Untamed, p.1
Untamed, page 1
Copyright © 2024 by Ivy Lane
All rights reserved.
No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except as permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, contact Midnight Dreary Publishing, midnightdrearypublishing@gmail.com.
The story, all names, characters, and incidents portrayed in this production are fictitious. No identification with actual persons (living or deceased), places, buildings, and products are intended or should be inferred.
Book Cover by Temptation Creations
Edited by Nikki Clark
Published by Midnight Dreary Publishing
First edition 2024
This book is dedicated to all those who don't believe in themselves, or for those who have had someone take their confidence.
They never deserved you.
There's a Damon out there for you.
Never stop loving yourself.
Playlist
Please Please Please – Sabrina Carpenter
Fortnight – Taylor Swift feat. Post Malone
Lose Control – Teddy Swims
Slow It Down – Benson Boone
Down Bad – Taylor Swift
I Want You to Want Me – Letters to Cleo
Untouched – The Veronicas
Casual – Chapell Roan
Introduction
Did you have that one movie that you can always put on and feel better, no matter how bad you feel?
I have several, but the one that always stuck out the most for me was 'Kiss Me Kate', which was a 1953 Musical Comedy that was on one day when I was home sick from school. This was pre-cable, so it was one of those movies the free to air channels had on that day, but it made me smile, and feel better. I can't tell you how old I was, but it was old enough that it stuck with me.
I recognised the basis of the story being a play being put on of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew. The two stars are divorced hollywood a listers, who are focrded together to do this play. The ex-husband wants her back, but she's soon to be wed to someone else. It's funny because the storyline they are portraying is actually happening backstage. If you haven't seen it, you definitely should, it's great and always makes me laugh, no matter how bad life gets. We don't have classics like that anymore! Back then, everyone had to sing, dance and act…it's pure gold.
Anyway, the reason for my introduction is to say that this is my homage to Will Shakespeare and to that movie, which captivated a poor, sick girl and kept her from feeling down.
Contents
1. Prologue
2. Chapter One
3. Chapter Two
4. Chapter Three
5. Chapter Four
6. Chapter Five
7. Chapter SIx
8. Chapter Seven
9. Chapter Eight
10. Chapter Nine
11. Chapter Ten
12. Chapter Eleven
13. Chapter Twelve
14. Chapter Thirteen
15. Chapter Fourteen
16. Chapter Fifteen
Also by
About Ivy
Prologue
Calista
I closed the door and leaned against it, my eyes sealed shut for just a moment to bask in the best night of my life. I pinched the skin on my arm just in case this was a dream. The pain shooting up my arm told me it wasn’t, and I did everything to hold in the girlish squeal that I knew would explode out of me if given the chance.
I took deep breaths to calm myself down so that I didn’t scream at the top of my lungs and wake the entire house up.
This was just too good to be true.
As I slowly made my way up the stairs, I tried not to wake anyone, avoiding the creaky stairs at all costs. There would be too many questions if they woke up and saw me this insanely happy and I didn’t want anything to dull this shine. I was considered the mean one, the one who never smiled, the one with her head firmly wedged in a book wanting to escape reality, but right now I was getting a cramp in my cheeks from smiling.
And it was over a boy.
I never would have thought a boy would like me, not like this, not after one date, but boy did I like him. He’d been the head of the football team at school, never once looked my way but now he was interested in me, and not one of the barbies who had tormented me at school. I could hardly believe it.
As I got to the top of the stairs, I continued to move quietly down the hall, only coming to a stop when I saw the door creaked open for my younger sister Claudia. She was as intensely private as I was, so for her door to be open, there had to be a problem.
Immediately I thought of her shithead boyfriend Hudson. He’d always been the one for her tears. I wanted to strangle the kid, but I knew that’d only end me up in prison. I moved over to her door, hearing the sniffles and I pushed it open. Claudia was on the floor, leaning against her bed, with photos in her hands. Her red and puffy eyes told me what I already knew.
Hudson had broken up with her again.
“You look nice,” she said, her voice croaky with emotion. I looked down at my outfit and back at her.
“Thanks, want to talk?”
Her lips screwed up and her throat constricted, trying to hold back the tears, and I instantly rushed in and took a seat next to her, pulling her into my arms. She let out a sob, and a weird noise that I could only wager a guess was her lungs sucking in as much air as they could get.
“What happened?” I asked her after a few moments. “What did he do?”
“It’s not what you think,” she said.
“He always does this to you,” I said, not wanting to hear her defend him again. “He’s no good for you, Claud.”
She waved her hand at me, as she tried to gather the energy to defend him. I was growing increasingly impatient but I stayed where I was, waiting for her, because I knew she needed me to be here.
No matter how much it hurt me to see her like this regularly, I would always be here for her.
“He’s leav-v-ving,” she huffed out, a fresh set of sobs wracking her chest. “His family got…they got…got…transferred.”
Could it be?
Could it be that, for the first time, he hadn’t broken her heart over something stupid like he normally did? I knew his father was in the Army, so a transfer would mean all of them would have to go.
“Claud, maybe this is the universe telling you that he’s not the one for you, I mean…who really stays with their high school sweetheart?”
Claudia bent over crying again, and I started to rub small circles into her back like I did when she was a kid and she couldn’t sleep. We were separated by six years, and there had been many times I’d been in charge of her when my mother would go on one of her binges, but she had the best dad.
My step dad, Nate, had always been there for both of us, even when my mum Rose had taken off. He fought to keep me, adopting me as his own, and raising me like I was his own blood, just as Claudia was his daughter by blood.
Slowly, Claudia began to fall asleep and I moved her up to her bed, sitting by her side until I heard her soft snoring. I crept back to the door to go to my own room when I heard her voice.
“Cal,” she said. “Don’t ever leave, okay?”
“I’m always gonna be here, Claud. Get some sleep.”
I turned her light off and closed her door, before I headed down to my bedroom. I sat down on my bed, sighing. I’d come in on such a high and now all I could think about was Claudia.
She’d been so hung up on Hudson for so long that even Nate had been concerned, and probably a little worried she’d end up marrying the guy and running away.
God.
Tonight, we’d talked about everything, even the desire to leave this small town and go and enjoy the city. Todd had plans to be a lawyer, and live in a beautiful apartment that overlooked Sydney Harbour.
It sounded amazing, and was exactly what I needed. I didn’t want to end up in his town forever. My mum got pregnant with me when she was sixteen and she was stuck here. She hated it here, and then she left.
She left me behind with my baby sister to go and live the life she always wanted. I would never do that to a child. I remember the pain of realising she was gone and she didn’t take me with her. I loved Nate, but back then, when I was eight, I didn’t feel like I was supposed to be here in his house with his daughter. I felt like an outsider.
But he fought for me.
He made me realise that even though we didn’t share blood, he could still be my dad. Sure, we’d blown up at each other a few times but I knew that was because he cared. The thing about my mum had been…she never got angry at me. She let me eat ice cream until my belly hurt, she let me drink soda until I threw up, and she definitely was okay with me keeping a junk drawer full of candy for whenever I needed to binge out and hate myself.
Nate had put an end to that.
He’d cooked me meals that filled me up to the point I couldn’t even think about ice cream, and he made sure I had my water every day, and when I was getting a bit too big, he initiated family walks where we talked about our days while we enjoyed the sunshine.
Nate was my dad and I finally felt like I belonged to this family.
That was why I knew I couldn’t leave them, not really. Claudia was too hung up on the first boy to ever give her a kiss, and I knew if I didn’t stay and keep an eye on her that she would end up marrying some loser and
I looked down at my phone and saw the message waiting for me there from Todd.
TODD
I had a great time tonight. I can’t wait to see you again.
Sweet dreams, beautiful.
I put my phone down and laid on my bed, looking up at the fairy lights that Nate had put up there to give my room a mystical feel to it, and I let the silent tears run down the sides of my face and into my hair.
I knew I would never leave, because my little sister needed me and I would never allow her to feel the pain of having someone leave you alone.
Like I did.
Todd was a dream. I should know by now that dreams weren’t realistic. As the tears continued to fall, I knew that with every shed tear, I was losing hope of all my dreams coming true and condemning myself to this shitty town with a shitty future.
All because I loved my sister and wanted better for her.
And if that was how it had to be, then I was okay with that. At least one of us would be free.
Chapter One
Calista
Ten Years Later
I kept my eyes firmly on the numbers in front of me, waiting for that magic number so I could jump off the goddamn torture device…otherwise known as a cross trainer. The sweat had begun to fall down the sides of my face and I could feel the heat on my face as if I’d been sunburned.I probably looked like a tomato by now, for sure, but hell, I had to keep it going. I was starting to finally see results. Surely that meant something right?
God, I hated working out.
I hated working out in a gym with people watching my fat ass step up and down on the device that made my knees want to chuck it in, trying to grab some semblance of what I looked like pre-divorce.
Finally, the machine beeped to let me know I had reached the end of my course. My heart was pumping hard in my chest, the heat on my face and arms made me feel like a walking tomato as I grabbed my towel and dabbed at the sweat on my face. Grabbing my water bottle, I headed for the changerooms. On the way, I waved at my personal trainer Chloe as I headed past, and continued along by the rows and rows of machines.
The sound of laughter spread behind me and even though I knew better, I turned around. The three women, all laughing and looking my way, turned away and burst into laughter again. This was the very reason bigger women hated gyms.
It was the reason women binged on chocolate and ice cream and let’s face it, wine, when it came to heartbreak and feeling down, rather than coming and beating away the blues with endorphins. I sucked in a breath to hold the anger and frustration in, and I continued to head toward the changeroom. I felt the heat of unshed tears in my eyes as I ran into a cubicle and locked it. Tears fell down my face freely as I turned the shower on to block the noise. Leaning against the cubicle wall, I slid to the floor and hugged my knees to my chest.
I hated this.
I used to be a bad ass bitch, but I’d lost my confidence since my divorce and it was killing me.
What hurt more was the fact that the bastard I’d given my heart and soul to, took my confidence and stomped all over it, along with my heart. It had taken me months to even get out of my apartment to go and rejoin the living. Only for him to take that too, since it was under his name, and now I was back at home with Nate and Claudia. Not that I could complain. Nate cooked a mean meal and I could easily work from home without having to deal with the townsfolk.
Pull yourself together, Calista, my inner voice screamed. I was better than this. I was stronger than this. I pushed up from the floor and pulled my clothes off, tossing them to the ground before I stepped under the cool spray. Instantly, my hot skin was relieved with the cool rush of water. I put my head under the nozzle and let the water wash over my face, almost instantly making me feel better.
After a few minutes, I turned the water off, grabbed the towel from the back of the door and dried myself off. I knew I was going to have to walk past those bitches again but that was life. They were the reason I used to come to the 24/7 gym at 4am to avoid them, but I couldn’t keep doing that. My body wasn’t taking to the early starts too well.
I quickly got dressed and headed out toward the exit, which just happened to be on the far end of the wall. I slung my bag over my shoulder and continued past the treadmills that the barbies were on now. The brunette caught sight of me first and made a movement to show her friends I was coming back.
The distinctive oink sounds reverberated after me as I passed them. Rather than be upset, I got angry. The only two emotions I could muster these past few months.
“Really fucking original,” I said to them as I passed, heading to the door. Their laughter was piercing as I finally yanked the door open and moved out onto the street. Luckily, the gym had frosted glass so they couldn’t see me anymore.
Fucking assholes.
“Wait, Calista,” I heard Chloe call after me as I moved to get to my car. She ran up to me, her huge beaming smile on display. “Are you okay? Were they bullying you?”
“It’s okay, Chlo. I’m used to it.”
“It’s not okay, Cal. We can have them booted for bullying, it’s in our terms and conditions and I’d love nothing more than to boot those bitches out.”
“Honestly, it’s not worth the headache. One of them will be married, engaged or dating a lawyer, for sure. I’m good.”
“Are they the reason you used to come in so early?” she asked.
“Not them specifically, just their type,” I told her. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back next week.”
“Good,” she smiled. “You’re doing really well, hun. I’m so proud of you.”
“Thanks.”
“Say hi to Claudia for me,” she said as she headed back inside.
Chloe and Claudia had been almost twins in high school, always together, always finishing each other’s sentences. Chloe had left Misty Hills for the city, coming back as a fully qualified dietician and personal trainer. She and Claudia remained close, but I knew there was something different about Claudia these days. She was secretive, and went on long weekend trips to the city all the time, and even to Brisbane. I knew her work liked her to travel, but it was getting more and more frequent, and I knew Chloe had no idea what was going on. Which only made me feel more suspicious.
Chloe’s eyes caught sight of a large poster being painted onto the side of the building and my heart sank when I saw who it was.
Seth Nicholas.
The new candidate for the town mayor and my ex-husband. When he had first voiced his hopes of being mayor I’d laughed, thinking that the former weed smoking layabout was joking but now, as I looked at his professional photo with his suit complete with tie and sparkling smile, I only saw the woman he cheated on me with and her influence. Lauren Bell was five years younger than Seth and I, and from the city. Her family also had money and influence which was why Seth had become a candidate for mayor so quickly.
“I’m sorry, Cal.”
“It’s fine,” I replied. “I’ll see ya, Chlo.”
This was why I hated coming into the town centre. His name was everywhere, and it just made me more miserable. On the other hand, I was single handedly keeping the little cupcakery in business. When I felt down, I got a cupcake and stuffed my face in my car.
The only downside to living with Nate was that he forced me to leave the house a couple times a week, making me come into town and see what my life could have been if I’d stayed with Seth and supported him. Hell, I knew I was crazy for thinking about the what if’s, but that’s what he did to me.
I put my bag in the backseat and drove to the cupcakery. It was a godsend when they opened up, and they were the most popular cafe in all of town. I got out of the car and grabbed my wallet before I headed inside to look at the cupcake shelves.
Mina, the owner, smiled sweetly over at me. “Your usual?”
“Not today, Mina. I’ll take a Red Velvet.”
She started to package my cupcake in its little box, handing it over to me as I swiped my card over the machine. The little beep told me it went through, and I thanked Mina before I headed back to my car.
