(Updated again!) Early Access: The Taste Of A Smile Part 37 ‘Secrets’ Excerpt Teaser

Hi!

Here’s an extra early excerpt teaser for you today!

Update 18/03: Added some more excerpt below for Wednesday Excerpt Day!

Update 20/03: Added some more excerpt again. 🙂

I plan to release some extra script excerpts in the coming weeks. I will also release the new episodes on the website as soon as I can. Many of us are stuck at home and need some entertainment, right? 🙂

The podcast feed frequency will remain the same with a new episode every 2 weeks. In other words: if you want some extra early access, check the community timeline and this blog for the latest.

If you’d like some (virtual) company or someone to talk to in these crazy times, our community is a great place to make some new friends!

1. You can follow the updates of others and/ or post your own updates on the community timeline. It works pretty much like Facebook, except there are no ads and no creepy algorithm distorting reality. Here are some great tips to getting started after you register.

2. You can also join our chatroom on Keybase. Fellow romantics around the world have joined our room there and it’s a great place for in the moment conversations. Joining Keybase is free and you can find our chat channels when you look for team ‘frtlr’ and request to join.

I will be active on both platforms and in the comments below! I look forward to chatting with you. 🙂

Stay safe, stay healthy.

💜

Sigrid

 

Mary frowned at her screen. She hit the backspace on her keyboard with a sigh. She typed in a word. Her inbox came back with zero results again. Mary tried another one but the email she was looking for still didn’t pop up.

“Oh, come on,” she muttered at the laptop. “Just do your frikkin’ job.”

Her eyes flicked to the corner of the screen. It was almost 6PM. Not much time had passed since she had last checked the hour. Time seemed to have come to a halt, ever since Lex had left.

In the morning, things had been great. Lex had been working in the café and Mary had gone up there several times. She had sat at a table and enjoyed watching Lex work. Every time their eyes had met, butterflies had started dancing in her stomach.

Lex too had seemed to come up with any excuse to see Mary. She must have gone to the bathroom at least five times in one morning, passing by Mary’s office and sticking her head inside on her way every time.

Mary and Lex had also exchanged hundreds of text messages since last night. It had started soon after Lex had left Mary’s place. “What would you like to do on our first date?” Lex had asked.

“I haven’t agreed to one yet,” Mary had responded.

“Hypothetically, if you were to agree to another date,” Lex had texted back, “Would you like to go see another show?”

“An opera?”

“Let’s skip opera for a while. ;)”

“Lol, fair enough. A movie?”

“Yes! Do you like popcorn? :)”

“I love popcorn.”

“I want to know more about you. Sugar or salt on your popcorn?”

“Lol, I’ll tell you on our hypothetical date. :p”

The texting continued until Mary had fallen asleep with a smile on her face and her phone still in her hand. When she woke up, two new texts had been waiting for her.

Mary picked up her phone from the desk and read the messages again. “I miss you,” the first one said. Those three simple words had taken her breath away when she had first read them. The effect still hadn’t worn off.

The following text was even more startling, though. It said, “I’m going to clean up my act today, Mary. I promise. No more lies. Never again.” Those were the words that Mary had wanted to hear the most these last days.

They had made her heart rate shoot up and it hadn’t come back down all day. She had been so happy. But her excitement had quickly morphed into anxiety after Lex had left to go confront her parents.

Mary had done everything she could to distract herself. She had worked the register and had helped out at the café. Around 5PM, things had calmed down, though, and Mary had reluctantly retreated to her office.

Sitting here had made her even more anxious. Mary had tried to calm her nerves by working on the document with tips for Lex. But she couldn’t focus and kept worrying.

Where had Lex gone? She had no idea where Lex’s parents lived. Shouldn’t she be back by now? Mary should have asked Lex more questions about her plan. She wished she could be there for her instead of sitting here.

Mary checked the time again. It was only a few minutes past 6PM. She sighed. The store would close at 7 and her goodbye party would start at 7.15. Lex had been off the radar for almost 4 hours now.

Mary slammed her laptop shut. There was no point in pretending that she was doing anything useful. She checked the volume switch of her phone, making sure she would hear it when Lex sent her a message.

“Knock, knock,” a voice said. “Done for the day?”

Mary looked up to find her boss, Hannah, standing in the doorway. Her copper hair had grown past her shoulders. Even from a distance, Mary could see the grey circles under Hannah’s eyes.

“Hey,” Mary said, concerned. “How are you? How is your mother?”

Hannah smiled tiredly and stepped inside. “Doing well considering,” she said, tucking her hands in the pockets of her pants.

“I’m so happy to hear it,” Mary replied, covering her heart.

“Thanks for asking,” Hannah said, pointing over her shoulder. “Can I close the door for a moment?”

Mary frowned. Why was Hannah here? Had Karen invited her to the party? She guessed that was possible but it seemed unlikely. The team would be uncomfortable with the CEO in their midst. Plus, there was the fountain thing.

“Yes, of course,” Mary said, her mind still racing.

“Ehm, I want to talk to you about something that’s a bit personal,” Hannah continued after closing the door. She ruffled her hair and took two hesitant steps toward the desk.

Mary suddenly realized why her boss was here. She should have known Hannah would come and talk to her as soon as possible. That was just who Hannah was. She really cared.

“Okay,” Mary said, folding her hands together on the desk. “I’m guessing this is about Lex?”

Hannah’s lips curved up as she pulled back the chair and plopped down. “Yes, that’s right. You don’t seem surprised.”

“I’m not,” Mary said, shaking her head. “I spoke to Lex last night and she told me you were worried.”

“Oh,” Hannah said, her eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Okay, eh…” She scratched her cheek.

“I’m fine,” Mary reassured Hannah. “There’s nothing to worry about.”

“Okay…” Hannah replied, smoothing the fabric of her blazer absentmindedly.

16 responses to “(Updated again!) Early Access: The Taste Of A Smile Part 37 ‘Secrets’ Excerpt Teaser”

  1. 10a 💜🇧🇪
    B10a

    Popcorn date “sweet”

    1. Sigrid
      Sigrid

      Pun intended? 😉

      1. 10a 💜🇧🇪
        B10a

        Totally 🙂

  2. Janny
    JannyM024

    Thank you for this early treat….

    1. Sigrid
      Sigrid

      My pleasure! I’ll share more whenever I can!

  3. Surabhi
    surabhiseth

    Many many thanks for posting this. Now I can’t wait for more of it.

    1. Sigrid
      Sigrid

      I’m really glad I was able to! And I will keep sharing whenever I can!

  4. Silva
    Silva23

    This is amazing!!! Thank you

    1. Sigrid
      Sigrid

      Thank you 💜

  5. Kapiushon
    kapiushon

    Lex and Mary can’t stop teasing each other :p

    1. Sigrid
      Sigrid

      Teasing is the most fun part of being in love 😀

  6. Marcie53

    This is great!

    1. Sigrid
      Sigrid

      Merci 🙂

  7. KayJay
    KayJay

    “The fountain thing” xD Ahahaha!

  8. Marcie53

    Hannah!!

  9. Nancy
    nancy

    Thanks so much.

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