Who’s ready for the release of The Day to Remember??? We’re less only 19 days away! Ahh! 🙂

I hope you’re getting excited like I am! To share my excitement, here’s another teaser from The Day to Remember!!! This is an unedited first half of Chapter 1 after the Prologue.

Let me know if you enjoyed it!

xoxo,
Jess

Chapter 1

Emma

It was 6:35 a.m. and I was wide awake. I have not been able to fall back to sleep since the dream three hours ago. It was Tuesday morning, and it had been two days, 21 hours, and 15 minutes since I last saw Brandon and two days, 10 hours, and 40 minutes since I spoke to him. Yet he has plagued every second of my thoughts since that heart-wrenching moment Saturday morning when I came face to face with Brandon’s girlfriend. The words, “Brandon’s girlfriend”—a title that had so recently belonged to me—now felt like a sharp cold dagger to my heart. A wave of excruciating pain washed through me and my heart tightened at the thought of Brandon with someone else. Despite my best efforts, I again thought back to that morning. Brandon and I had just made love for the second time and I had never felt as happy as I had that morning in his arms. I thought I had finally found the man that had made me feel whole, alive, and loved. But that happiness was fleeting like an elusive dream, and within minutes, my world had tumbled down like a stack of playing cards built on lies.

When I saw the shock and guilt in Brandon’s eyes at the sight of the gorgeous brunette at the door, I just knew that she must have been telling the truth and that she meant something important to him. Everything after that point was a blur. I remembered grabbing my purse at the end table next to the door and immediately running past the brunette and out of his condo without looking back. I must have been in hysterics when I rushed out because I have flashbacks of me hyperventilating as I huddled in the corner of the elevator floor as it took me down to the lobby.

I’m not sure how I found myself back in my studio apartment, but there I was, standing in the doorway with no idea how I got home. My body trembled, yet I knew it wasn’t cold. I was in a daze—as if in a foggy dream with no understanding of where I was, how I got there, or even who I was. My body had felt numb as disbelief seemed to encapsulate me in a cocoon that temporarily sheltered me from the pain that would eventually come.

And come it did.

In a brief moment of clarity, I looked down and realized I ran out of Brandon’s place without changing into my clothes—I was still in Brandon’s button-up shirt and boxers. As if in a crazed frenzy, I ripped off his clothes from my body, as if they were on fire and searing my skin. At the sight of his clothes in a lifeless heap on my living room floor, I began to cry. No, I did not just cry, I broke down. I collapsed next to the heap of clothes and sobbed so violently, my naked body shook with devastating abandonment.

After what must have been an hour or two, I grabbed my phone out of my purse to call the girls and saw that I had four missed calls and two voicemails from Brandon. Unable to resist hearing his voice and hearing what he had to say, I listened to his voicemails.

I clicked on the first voicemail and put the phone to my ears. “Emma? Emma, please pick up. Please call me back. Why did you leave like that? We need to talk about this? Please call me back.”

I blinked back the tears and clicked on the next message. “Emma, I’ve been trying to get Des—I mean, Desiree—to tell me what exactly she said to you, but she said she didn’t say anything to you. But why did you run out? What happened? Please call me.”

The stunning brunette had a name. Desiree. There was a familiarity in his voice when he said her name, as if he’d said her name many times before. I felted devastated and defeated. Part of me wanted to confront him, to hit him, and to make him feel the unbearable pain that weighed on my heart. Part another part of me could not face him, and feared that seeing him or talking to him would cause further pain that my heart could not withstand.

I couldn’t talk to him right now. I didn’t want to face the reality of Brandon’s relationship with Desiree. Instead of calling him back, I sent a text to Jill, Steph, and Gloria: He has a girlfriend! I think I’m still in shock. Last night was perfect with him. How did it all turn out so horribly so quickly??? I need to be alone right now. I’m not ready to talk about it right now, but needed to tell you. Love you guys and miss you!

I quickly turned off my phone. My head was spinning, struggling between who I thought Brandon was to me and who he really was—who he was with Desiree. I crawled the few feet to my bed. I allowed my body to sink under the protective layers of my sheets and comforter, away from the external world, away from reality and away from Brandon. I laid there in silence—not moving and in a state of paralysis. My eyes were opened, yet I saw nothing. I felt myself slip in and out of consciousness as I replayed what had happened.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because when I opened my eyes, soft, melancholy hues of pink and orange painted the sky outside my window. It must have been early evening. I closed my eyes, willing myself to return to my dreamless sleep, to return to the void where there were no thoughts and no pain. But sleep didn’t come, and thoughts of Brandon trickled itself into my thoughts and the too-familiar numbing ache began to wrap itself around my battered heart.

I let out a deep sigh, trying to ignore the feelings that consumed my body. I slowly reached for my phone to turn it on. It was 7:45 p.m. Had I really been in bed for the last eight hours?

I saw several text messages and voicemails from the girls. There was also a text from Brandon. I felt my body tighten with anxiety as I clicked through the messages.

Jill: OMG!

Steph: WTF! A girlfriend? What’s his number?

Jill: Are you okay??? Call me please! I’m here to listen when you’re ready! Xoxo

Steph: No better yet, what’s the bitch’s number? I want to give both of them a piece of my mind!

Gloria: No way! What the hell! Are you sure? You okay?

Steph: Are you okay? Call me! Love you!

Gloria: What happened?? Call me if you need to talk? <3

Steph: You deserve better than a cheating shithead.

Brandon: Emma, what’s going on? Please call me.

Just then, I heard the intercom to my door buzz. I ignored it. I was about to turn off my phone and force myself back to sleep when my phone beeped. Another text. I looked at the screen and felt another wave of anxiety. It was another text from Brandon: I’m outside your building. Please buzz me in. We need to talk.

My heart froze. He was downstairs. It was him that had buzzed my intercom a moment ago. As if to confirm my thoughts, the intercom buzzed again. Anxiety prickled down my body. I wasn’t ready to see him. I wasn’t ready to hear what he had to say.

Then another text came through my phone. I know you’re probably home, Emma, and I’m not leaving until you talk to me. And if you’re not home, I’m going to wait out here until you come home. Please talk to me.

I felt panic course through me at his words. Before I could talk myself out of it, I forced myself to call him. He picked up at the first ring.