Another week, another Romance Writers weekly blog hop and this week is super fun because Leslie Hachtel wants some FLASH FICTION. Here’s the assignment: Flash Fiction Challenge: In 500 words or less using the words trapeze, oranges and sidewalk.

 

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Today was the day that Phillipa Gray made her mark on the corporate world. Counting the cracks in the sidewalk, she didn’t want to forget a moment of the morning that would change her life. In her office a gift box filled with Florida oranges had been delivered.

She opened the card: You can do it, Mom and Dad.

The meeting was a nine leaving barely a moment to think of her parents support. Grabbing the folder marked Goodrich Account from her desk, Phillipa strode toward the conference room.

Her boss, Marty Spencer waved her down to the far end of the long table. Atlanta stretched out beyond the wall of windows. “How is everything looking, Phillipa?”

“Perfect, Marty. I’ve got this.” She was flying as high on the corporate trapeze as she ever had. Maybe as high as she ever would. This was her time to shine.

A squawk sounded from the intercom on the table. “Mr. Spencer, the group from Goodrich Investing his here.”

Marty pressed the speak button. “Bring them to the conference room, please.”

Sitting up straight, Phillipa was ready for her moment in the sun. The moment the conference room door opened, the bottom fell out and she crashed down from her trapeze. Man, she hoped there was a net.

“Hello, Pippa.” Tall and lean but filled out in all the right places compared to what he had been in high school, Dade Walker smiled at her with those full lips that use to fill her dreams. His bright blue eyes sparked with energy. His complete silence when they’d separated to go off to college had cured her of her infatuation, though it had taken almost all four years to accomplish.

The heartbeat it took her to respond seemed like an eternity. “No one calls me that anymore. How are you, Dade? I didn’t realize you were back in Atlanta. May I introduce the CEO of MSC Real Estate, Marty Spencer. Mr. Spencer, this is Dade Walker. Dade and I grew up together, though I had no idea he would be our contact on this project.”

Once the men shook hands and everyone sat, Dade turned his attention back to her. “Why doesn’t anyone call you Pippa anymore?”

This was no time to go into all the details of the last ten years of her life. He wouldn’t care that she’s clawed her way to the top, and she would not let a ghost from her past derail her from her goals. Plastering a polite smile on her face she found her most confident voice. “My parents and brother still do. Once I graduated and entered the workforce, I have always gone by Phillipa.”

Why did those eyes have to see right through her? They always had and now she didn’t know if she could ignore them enough to do her job. No, she told herself. Opening the file, she scanned her notes. It was the perfect plan and Goodrich was the perfect partner. Giving Dade one last look, she stood up. “Shall we begin?”

 

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That will do it for me this week. I couldn’t figure out how to get “sidewalk” into a Regency historical. LOL I kind of wish I wrote contemporary so we could find out what happens to Phillipa and Dade. They sound intriguing.

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Keep on hopping and read how Brenda Margriet used the unique prompt.

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Don’t forget to pick up your copy of Desperate Bride. It’s only one week old today. 😀

I think you’re really going to love Thomas and Dory’s story.

An unexpected promise . . . an everlasting passion.

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An accomplished musician, Dorothea Flammel has refused more proposals than any London debutante; her only true love is her music. Dory’s shimmering talent and beauty have long been adored from afar by Thomas Wheel, an untitled gentleman who can only dream of asking for the hand of a nobleman’s daughter. But when her father, the insolvent Lord Flammel, arranges for Dory to marry a lecherous Earl in order to pay off a debt, she runs to Thomas—and proposes marriage to him.

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Eloping to Scotland saves Dory from a disastrous fate, but what is for her a mere marriage of convenience proves more passionate—and more complex—than either imagined as rumors, scandal, and buried emotions come to light. And when a vengeful challenge from a drunken and embittered Lord Flammel puts Thomas’s life on the line, will the fragile trust between husband and wife be enough to save them both?

Buy Links

Amazon – https://www.amazon.com/Desperate-Bride-Forever-Brides-Fenichel-ebook/dp/B01MS3618J/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Barns & Noble – http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/desperate-bride-as-fenichel/1125424536?ean=9781601839664

Kobo – https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/desperate-bride

Google Play – https://play.google.com/store/books/details/A_S_Fenichel_Desperate_Bride?id=9nvRDQAAQBAJ

iBooks – https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/desperate-bride/id1196955489?mt=11

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