Only You by Jerry Cole (the top 100 crime novels of all time TXT) 📕

and trying to come up with the cheapest option by which to pull-out of this travel package. Unfortunately, hours into the process and with daylight very quickly fading, he found no real option. None that wouldn’t cost the company millions anyhow.

By the time the sun was down, and the floor was near empty – save for the cleaners and a few overachievers trying to prove themselves – Sherman decided it was time to give up, call it a day and head home. Sadly enough, the problem would be there for him tomorrow... and the day after that... and so on.

It was a Friday today, which meant that most of Sherman’s friends would be either out drinking, on dates, or with their partners. None of these applied to Sherman. Instead, when he left work, he headed straight back to his apartment in the city... alone.

The apartment in question was an absolutely gorgeous piece of real estate to be sure. It was on the fifteenth floor of a building located on the outskirts of the city, but still close enough that one could walk there if inclined. A two-bedroom spot, it was an open plan, with big windows wrapping themselves around the exterior, and a balcony that had a truly pristine view of the city skyline and its surroundings.

The beauty of the apartment made going home to it alone that little bit easier.

The apartment was clean when Sherman arrived home, and he was delighted to smell a meal already cooked and ready for him. This was all on purpose, of course, as he hired a service for just that. They also made his bed, cleaned his clothes, and did pretty much everything else for him too. He had the money, so why the heck not?

Once home and unpacked, Sherman went about following his usual nightly routine, regardless of the night of the week. He opened up a fresh bottle of expensive vodka, poured it into a glass — all the way to the top – plonked himself down on the couch and drank. He didn’t turn on the TV, listen to music, or message a friend. Instead, he drank and drank and drank some more.

This was standard fare for Sherman by now, as he was the kind of guy who would easily go through this bottle tonight, and then probably the same tomorrow. He chuckled to himself as he thought on this. Who needs a man anyway? He was fine, so long as he had his job, his fancy apartment and most importantly, his vodka.

It was as the night wore on and as he found himself getting more and more drunk that Nick’s earlier suggestion came roaring back into Sherman’s head. The Single's Through Europe package was designed for men like him, those that didn’t like to go in order to pick up and get laid. It was for guys who wanted culture and experience, all at reasonable prices. Surely, Sherman wasn’t the only person this appealed to?

No, there had to be more to it... but there was no real way of knowing unless someone went on that tour and found out firsthand. It couldn’t be Nick. Really, it couldn’t be anyone from the office as every ‘single’ that Sherman knew was much the same. There was only one real choice, the more that Sherman thought about it... but he wasn’t quite drunk enough yet to seriously consider it.

But the night was still young and Sherman still had a good half a bottle to go through. By the time he was done, who knew where his mind might be at. Could he actually go to Europe on his own? Would it even be worth it? As it currently stood, Sherman was starting to lean toward, yes.

Chapter Three

Bradley wasn’t sure what he should have been doing in the photo. On the one hand, he wanted it to look as candid as possible; a sort of “ooops” moment where he didn’t even know that someone was taking the picture. But on the other hand, this was risky as he might not have looked his best. Perhaps the smartest option was to pose for the photo, and then joke about how it was ‘candid?’

“What do you think?” Bradley eventually decided to ask for an opinion. “Should I be looking back at the clock tower like I didn’t even realize it was there? Or should I hold my hand up at it and gasp at the camera? Like, I’ve been looking forward to seeing it for months and now I can’t believe it – like, if you were trying to make someone super-duper jealous of your trip – an ex, actually. Recent... very recent. I want to make him jealous, but also not make it look like that’s what I’m trying to do, if you get me? Which one do you think is better for that? Plandid, you know, staged spontaneity, or candid?”

His question was met with a confused stare; opened mouthed and wide-eyed. But that shouldn’t have been surprising.

It was eight in the evening, and Bradley had just arrived in the iconic Dutch town of Amsterdam. It was all a bit of a whirlwind really, as his first stop had actually been London, England some seven hours ago. But that was purely because of the flight path, and Bradley had no choice but to land there first. He spent two hours at the airport, another thirty minutes trying to figure out how the trains worked and then, finally, he was on his way.

Bradley had used the four-hour train ride to do two things. First, he caught up on sleep. A three-hour nap did a little to wake him up and counteract the jetlag he was feeling... although to be fair, a full night of sleep would be needed. The second thing he did was plan his revenge on Jackson.

His revenge was simple: prove to Jackson that he