Read Online Romance: One Perfect Holiday by Emily Cooper - Free Book Online

 
     
     
    The thought of this holiday has been the only thing that has gotten me through the last twelve months.
    And boy has it been a long twelve months.
    I’ve worked myself to the bone, been dumped on my birthday, taken a fall down a flight of stairs, said goodbye to my cat after a long illness, and lost a lot of money in a bad investment.
    But the idea of this holiday has gotten me through all the long, hard hours of work, through the crowded, boring commutes, and the sad, lonely hours in my apartment. This holiday has been a beacon of light in my life – something to swim towards.
    And I have barely been keeping my head above water lately.
    My job is getting more and more stressful by the day, and it is starting to show outwardly.
    My eyes always look tired, my hair is splitting at the ends, and my energy levels are slowly disappearing.
    When you sign up to work for a prestigious bank, they tell you how much money you will earn, how many great people you will meet, and how people will look up to you.
    Yep, I certainly got all that.
    But what they don’t tell you about is the extensive hours, the sleepless nights, and the non-existent social life. They don’t tell you that they gradually steal your life from your grasp until you have nothing left but work.
    Working as an accounts manager was exactly what I wanted to do when I finished college.
    But not what I wanted to be when I was a little girl – nope, I wanted to live at a holiday resort and work there. The only holiday my family could afford when I was young was a trip to Florida where we stayed at a cheap resort.
    And I loved it.
    As a ten-year-old girl, I could think of nothing more special than working in a place where everyone always seemed happy, the sun was always shining, and the water was so close.
    It was also the location of my first kiss.
    And what a kiss it was.
    I still remember him – tanned, cute and cheeky. He kissed me and then ran away, never to be seen again.
    I still smile when I think about that moment of my childhood.
    So when my two best friends suggested we organize a week-long holiday together, Florida was the first place that I suggested.
    Hopefully, I can regain that wonderful happiness that I had when I was ten-years-old.
    And maybe even steal another holiday kiss…
    This will be the first holiday I’ve taken in over five years. I made it very clear to my boss that I will not be contactable over the next week – but he slowly convinced me that I should at least check my emails once a day… just in case something big happens.
    I want to forget about the emails, the piles of work, my clients, and the stress. I want to get on that plane and leave it all behind… but I know that is easier said than done.
    And it is not only work that I have to forget about – I also want to forget about Nick, my dreadful ex-boyfriend. I didn’t even like him, but I still can’t forget about him.
    Despite the fact that he always belittled me, I miss him. If I think about it logically, I hated him. He was always drinking and he couldn’t hold down a job for more than a month at a time. Not to mention how he was always looking at other women. But at least he kept me from being lonely at night.
    When we first met, he was the perfect man. He gave me flowers every week and we had deep philosophical discussions. He was so charming.
    But over the years, six years, in fact, things changed.
    As it turned out: he was a prick.
    I was raised to be an independent woman. I raised to value myself. I was raised to be successful.
    And I have succeeded at all that.
    But without him, I am lonely.
    Thankfully, Nick walked out on our relationship. Well, not so much as walked out, but I kicked him out… after I found him in my bed with another woman.
    Not only was it my bed, but it was also my birthday, and I had come home early from work with a headache.
    Worst. Birthday. Ever.
    When he came back to get his things, he told me it wasn’t the first time he cheated