Two days later, Luna was in her office again. She shut down her laptop and stood up from her chair, it was already closing time, most of her employees would have left already. Luna felt she had put in a good day today as she packed up her things from her desk, she turned out the light from the lamp on her desk. Maintenance would do the rest when they turned off all the lights in the entire building. Today had been a really good day, Luna thought to herself as she checked around her office to make sure she hadn’t left anything behind. Very productive, efficient and a lot of good work done. She took joy in that. But she was paying the price in the back pain she was even now starting to feel in her lower back. Luna touched a hand to it, the back pains were getting more frequent with each day. She frowned, she couldn’t start agreeing with Justin that it was already time to cut back on work now, could she? And Justin must not even know about the back pains, because he would just blow
The next day, Luna rubbed a hand over her forehead, a small headache was starting to brew between her eyes. She paced the living room, she was at home today, Justin had gone to work already. She didn’t go in to work, Luna had known from the minute that Brian had left her office the night before that she wouldn’t be able to go to work today. And when she had woken up that morning with the same ache in her lower back, and worry about Ashley on her mind, it had confirmed it for her. She couldn’t concentrate on work when Ashley wouldn’t pick her calls. She had been trying her phone since the night before, trying to get in touch with her so they could talk about what had transpired between her and Brian last night, and the reason for it in the first place. But Ashley hadn’t picked any of her calls, she had called too many times to count, she had left at least a dozen messages, a couple long text ending with ‘we need to talk’, and she hadn’t replied to any of them. And now, the calls
The door slammed in her face, Luna remained where she was, the pain holding her still. She stared at the door, out at the loud pouring rain that had now swallowed the sound of Ashley’s footsteps. Also effectively cutting out the sound of her scream at the same time. Luna glanced down at her stomach, back at the closed door. Her fingers tightened around the phone in her hand as the pain gripped her. Her face contorted in pain. “Oooh,” she grimaced, she felt like her stomach was tightening within her. And then the fear came. She was going to lose her baby. The thought sent alarming rings to her head. She was going to lose her baby, she thought, panicked. “Oh God, oh God, oh God,” she cried. Her head suddenly felt light, and she almost felt like she was going to faint. Luna knew then that she would have to get herself together, she couldn’t allow her mind to freak her out this way. If she did, she would not be able to function properly, she would not be able to do what she ne
Luna laid on her back, her legs spread on the leg support on her hospital bed. She was dressed in the standard hospital gown, she rubbed her hand rhythmically on her stomach and stared up at the ceiling. She glanced at Justin, who was pacing holes into the tiled floor of the hospital room they were in, she rolled her eyes and looked back up at the ceiling. She didn’t bother to tell him to stop, or to reassure him that everything was going to be fine. It hadn’t worked the past dozen times she had said it since they got to the hospital, and it wasn’t going to work now. Luna felt accepting simple facts like that was what was going to keep her sane for the next hour. After Justin had told her he was on the way to her earlier when she had called him, he had pulled up in front of the house in the next five minutes, a ride that normally took at least thirty minutes, if there wasn’t traffic. He had pulled up in five though. And, five minutes had been Luna rounding up, it had been more l
“What does that mean?” Justin asked immediately. Dr. Gina looked between the two of them with concerned eyes. “Your cervix wasn’t strong enough to begin with, you know this,” she added, looking at Luna. Luna swallowed, she nodded, her hand tightened in Justin’s. “I know.” Dr. Gina nodded. “Well, because of the stress that caused the scare, stress that I’m assuming has been occurring in the past few days or something. Am I right?” Dr. Gina paused, she looked between the two of them, waiting for an answer. And then she looked at Luna. Luna closed her eyes and opened them again. She sighed. “I guess I have been stressed from work and stuff these past few days, just these past few days,” she added, looking up at Justin, whose hand had tightened on hers a little bit at her confession. A muscle ticked in his jaw, and his face clearly said he didn’t like what he was hearing. Dr. Gina talked before Justin’s piercing look could sear Luna’s skin. “Yeah, I guessed as much,” she sai
Luna stood up from her bed, gently and tenderly, she was still sore from the pain. She winced as a small pain pierced through her stomach. “Luna, you shouldn’t be getting up right now,” Justin said. He took a step towards her, he stopped again. “Luna-” he called her name again when Luna didn’t listen to him. “I told you I’m fine, you didn’t believe me,” Luna gritted through her teeth, the pain still sharper than she had thought it would be, “I have to show you,” she gritted again. “Ow,” she yelped as another pain passed through her. At that, Justin leaped forward towards her. He gripped her arms, Luna held on to him too. “You have to sit down,” Justin insisted, “Let me go get Dr. Gina.” His voice wasn’t filled with anger anymore, he was no longer agitated. Luna’s hands tightened on his. “No, I’m fine.” She looked up at him, directly into his eyes. “I’m fine,” she said again, this time more strongly. “I know the scare gave you a, well,” she smiled weakly, “scare, but I prom
After her mother’s visit, Rita came in too. They were both seated on Luna’s bed, Rita had done almost the same thing her mother had done. Fawned and worried over her, she had rushed into the room too and straight towards Luna. She had hugged, asked if she was alright. Her questions had been more probing and specific than Mira’s. and Luna had been proud of her, and moved too, because all her specific questions had surrounded issues pregnant women with weak cervices usually had. Which had told Luna that Rita had been reading up on the subject, because of her. When she was finally convinced that everything was fine, she had then been grateful. And, turned out, Justin had been the one to call her too. Another surprise Luna hadn’t been expecting, and now she didn’t even know what to do with him. Because all his show of sensitivity and care, and his whole attentiveness throughout the entire freaking day, was starting to get to her. It was evoking feelings in her, feelings that she had bur
Luna busted into Ashley’s apartment minutes later. She had used her keys, her eyes searched around the cozy apartment frantically as she looked for her sister. “Ashley? Ash? Ashley?” her voice increased in urgency with each word and still no sign of her sister. Her gaze fell on the packed traveling bag on the floor, and then her eyes darted up to the threshold between the living room and another room, Ashley’s room, at the sound of movement. Ashley stood there, her eyes were red-rimmed, and puffy, obviously from too much crying. Luna stared at her sister, Ashley stared back, and then suddenly tears filled her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she sobbed. “I am so sorry, I almost killed your baby.” Her voice increased with hysteria as she continued to sob. Luna walked over to her sister, closing the short distance between them, she gathered Ashley into her arms and held on to her fiercely. Ashley cried on Luna’s shoulders, her body racking with her sobs. Luna closed her eyes in relief. “
“I want to say thank you to everyone for coming,” Logan said into the microphone. The gala had been going on for hours now, it was starting to wind down, towards the end. He was giving his speech as Chairman of Lake Industries. “This would not have been successful without you all,” he continued. “I consider you all family, but I would like to thank my family, the one that I made. Both my sons, Justin and Brian, I am proud of you both. This Gala would not have been successful without you both, I love you.” He raised a toast towards Justin and Brian. “And to the ladies who stood by their side, and not just stood, but did their part in making this a success, Luna and Ashley,” he raised his glass towards Luna and Ashley, he smiled, “I love you. You are the best additions this family could have ever asked for, and my sons are lucky to have you in their lives.” He paused. “Love makes the world go around, without it, we would be lost, and I am glad that you four have found your way to ea
Luna stood in front of the full-length mirror, she placed a hand over her bump, and stared at her image. She smiled as she felt Justin’s arms wrap around her midsection. She leaned back and rested her head on Justin’s chest, she sighed as he started nibbling on her neck. “Can’t we just stay in and not go?” she asked, tilting her neck even better for Justin’s mouth to have access. Justin stopped nibbling, he looked at the mirror, meeting her eyes. “You are a witch,” he murmured. Luna laughed. “What? It’s just a suggestion,” she said, trying to look innocent. “Yeah, a suggestion that you know I am one hundred percent for,” Justin replied. “Hell, I suggested it an hour ago, and what did you say?” Luna closed her eyes. “We really should go,” she echoed her own answer. “That’s right,” Justin murmured, his mouth already muffled against the side of her neck again. Luna sighed, she twined her fingers with Justin’s on her stomach. “I was an idiot,” she murmured. Justin ma
Present. Now Luna was mad. When the article was released, while they were preparing for the press conference, during the press conference, Luna had been sick all through. But now that the press conference was over, she was mad. She had kept her calm all through the press conference. Even when the questions had turned personal and her answers had left her a little hard to breathe, Luna had kept her calm. Rita had arrived just few seconds after the press conference started, she had stood behind the interviewers, facing Luna. And she had been showing her markers with her hands, thumbs up when she was doing good and stuff like that. That had helped to keep her calm, that, and the solid presence of Justin behind her. He had stood behind her chair, no word, no interruptions, just the occasional squeeze of her shoulder. Quiet support, and steady, even gentle, backing. And then Moira had walked in. The press conference had been nearing its end by then, Luna had watched as Rita had f
Flashback Luna sat on the sofa in the living room, staring at nothing. Moira was in front of her, pacing and reprimanding her about something. Luna wasn’t sure what, she hadn’t been listening when Moira started, she wasn’t listening now, and she simply just didn’t care. She didn’t have the energy to care, she barely had the energy to be seating here as she was. She just wanted to lie down. For the past two weeks now, that was all she had been wanting to do. Just lie down, preferably in a dark quiet corner, but at this point, she would take anything she could get. But she wanted to lie down, pull a thick, dark cover over her head, and just go to sleep. She wanted to sleep, and go on sleeping, she wanted to sleep for a long period of time. And whenever she thought of the concept of waking up from that sleep, she didn’t like it. Her heart sunk at the thought of waking up, and having to face all of this again. If she woke up, she had to sit up, she had to stand, she had to walk, she
The next day, the whole issue with Honor took a back seat in Luna’s mind as she found herself with an entirely different, and bigger, situation on her hands. Another article was leaked, this one about her father. It dug up the old news about her father, and the issue he had with Lake Industries, the debacle that had brought Luna to New York and to Justin. The article was all about rehashing what her father did, how he ‘betrayed’ Lake Industries for a handout, and how he disappeared from the grid because of his shame. His name, face and story were plastered all over the news article. Even her mother and sister were not left out, Mira and Ashley’s faces and names were printed in it too. Feeling sick about it all, Luna pressed a hand to her stomach, she stood still, trying to get in a deep breath. She was at home, people were in the house, Justin had called an emergency press conference immediately the news had hit the media. Camera men and their crew were moving about the living
“I really needed that,” Luna said two hours later, as she and Justin walked back into the studio. Justin wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Which part?” Luna laughed, she swatted his arm playfully. “The food and nice view part, you pervert.” Justin shrugged. “Hey, you sounded like you enjoyed the other part very much too when we were doing it.” Luna laughed again, she shook her head. “You’re an idiot.” “An idiot you were screaming his name,” Justin leaned down and whispered into her ear. Luna looked up at him, her eyes widening. “Justin!” Somebody cleared their throat behind them, Justin and Luna both turned at the same time to look. The smile and teasing glint in her eyes were still there when Luna’s eyes met Honor’s. “Honor,” she said, startled. She sobered up immediately, Honor looked at Luna, like she focused on her like she was determined to act as though Justin was not there. Luna felt the freeze, but somehow she felt like Honor’s acknowledgement of her was not part
One week later. Luna rubbed the kinks out of her neck, she had been stuck going through things that needed to be put in place for the Gala, all morning. All week too. Ever since Honor pulled her company out of the Gala event, there had been slacks in the work that needed to be done. Both in the parts that Honor had taken up to do, and in the aspects that her company had been taking care of. The fashion aspect. “These are really good,” Luna commented, looking at the design sketches that had been left by Honor and her company before she left. “Yeah,” Temperance, the assistant working with Luna on deciding the fashion angle for the Gala, said beside her. “Miss Kosarin and her people really worked hard on it, they worked almost round the clock too. It was like there was some competition or something.” Luna knew better that Temperance just what she was saying. From the first day they had met, she and Honor had both known there was going to be a competition between them. They had
Present. Luna and Justin were both in Justin’s car, they were driving after Honor. After her announcement, Honor had dropped the mic and immediately left the party. Moira had been livid, she hadn’t shown it, of course, or at least not in an explosive way. She hadn’t screamed or shouted, or done anything of the sort. Even in the face of what someone like Moira would probably term the greatest betrayal of all time, she still hadn’t lost control. She hadn’t shown her anger to the guests or given them a show that they could go talk about to the blogs. No matter her personal feelings towards Moira, Luna had had to admit that she found that impressive. But even with her composure, Luna had known she was angry. In fact, it had been very obvious to her, and no doubt to her family members too. She saw the look Justin, Logan and even Brian, had exchanged when it happened. The vein that had popped out on Moira’s forehead had been the first tell, followed by the twitching at the corner of
Flashback. “So you’re saying there’s nothing you can do?” Brandon asked the lawyer. Luna was in her room, the room she shared with Justin, although ‘shared’ was a strong word for how much time Justin actually spent in the room with her these days. Luna shook her head to shake off those thoughts, thinking about the ever increasing distance between she and Justin for the past month would only just make her depressed. And she didn’t have the time or head space for that. She refocused her attention on the matter at hand. She was in the room, her mother and father were on a call with her, Luna stared at their faces on the laptops screen. A man was seated beside her, Carl James, her lawyer. He was a low budget lawyer, the type she had been able to afford on her own, hers and her parents, that is. She couldn’t tap into the generous money Justin kept depositing into her account almost every day. And she couldn’t do that because she couldn’t very well use his money to hire a lawyer who