All NEW Tuesday's Tale!

After a 6-month hiatus, I'm glad to be back creating new stories for Tuesday's Tales! Below is an excerpt from my new short, The Flower Queen. This week's writing prompt is finger.

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She felt like a fool. Seeing the evidence of his betrayal left a rancid feeling in the pit of her stomach. If she hadn’t forgotten to eat lunch, she would have been sick.

Gina stared at the picture, taken two months ago, of the smiling couple. It had accompanied the short email that had just come into her inbox. In no uncertain terms it basically read: Stay away from my husband.

She deleted the photo from her screen and sprang up from her desk. Trying not to draw too much attention to herself, she walked calmly to the ladies room. Someone called out to her but she kept walking. The tears started to flow before she even made it into one of the bathroom stalls.

She had never had her heart broken before and wasn’t used to the ache in her chest that caused the uncontrollable tears. She thought back to two months ago when the photo had been taken. It had been around the time she had given herself to him. Gabriel Alexander Connors. Her Gabe. Successful entrepreneur, charismatic lover… lying cheat.

No, not hers. He had never been hers. He was just her seducer and heartbreaker.

For twenty-five years she had managed to protect her heart, and now it lay bruised and bleeding inside her chest. But she couldn’t afford to completely fall apart right now. She was at work and in less than twenty-four hours would be flying across country for an important business meeting. She had four hours of work to get through and needed to pull herself together.

She left the protection of the stall and went to the mirror. Her eyes were red and her mascara was running. She grabbed some tissue and dabbed at her eyes with her finger, careful not to smear any more of her make-up. She pushed away the hurt and anger and prepared to go back out there and get through the rest of the day.

This way back to more Tuesday's Tales.