♡ Delilah ♡
A short story
By Amanda Siegrist
Copyright © 2017 Amanda Siegrist
All Rights Reserved.
This ebook may not be re-sold or re-distributed to another person unless consent is given by this author. If you wish to share this book, please purchase an additional copy. It may not be re-produced in any format for your own rights. If you did not purchase this book, please return to the retailer to purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
All characters in this book are a product of the author’s imagination. Places, events, and locations mentioned either are created to help inspire the story or are real and used in a fictitious manner.
♡ I originally wrote Delilah for a contest on Wattpad for Target. They wanted a story based on a fairytale, but in modern day times. So I give you Delilah, loosely based off of Rapunzel. ♡
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Dating an On-liner
Reunion
Cheesiest Pick Up Line
One Night Stand
More Books
About the Author
Chapter 1
She brushed her hair behind her shoulder, cursing inside for not putting it into a braid or even a ponytail. Something, anything, to keep it from swirling around her face as she hustled to her appointment. Not that one could classify it as an appointment. More like a last minute call that demanded her attention.
Not that she was complaining. Definitely not.
She had been glued to her phone waiting for the call. And when it finally came, it had sent her into a tailspin, running around her apartment like she didn’t know what was going on.
Hence, her hair flowing freely down her back getting in her way every time she took a step.
Her hair wouldn’t be a problem soon. She would be home in no time. At home, her hair could do anything it wanted without bothering her in the least. The meeting had ended almost before it even started.
Now she just wanted to flee the building, the high-rise that sent her in another tailspin. She wasn’t fond of heights, even when walls surrounded her. Just the thought she was close to the top floor in a building seventy-five stories high gave her the jitters. Of course, the meeting had to be in a building this tall.
She couldn’t remember what caused the fear of heights.
Perhaps it was the time she climbed a tree when she was six and fell helplessly to the ground when the branch broke underneath her. Broken arm. Terribly painful.
Or maybe it was the time she played in the tree house with her best friend, Dalphina, across the street and the floor gave out. Yet again, falling from a tree and breaking her other arm. She was eight at the time. Thank goodness. She couldn’t imagine having two broken arms at the same time. They had figured out why Dalphina’s mom didn’t want them in the tree house. The structure wasn’t safe and needed to be fixed. But when your eight, you’re not listening to your parents, you’re outside trying to have fun.
But neither incident had seemed to faze her. When she was twelve, she climbed onto the roof with Dalphina to ‘catch the rays’ as they liked to call it. While she didn’t fall down that time, the ladder had the misfortune to plunge helplessly to the ground. There went the opportunity to climb off the roof safely. They were stuck up on the roof for hours, the hot sun beating down on them. She was a red tomato by the time her parents returned home. Dalphina, of course, blessed with skin that tanned with ease didn’t have one red patch on her.
After that, she didn’t care for heights. So perhaps, a combination of all three made her fearful of heights. Every time she moved high into the air, nothing good ever happened. It was a sign.
Like today.
Nothing good happened today. Maybe some people would consider it good. And deep down, she knew the news had been good.
For her.
For everyone else—well, not so good. She was now the most hated person in her family. But that really wasn’t new news to her. She was already accustomed to being ignored by her family. Did it really matter that they all hated her now?
A little.
Dwelling on that part would get her nowhere. She needed to escape from this building before something else bad happened. It was entirely possible.
She had the worst luck in the world.
The ground could to start to shake and swallow her whole. The heavens could decide to deliver a torrential downpour, causing a storm of the century, blowing the building down. Lightning could strike her with an electrifying bolt.
And yes, she was foolish enough to think that all could occur while she attempted to escape from the building.
She started to shuffle her feet on the floor with a quickened pace, her hair flowing like the wind behind her. That is, until she saw the elevator door start to rapidly close. She went into a full-blown run, squeezing between the doors before they completely shut.
A soft hand reached out and scooped her hair into a widening arch.
“Wouldn’t want this lovely hair to get caught. The door almost snatched it away from you.”
She half-turned to the man standing next to her, and to her surprise, still holding a few strands of her long blonde hair.
“Thank you. I didn’t have time to put it into a braid this morning. My hair likes to get in the way if I don’t.”
“I like it just the way it is. Like I said, it’s lovely.” He offered her a sweet smile, then must’ve registered he was still holding her hair. The strands floated down to her back in a graceful wave as he let go. “Terribly sorry about that. I’m Duncan Wallace.”
She looked at his outstretched hand and completely forgot why she had been running to the elevator in the first place. Without a shiver in sight, she took his hand. “I’m Delilah Thomas.”
“Delilah. A lovely name to go with such beautiful hair.”
For a moment, she almost thought he was going to kiss the back of her hand, anticipating the action with every breath in her body. Instead, he let go with a grin she didn’t understand.
“Thank you.” She felt utterly ridiculous repeating the same words, but had no idea what else to say.
Most people would probably classify him as handsome, as they should. Classic face with striking features and eyes as blue as the ocean. Black hair, slightly spiked in the front, that despite not being blonde as most blue-eyed people displayed well, looked ruggedly good with his bright blue eyes. And for a moment, when his eyes turned a certain way, she almost thought they were purple. There was something different with this man than just his looks. His kindness, consideration, and sweet words that left his mouth were the qualities she found instantly handsome.
She started to shift away, unsure of what to say and not wanting to feel any more awkward with him, but his deep voice stopped her movement.
“I’ve never seen hair that long before. It’s truly amazing.” She saw his eyes shimmering with delight as he glanced at her. It made her have the strange urge to brush a few fingers through it to remove the tangles, if there were any. And having long hair, dangling almost to her butt, she most likely had a few tangles.
Her mouth started to open. “Tha—t is very kind of you.” She would not repeat the words thank you again. “I’ve always loved long hair. My grandmother used to braid it with wonderful, unique designs. But at times my hair can be really annoying. Like today. It’s been flying around my head as I rush around.”
“I know how those days go. Rushing always works my nerves. I don’t have the hair problem, though,” he said with a chuckle. “I’m glad to have saved the day. With your h
air. I wouldn’t want to see it get caught on anything.”
“I’ve had many mishaps. I’m sure I would’ve survived, but it was much appreciated.” She smiled inside for saying thanks—again—without actually saying the words.
“So you keep it long like that because you just love long hair, or is there some other enchanting reason?”
His warm smile told her that his question was sincere. There was no ridicule or disgust in his tone. Almost pure awe.
“Well, I do love long hair. It’s taken me forever to grow it out and I would be terribly sad if I ever cut it.”
And because she couldn’t help herself, she leaned closer to him. There was something about him that made her forget her usual shyness. To her delightful surprise, he leaned over as well, their bodies scant inches from each other.
“Can you keep a secret?”
His blue eyes sparkled with pleasure. “I can.”
“It’s magical. And some of the magic just transferred to you for saving my hair from the evil elevator.”
“I would have to say that I am a very lucky man then…to have met such a beautiful woman with magical powers.” He whispered the words close to her lips.
Tingles of joy spread throughout her body as her eyes stayed enamored with his. She could feel the magic flowing between them. His lips so close to hers, called to her, pulled her in with a captivating whisper.
Before his lips could connect with her, the elevator doors swished open. The spell broken. She jumped back from him, embarrassed by her silly words.
“It was nice to meet you, Duncan. Have a wonderful day.” She fled the elevator, quite certain his voice followed her.
Impossible.
Why would a handsome, charming man be interested in little ol’ Delilah? She wasn’t anything special. She was a simple girl, living in her simple world.