‘Riley? Riley, I’m home!’
Relieved at there being no answer, Jack left his case in the hallway and walked on through to the lounge, where he noticed a bar of his favourite chocolate on the coffee table and a little hand-scribbled note saying, Back at eight, enjoy this now, enjoy me later. Missed you x
Without even taking his coat or shoes off, he let out a big, tired sigh, sat down and was just laying his head back on the sofa when a text came in from his secretary. Hi Jack. Don’t forget you’ve got a 7.30 breakfast meeting with Saxon’s tomorrow, then lunch with McAdams Fuller, so wear a tie. He sent back a quick thumbs-up emoji and shut his eyes in the hope he would be able to have a nap before Riley got home and started jumping all over him.
The plane journey from London had been long and given him too much time to think. It had taken everything for him to go over and see Star, to tell her how he really felt – and because of his own stupidity, it had all been for nothing. Angry at himself and angry that she was pregnant so soon after meeting someone, he had blocked her number. There was no point in any of it now. Just seeing her beautiful face again as they sat on the pier had stirred up another whole load of feelings. Feeling the warmth of her personality and the obvious chemistry that flowed between them had been off the scale. It had made him realise that he was ready to up and leave his New York life and Riley; but none of that mattered now. If she just had a boyfriend, he could have fought for her, but a baby in the mix too, well that was a whole different ball game.
He looked around him. There was no denying they lived in luxury here, but home sweet home didn’t feel like home any more. Seeing his parents had made him realise how much he missed them. Just being in England, where everything seemed smaller, more real, less contrived, was where he belonged. But sadly, the woman who he now realised he wanted to be with, was pregnant with another man’s child and seemed very happy.
Why hadn’t he just acted on his gut and told Star how he felt when he left her the first time? Why did he think the life he had here was better? The money, the kudos of living in the Dakota Building, the fantasy of a pretty young actress on his arm and him walking the red carpet when his screenplay hit big. None of that mattered any more. All that mattered plainly and simply was a girl called Steren Lilian Bligh who lived above a jewellery store in Ferry Lane Market in the picturesque estuary town of Hartmouth.