Amy Read online

  Amy

  Chances

  Volume 1

  Smashwords Edition

  Copyright July 14, 2014

  Deborah A. Price

  Chapter 1

  The coldness of the water distracted her from the knowing look her friend shot at her.

  “You know that you want to watch him. For Pete’s sake, Amy, sit down and enjoy the view.”

  Tilting her head so that she could study the woman she couldn’t remember not knowing, twenty-seven-year-old Amy Brannan concentrated on her water and not on the game of basketball behind them. “You’re watching them enough for the both of us, Elaine.”

  “And here I was thinking that we took this path at this particular time for a reason. I’m just along for the company.” Elaine narrowed her green eyes and grabbed the bottle from her friend. “So if it’s not to watch those hunks play basketball, sweat glistening on their bare, rippled chests while they move around in those. . .”

  Amy started laughing while Elaine grabbed a handful of ice from the cooler on the table and rubbed it on her face. “Maybe you shouldn’t be watching,” she teased. “I only take this path so I don’t hear some smart-ass remark from my brother. He wants to see me occasionally, some big hang-up he has recently developed.” Closing the lid of the ice chest, Amy pointed to the name printed in black Sharpie on it. “He’s relieved that you’re running with me.”

  “Well, I’m glad that he cares about someone.” Elaine glanced towards the game and noticed that the participants were watching them; she narrowed her eyes after locking stares with Nate Brannan, the one person she swore to avoid until hell froze over.

  “You’ve been away for a long time, Elaine. Things change.” Amy walked away from the bench and paused after standing on the paved path to jog back to her apartment. “When are you going to tell me where you’ve been or why you’ve never bothered to contact anybody?”

  Elaine joined her and shook her head. “It’s taken you a whole week to ask, Amy.”

  “I was hoping that I wouldn’t have to ask.” Amy reached up and tightened her pony tail. “You’re the one usually asking the questions, but you’ve had something on your mind. You’ve always been one of those people that would just blurt out what she was feeling. I guess even you’ve changed.” She didn’t move while studying her friend. “So what happened?”

  “There was an opportunity at work to travel, and I felt a need to get away from everything,” Elaine mumbled, “and everybody. You’re not worried about poor lit’ ol’ me, Amy. Are you?”

  Amy sighed, started walking and then turned around, her eyes glancing towards the court when she heard laughter before focusing on Elaine again. “You're not the only thing that's changed, Elaine, and some things didn't change for the better.”

  “They haven’t changed that much; it’s still same way here. Unless,” Elaine looked at her friend curiously, “something has happened to you. Has it?”

  Amy shrugged, pivoted away from her and started walking again.

  “I haven’t heard of anything happening.” Elaine picked up her pace to keep up with her. “Amy Brannan, you’re keeping secrets again.”

  “Am I the only one?” Amy turned up the volume on her MP3 player after choosing not to continue the conversation that she had started.

  Elaine scowled; she had hoped Amy would continue to walk. Amy’s behavior was one of the things that would never change, she fumed. When Amy didn’t want to talk, she ran away from everybody to avoid the topic of conversation.

  Amy watched Elaine after stopping in the parking lot and shook her head after noticing the angry stare in her friend’s eyes. “Everything’s good, Elaine,” she mumbled while watching her brother grab his ice chest before walking down the path she had just jogged.

  Elaine refused to watch Nate after spotting him and turned in the opposite direction. That was until she felt him staring at her. “I doubt that everything is fine, Amy, but I won’t push you to talk. I never have.”

  “Fine, and thank you.” Amy started walking again and only stopped when Elaine stepped up beside her. “You said everybody, Elaine.”

  “I guess that I did.”

  “Would you care to elaborate?” Amy asked, turning around after noticing another member of the shirtless basketball team walking out of the park. She hated how her body reacted when he caught her eye. It was as if he could read every thought and. . .

  Elaine noticed the aversion and chuckled. “I guess a lot has changed around here, Amy.” After Amy looked at her startled, she asked. “Who’s the hottie?”

  “He’s nobody,” Amy sighed, turning back in the direction where she had been walking. “Absolutely nobody.”

  “Liar. If he’s nobody, why did you stop walking towards the apartment?” Elaine walked next to her. She often wondered how Amy had stayed modest and down to earth when she had been blessed with a face and body that could compete with any model. The brilliant blue eyes spoke of innocence and fear. The fear, Elaine knew, was from something that Amy had refused to share with anybody and only surfaced on rare occasions. “So what’s his name?”

  “I guess, Elaine, that if you want to know, you could march your butt up to Nate’s apartment and ask. Personally,” Amy smiled knowing that she had caught her friend off guard, “I don’t care.” Laughing, she noticed the coolness that had settled in Elaine’s eyes. “You won’t. You and Nate have some sort of issue that neither one of you care to share. Again, not my problem and your choice.”

  “I don’t have a so-called issue with Nate.” Elaine snapped. “And if I did, my curiosity is stronger. You know that guy's name.”

  “I don’t. So,” Amy continued walking, glancing at Elaine from the corner of her eye, “why haven’t you left yet?”

  “I’m following you. Are you avoiding your brother?” Elaine asked, realizing that they were walking to another complex.

  “I don’t live with my brother anymore, Elaine. Just one of the many changes that have happened in your absence.”

  “Why didn’t I know?”

  “You never asked,” Amy answered over her shoulder. “Don’t worry. He did try to change my mind.”

  “Why did you move?”

  Amy stopped walking, looked up towards her brother’s apartment and noticed that Nate was watching them from his balcony. Shrugging, she glanced away from him before answering Elaine’s question. “I felt like I was interfering with his life, and I know that he was interfering with mine. He made it a point to tell me that he felt responsible for me.”

  “Well, you are family. All you have is each other and a weekly appearance from your father.” Elaine heard Nate yell his sister’s name at the same time Amy turned around, walking backwards.

  “What?!” Amy yelled up towards him.

  “I’ll bring some pizza over later.” Nate called back.

  Amy noticed that Nate had company and shook her head. “Sorry, Nate, I have plans already.”

  “Oh?” Elaine asked with amusement after Amy glanced at her.

  “Yes, I do.” Amy laughed. “I have a life, Elaine, and it’s one of the reasons why I moved out on my own. This way, I don’t feel like I have to answer the questions of where I was or with whom. I was growing very tired of feeling like a child.”

  “And he had no problem with accepting that? I think that I know Nate a little better than that.”

  “I had the problem, Elaine. It was called suffocation, and then when. . .”

  “When?”

  “His friends started showing up at the apartment to wait for him. It made me uncomfortable.”

  “The hottie?” Elaine smiled. “For Pete’s sake, you’re not the first woman who's felt uncomfortable because of a man.”

  “It wasn’t who you’ve dubbed the hottie, Elaine.” Amy ang
rily turned away and marched to the complex across from her brother’s. “As you can see, I didn’t move far, but I have a door that I can lock.” Amy walked towards her apartment, which was on the bottom floor and grabbed the key from inside her sock.

  “Did something happen, Amy? Something that you plan on keeping a secret from your brother?” Elaine stepped into the apartment and looked around at the neutral colors her friend had chosen over the bold hues that she had always favored. She watched Amy dump the key on a table beside the door and push the power button on the stereo. Frowning, she noticed that volume was almost deafening while Katy Perry belted out the lyrics of Eye of the Tiger making conversation hard while Elaine studied her.

  Chapter 2

  Amy glanced at her when the room had grown quiet after Elaine had turned off the stereo and stood with her arms crisscrossed in front of her.

  “I was serious, Elaine. If you want to know the hottie’s name, go over to Nate’s. I don’t want or feel the need to know.”

  “That man had his eyes on you, my friend.” Elaine stepped over to where Amy had started shuffling papers on her counter. “Funny, but I remember having a similar conversation with you before I left, just a different guy. You see; this is where I tell you to look in the mirror and then I mention for you to get over it. Men are going to look at you twice. You are the very picture that causes their fantasies and maybe even induce them into having a sex dream. . .” She laughed when Amy placed a finger to her mouth and pretended to gag. “What’s so bad about that?”

  “Gee, let me write you a list.” Amy grabbed an envelope, stared at it with narrowed eyes, and then preceded to shred it before Elaine could ask what it was.

  Amy watched while the envelope was taken into the teeth of the shredder before answering. “It was nothing.” Listening for the shredder to end, she glanced at Elaine with arched eyes. “I thought that you were going over to Nate’s place.”

  “Tell me why you wouldn’t want to meet him.” Elaine responded while watching Amy shrug again and lean on the counter. “I’m beginning to regret my trip. I disappear for six months, and you clam up all over again. It’s starting to get old.”

  “So are these conversations, Elaine.” Amy snapped, her blue eyes shooting daggers while she searched for her ringing cell phone. “Fortunately, this conversation has to end so that I can get ready for the dinner that I’m supposed to attend.” Smirking while Elaine looked puzzled, Amy ignored the call and informed her of the promotion that she had very recently obtained.

  “I’m impressed.”

  Amy smiled, “You should be. I’ve worked my ass off to get it. But. . .”

  “But what?”

  Closing her eyes, she sighed without answering Elaine’s question. “I need to jump in the shower and dress. You can lock the door on your way out.”

  “Amy, quick question,” Elaine walked over to the couch, grabbed the television remote, and sat before speaking again. “When do you plan on not keeping things to yourself? It seems to me that you’ve placed some hints and. . .”

  Amy pivoted after stepping towards the hall. “I could turn that question around on you.”

  “About?”

  “Are you being real? Why do you and Nate act like you can’t stand each other? It wouldn’t be the end of the world if you just happened to be in the same room.”

  “You know the answer to that.”

  “Obviously, and you thought that nobody would be affected.” Amy tilted her head to the side before narrowing her eyes again. “I’m going to get ready, Elaine, and by the way; I don’t have to worry about your curiosity, because you will never get over your resentment towards my brother.”

  “I’ll prove you wrong.” Elaine stood and started walking towards the front door.

  “I wish that you would. Lock up.” Amy sang out on her way towards the back of the apartment.

  Amy was thinking about her friend after deciding to skip the shower and just wash up and brush her hair.

  Elaine was the definition of the girl next door in every respect. When Amy’s father had dumped her and Nate on their grandmother to raise after their mother’s death, Elaine had been a friend to her.

  Nate had been fifteen, and Amy had just turned twelve when they met Elaine. The brother and sister had been grief stricken; their mother had passed away a few weeks before that, and their father had wanted to stop living. Amy had been convinced that their father didn’t love them, but Nate had adjusted quickly to their new living conditions, made friends and didn’t act like anything had been wrong.

  For her, it had been more difficult. It had been at a time in her life where her body had started changing, and she needed the mother figure around her. She had been sulking outside on her grandmother’s porch swing when Elaine had introduced herself without an invitation. The girls became quick friends, and Amy began to think that Elaine could read her mind because she always managed to appear when Amy needed a friendly shove.

  After a few months Nate noticed his sister’s friend, and they started hanging out at the high school while Amy was still in middle school. Soon Nate was dating Elaine, and the relationship had lasted well until after the two had graduated. Amy had to be the one to offer comfort after Nate had ended the relationship.

  Amy grabbed her brush and pulled her hair free of the ponytail while she remembered how hurt Elaine had been over the break-up. That’s when Elaine had started traveling, staying her distance from Nate. Amy had noticed an uneasy silence over the phone whenever she mentioned that Nate was dating somebody, especially if it had been somebody that Elaine had known. A change in the pitch of her friend’s voice hinted that the phone call was going to end quickly afterward.

  Amy often wondered if Elaine had ever gotten over Nate, but never asked. Of course, the stress of the broken relationship had a tremendous effect on Amy. It was either Nate or Elaine that she saw. Never Nate and Elaine. They refused to be in the same room together, sometimes they weren’t even in the same zip code.

  Amy laughed while she pulled out a freshly pressed pink dress shirt to wear with her gray skirt and jacket. Thanks to her promotion, she had been forced to step up her wardrobe.

  Shaking out her thoughts, she glanced at the clock. She had just enough time to apply a fresh coat of make-up before walking out of the apartment and heading towards her car. Out of habit, she glanced up towards her brother’s second-floor apartment and waved before she left.

  She was nervous about the dinner, but she’d never been to one on her own to talk or negotiate what a client would need for his or her company. Amy had only attended two with her predecessor.

  Now she would need to take charge and that made her chuckle. It wasn’t that she couldn’t. She had led a lot of the advertising campaigns for her company. Of course, she had also had to gain approval before going ahead with any of her ideas.

  She arrived at the restaurant where the meeting was to happen courtesy of Your Way Advertising and could only hope that she wasn’t underdressed.

  Shaking out of her thoughts again, Amy turned off the used Mustang she had purchased after her promotion and grabbed the briefcase she had left in the car before her jog. It was now put up or shut up.

  Chapter 3

  Amy stepped into The Captain’s Palace and instantly felt self-conscious while noticing the fancy décor after a doorman had ushered her inside and left her standing in front of the hostess. She couldn’t remember what she had mumbled before being led to the table where her client stood after noticing her. She frowned while thinking that her receptionist had mentioned that two representatives from the client would attend the dinner.

  She tried smiling when the middle-aged man pulled out her chair, but her nerves barely let her function and calmed only after remembering that it was a meeting, not a date.

  “Mr. Eccard, it’s a pleasure to meet you.” The words tumbled out before she noticed that his eyes were studying her.

  “Likewise, Miss Brannan. I’m pleased that advert
ising personal are getting both younger and prettier these days.” He pushed the chair forward after she had sat and then lingered with his hand touching her shoulder. “I’ve taken the pleasure of ordering some wine.”

  “Thank you, but I don’t drink.” Amy looked around her again before placing her napkin on her lap and glancing at the menu, knowing that he was still scrutinizing her. “Mr. Eccard. . .”

  “Darrell, please.”

  Amy smiled and shook her head. “Mr. Eccard,” she repeated while glancing at him, “Your Way Advertising is an agency that wants to make sure that you get,” she paused when she felt his hand on her leg. “This is a working dinner, sir. I’d appreciate it if you removed your hand.”

  “I think that my hand is fine where it is.” Darrell Eccard narrowed his eyes, daring her to move and make a scene.

  Amy pushed her chair backwards and tossed her napkin on the table. “And I say that it’s not. My company doesn’t,” Amy stopped talking when she noticed that her brother’s teammate was walking towards the table, “allocate this behavior from our clients.”

  “Is there a problem, Amy?” Nate’s friend asked before steeling his gaze on her companion. “Maybe you would like a different table.”

  “I’m sure that I have this under control, and the table is fine.” Amy muttered the words, wondering how he had known her name while a familiar stirring escalated after he touched her hand. “Mr. Eccard and I were just coming to an understanding.”

  “Yes,” Darrell answered allowing his eyes to roam over her body after she had stood from across where he continued to sit.

  Nate’s friend noticed the way Darrel was looking at Amy and pulled her away from the table to see if everything was truly alright. “Well?” He finally asked after they were out of Darrell’s earshot.

  “Look, thanks for the assist that I didn’t need, but I think that I can handle this on my own,” Amy snapped, willing her reaction to his touch to calm before looking into his eyes. She wished that she hadn’t when she noticed that he was focused on hers. “And it’s unprofessional for you to use my Christian name which you shouldn’t know.”