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ESTEFAN'S POVAll my brain cells died when I saw Rhea standing by the doorway with accusing eyes. I knew a lot of negative thoughts were going through her head but I couldn't think of anything to counter them.For the first time in seven years, I was grateful to Leah for managing to convince her and change the topic which raised another question in my mind."Is Rhea's birthday tomorrow?" I turned to Leah the moment Rhea walked out. "Yes. It's part of the reason I came here." She bobbed her head. "I've not been able to celebrate Rhea's birthday with her for a few years now because I always have something scheduled for that day, so celebrating her birthday with her is another way of apologizing for what I did." "How come she didn't even mention it once?" I raised my eyebrows at her. "Rhea always forgets her birthday. If I didn't come here, you would have ended up treating the day like every other day because the birthday celebrant doesn't even know it's her day," she explained. "She
Caught In-between 86
RHEA'S POVAfter I finished the breakfast Estefan made for me, he washed up and left saying he had to pick up something outside the palace. I went into the bathroom and stepped into the bathtub filled with water. As I sat inside the tub, I realized that I had never had a good memory of my birthday and that day was no different. My birthday was cursed to be a sad day for me. If not, why did I have to find out the truth about Estefan just a day before my birthday? Feeling depressed, I sunk my head into the water and remained still for almost minutes. When I could no longer hold my breath, I pushed my head out of the water, gasping for breath. I ended my bath session and stepped out of the bathtub. I went into my closet to get dressed before I made my way out of the room. Stepping out of the elevator on the first floor, I froze on my spot when I noticed all the decorations in the room. "I thought the birthday party was just a cover-up for their lies. Looks like they are going through
Caught In-between 87
ESTEFAN'S POVONE MONTH LATERI sat in my study lost in my thoughts that I didn't hear the door open. "Hey bro," Esteban's voice pulled me back into reality."Oh, you're back." I blinked my eyes. "How was your honeymoon?" "It was the best month of my life." He grinned as he perched on the edge. "So how was everything here without me? And how are things going with Rhea?" "Everything went well. Rhea is fine too." I shrugged as I tried to concentrate on the computer in front of me. Esteban took a good look at me and said, "What's wrong?" I knew I couldn't hide the fact that I wasn't okay from him no matter how I tried not to let it show.Deciding not to hide anything from him because I knew he always had a solution, I replied, "it's Rhea." "You guys were doing fine before we left, what happened?" "Nothing, that's the problem." I leaned into my chair as I ran my finger through my hair. "I thought we were doing fine too until I noticed she was drifting away from me. She avoids spend
Caught In-between 88
RHEA'S POVSitting with my legs crossed on the bed, I continued reading the next chapter of the book I started that morning. Everyone was catching up downstairs with Anna and Esteban but I preferred to be on my own. Before the end of next month, I would no longer be with them so I was trying to get used to not having them around me. I knew that it would be hard to go back to spending every single day within the four walls of my dad's house without seeing any of them but I had to adapt to it again. It wasn't difficult then, so it shouldn't be difficult when I leave, right?A knock on the door pulled my attention away from my book. Estefan would never knock before coming in, so I knew it had to be someone else."Come in," I answered.The door opened and Anna walked in with a smiley face. "Hi." "Hey." I returned the gesture. "It's good to have you back." "Yeah." She took the same position I was taking opposite me. "Why didn't you join everyone else in the living room?""No reason. I j
Caught In-between 89
ESTEFAN'S POVMy eyes widened in shock as I stared at the woman in front of me, who was about to give up her dreams because of her fear. At that moment, I understood that the opposite of success is not failure, it's fear. One would only fail when one stops trying but one would never succeed if fear was holding you back. And that was Rhea's case.She put the laptop aside and was about to lie down on the bed when I pulled her back up by her arm."Are you serious right now? You want to let all your hard work go down the drain?" I scrunched my eyebrows as I spoke."Do I have a choice? she whispered and I could hear the sadness in her voice. She wasn't ready to forfeit her win, it was her fear speaking for her. I had to do something to help her get rid of it, or else it would cause bigger problems in the future."You have a choice, Rhea. Everybody does. You limit yourself to things that are convenient for your condition that's why you don't explore the choices you have." "Then what do y
Caught In-between 90
RHEA'S POVWith a racing heart and shaking legs, I ran out of the restaurant. I got to the car and pulled the handle of the passenger's door, but it didn't budge. The street got more crowdy and tears rolled down my cheeks as I continue to pull on the door handle."Rhea," Estefan called from behind me before he came to the front of the car and pressed the car key. I wasted no time rushing inside the car when the door opened. Leaning into the chair, my chest heaved up and down as I tried to get oxygen back into my burning chest."Calm down." Estefan got into the car and gave me an open bottle of water. "Drink this." Lifting the bottle to my mouth, I didn't stop until I drank half of the water. My breathing became regular but tears continued to roll down my cheeks. He pulled me into his chest and rubbed my back. "It's okay. I'm right here." "Can we not do this again? Please." I looked up at him with my tear-streaked face. "Rhea..." He started but I cut him off."Please, I don't thi
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ESTEFAN'S POVThe next day, I made sure to increase the number of attendants walking around the palace halls and also stopped Rhea from spending the whole day in her room. When we went down for breakfast, Rhea almost ran back to her room when she noticed the number of attendants serving us. They used to be three but I increased it to six, making it more than the usual number she was comfortable with. "Relax, I'm right here." I held her from behind. "Just imagine it's the usual number of people that used to be here." She did the breathing exercise before nodding. I took her hand and she tightened her hold as we walked into the dining room. We are our breakfast and everyone else acted like nothing changed in the setting. Esteban engaged Rhea in some interesting conversations which made her easily take her mind off what was going on. She finished her breakfast without freaking out which was a sign of improvement.The process went on for a week and I increased the number of attendant
Caught In-between 92
RHEA'S POVIf someone told me before that I would be able to walk amid a crowd without freaking out, I would have called them crazy and laughed in their face. But thanks to Estefan for making something I had deemed impossible in my life possible. Estefan and I had been spending most of our time strolling out of the palace building and I had to admit that it was an amazing experience for me. Just to be clear, I still haven't gotten over my fear completely. I was at the stage where I could go out in the crowd with someone who I trust next to me. I knew the time would come when I would have to face it alone because Estefan won't always be by my side. When the time comes, I would make sure I would be strong enough to overcome it."The plane is ready, let's go," Estefan said as he walked into the room. My interview in London was to take place the following day, so Estefan and I were getting ready to leave. He had informed Kimberly beforehand that he would be on the set with me which she
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