Kieran took the meal his mom made and left the house after ensuring that she was fine. He knew something was wrong but he could not place his hands on them and since both his parents were hiding the truth from him, there was nothing he could do about it."Mom said I should give this to you" Kieran said dropping the bag of food on Arabella's table.Arabella looked up at him. His face was in his usual scowl as if he was just back from fighting a bear."What?" she asked. She did not understand what the bag was. They were only a few minutes to lunch break so why was he coming into the office with a food bag after storming out earlier?"I went home and Mom said I should give this to you" Kieran said gesturing to the bag."You went home?" she asked. "Yeah," he said nodding before awkwardly walking away."What's that?" Chole asked rolling her chair closer to Arabellea's table."Kieran's mom sent me lunch" Arabella res
Kieran looked up from his desk to see Arabella working so intently on whatever it was that she was doing. He glanced at the clock on his desk. It was lunchtime so why was not eating? He stood up and took up the lunch box his mom had packed for him. He would heat the meal in the kitchenette and also try to invite Arabella to do so."If you had the opportunity, you would be a workaholic" Kieran said."Shit," Arabella said whipping around on her seat to Kieran with a shock on his face, her hand on his chest and her face as if she had just encountered a ghost."What?" he asked taking cautious steps down from his office stairs to the main floor."You scared me" she responded. She had decided to invest herself into the work that she had forgotten that she was left all alone with him in the office."Aren't you going to have lunch?" he asked and she nodded."You brought lunch from Everly for me, remember?" "I do remember, I just wanted to know the reason why you are yet to have it" he asked
The sound of a cup hitting the ground made Kieran and Arabella pull their gaze away from each other to the door where the entire team was watching them.Arabella was still in Kieran's hand as he held her to himself. She struggled to get out of his grip when he reluctantly let her go."What's going on here?" Aurora asked bursting through the door into the office."I was about to fall and he caught me" Arabella said quickly. She was not going to spark up any rumours. Their earlier position was not good for her and she keeping quiet and refusing to explain anything would only put her in more harm."Oh," Aurora said. She had not been able to clearly see the position they were in. Arabella let out a sigh of relief as Aurora walked to her office. Kieran turned away without any word. The office workers watched him get into his office with his packed food still in his hands. Chole bent down to take the cup from the ground. She was lucky the cup did not spill open when it fell.Chole waited ti
Arabella needed her sister as soon as possible so she could barely sit through the rest of the day that by the time it was time to leave, she basically flew out of her seat to the door muttering some goodbyes before leaving the premises. She was usually the last to leave so everyone found it weird that she was going first."Hello Seraphina" "To what do I owe the honour of your special presence?" Seraphina was sarcastic. Arabella knew the reason for this but she was not in the mood to go back and forth with her at that time."I am sorry for not calling but this is an emergency" she cut to the chase. She needed to figure out her situation and her sister was the only person she could call for anything."What's up?" "Well I do not know how this would sound Sera but I have to blame you for making me think about it" "Hold your horses young lady, blame me for what?" Seraphina asked. She dropped the iPad in her hand to the table as she waited to hear what sudden accusations her sister woul
Arabella looked up to see unfamiliar lights It was as if she had been transported to a different location than the city she was living in.She looked around as her eyes landed on a mysterious structure that resembled one that belonged to an amusement park. She tried to turn on her phone but she noticed that it was switched off.After her conversation with her sister, she decided to take a walk around before getting home but her mindless walk soon landed her in a location that was dry like the desert. She could not even call a cab even if she wanted to. The ships with their street light that illuminated her path were all shut tight. She found the nearest bench and sat on it. It was when she sat down that she noticed that her legs ached from walking around. She checked out her wristwatch and saw that it was almost ten. She sighed because she knew that invariably she was stranded. She looked around as fear gripped her, if there were any passersby then she would have had someone to ask
"Kieran?" she said again as he came to a stop in front of her."What the hell is wrong with you? Why did you run off on your own and then proceed to walk off in the wrong direction when you don't even know your way around here?" Kieran asked.She watched his face as he spoke, his words made no sound in her ears because she was busy watching his face and how much the worry filled it. "Thank you" she said throwing her arms around his neck with a sigh of relief. His body froze under her arms. Why was she on him? Why did he like the feeling? "I was so afraid of what would have become of me" she whispered still holding on to him.His hands went up against his will and began to gently and silently stroke her back. She must have been so terrified if she ignored his shouting spree. She just went in for a hug instead, who knows what was going through her mind.Both of them stood there in each other's arms as Kieran tried his best to somewhat comfort her in the way he knew best. After a while
Kieran drove for a while before he came out to a busy road. Finally, Arabella saw some lights and places her mind was able to remember. She was happy that the result of her foolishness was not that she had to sleep outside the whole night. He brought her to a restaurant that served hot soup and was still open at that time. From the signage, she was able to tell that it was a twenty-four-hour restaurant and that they were always open. They got their order and Arabella could barely wait for the order to come. "I brought you here in case you caught a cold, the hot soup would help out" Kieran murmured as he set out the table placing the cutlery by her side and filling up her cup with water."Thank you, that is very thoughtful of you" Kieran had a rough time that night as well. As soon as he saw her dart out of the office he tried to follow her but by the time he was able to make it to the parking lot and drive out of his car to the main road she ha
Of all the things that Arabella thought she could say that statement was not one of them. if he knew he was a handsome man she did not need to assure him of the validity of the said claim.She stamped her palms to the table and stood up abruptly. "We should go" her voice came out in a squeak and Kieran laughed."If you are embarrassed I will pretend that I did not hear that" he said gently as he continued with his meal."I am not embarrassed" Arabella muttered."Then should we talk about how you find me handsome and breathtaking?" he asked and she felt her heart beat faster. It was like her entire body was on a mission to embarrass her. Why did she respond when he was willing to pretend like nothing happened to make her comfortable?"I never said I find you breathtaking and handsome" she said and he shook his head."What did you say then?" "I only agreed that those who found you handsome were correct. I said I found you unfriendly" she said and he smirked. Why did he smirk? Why was s
"I am so happy for you," Ava said as she stood with Kieran and Arabella; they had just got married, and it was truly a joyous day. Kieran had been so quick with the preparations that it took them barely two months to put everything together. "I just couldn't believe that my little one had found love," she added, tears welling in here again."Mom, you need to stop crying; seeing you cry makes me cry as well," Arabella said, blinking back the tears. Her make-up artist had retouched her make-up multiple times because she knew she was getting annoying already, but she could not control the burst of emotions flowing from her body. "Mom," Seraphina said, coming from behind and putting her hand over the shoulders of her mother. "It is a happy day; why do you keep crying? Someone, I mistake you to be mourning." "I am just thinking of how proud your father would have been to witness today.""I am sure he is watching over us from above," Arabella said, holding her mom's hand tightly."Mom, let
1 YEAR LATER Arabella was meeting Kieran after work; she had moved out because she was not comfortable with being there while dating him and had found herself a new job where she seemed to function much better. She was even on her way to write a book of her own. Kieran, who started a book publishing house solely for the money, now began to learn about this thing so he could help her out with the publication.She was glad that she had given in and tried to date him, or else she would never understand what this kind of relationship meant. Kieran was so attentive and made her feel like his entire world revolved around her. She learnt to drive and even bought her car.Sometimes she believed that he was going to propose to her because he would bring up discussions that centered around their future home, but then after that, it would be like they were back to base one. She liked base one, but she hated living all by herself. She wanted to move back in with him, and she wanted to begin havi
"A trip?" Arabella asked, taking up the blanket and covering herself. "Yes, a couple's trip," he said, dropping the phone back on the table and walking to her. "What about work? Aren't you going to work again?" she asked. "Are you afraid that you would live broke?" he asked in a teasing tone."Of course I am," Arabella said before tilting her head. "I am jobless now; at least one of us needs to work so we can live a happy life," she added."You know that I do not mind you still thinking with us," Kieran said. After the trial, Arabella decided to stop working there even though Aurora was no longer there. How could she work there after everything that happened? She would be able to face her co-workers if that were the case. "I am sure I will get an offer soon from one of those companies," she said, and he sat beside her. "And you know you do not need to work again; I can take care of you and as many children as you want to have," he said with a wink. "Children?" she said flustered
Arabella rolled over, and she landed right into Kieran's hands. She looked at him like it was an offence for her to do so. She peered at him and then covered her eyes with her hand. She could not believe what she had done over the night. If her mom heard she was going to give her a long lecture and then have her head afterwards. She looked at him, and she was tempted to trace her finger across his face in frustration. "Sleep so much more," she was startled to hear him talk as his mouth moved without even opening his eyes. "How long have you been awake?" She muttered, feeling shy that he had caught her staring so much that she could drill a hole into his face. "A while now," he said, his eyes framing open like a princess that was cast under a spell but was now liberated all of a sudden. He pulled her closer as he wished they could somehow get closer and maybe even mesh together. "Should we go home? Everly must be worried searching for us," Arabella murmured into his chest. He opene
"Somewhere, like where?" she asked shyly, dropping her head so their eyes would not meet. "You would see," he said, lifting her head gently. "But we have to make sure that the ride ends first," he said, looking around. He had thought that they were going to have a moment there, but seeing how things turned out, he could not wait to be out of there. Finally, the ride was over, and he drove out of the amusement park to a hotel. "You brought me to a hotel?" she asked in shock as they drove into the underground parking lot. "Why?" she asked now that her tone was in a hushed whisper. "I told you we should come somewhere, and you agreed," he said as he drove by the cars looking for a place to park. "That was because I thought you said that we should go someplace nice," she muttered, looking around like they were sneaking around. "Why are you looking around like we are committing a sin?" he asked, noticing how uncomfortable she got. "It is not that...""Am I being clueless? Am I jumpin
Kieran paid the operator to let the ride go in a loop three times, and Arabella wondered why he did that."Why?" she whispered to him."To have some alone time," he replied with the same wink from earlier. She gulped down hard, wondering what he was thinking.As the ride got into the tunnel, Arabella held the hand of Kieran tightly with her eyes closed. She had no time to think of what he might have meant with the wink and statements because the ride was definitely scarier than she had expected it to be. She looked at him when she felt his firm hand hold her face and turn it to him. "Are you scared?" he asked, dropping a kiss on her lip. "Kieran," she said in a hushed whisper as she looked around. "There is no one here, and I have been waiting all day just to get that," he said before dropping his head for another kiss. She placed her hand over her mouth because he could kiss her and therefore kissed the back of her hand. He took her hand from her mouth and began to drop multiple k
Arabella could feel Kieran's excitement for the date, and she wondered why they got so lucky. They went on every ride in the park like they had been waiting to do this. Arabella was more proud of the fact that a handsome hunk named Kieran was with her. In every line, they heard murmurs of people talking about how handsome he was. She was not letting any of that bother her because she could disagree with them; he was a beauty to behold. She did not let the nasty comments, such as those criticising his choice, get to her. He glued to her like gum on the sole of a shoe, and it must have infuriated the crowd the more because of the kinds of dirty glances she received from them. Kieran was always pushing back her hair and staring at her while holding her hand tightly and dropping random kisses on her forehead. She was shy, but she liked how he marked his terror so openly. She was on a date, and she was going to try her best not to be affected by any of that. "Should we go there?" Kieran
"Do you want to explain why you are here?" Kieran asked. Arabella had expected him to scream his lungs out, but he was wrong. Myabe's drive down has calmed him down. "It is a stupid reason; I don't want to tell you," Arabella murmured to herself. She had wanted to hear an apology so much that it felt like her self-worth depended on it. She turned her head to the side so she was looking out the window. "Look at me," Kieran said softly. "Look at me," he said again, this time turning her head with his hand gently. "I am so ashamed of myself; I don't know what I was thinking," Arabella said again. Seeing Kieran had somehow triggered something in her. It was like judging her actions without even saying anything. "Tell me, I want to know why you dressed up and left the house to come here when you should be resting.""Okay," she said as she heaved a sigh. "I wanted an apology so bad." "What?" "See, I knew you would judge me.""Ara, I am not judging you. I just want to understand what y
"Why are you laughing?" Arabella was shocked. That was not the expression she was expecting from her. "Dearest Arabella, you must think the world revolves around you," she said, leaning in that she was seated at the edge of her seat. "Why do you think I would apologize to you? I did what I did, and I would do it again and again if need be.""You are not sorry for kidnapping and assaulting me even though you ended up here?" Arabella asked. "Of course, if I had the chance to, I would do it again. Can you imagine how hard I worked? I worked hard on Kieran, and you swooped in from nowhere and decided you wanted to take him from me. Oh, please, like you deserve him," Aurora said, leaning into the chair. "If you are here to ask me for an apology, I am afraid that you have to go back without one today and that you need not expect one from me," she said, looking at her nails like she had gotten a fresh set of nails. "Arabella, I think one of the problems you have is that you seem to overra