Meant for Now

Allison Speka

Contents ( 43)

MEANT FOR NOW

ALLISON SPEKA

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Cover Design by Allison Speka

Edited by Jessica McKelden

Created with Vellum

For anyone choosing a different path than the one they thought they’d be on.

1. Frankie

2. Oliver

3. Frankie

4. Frankie

5. Frankie

6. Oliver

7. Oliver

8. Frankie

9. Oliver

10. Frankie

11. Oliver

12. Frankie

13. Oliver

14. Frankie

15. Frankie

16. Oliver

17. Frankie

18. Frankie

19. Oliver

20. Frankie

21. Frankie

22. Oliver

23. Frankie

24. Oliver

25. Frankie

26. Oliver

27. Frankie

28. Oliver

29. Frankie

30. Oliver

31. Frankie

32. Oliver

33. Frankie

34. Oliver

35. Frankie

Epilogue

The Reality of It All

About the Author

Also by Allison Speka

ONE

Frankie

“Fired? Fired! Can you believe it?” I knocked back one of the tequila shots the bartender had set in front of us. The burning sensation coated my throat and I welcomed the sting. The shot glass hit the table with a loud clank before I brought the lime wedge to my lips and sucked.

“I mean, it was a shock at first, but considering this is the fiftieth time you’ve brought it up, I’m starting to believe it,” my older sister Mattie muttered from the barstool next to mine. “And technically you got laid off, not fired.”

“What’s the difference?” I demanded, snatching her shot and knocking it back too. “It’s all just an excuse to get rid of me. Me! I’ve done everything for that company. I’ve been there for years. And to just lay me off on a random Thursday without even giving me a chance to say goodbye?” Tears pricked at my eyes, but I had already sobbed over this enough in the past twenty-four hours. I refused to be reduced to a shriveling mess of a human.

Mattie lightly placed her hand on my shoulder. “Frankie, it’s going to be alright. You’re the most qualified, driven person I know. You’ll find another job. This is a slight detour in the grand scheme of things.”

Her words danced around in my brain. Maybe it was the buzz, but they didn’t quite hit their intended target. The din in the bar faded to background noise as I tried to focus on the conversation at hand.

I was fully prepared to spend a few more days wallowing before I accepted this turn my life had unexpectedly taken. And what better place to wallow than in the company of my only sister? As soon as I’d stepped out of my former office in downtown Atlanta, clutching a box of my belongings and still feeling shell-shocked, I had stumbled over to a bench across the street and looked up flights on my phone. I had to get away. Spending some time with my sister in the small town she’d moved to a few years ago had sounded like the exact getaway I needed.