Nothing Personal

By Michele Cruickshank

Deemed ugly by her mother, who walked out on her at birth, Cypia was brought up by her father, who adored her.
Used and abused in her teens by people who should have loved her, the twists and turns of her life had brought her to this.
Having suffered from anorexia her whole life, she felt so much guilt for things she had no control over.
She realised that she couldn’t change the past, no matter how hard she tried.
But given one last wish, she wanted to be re-united with the children she hadn’t seen for 42 years, had loved her whole life and would till her last breath.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley
• Release date: Aug 31, 2018
• ISBN: 9780463234433

Michele Cruickshank

Michèle lives in Kent with her family. She left school with four GCSEs and speaks four languages but decided against using any of her skills and opted to work as a window dresser in a large department store in London. She gained her NVQ Assessor award in retail and decided to put it to good use by working with Greenwich Training Company, which helped get clients back into work, something she is proud to have done. She was the runner-up in the NVQ awards in 2008, which were held in the Guildhall in London. When she retired, being an avid reader, she decided to try her hand at writing and enjoyed it so much, that she is now writing her second book.

Book preview

About the Author

Michèle lives in Kent with her family. She left school with four GCSEs and speaks four languages but decided against using any of her skills and opted to work as a window dresser in a large department store in London.

She gained her NVQ Assessor award in retail and decided to put it to good use by working with Greenwich Training Company, which helped get clients back into work, something she is proud to have done. She was the runner-up in the NVQ awards in 2008, which were held in the Guildhall in London.

When she retired, being an avid reader, she decided to try her hand at writing and enjoyed it so much, that she is now writing her second book.

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Dedications

This book is dedicated to anyone who has ever suffered from depression in the hopes that you may find light at the end of the tunnel.

I wish you all well.

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Nothing Personal

Published by Austin Macauley at Smashwords

Copyright 2018, Michèle Cruickshank

The right of Michèle Cruickshank to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All Rights Reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with the written permission of the publisher, or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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A CIP catalogue record for this title is

Available from the British Library.

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www.austinmacauley.com

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Nothing Personal, 2018

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd.

ISBN 9781788785570 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781788785587 (Hardback)

ISBN 9781788785594 (E-Book)

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First Published in 2018

Austin Macauley Publishers.LTD/

CGC-33-01, 25 Canada Square

Canary Wharf, London E14 5LQ

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Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Stefanie Seaton, Editorial Assistant, at Austin Macauley, who took a chance on me and encouraged me to keep going after reading the first few chapters of my manuscript.

Thank you Vinh Tran for all your much-appreciated help.

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London, 1960

Cypria had locked away the secret in a box, in her head, and had thrown away the key. It was the only way that she could deal with what had happened to her at 19.

The twists and turns that had happened in her life, had brought her to this point in time even though it felt unreal.

How had this all happened to a shy, quite, well brought-up girl? she asked herself.

She had been married twice and was a mother to five children and one by another mother, but the one by another mother: that was a story in itself. She had 14 grandchildren, so her life should be happy and complete, yet as she sat, looking at the small Christmas tree in the corner of the room, life was anything but.

She felt a great sadness and wondered how it had all gone so wrong.

At this time of the year, she normally felt the happiness. The house would be full of family the tree that took over half the room, bursting with wrapped presents, just waiting for small children to tear them open. For her, this was what life was about. She worked hard all year round to make sure Christmas was perfect and everyone got what they wanted, no matter what the cost.

The reason it meant so much was simple: it was what her father had done for her and the way he had brought her up; and even though he was long gone, she knew he would be smiling down on her.

This year was different. A few months ago, she was told she had cancer and life had completely changed. She was made redundant from a job she loved and so, had retired. She felt it was time to start enjoying life a bit more and knew it would give her more time to look after her husband, Gary, to whom she had been married for 34 years.

He was, without a doubt, the best thing – apart from her children, whom she had never regretted having – that had happened in her life. She knew if it wasn’t for him, she wouldn’t be here now. But even he didn’t know about the secret she had locked away and doubted that he ever would.

There would be no family this year, so she had brought a small tree. Under it were two presents for Lily their eight-year-old rescue Terrier that had come to live with them a few months ago.

She and Gary didn’t really want to celebrate. So much had happened over the past year that all she wanted was to get Christmas over with and start a new year, and she prayed to God that it would be a better year. It was at this point that she realised she was going to have to get help before the secret destroyed her.

Having been a Samaritan for more than ten years, she knew that secrets always came out or they destroyed you, and she didn’t want that to happen to her. Cypria was born in 1944 in France at the end of the War.

Her father was an up-and-coming film producer who was Jewish and had managed to leave Germany, his birth land, with his parents at the beginning of the War.

Her mother was English but had been in France for a few years where she had met her father, Henry.

Her mother was one of the ‘John Tiller Girls’, a famous dance group of the day! A real beauty. They were not married, and Cypria was sure she wasn’t planned.

She lived in a villa in Cannes with her father and she had a full-time nanny called ‘Jaja’. It was only when she was about three that she