice. “You know I’m not getting there until tonight, right?”
Samantha Stevens sighed impatiently. “I know. I just thought maybe you’d decided to leave last night instead of this morning. And that you drove all night and were already here.”
One bonus in moving from Minnesota to Ohio was that Elizabeth’s new home was just a few hours away from her long-distance friend, Samantha Stevens. Samantha lived in Indiana, just two hours from Columbus. Samantha had invited Elizabeth to spend the weekend at her house before driving into Columbus. The timing worked out perfectly because Elizabeth’s rental house wasn’t available until Sunday, the first of August.
“Nope,” Elizabeth replied. “I’m still on track to get to your house tonight around 5:00.”
“How’s the drive, so far?”
“So far, so good. Not many cars on the road, but I expect that’ll change once more and more people get up and head to work.”
“Drive carefully and I’ll see you when you get here,” Samantha said. “Oh wait!”
Elizabeth pulled the phone back up to her ear. “What?”
“I have a surprise for you. A good one.”
“Any hints?” Elizabeth tried to think of what the surprise could be.
“Not a single one. You’ll just have to see when you get here.”
“Now I really can’t wait to get there,” Elizabeth laughed. “See you in a few hours!”
The rest of the drive to Indiana was quiet–it was a pretty straight shot from the Twin Cities, and Elizabeth made good time the whole way. A mile from Samantha’s house, she pulled into a gas station to fill up. She touched up her makeup in the flickering fluorescent lights of the gas station bathroom, then spritzed on a touch of floral-scented perfume. A quick hair fluff later, she was on her way.
Elizabeth consulted the address Samantha had given her and read the house numbers down the block. When she located the right one, Elizabeth pulled her car into the driveway of a tidy, brown, ranch-style house. Flower beds exploded with color and hanging baskets of plants flanked either side of the front door.
I’ll have to ask Samantha for some planting tips, Elizabeth thought as she put the car in park and unbuckled her seat belt.
The front door swung open and Samantha stepped onto the porch. She was barefoot and dressed casually in a pair of plaid Bermuda shorts and a tank top. Her long blonde hair hung loose down her back, and she held a huge glass of wine in one hand.
“It’s about damn time,” she called from the steps. “We started happy hour without you.”
“We?” Elizabeth asked, stepping out of the car. “You and Steve?”
Steve was Samantha’s boyfriend; they shared the house together. Elizabeth was looking forward to meeting him.
“Nope, not Steve,” Samantha teased, looking over her shoulder. “It’s-“
“It’s me!” Anna Porter exclaimed, pushing her way past Samantha. “Surprise!”
Anna’s red hair swung in a silky bob around her beaming face. She pushed up the strap of her tropical-printed maxi dress.
“Anna?” Elizabeth shrieked. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Couldn’t let you two have a reunion without me, now could I?” Anna drawled.
Elizabeth strode up the steps and wrapped an arm around each friend, pulling them in for a group hug.
“This is the best surprise, ever.”
“Grab your bag and let’s get this sleepover started,” Samantha instructed.
Elizabeth pulled her overnight bag from the car and followed her friends inside Samantha’s house.
“Your house is adorable!” Elizabeth exclaimed. “I love this. Show me around.”
Samantha walked Elizabeth through her house, pointing out each room and a few of her favorite things. They walked through Samantha and Steve’s bedroom, tastefully decorated in shades of Tiffany blue, white, and brown, before Samantha paused dramatically in front of a door just off the master bathroom.
“And this….is the best room in the house,” she announced. Samantha swung the door open to reveal the most amazing walk-in closet Elizabeth had ever seen. Racks of clothes and shoes lined the room, wall to wall. A huge dresser stood in the center of the room, underneath a chandelier, its drawers cracked open to reveal jewelry and scarves.
“Holy crap,” Elizabeth breathed, drifting into the room. “You have so many clothes, Samantha!”
“Girl, this is amazing,” Anna sighed. “Wow.”
“This was Steve’s gift to me for our last anniversary,” Samantha confided. “It’s how I knew we were forever. I mean, what kind of guy spends hours at Ikea planning the perfect dressing room for his girlfriend?”
“Your perfect match, that’s who,” Elizabeth replied. Lucky guy, lucky girl.
“When do we get to meet Steve?” Anna asked. “I’ve been here for two hours already and not a peep from him.”
“He works from home, in the basement office, so he’s here.” Samantha glanced at her watch. It was just about 5:30. “He said he would come up and cook us dinner around 6:00.”
“And he cooks? He really is perfect for you!” Anna laughed.
Samantha was the type who would rather keep purses in the oven than turn it on and cook something.
The girls headed back into Samantha’s cozy living room and settled down with glasses of wine for a little girl talk.
“How’s Mark doing?” Elizabeth asked Anna.
“He’s good. He’s heading out on a boy’s weekend with his buddies tomorrow. We’re both trying to squeeze in our last hurrahs before baby.”
“Wait, what?” Samantha leaned forward on the couch. “Should you be drinking?”
“I’m not pregnant, yet,” Anna confirmed, patting Samantha’s arm. “But we’re ready to start really trying- tracking ovulation and all that fun stuff.”
“That’s exciting,” Elizabeth said, raising her glass. “Cheers to babies and ovulation and last hurrahs with friends.”
“Amen to that!” Anna exclaimed. “I told Mark that if I have to stop drinking for 9 months, he does too.”
“I think that’s fair. You have to go through enough as it is to carry the baby,” Samantha said. “The least he can do is be at your beck and call and quit boozing until you can, too.”
“It’ll probably be longer than 9 months,” Elizabeth added. “If you breast feed afterward.”
“Oh lord,” Anna sighed. “I didn’t even think of that, y’all.”
“You should probably have another glass of wine right now.”
All three women laughed.
“Hey guys.” Steve emerged from the basement, pulling a pair of horn-rimmed glasses from his face and rubbing his eyes. Steve was a handsome guy in his mid-thirties, with an easy-going smile that softened as his light blue eyes landed on Samantha.
“Hi honey, come meet my friends.” Samantha beckoned Steve into the living room.
Steve shook Elizabeth’s hand, then turned to Anna.
“Thanks for having us, Steve.” Anna leaned forward to shake his hand. “Nothing like two extra women invading the house, huh?”
“For as much as Samantha talks about the two of you,” Steve grinned, “I’m happy to finally be able to meet you. Are you guys getting hungry? I was going to fire up the grill for burgers and some veggies.”
“Thanks, honey!” Samantha shouted as he walked into the kitchen. The sliding glass door that led to their back patio slid open and shut as Steve went outside to start the grill.
“He is adorable,” Elizabeth said.
“I think so,” Samantha grinned, happily.
“Speaking of adorable boys,” Anna prompted, “how is Josh doing?”
Samantha and Anna looked at Elizabeth expectantly. She shrugged.
“I don’t know.”
Her friends exchanged puzzled looks.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” Samantha asked, knitting her brows together. “You broke up with Matt. You’re moving to Ohio-“
“To work at the same company that Josh does-“Anna interjected.
“And you don’t know how he’s doing?” Samantha was perplexed.
Elizabeth took a sip of wine. “No, I don’t. We haven’t spoken since the blow up at Crave last month.”
“But – I thought you did all of these things so you could be together,” Anna said. “I’m so confused.”
“I didn’t break up with Matt and take the new job because of Josh,” Elizabeth corrected. “They were the right things for me to do, for myself.”
“Ok, but still,” Samantha said. “What happened?”
“To be honest, nothing.”
Elizabeth tucked her feet up under her. “At Crave, Josh told me that I needed to sort everything out with Matt before we spoke again. But when I called to tell him that I’d broken up with Matt, Josh wouldn’t take my phone call. I left a message, which he never returned.”
“He just never called you back?” Samantha asked. “That doesn’t sound like the same guy who was all about you a few weeks before.”
“I thought I would see him and, maybe, we could talk when I interviewed with the Brand and Marketing team at Plus Style the following week. But I never saw him. When Lewis walked me around the office and introduced me to the team, we went by Josh’s desk but he wasn’t there. I sent him an email, letting him know that I’d taken the job and when I would be moving but again–nothing.”
“That’s a real jerk thing to do,” Anna fumed. “The least he could do is reply back to you. Even if he’s suddenly decided that he doesn’t want to smooch you, he should be man enough to say it.”
“I’ve started having second thoughts about him, too,” Elizabeth admitted. “Everything just seems so complicated, and now that we’re co-workers that adds another layer to it.”
“Do you guys have the same manager?” Samantha asked.
Elizabeth shook her head. “No. Josh reports to the Director of Social Media.“
“Louise McGarrity, right?” Anna was always good with names.
“That’s right. Louise and I report to the same manager.”
“So you’re technically Josh’s superior,” Samantha grinned. “I like that.”
Anna sniffed the air. “Whatever Steve is cooking is starting to smell so good.” Elizabeth’s stomach rumbled, loudly.
“Was that your tummy?” Anna asked with a whoop.
“I guess it thinks that dinner smells good, too,” Elizabeth laughed.
“Let’s go grab plates and eat outside.” Samantha stood up and led the girls into the kitchen. “But we are so coming back to this conversation.”
They didn’t make it back to the conversation about Josh again until the next afternoon. Elizabeth had just begun to think they might let her off the hook completely until Anna brought it up while they were out shopping.
“You should get a really fantastic outfit to wear on your first day of work,” she suggested, as they picked through the racks of Forever 21’s plus size section. “What’s their dress code?”
“It’s business casual, for the most part.”
“Do you have to wear clothes from Plus Style?” Samantha wondered. She pulled a lipstick red mini dress off a rack and held it up against herself.
“That’s really cute, “Elizabeth commented, nodding at the dress. “Maybe with some leggings or tights underneath?”
“That’s what I was thinking.” Samantha added it to her growing pile of items to try on.
“We don’t have to wear exclusively Plus Style clothes, although we get a nice enough discount that I can see a shopping spree in my future,” Elizabeth said, addressing Samantha’s question. “It would be fun to get something new for the first day.”
“Perfect!” Anna exclaimed. “I love having something specific to shop for, even if it’s not for me. We need an outfit that says, “Hey new corporate co-workers, I’m totally cool and capable. Oh, hey there Josh. How’s it going? Yeah, I’m really sexy in a corporate, work-appropriate kind of way.”
Elizabeth and Samantha started laughing.
“That’s a pretty tall order for one outfit,” Samantha pointed out.
“I know, y’all. That’s why we’ve got to start digging.”
“You said last night that you were having second thoughts about Josh,” Samantha said. “One question about that.”
“It’s never just one question with you.” Elizabeth shot Samantha a wry look.
“Ok, firstquestion. Do you still like him?”
Elizabeth paused. She thought about how much fun they’d had during the conference. He made her feel alive and pretty and sexy. They laughed a lot together, and never seemed to run out of things to talk about. They would spend hours in front of their computers, chatting over Skype, taking turns sharing and listening. That was a nice change. And he was a good kisser. A great kisser, she thought to herself, recalling the long, slow burn of the last kiss they’d shared.
“Look at that face!” Anna exclaimed, pointing at Elizabeth. “That’s the face of a woman who is having saucy thoughts.” Elizabeth flushed pink.
“Elizabeth?” Samantha prodded her side with a clothes hanger. “Are you having saucy thoughts about Josh?”
“Maybe,” Elizabeth admitted, not meeting Samantha’s look. “Ok fine–yes.”
“Did you guys kiss?” Anna asked eagerly.
Elizabeth said nothing.
“Oh my god, you did! And you didn’t say anything?”
“It was a completely drunken pair of kisses.“
“You kissed twice!” Anna whooped. A cluster of teenagers in the next section looked over at the three women. Anna lowered her voice. “It was at Josh’s house after the Plus Style dinner, wasn’t it?”
Elizabeth nodded.
Samantha shook her head. “I knew it. You were taking way too long in the bathroom when he went to look for you.”
“They were, quite possibly, the best kisses I’ve had in years,” Elizabeth admitted.
“So what are you going to do?” Samantha asked.
Elizabeth sighed. “I guess I’ll find out on Monday, when I get to work.”
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