One and Only

By Irene Onorato

~~ A NOVELETTE ~~

 

Hang in there? Kendra's words kept replaying in Juliette's head as she left Cuppy Cakes and walked homeward. Here she was, in her twenties, feeling like an old, abandoned spinster. Was there a man out there for her? A guy she could give her heart to without it eventually being trampled on?

 

Emotions welled. Loneliness was eating her alive. How pathetic. Other women craved independence, careers, and the power to be perfectly complete inside and out without a man in their lives. She wasn't one of them.

 

Juliette turned the corner on South Park Avenue. Where was she supposed to meet this one and only—

 

Wham!

 

A body collided with hers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Irene Onorato
• Release date: Jan 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9798224367399

Irene Onorato

Irene Onorato was born and raised in Bronx, New York. Her father, a first-generation American whose parents were born in Italy, was an Army veteran who had served with the 178th combat engineers during WWII. He told numerous stories of battles, hardships, tragedies and triumphs. The glimpses he gave into the hearts of many American warriors would later become the inspiration for much of Irene’s writings.   In 1972, a few months after graduating high school, Irene met James Onorato, a soldier who had just returned from Vietnam. After dating two weeks, they married, raised three children, and are still happily married today.   Irene and James, both radiation protection technicians, retired from the nuclear power industry in 2014 and now reside in Louisiana. Readers can visit Irene’s website at ireneonorato.com, and find her on Facebook.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

N ew Orleans? You’ve got to be kidding me. That’s like, what? Two thousand miles away? Juliette wrapped her arms around herself, the summer night air suddenly damp and biting. This couldn’t be happening. Not now. Not when the prospect of a forever kind of love was within reach. With Devin.

She turned her back on him, stepped away from the bench, and faced the ocean, her head bowed, eyes flowing with warm tears that coursed down her cheeks.

Juliette, you knew this was coming. Law school won’t last forever. I’ll be back, and we can continue where we left off. Devin came up from behind and tenderly brushed her shoulders and upper arms. The kiss on her neck sent goosebumps racing down her spine. In the mean time we can call, write, and visit with one another. And don’t forget FaceTime.

She stepped forward on the pier, shrugging out of his grip. It’s not the same. Harvard Law School and several others are less than an hour from here. Why couldn’t you have gone to one of those?

It’s not that simple, and you know it. The scholarship was for Loyola, not Harvard Law. I had no say in the matter. Not unless I wanted to pay for tuition, which you know neither I nor my family could ever hope to afford.

Devin’s words rang true. His family’s finances and hers were similar. Work, work, work, scrimp.

She shuddered. We won’t survive the separation. I know we won’t.

But we will. I promise, we will.

But they didn’t. Not even close.

Juliette zipped her lightweight fleece and threaded her way off the jetty that stretched out into Barlow Harbor. The memory brought back pain. Separation. Anxiety. But she’d lived through it. Devin was nothing more than a memory. A person who could have, but didn’t earn a throne in the kingdom of her heart. That throne lay bare and dusty, though a few had tried, unsuccessfully, to claim it.

She went back to her car and drove to the emptiness of a one-bedroom apartment in a quiet part of town. Tomorrow, she’d go to work, pretend to be happy, joke with clientele while working veritable magic on their hair, and do it over again the next day. Lather, rinse, repeat. The life of a hairdresser.

Not that she hated it. But Juliette couldn’t say she loved it either.

Wild Thing jingled from the smartphone she’d set on the kitchen counter. Kendra had downloaded it and attached it to her number in Juliette’s contact list when she wasn’t looking. Silly woman. If anyone could make Juliette laugh, it was her crazy, impulsive best friend. She picked up. "Hey, girl. I hope you’re calling to suggest we get together and do something. Anything. I’m bored." And falling into a state of melancholy. Again.

Something wild, outlandish, and possibly life-threatening?

Yeah. A girls-gone-wild outing. Let’s get crazy.

Kendra laughed. Like what? You don’t do crazy very well, my friend.

I don’t know. You pick.

Skydiving?

Juliette gasped. I know you’ve done that before, but I don’t think I could bring myself to board a rickety plane and then jump out, even with a handsome hunk strapped to my back.

Ah, yes. Matteo something-or-other. A Sicilian package of pure testosterone and muscles, wrapped in sun-kissed bronze skin. His accent was divine. I can still hear him bellowing orders as we fell toward the earth. ‘Now spread-a you arms-a like-a theese.’

Stop, all ready. I’m getting a nosebleed just thinking about it. She tittered, imagining Kendra demonstrating the spread-eagle fall from the sky as they spoke. Okay, something slightly less wild than jumping out of a plane.

Who are you kidding, Jules? Wild and crazy just isn’t your thing.

I know. I’m your boring buddy. But you love me anyway, don’t you? She already knew the answer.

"I need you to