Day 111: Tales Of Penthouse Confrontations And Confused Jane
Day 111: Tales Of Penthouse Confrontations And Confused Jane
Day 111 Of How To Move On From A Man — 1LD
If you’re new here to 1 Lovelock Drive, welcome! Let me fill you in on what you’ve missed.
I’m Andie and my ex, Douglas, dumped me. This is my break-up, so to speak. Douglas is a power player in Melbourne, worth more than I could ever comprehend.
I have no idea why we broke up.
I work and live at 1 Lovelock Drive. There, my best friend James and I are building Highway, our unisex clothing line. Our two other best friends, GG and Sophia, are investors.
GG is dating Douglas’ brother, Taylor. Awkward.
I’ve recently discovered my ex has bought a controlling stake in our business. But I had to find that out the hard way!
“I’m here to see Douglas Gallo. Penthouse.”
The doorman was new. And I was very old. Old news. No one to remember. Not someone the doormen of his building should remember. In reality, I didn’t want him to remember me.
I had no intentions of returning, either.
Today was a once-off.
“Yes, Mr Gallo says you can come up. Do you know the way?”
I nodded and felt myself beginning to roll my eyes. I quickly stopped. Withholding my sass for this poor man, I remembered who I was truly frustrated at.
Ascending the lift, I had to keep reminding myself why I was there. Poor Alex.
He was trying to keep me occupied, distracted from this jerk. But the more the night went on, and I found myself waking in the morning sandwiched under Alex’s arms, naked, the less I felt right about Douglas. My friends were acting like shit, granted.
But why my ex?
Why?
And when a man is holding you, pleasuring you, and you can’t be in the moment with them, something is very wrong.
The lift opened and standing there, guarding the entrance, was Annabella Anderson. Fresh out of an Instagram post, her hair was in neat blonde waves draping over her skin-toned skivvy, with equally matching flared jeans.
All she needed was the filter and she was in her own private social media.
“What are you doing here?” I looked at her.
“Sorry, Jane. Didn’t Douglas tell you?”
“My name isn’t Jane.” It ought to be, I thought.
“Lay off,” I heard Douglas say, walking towards me. “Andie, what are you doing here?”
He was dressed in loungewear in a not-too-dissimilar colour to Annabella’s. It was not his style. Not his usual designer chic fit for a man of his age and status in the city.
“I have questions. About Highway and why you’re involved and why,” I paused, looking at Annabella. “Why you won’t stay out of my life.”
“I don’t know what you mean. You’re the one showing up at my doorstep.”
“You’re the one buying a controlling stake in my business. The one you had no interest in? The one you didn’t care about when I was starting it. You kicked me out of your life, fine. I get that. So why on fucking earth have you invited yourself back in?”
Annabella put her hand on Douglas’ arm. She looked concerned like she was worried her new man was going to begin balling his eyes out or something.
How wrong she was.
“Andie, it’s business. Nothing more, nothing less. If you were a good business woman you would see that.”
He reached for the call button for the lift.
“Now, if you don’t mind, I have things to do.”
I turned and got into the lift. It was clear Douglas had me seized up. Oh, how wrong he is.
You’re reading The Andie Chronicles
The 2023 romance-fiction series from the 1 Lovelock Drive (1LD) universe.
Want the full 1LD experience? Join hundreds of subscribers as we share behind-the-scenes and exclusive adventures on 1LD’s Substack (and it’s free to access!)