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What was meant to be, will be
When Lizzy James flies to Dublin, Ireland, all she wants is to have a relaxing weekend. But the misty streets hold many memories from the carefree summer Lizzy spent as a student in the city, and she cannot shake off the feeling that something is unfinished. The past grows stronger when Lizzy receives a message from an old friend, Alice, who has gone from one dazzling success to another since college.
But perfect Alice has a guilty and unexpected secret. On their last night in Dublin seven years ago, Alice swapped destinies with Lizzy. The deal ends at midnight that very night.
With a handsome, mysterious Dubliner called Declan in hot pursuit, Lizzy has no choice but to join Alice as they race across the city. Their fates entwined, the girls have one night to put things right. Can the girls change the past and restore destiny to its proper path? As the hour draws near, anything can happen at midnight in Dublin.
Excerpt:
“Lizzy!” Alice had grabbed my
shoulders and pecked my cheek.
I felt the softness of her
ash-blond hair as it brushed my face, a softness only achieved with
regular maintenance. Her tight fitting jacket and skirt oozed style
and expense, and her glossy handbag was quite possibly made from an
actual reptile. On her slim, childish hand she wore a large diamond
and ruby engagement ring. She was Alice, older and luxurious.
“You haven’t changed a bit!”
Alice declared.
I wondered if in fact I was
wearing the same jeans I had worn seven years ago. Alice shifted in
her seat. I had the strange feeling she was nervous. When she gazed
at me, she had resumed her compelling, confident expression and her
eyes bored into me as if she could learn all my secrets.
“So,” Alice’s lips rose in
a smile, “tell me what you’ve been doing. Are you an artist
now?”
My heart sank, “No, I kind of
gave up.”
“Really? Didn’t you want to
be an illustrator or something?”
“I did, years ago but you know
-”
“So where are you working?”
“I’m not actually working at
the moment,” I said, unsure which word to stress, “I had a job
interview in London yesterday.”
“So you live in London?”
“No. I’m in Edinburgh.”
“Still?”
“Yes Alice,” I breathed in,
trying to sound chirpy, “I lived in London for a year,” I added,
“before the company I worked for closed down. So it’s Edinburgh
for the time being.”
“And where are you living?”
“With my parents.”
“Your parents?” Alice raised
her eyebrows in an annoying way.
“At the moment.”
Alice smiled again, “And who
are you going out with?”
“No one. Actually.”
That summed up my life really. On
all fronts, everything had ground to a halt. All my potential had
evaporated. I’d drifted into a career I didn’t particularly like,
I had no job, and I’d had to move back home with my parents. Alice
had managed to get it all out of me in the first minute. It was just
that I’d had the most incredible bad luck. You had to get a break
sometime, at something. But for seven years, the seven years since
I’d seen Alice, it had all been one long, continuous free-fall.
As for Alice, I knew her story,
even if I didn’t want to. She had gone from one success to another;
surprising everyone by landing a graduate job with a luxury hotel
group, being posted from Bali to the Cayman Islands and then to
London. Each move came with a promotion, and now she was a director
of her company. I’d heard stories of her house in London, her
travels and parties and her fiancé who ran a hedge fund. My life
looked sad and grey in comparison.
Somewhere in Dublin a clock
struck six. The bells rang out across the cobblestone lanes. I’d
never heard such a grave sound before. The twilight was turning into
evening.
Alice glanced into the sky.
Despite the glittering ruby on her finger and her glossy alligator
bag, I realized she was scared. Really, really scared.
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