Lessons in Laughing Out Loud

Lessons in Laughing Out Loud Read Online Free PDF Page B

Book: Lessons in Laughing Out Loud Read Online Free PDF
Author: Rowan Coleman
She’ll be pleased to see you. Ah, and Serious James is coming, he’ll be very pleased to see you.” Serious James was Daniel’s other unlikely best friend, an archetypal accountant who dreamed of being a stand-up comedian, who seemed to persist in his delusion despite so far testing his talent for timing in only a few flea-ridden pubs here and there. He seemed nice enough, with his permanently tousled blond hair, which he wore a little longer than you might expect for an accountant, and his gray-green eyes that crinkled when he smiled were quite attractive, might even be considered very attractive if he wasn’t standing next to Daniel Fayre.
“Bring someone if you like. Hey—bring that hot, slutty one you hate from work. That will keep Kayla on her toes, the sex is always better when she’s really insecure.”
Willow tugged absently at the ribbon on the box of chocolate, barely noticing it give way as she fought the disappointment of a rejection she hadn’t even known she was in line for. She could still say no, of course, call him later with apologies. But to pass up the chance to spend a whole night in thecompany of Daniel, making jokes with him that his girlfriend wouldn’t understand, laughing about Serious James behind his back, drinking so much that every nerve ending was lulled into a false sense of security, was hard to do, even if every moment of pleasure would be simultaneously blended with pain.
“If I lose my job over this, you’ll have to marry me, you understand that, don’t you?” Willow heard the wistful edge to her voice too late, knowing Daniel had heard it too.
“Babe, you are the only woman I would ever marry, you know that, don’t you?” he told her with practiced sincerity.
“So you say,” Willow said with a mouth full of chocolate, which gave her pause. As she looked down at the box, its lid askew, it became apparent that one of the chocolates had already found its way into her mouth. In fact, on closer inspection it seemed that she had finished off three during the conversation and had barely even noticed.
“Ciao, bella.”
Willow sighed, popping the last two chocolates into her mouth as Daniel hung up. Turning around, she found herself confronted by the watchful shop assistant.
“Are you planning on paying for those?” the woman asked, with more than a hint of accusation.
“Yes,” Willow said. “And I’d better take another couple of boxes too, please.”
“Of course, madam,” the woman said as she bustled off to retrieve more chocolate, the look on her face giving away exactly what she thought of Willow in an instant.
Willow winced internally, brushing her long hair off her face and shaking her shoulders briefly as if she could shake off the darkness that sometimes engulfed her. Why had she picked Daniel Fayre to be in love with? Because he was absolutely, totally, one hundred percent guaranteed to never love her back, that was why.

Chapter
           Three
    W ithout really thinking about it, Willow turned right when she left Liberty’s, choosing the back way to the office, rather than attempting to navigate Regent Street, thronged as it continuously was with tourists and day trippers, intent on ambling along aimlessly exactly wherever she wanted to be. It was a sign of a practiced city dweller to take the road less traveled, but it was more than finding a shortcut for Willow, who was perfectly well aware that she chose to travel via the back-streets because it was less obvious there that no one noticed her. Once Willow would have put it down to the opposite, that she hated the thought of strangers judging her wobbly thighs or generous stomach, remarking to each other, “Look at the state of that ,” not quite under their breath.
But quite recently she had been compelled to walk the short distance between the office and the Athenaeum with Lucy Palmer on the way to a party being held in celebration of an elderly and slightly alcoholic actor’s long and
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