Love Without Rules (Contemporary Romance)
Read Love Without Rules (Contemporary Romance) Online
Authors: Kate Goldman
Published by Kate Goldman
Copyright © 2015 by Kate Goldman
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems – except in the case of brief quotations in articles or reviews – without the permission in writing from its publisher, Kate Goldman.
Table of Contents
Sydney Stone sat at her computer, typing furiously. Her jet-black hair cascaded down her shoulders, her green eyes alert. She was working hard on a new entry for her blog, the love doctor dot com. It had been months since she started this blog, and now she was reaching thousands of hits per day. Sydney clicked open her email, and was blown away by the amount of emails that she had waiting for her.
Sydney sighed happily. This was the perfect job. The apartment was the perfect place to work, and she loved working at home. Ever since she had started this blogging, she had tons of time to redecorate it in any way she liked. Her boyfriend of three years, Scott Greene, didn’t care at all, and enjoyed the little changes she made.
“What are you working on?” Scott asked as he brought her a warm cup of tea she had asked for. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Scott had three sisters growing up, and he knew just how to please a woman.
“New article. About how to spot the signs of cheating.” Sydney turned to give Scott a kiss. “Thanks for the tea.” She usually was sweeter to her lovely boyfriend, but today she was working hard and in the zone. She would let nothing distract her from finishing this article today.
“No problem.” He kissed her lightly, before patting her on the shoulder and going back to his laptop. Sydney returned to her work, excited about publishing a new article soon. All her readers always gave her excellent reviews whenever she posted something new, and they also sent her stories of how she had helped them in their individual lives. She loved these messages the most, for she felt like she was doing some good in the world.
Sydney hummed a song as she worked. “Add a few words here… A semicolon here… A signature… Perfect! Submit!” Sydney grinned happily as she submitted her latest article. She maneuvered her cursor over to her webpage statistics, and settled back into her comfy office chair to drink tea as she watched the numbers go up so quickly it was as if they had been jump-started by a defibrillator.
“Feeling proud of yourself?” Scott joked as he kissed Sydney’s neck. “Are you going to make food?”
“You know, you’re a couple years older than me, I think you should be making the food!” Sydney laughed. “Oh, I’m just kidding. I think I’m just going to run to the supermarket, pick up some frozen stuff. How do you feel about pasta?” Sydney stood up, turning her attention away from the computer.
“Sounds good,” he replied.
She grabbed her jacket, preparing to go out. She walked around the apartment, searching for something.
“Looking for this?” Scott held out her designer handbag.
Sydney grinned. “Thanks, Scottie.” She knew he hated that nickname. Scott playfully swatted at her shoulder.
“Now get. I’m hungry.”
“Alright, alright, I’ll be back soon.” Sydney closed the door behind her as she jingled her car keys happily. She always liked going shopping, no matter what it was she was shopping for.
Half an hour later, Sydney was in line at the checkout counter. There were only a couple registers open, and the lines were long. Sydney didn’t mind waiting, for it meant that she could browse magazines.
Ooh, the newest edition of US Weekly!
Sydney thought as she reached for the colorful magazine. Looking at the date, she saw it had just come out today. She scanned the cover, and saw that there was an exclusive interview with Serena Byrde, one of the hottest new actresses slash singers.
Sydney flipped open the magazine to the pages that contained the interview, and began reading. A particular question caught her eye: what is your favorite website? Sydney always laughed a little when she read this question, for she always hoped it would be her own little blog that would be mentioned. Of course, it was a ridiculous notion. Or was it?
“My favorite website? It has to be the Love Doctor, by Sydney Stone! She is hilarious, amazing at giving advice and she really responds to her readers. I really admire her. I could read her stuff all day!” was Serena’s answer.
Sydney’s heart skipped a beat.
Beside the answer was a picture of Sydney’s logo, a heart formed by a stethoscope with a large L in the middle. “This… This is mine!” Sydney exclaimed gleefully, and loudly, much to the surprise of the people around her. “Oops. Sorry,” she apologized as she giddily added the magazine to her shopping basket.
US Weekly
was a very popular magazine, and millions read it. She could barely imagine what this shout-out from Serena would do for her popularity.
Sydney drove home as fast as she could, overjoyed. She couldn’t wait to show Scott the good news. She missed the key in the lock several times in her haste. “Scott! Scott, something big happened! Scott! You have to come see this!” Sydney yelled as she threw open the door, almost running in her haste.
“Calm down, Syd, baby, what happened?” Scott laughed as he gave her a hug. “You look like you just won the lottery.”
“Serena Byrde.” Sydney grinned happily as she rifled through the shopping bag, looking for the magazine.
“What about her?” Scott watched as Sydney flipped through the pages rapidly. He thought she looked a bit frantic, but he didn’t mention it.
“She mentioned me. In her interview. Look!” Sydney shoved the magazine towards Scott and he read it, his eyes moving across the page as fast as he could.
“Oh, my god! That’s amazing!” Scott yelled happily as he pulled Sydney in for a hug. “Go on, check your views!” Scott led Sydney to the bedroom, where her laptop was.
Sydney opened it almost immediately, and typed in her username and password. She was so nervous, her hands were shaking. Scott noticed, and he put an arm around her for reassurance. The page was loading… loading… Done. Sydney’s jaw dropped.
It was as if a bomb had dropped. Previously, she had only been hitting the ten thousand landmark for visitors per day. All of a sudden, she was at a million. “Is this a dream?” Sydney asked Scott, who was smiling at her.
“No, Syd, you did it. People love you. People love your content.”
Sydney checked her email next, and found a similar explosion had taken place. Her heart began to beat so fast, she swore it was going to pop out of her chest. She could barely sit still. All of a sudden, her landline rang. Scott picked it up. “Hello?” There was a pause. “Yes, she’s here. Please hold.” He handed Sydney the phone.
“Hello?” she said in a rushed voice. She tried to keep it calm, as best as she could.
“Hello, is this Sydney Stone?” a very professional female voice asked.
“Yes, this is she.” For some reason, Sydney had a feeling that something very big was about to happen. She just didn’t know what.
“I’m from a publishing house. And I’d like to ask you to write a book.”
1
Sydney felt very nervous. She was waiting for the results. She had finally finished her entire manuscript, and had sent it to the publisher who had promised to give her a response in a couple days’ time. That was three days ago.
“Don’t worry, Syd. I’m sure she’ll reply soon,” Scott said as he set a plate full of food down in front of her. He was an excellent cook, but he also was incredibly lazy. But this time he had decided to make an effort to try and cheer her up.
“What if she doesn’t like it? My entire career is riding on this! Ever since I quit business school to make blogging my full time job… My mother has never really approved what I did. Everything I’ve done has been a fault in her eyes!” Sydney sighed heavily as she picked up a fork. She took a small bite of the tomato and eggs, a dish that she usually wolfed down.
Scott frowned. He was feeling depressed just watching her. “Alright, come on. It’s no good starving yourself. Your people need you! It’s been days since you’ve last blogged.”
“Well yeah, I’ve been too busy writing my book. I guess I could update…” Sydney gave a small smile.
“That’s my girl.” Scott grinned.
“I’m going to go eat dinner at the computer then.” Sydney got up from the table, and brought her drink and plate of food to the small wooden desk, where she fired up the computer. Soon, the apartment was filled with sounds of loud typing.
A couple minutes later, there was a ding. An email had arrived.
“Email!?” Sydney exclaimed loudly, her heart leaping. Could it be?
The
email she had been waiting for? Sydney was so excited, she missed clicking the bookmark of her email and instead went to her Facebook. Oops.
After she finally clicked the correct link, Sydney waited for the page to load with both fingers crossed. Mere seconds ticked by, but to her it seemed like hours.
Then it appeared.
The subject line read – congratulations! She clicked it open as fast as she could, scanning the contents of the fateful email.
Dear Sydney,
I have finished reading your manuscript. I must say, I am incredibly impressed. It would be my pleasure to publish this book for you. I will call you soon with more details. Speak soon!
Daphne
Sydney squealed in delight. “Baby, come here!” she yelled. Scott came running.
“Did you get the email from the publisher?” he asked, but the answer was already clear on her face. “Congratulations, Syd.” He grinned, kissing her on the cheek.
Sydney waited, as Scott read the email too. Several moments passed, and they sat in a happy sort of silence.
“This week is so happy. You know it’s our anniversary coming up too!” Sydney giggled. She loved celebrating anniversaries in fancy restaurants or at a party, and never failed to miss one. “What do you want to do to celebrate?”
“Let’s go out to eat,” Scott suggested. “I’ll make reservations.”
Sydney smiled. Scott always knew exactly what to say. And knowing him, he’d have some adorable surprise present ready for her. Sydney felt her spirits lift as she leaned back in the chair, feeling incredibly accomplished. Her life was going in the right direction, and for the first time in a while, she felt secure in her future.
After she had left business school, there had always been a chance that she would end up going back after failing in the blogging world. She had always felt like she owed it to her father, who had passed away years ago, to make it through business school. He had been a successful businessman, and wanted her to follow in his footsteps. But it was so dull, she couldn’t stand it any longer. At the time, blogging had made just enough for her to survive. Scott had been a blessing at this time, suggesting that they move in together in order to save on expenses.
She had lived in constant fear that her little blog would become forgotten. When Sydney just started, after several long weeks of writing with barely any rewards to show, Sydney had finally hit her first couple thousand viewers. And now she was definitely rising. It had been a struggle, but she was thankful that it was now successful. Her hard work had paid off.
Suddenly, the phone rang, breaking her train of thoughts. Sydney hurriedly wiped the liquid from the corners of her eyes. “H-hello?”
“Good evening, Sydney.” It was the woman from the publishing company, Daphne. “Did you receive my email?”
“Yes, yes I did!” Sydney sat down, clutching her phone.
“Great. Now I hope you’re not camera shy, because I have a surprise. A slot opened for an interview. On national television. On
The Debby Show
! The last author featured on this show sold over ten million copies of their book! And I booked
you!
It’s in a week,” Daphne squealed happily.
Sydney’s eyes widened in surprise. “Oh my God!” she exclaimed, unsure what to say. “Y-yes I’ll take it!” It was going to do wonders for her book and she knew it. “Definitely. I will. Thank you so much, Daphne.”
“Don’t thank me yet, honey. We have to prepare. I know it’s incredibly soon, but the only reason we got the spot was because some Martha Stewart-type cookbook author came down with influenza. This is your lucky chance. But it’s going to take some preparation.” Daphne laughed. “Don’t worry, Sydney. We’ll get you all prepared in time. I’ve got to run now, but I’ll talk to you later. Cheers!”
“Bye! Thank you so much!” Sydney squealed happily after she hung up. This was her big chance! Ever since she had been a little girl, Sydney had always dreamed of being famous. She had never thought it was possible, until now. “Hey, Scott, I’m going to be on TV!” she called out. Sydney waited to hear Scott’s footsteps, which usually signaled his arrival, but the sounds never came.
She looked over to see Scott lying on the couch, seemingly engrossed with his phone. His fingers flew across the screen quickly, and it was obvious that he was texting someone. “Scott?” Sydney called. He was too focused on his phone to notice her calling him.
“Scott!” she repeated, louder. “Scott…” Scott laughed quietly at a text that he had received. He was obviously trying to stifle his laughter. “Scott!”
“Hmm?” he finally answered. “Sorry, Syd, did you say something?”
“I’ve been calling you!” She rolled her eyes. “I’m going to be on TV! Promotion for the book!” she exclaimed gleefully.
“Oh, honey, that’s great.” He was back to texting, and Sydney narrowed her eyes in annoyance.
Sydney got up from her chair, and walked towards the couch. She sat down next to him, close. “Who’re you texting?” She leaned towards him, resting her head on his shoulder.
“J-just a friend from work,” Scott said very quickly as he locked his phone, prohibiting her from reading anything on his screen. It was a suspicious move, but Sydney was in such a happy mood she didn’t bother to read too much into it. It was probably just work-related stuff he didn’t want to bore her with.
Sydney began talking about how excited she was to be on television, and to be meeting the famous talk show host, Debby. In Sydney’s mind, the possibilities were endless. Everything in her life was perfect. There was nothing that was going wrong, right?
Love Doctor Tip #145:
If you think there’s something wrong, there probably is.