In The Spur of Heath (The Spur Series Book 1)
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Authors: Sydney Ledger
In The Spur of Heath
By
Sydney Ledger
In The Spur of Heath
by Sydney Ledger.
Copyright © 2016 Sydney Ledger (Faith Sydney Roy)
www.facebook.com/sydneyledgerauthor
All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. For permissions contact:
[email protected]
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Created in Trinidad & Tobago
Cover Design by: Sydney Ledger
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Table of Contents
This book was written solely for entertainment purposes.
It delves into the emotions of the heroine as she battles an uncanny love triangle, exploring emotions of love, jealousy, and betrayal, lust, hate, passion, blackmail, disgust. There are so many things going on in this story but it concludes nicely. It’s heart breaking, humorous, beautiful, and dramatic. Every possible emotion you could think of. I tried my best to make my heroine as interesting as possible. Time & time again, I would read stories where the heroine was pretty dull and lacked personality. I really didn’t want to make that mistake and I hope I have not failed you – the readers.
I wanted to incorporate a little of my culture into the book and give you a taste of Trinidad, my birth country. I had to do a lot of research as most things written are fictitious, I have personally never been to California, so I opted to make my story as plausible, to say the least.
In The Spur of Heath - part 2 will be The Prequel of events taking place in this book, so if you found this book to be enjoyable, and you’ve grown attached to the characters and would like a backstory – look out for part 2. It will be out soon.
With that being said, Part 3 continues where this book ended. So if you want to know how it really concludes, make sure to look out for that one as well. I’m hoping all books would be completed before 2018.
Once again, I do hope you, the readers enjoy this book. Please, I implore that you leave a review on its Amazon page, or on Goodreads. Or even on its Facebook page.
Sydney Ledger
20/May/2016
Trinidad
I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has helped and inspired me to make this book a reality. For the push and the encouragement when I first started writing this story, my friends, Anisah David, and Arifah Ali who has also dedicated herself to helping me with the marketing of this e-book. To my loving soon-to-be husband, Marlon Maxwell, for allowing me to follow my dreams and become a full-time writer, you truly deserve the best. My beautiful daughter, Riley Emily Roy – I love you. My best friend in the world, Kristal Singh, who has been supportive of my dreams. And too my cousin, Shivonne Scott for pushing and guiding me to become a full-time writer in the midst of unemployment.
To the other friends who have made it their duty to read and review before publication – you guys are awesome: Fellow Author, Leonard Ramkissoon, and others such as Davon Hernandez, Jill Faria, Saraswati Ramlogan, and a special thanks to Nicholas Defour who gave me some really sound advice, it has helped the book tremendously.
And last, but not least, all my other friends and family members (too many to name here) that has shown their moral support. I truly appreciate it.
And to my readers, I thank you for purchasing (or downloading) this e-book and I hope that you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing.
Introduction
He was my best friend and I loved him more than I should have. I wanted him badly, but I was in what we call the “friend zone” and I couldn’t let him know how I really felt. We met each other about a year ago at college and we hit it off ever since – but of course just as very best friends – nothing more!
His girlfriend of five months, Caroline, was of course the perfect Miss Barbie; long-legged, blonde hair, pink lips, powder blue eyes and a killer smile that made me feel to shoot myself. I am in no way suicidal but I had urges –
just kidding
.
I was a nineteen year old island girl from Trinidad with a hardcore passion for Film. It was what propelled me to migrate to California in the first place. I wanted to pursue my dreams so badly, and school was my first step in that direction. I had my heart set on an amazing future in the Film Industry. It was all I saw, it was my focus. Nothing else was on my mind – until I met him. He consumed my every waking moment, envisioning what it would be like to have him and no matter how hard I tried to disregard my feelings, it always ended in inevitable failure.
I came from a mixed background; I was of East Indian and African descent. I wasn’t ugly. In fact, I had received a lot of praise for my ‘exotic’ features and beautiful Chestnut skintone, even from my best friend himself and despite us being completely in tune with each other and having a lot in common, it wasn’t enough. He only saw me as a friend. And as much as it broke my heart, I valued his friendship and loved him dearly.
My best friend was a foot taller than me with olive skin, green eyes, honey-brown shoulder-length hair, broad shoulders, and a stained apprehensive look on his face that I thought was awfully cute. He wasn’t the muscular type, but he was perfection in my eyes. He was from Australia and his accent was what sealed the deal of my uncanny attraction.
His name was Heath Andrews. And I was in the Spur of Heath.
“Oh my God, Heath! Are you kidding me?” I exclaimed.
“No, I am not.” Heath, my best friend, replied in his deep Australian voice, beaming with excitement.
SuperLove by Charlie XCX
was blasting over the radio as we were making our way to Dillcaster Film & Performing Arts Academy in Heath’s red, 2014 Camaro Convertible. It was our first day back at school for the New Year. I held down my black beanie as my long, wavy, bronze hair blew wildly in the wind.
Dillcaster was the cool, suburban town we lived in, about a half hour away from Los Angeles. Heath and I began sharing an apartment when we met each other freshman year of college and have been best of friends ever since. We were both doing a Bachelor of Arts program in Film Production and a Minor in Acting at the academy. His girlfriend lived on the other side of town and was majoring in being a bitch.
Okay, okay I’m kidding!
She was majoring in Fashion Design –
typical
!
We pulled up in the school’s parking lot and there Miss Barbie was with three fresh lattes awaiting our arrival. I always hoped she didn’t try to poison me. She didn’t exactly like our living arrangement. And as usual, Miss Barbie was too perfect to express her hate towards it to my face. She just bitches about it behind my back, but like the good best friend Heath is, he told me.
Duh!
“Hey hun, hey Reese.” Caroline smiled, handing us both our lattes. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that my name is Reese Singh.
“Hi Caroline, thanks for the latte.” I smiled politely and took the latte from her. “No classes today?” I asked in the most obviously sarcastic tone ever. Heath had his signature apprehensive look; creased forehead and anxious green eyes.
“Not exactly. I had some errands to run and I just decided that it would be cool to get breakfast with you guys.” Her eyebrows shot up at me.
“Awesome” I pepped.
Heath kissed her on her cheek and then placed an arm around her shoulders. My face may have been impassive on the outside, but inside I was cringing. I was in love with him for so long and he didn’t even know. My fault, I should have told him how I felt. But what good would that have done? He clearly just loved me as a friend. He was single for almost eleven months before Caroline. He had ample time to make a move on me, but he didn’t.
I paced behind them as we made our way toward Tang, the best café on campus. Heath had the look of a bad boy, often sporting leather, but he was the sweetest person on Earth. He was two years older than me and we both came into Dillcaster around the same time. We met during orientation and became friends when we were both working a part time job at a stationery store where he was a graphic designer and I was a sales clerk. Realised he needed a roommate and I needed a new place to stay, so we started sharing the apartment. It was a two storey house, but the upstairs was vacant and belonged to a friend of Heath’s dad.
We entered through the glass door of Tang and into its usual ambient atmosphere of Indie Pop or Chillstep music and strong wafts of ground coffee beans and freshly made baked goods. The walls were painted in a Tangerine colour, accented with chocolate brown. The counter was to our left and several rows of beige tables and chairs lay neatly ahead. We usually sat at one particular table near the counter, basically in the middle of the café.
I followed idly behind as we headed for our table. And as usual, Heath and Caroline began occupying each other’s faces when we sat down.
Overdose by Little Daylight
was playing. “Ooh, like an overdose.” I sang quietly, trying to disregard their affectionate display. I sipped on the latte that Caroline had given to me and eyeballed around the café and spotted Jake Cavanaugh, one of our lecturers. His head was buried in his book as he sipped on his Cappuccino.
He was absolutely gorgeous and looked pretty young for his age. Tall and toned body, dark hair, ice blue eyes, straight nose, and a killer one-sided smile. He had the best jawline I had ever seen and his cheekbones were to die for. He just had the most perfect masculine face.
It seemed as though he had sensed my eyes on him because he looked directly at me, his eyes staring deathly into mine. He then smiled, giving me a small wave in the process. “Um… Heath, Caroline.” I interrupted and they both turned their heads to me. “I’m over by Mr. Cavanaugh if you need me.” I bolted out of my seat before they could even respond and walked up to Jake.
“Hey Jake.” I raised my brow and tilted my head.
“Hey Trini.” He called me Trini because I was from Trinidad and my accent was strong, so strong that I tried my best not to speak dialect, but Standard English so that everyone could understand me.
“What you doing here all by yourself?”
“Well, just came to get a bagel. How’s the third wheel life going?” He quipped.
“Jake, that’s so not funny.” I sighed and sat down at the table.
He may have been my lecturer, but he was someone I sort of confided in. He was really cool; sweet, humorous and certainly patient. He would work with us until we got something right without getting annoyed or angry. I can’t even really remember how we started being this friendly, it just happened. Other girls sucked up to him, while I sucked up to Heath.
“I mean they could at least save all that kissing for when you’re not there.” He replied, nodding his head slightly at ‘the couple’.
Rolls eyes
.
“I know right. Bleh. I don’t know how to deal. Thank God she lives on the other side of town. How’s Lena?” I asked as I fiddled with the salt and pepper shakers that were in the middle of the table.
“We broke up.”
“Really? Why?” My eyes shot up at him in disbelief.
“She was cheating.”
“What? You serious?”
“Yep.” He took a sip of his coffee. “I have too much paper work to handle anyway. Lots of
shit
to grade and work outside of this school. Lena has other plans. She decided to move to Atlanta for a job.”
“Just like that, huh? After all those years?”
“Five to be exact, but who’s counting?”
“Well you’re only thirty-five. You’re young.”
“You think I’m young?”
“Heck ya.” I teased. He locked eyes with me with a faint smirk etched across his face. It was his signature look – a cold intimidating stare. You could never tell what he was thinking in the moment. It was his sex appeal. The mysterious brooding man with ice blue eyes that would look dead into you. I always tried to disregard the effect it had on me.
“Reese?” I heard that familiar Australian accent pulling me away from his hold.
“Bye, Jake.” I got up from the table.
“Bye, Ms. Singh.” He raised a seductive brow and I rolled my eyes. I headed towards Heath, taking notice of his disturbed scowl and
no
Caroline.
“Where’s Caroline?” I asked as I met up with him –
as if I actually cared.
“We had a bit of a disagreement, so she left.”
“What for, now?”
“You know how she gets sometimes.”
“Sometimes? Heath, more like all the damn time. I don’t know why you put up with her bitch behaviour. You’ve only been together for like five months.”
“Reese, you of all people know it’s not that easy.”
“Yeah, and I of all people know that it don’t make sense either.” I stared at him and then back at Jake. Jake looked up from his book and we exchanged smiles. I then turned towards Heath. “Look, it’s none of my business. I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. You’re just looking out for me.”
“Yeah, ‘cause I love you.”
“I love you, too, Reesie. Come on, let’s get outta here. We’ve got Mr. Cavanaugh’s auditions in an hour.”
We left the café and made our way up to the canopy of the school. There was a group of students on the lawn near the huge Oak tree with their film equipment. They must have been prepping for a shoot. Other students were lounging around on the benches under the canopy either texting on their phones or in loud chatter.
Another lecturer named Ms. Lang was with her freshman students on the other side of the school’s parking lot packing equipment and boarding the shuttle. I heard they were going to L.A. for a beginner’s film convention.
Heath and I padded up to the automatic entrance doors of the massive black, grey and white building. We were inches from the doors when Aaron Cruz burst through with his camera in hand. He was recording a video for a competition. Students had to showcase the school and environs and the one with the best cinematography, camera and editing skills will win at least fifty credits.
Aaron started taping Heath and me as we basically ignored him and walked through the doors. A blast of icy air pressed against my face sending shivers down my body. I slipped on my black hoodie. A grey help desk was to the right of us, and on the left, the Administrators were behind a large white desk busy talking to curious prospective students. Behind the Administrators bore the school’s logo and a large flat screen TV advertising the school, students and courses available. A few people were lounging around on the comfy red chairs in the waiting area.
We passed the Administrator’s desk towards the hallway. I linked my arm in Heath’s as we made our way down the lengthy, all-white hallway. Students and teachers alike whizzing past us as we strolled idly towards our lockers. “Reese, do you have that bloody wanker’s book?” Heath asked me as he stuffed his bag into his locker.
“Uh, no. I gave that back.” My eyebrows furrowed. “He still bothering you?”
“Unfortunately. He needs to bugger off. Mad cunt!” I chuckled.
We opened the doors to the end of the hallway that was labelled ‘Auditorium’ and it was dark, apart from the light that shone down on the stage, illuminating Chace Bronson’s lanky figure rehearsing his lines. The auditorium was spacious with rows of red cushioned seats arranged in a stadium-like manner and dim lights lining the walkways.
We stepped down carefully, making our way towards the first row seats. “Lights!” A voice yelled out as we walked down the pathway. Heath and I shaded our eyes and the bright lights flickered on, revealing just how huge the auditorium really was. We reached to the first row of seats near the stage and sat down.
Chace was done with his rehearsals and exited to the left of the stage. Just then, we heard the loud squeak of one of the doors opening. I craned my neck back and saw Jake walking down towards us. The girls behind us started squealing with excitement and I shot them a disgusted look. Everyone apparently had the hots for Jake. I then fixed my attention to Heath. “Mad cunts.” He joked.
“Indeed.” I rolled my eyes. “Are you ready?” I whispered, gently caressing his hand.
“Indeed I am.” He winked at me. Heath was one of the most amazing actors at the school and always aced any rehearsals or auditions we had. He took notice of my scowl.
“Reese, don’t be nervous, you’re better than me.”
“Thanks for the flattery, but we all know that’s a load of crap. You are the most renowned Method Actor in this class. I am below that level.”
“But you love it. That is all that matters, eh.”
Ah yes, Heath, that is all that matters,
I thought to myself.
Jake sat in one of the seats next to me just as Heath made his way to the stage. “Hey.” He whispered. “Hi.” I croaked.
“Hey, Mr. Cavanaugh.” The girls behind us chorused.
“Hey girls.” He replied almost robotically and faced me. “Are you auditioning?” He asked thoughtfully.
“I hadn’t thought about it.”
“Extra cred?” He asked in disbelief. “Here.” He handed me his rolled up script. “Lead female role.”
“You sure? I thought Carissa was interested?”
“I don’t like Carissa for this role. I want you.” He looked at me with his usual calculating stare. I broke from his gaze and skimmed through the script and it instantly grabbed me. The story was dark and not what I had expected out of a love story. “Okay.” I smiled at him.
I peered at the stage – eyes on Heath as he took his stance. Darkness fell across the room and a single spot light illuminated his six feet tall figure on the stage. I looked over at Jake, his index finger pressed against his lips as his eyes were affixed to the stage. I then turned my attention back to Heath, and as usual I began to focus on him. Focus on him so much that everything around me faded away. Even his performance. All I noticed was his body and that accent. His lips were perfection, especially when it gradually built into the most beautiful all-white smile; the way he ran his hands through his hair; the way he moved with such ease and precision. He was so calculated in his craft. I saw nothing else but the most magnificent man. My heart ached knowing that I couldn’t have him. I often fantasized about what it would be like.
Sigh!
After his performance, Jake told me to get on to the stage. When I did, I closed my eyes and breathed as the lights went down, then the spotlight came on and I opened my eyes – that was it! I was gone! I had now transformed into my character and I did what I was supposed to do. Maybe Heath was right? Maybe I was just as good as him. Well, I did love what I was doing.