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Elizabeth blinked and blinked again."What?"She felt like there was a haze over her eyes. "I-is it because I haven't been to work in a long time? You told me to stay till the heat died down and-""Elizabeth, it's not that--""-and you even refused to have me work from home. I don't get-- what did I do?""Nothing." She watched him fully turn to face her and for the first time, saw regret flash through his eyes. "You didn't do anything.""So?!" She bit out, desperate for an answer. Lola whined from behind Beth's room door. "What, then? What happened?""I just--""Business happened." Beth's wide eyes flew to the intruder and she frowned, confused and suddenly feeling cornered. Her eyes darted between them. When the alarm bells in her head went from ringing to clanging, she rose slowly."Why are you here, Valentina?" Caldwell growled, his voice carrying hints of subdued anger. With an oh so confident smirk on her face, Valentina Williams slowly spun around in a circle, eyes examining
Adamant on staying partially erect till she'd said her piece, Brandon gave up on trying to get her up and just sat on the ground."And-and so tiny." Her wavering voice reached Brandon's ears. Applying gentle force, he grabbed her shoulders and eased her away. Tears leaked down the sides of her face and cheeks. She looked up at him with pleading eyes, her mouth in a pregnant, childish pout."What's wrong, persik? Why're you crying?""Frederico never wears tights," she sputtered.Brandon blinked, frowned, then blinked again. "Uh...""Tink-tinkerbell wears tights," she got out on a sob. "And shoes with pompoms. Frederico doesn't even wear dresses."Even whilst confusion gnawed at him, his lips began curving up in a rougish smile, prompted wider by Frederico's muted words of annoyed disagreement. "You want him to wear a dress?"Frederico's declining yell was all too amusing. Whimpering sadly, Beth nodded. "And shoes with pompoms?" "And tights.""Then he will."Her eyes instantly grew t
Lola's eyebrows rose and fell with the movement of her eyes as she watched the two humans, her head on her paws. Elizabeth's eyes remained trained on Brandon. If he was nervous at all, he didn't show it. Asides the tiny smile that remained on the ends of his lips, his face remained expressionless. "There is nothing to be allowed, Brandon," she dropped, got up and began for the kitchen. "Why is that?" She looked back to see him following her. Turning back, she shrugged. "You're with Megan. I'm not your home." "I'm not with Megan." That caused Beth to stop. She turned to face him, her brows turned down. "You two broke up? What happened?" Brandon rose a brow at the concern he heard in her voice. "We were never together." He watched her eyes take on the hue of confusion. "What?" "We were never together." "But... That can't be right," she mumbled to herself. "It is. Megan and I were never together." Beth's eyes found his and after a few seconds of staring, crossed her arms a
Tears rushed to her eyes. Cupping his face, she rose his head. "Anima gemella," she whispered, giving him the tenderest of smiles. When he frowned, confused at her tears, she chuckled shakily. "I feel so honored that you let me see all this. See you." She nodded solemnly, holding his gaze. "Thank you. For you, I will not doubt myself again. I see now that my fear was unnecessary. You have never tired to butt in and make me feel incapable. It was just a stupid fear. I'm sorry." A gentle hand cupped her cheek, his thumb catching a tear even as a smile remained on her lips. "Just don't push me away," he whispered, his eyes beseeching. She shook her head. "Never." Never again. Her lips crashed down on his. They shared a gentle, passionate and sealing kiss. A kiss of a promise made and established. A kiss of new beginnings and revealed personalities. A kiss... Of love. With her forehead resting against his, she sniffled and said quietly, "In case you haven't gotten the memo, I'm you
The next morning met Brandon grumpily returning home to change and join Beth for a church service, and Beth being all too happy about her newly gained freedom. After a three hour long, rather jovial and peaceful service, Beth made Brandon drive them to a local restaurant where she treated them to spicy burritos and tacos that tasted so good, it was downright sinful. From there, they made their way to their favorite chocolate shop, and parking a street away, Brandon got out after Beth, intertwined their fingers and began leading her to the shop. "You know a photo could be taken of us like this, right?" She warned in passing, a happy smile on her face. Brandon glanced down at her, his eyes shielded by his dark shades. His head then veered around. "Oh yeah? You think someone's watching?" She shrugged a shoulder. "Could be." "Well then, let's give whomever it is a show." She looked up in time for his mouth to descend upon hers. Beth looked up at the dark gray blocks of her apartmen
Nothing silenced the streets of New York quite like rain. They rushed out of the car and ran into her apartment building with the rain pelting harshly against their backs. Sharing a laugh at the feat, they stood by the window, watching the rain flog the asphalt road. "What's the plan now, Beth?" Beth turned to Brandon, her eyes still alight with laughter. "What plan?" "The plan for work." Her smile didn't dim. Her chest didn't cave in. Though it was surprising, she wasn't ready to start investigating the feeling. All she did was tilt her head to the side and shrug. Something in her refused to feel discouraged. It was like her gut knew something she didn't. That someway, somehow, she would be fine. Very fine. And she relished the feeling. "I don't know." With that pixie smile still on her face, she turned back to the window. Monday morning birthed the bright sun and even brighter laptop screens. Though it was the fourth of December, the working class were still hard at work.
Friday brought Brandon to an early morning coffee session with Equilibrium magazine where they discussed technology and its advancement since the start of civilization. He was walking out of the two-hoursl long meeting— where there was no actual coffee!— when he got a call from a certain ambitious minister, telling him that his family was around and was headed to his office. After listening, for three long, torturous hours to the man's pitch on why he should be an investor, he declined as gently as he could, his Asian wife's continuous 'subtle' talk on how marriage to their daughter would be 'prestigious and proper' definitely a contribution to his refusal. As they exited his office, the Asian's glare doing nothing to affect him, exhaling in stiff irritation was all he could do not to scowl at the 'shy' smile of their 'docile' daughter. Not with that look in her eyes, she wasn't. Going to listen to his creative department talk to him about their new idea and its modus operandi for
Brandon's eyes travelled from the structure with a bouncer at the door to the female in the passenger seat. Beth's eyes were stuck on the star-shaped lights on the roof of the ridiculously large building. "You're sure this is a club? It looks like a museum." He almost laughed. "It is. Just wait till you get inside." She turned her head to look at him. "You've been here before?" More like he was part owner. "Once or twice." "Mm." She curled her lips for a split second. "What's the name of the club? I don't see a banner anywhere." He almost scoffed. "A banner? Baby, how many clubs have you been to?" Biting her lip, she glanced at him, smiled and said, "None." With that, she slid out of the car. Hurrying after her, he caught her arm right before she could make it past the red velvet rope, and spun her around. The sheer glee of excitement he saw in her eyes made his warning all the more worth giving. "Elizabeth françesca West, no alcohol." She rolled her eyes. "I know. I
EPILOGUE One year later Brandon had travelled exactly six months after the birth of his daughter, needing to complete the project in Australia and then another in Africa. They had made a habit of speaking over video calls every day, and while it was not what Brandon wanted, he still got to watch his daughter grow. He got to hear her say her first words and was even lucky enough to see her take her first steps. Bernice was one of those kids who maintained their hair and eye colors from birth and she was absolutely gorgeous. Every time he looked at his daughter and woman, he couldn’t help but feel so thankful and protective. What would he do when she was grown enough to start going out with boys? It rose his blood pressure just thinking about it. Beth was just happy she had had Brandon for the early stages because heaven knew that it hadn’t been easy. Bernice had turned one just two days ago and was already walking, howbeit unsteadily, pronouncing a few words, had a small set o
Brandon left a week later.Not being able to accompany him because her doctor had advised against it, and being fully aware that it was a five months long trip, Beth had spent numerous nights lying in tears and even more nights lying awake. Even though they spoke as much as they could over the phone and she fell asleep to the sound of his voice a lot of the time, it still wasn’t enough. Nothing beat his physical presence. At her eighth month, Jasmine and Byron had appeared at the house and bundled her and Lola away, much to Micah’s delight. Comforting herself with the fact that she was now an aunt, Beth took to caring for her new nephew, Malachi, Sherlie as much as she could. It was a welcome distraction herself from her loneliness, too. “Beth?” She had just put the sleeping Malachi in his crib. She turned and watched Sherlie enter.“There you are. He’s asleep?”She nodded, smiling.Sherlie had her hand and was pulling her out the next second. Beth rolled her eyes an
Dedicating a whole five minutes one morning to begging her not to do anything she shouldn’t and then going ahead to prepare her a healthy breakfast of steak and vegetables because she just absolutely loved her meat, Brandon finally went and got ready for work, then devoted another five minutes into pleading with her to eat and rest. As a plus, he had somehow gotten the eight months pregnant Sherlie to leave work and come spend time with her. That afternoon, she ended up fussing over Sherlie and lulling her to sleep. Sherlie’s pregnancy wasn’t a walk in the park either and as she neared her due date, extra care had to be taken. Though, how she escaped the horrible nausea and got to go to work and do whatever she wanted, Beth didn’t know. Lucky.Rebalancing on the feet, Beth heaved and planted her hands on her waist. Looking up, she licked her dry lips and sighed. It was further than it looked. Pulling in a deep breath, she pushed up on her tiptoes again and stretched up as far as she c
After throwing up that morning and sending Brandon a small, pleading smile, they relaxed together a bit and then went for the party. No sooner than her feet touched the ground of Brian and Sherlie’s home did a wave of dizziness, so strong and overwhelming, hit her. Somehow, she was able to strengthen her grip on the car door and avoid falling to the ground. Brandon was out of the car and beside her in no time.“Beth—”“I’m okay. I promise.” She took his hand and squeezed lightly. “I’m fine,” she reaffirmed, pleading with her eyes.He was going to haul her away and apologize later when Brian and Sherlie showed up.“Beth!”She turned and went to embrace her best friend and Brandon watched her go, glaring at her back. Smiling at the hugging women, Brian approached and extended a hand to Brandon. Brandon clasped it and pulled him in for a brotherly hug.“What’s wrong, man?”Brandon glanced at the women who were now making their way into the house practically glued at the hips and said, “S
Two years later…Brandon watched his sleeping wife with a worried look on his face.She had returned from work earlier looking rather pale and drained. When he had asked her what was wrong, she had given him a weak smile and waved him off. Mere minutes later, he’d found her asleep on the couch with her laptop open in front of her. His worry had begun when he had carried Beth, the usually light sleeper, up to the room and she hadn’t budge. Not once. Less than forty minutes later, Micah had called to ask how she was. Apparently, she had been sick in the office earlier, after which she passed out. After assuring Micah, Brandon sat, lost. Why hadn’t she told him? What was wrong with her?By the time she awoke three hours later, he already had dinner ready and waiting. Pulling her down on his lap at the dining table, he held her there and just watched her eat. Beth turned after a while and finally asked,“What’s up?” His silence was unusual. After observing her for a while, he sigh
Elizabeth pulled in a deep, sharp breath and froze as pain like no other whipped and tore through her. Her body revolted instantly and wanted the intruder out with a desperation that threatened to drive her mad. She wasn’t aware of the tears that had built up and were flowing down her cheeks until she felt a gentle thumb brush against it and cup it. Then, Brandon’s ragged breaths reached her ears.Brandon was beside himself with ardent shock and raw bliss. His strength had never been put to the test like it was then. He had thought the initial opening was tight, but then…“Fuck.”His jaw was clamped shut. His body trembled. She was so tight, it was almost painful. Everything within him roared so harshly, he had trouble breathing. Yet, he remained still, stretching the quickly thinning walls of his self-control. She clung on to him like a second skin, squeezing for all she was worth. He couldn’t tell where he ended and where she begun.So tight.So very tight.“Fucking hell.” Fighting
When Brandon woke up, the sun was on its way to setting and beautiful hues of pink, light brown and the palest purple decorated the sky, giving it an eye capturing glow. The light of the sky danced into the room through the open slide doors, accompanied by the gentle evening breeze, bathing the room in gentle lights even as the breeze lifted the transparent curtains, giving the room an ethereal, peaceful feel. It was a story book sight. One a photographer would love to capture. Absolutely gorgeous, yet, as extraordinary as it was, Brandon found himself sneered and captured by the nymph partially atop him. She moved in her sleep, grazing his sleep hardened manhood with her thigh, and he closed his eyes and let out a groan.“Sorry,” she mumbled.He opened his eyes and looked down at her. At the same time, she rose sleep softened eyes up at him and smiled.“Hey.”He returned her smile. “Hey.”“Did you sleep well?”She dragged her thigh over his bulge as he went to respond and watched hi
Looking at the door, she bit her lip in contemplation and, finally making up her mind, pushed the door open. The sound of water pelting the floor reached her ears and she paused, staring at the closed shower glass. He was taking a bath? Not knowing whether to stay or go, in the next few seconds, Beth just stood there and twiddled her thumbs in thought, deciding to be brave at the last second. Creeping to the closed shower doors, she glanced behind her once to check that the door was still open just in case she needed to bolt, then rose a small fist and knocked the glass. “Brandon?” Water kept pouring. Being able to make out his blurry form through the thick, wet glass, she waited and watched, squinting her eyes to catch a reaction. Resisting the urge to press her face against the glass, she relieved her eyes of the strain and settled for waiting. No response. Pulling and biting on her cheek wall, she glanced around and knocked again. “Brandon?” She counted down the seconds, but
The next day was claimed by work, bright and early. While that was a damper, Beth took it all in good stride. After all, she was a firm believer in doing anything to get what you want.While Brandon sat at his desk in his newly incorporated home office receiving calls, sorting faxed files and taping away at his laptop, Beth was with him every step of the way, being the perfect distraction. When she wasn’t helping him sort through his papers, she was playing with Lola, bending over, taking off items of clothing—because of the terrible heat—whispering in his ear what she could just say out loud, laughing softly, or just plain staring, and whenever he caught her, she would hold his gaze, smile and turn away.2 p.m. rolled around and deciding that he needed to see some people in person and get other things sorted, Brandon announced that he was making a quick trip to the office. Now, what kind of a wife would Beth be if she didn’t tag along? After ensuring that Lola had enough food and wat