In less than 30 minutes, Melanie and Caleb arrive at Kalinin’s house, and Melanie runs down from Caleb’s Rolls Royce into the house to start putting together her documents, forgetting that she didn’t ask Caleb to come into the house. Melanie doesn’t inform her sister about what drove her to run home and start gathering her documents immediately, but Kalinin patiently waits for her sister to be done with what she is doing Since she knows that if Melanie doesn’t finish up what she needs to do, she won’t tell her anything. Since Caleb wasn’t invited into the house, he didn’t bother going inside, he just stayed outside to make a few calls. Firstly, he makes calls to arrange his jet and notifies his preferred pilot to be ready in 30 minutes to fly him to Pearl Coast. Next, he puts a call through to Alistair to tell him about how his date went and also to tell him about the recent development. It took a lot of cajoling for him to be able to guarantee that Alistair would overse
Melanie experiences a mixture of emotions: fear for Shirley, thanks for Caleb's support, and admiration at the breathtaking view as the chopper rises away from Orion, leaving the city lights behind. As the chopper soars over the coast, Melanie's anxiousness resurfaces and Shirley’s immobility weighs heavily on Melanie’s thoughts. Caleb feels her tension and pours two glasses from the helicopter's mini-bar. "Here, drink this. It'll relieve your worries." Melanie hesitates, typically denying the alcohol because she doesn't like what it tastes like, but tonight, her fear overwhelms her reservations, so she accepts the glass, adoring the amber nectar. The rich, creamy flavor astonishes her and Caleb smiles, encouraging her to drink more. "It's my secret reserve, aged whiskey,” Caleb explains to Melanie and she takes another sip, feeling the warmth rise across her chest. As the chopper experiences turbulence, she downs the rest of the glass. Caleb refiles her glass, concern written on
“What do you mean by ‘this changes things’?” Alex asks Ryan confused, as he starts walking towards his mom’s office because he would rather have that conversation in person than on the phone. “That is because it changes a lot of things” Ryan emphasizes with his eyes darting back and forth in his mom's office, but he doesn't necessarily explain himself. “Can you explain and stop confusing me?” Alex snaps at Ryan because he has had enough of his dribbling. “You never mentioned your fiancée’s name to me and now I started crushing on your fiancée…both of us are even like best friends now,” Ryan confesses to Alex. “What do you mean that you are crushing on my fiancée?” Alex asks him visibly offended as he practically sprints toward Karen’s office“Before you called me and explained the situation in an obvious way, I didn’t know that she was your fiancée and that is because you never showed me any pictures of her nor told me her name even though I asked you for it on countless occasion
Ryan drives for a few minutes because of how close Kalinin’s estate is to Bistro Bills and in no time, he pulls over in front of Kalinin’s beautiful house. He knocks on the door even though it is quite late and he doesn't like visiting people this late, but the situation is different…it is Melanie who is involved here. He rings the doorbell for a while before Kalinin steps out with her hair disheveled, slightly tangled and messy, her sleep-flushed cheeks with a hint of warmth, her eyes slightly puffy with a sleepy gaze in a tank top and baggy sweat pants. “This can't be Melanie, it has to be Kalinin because what time did she get home that she is already sleeping?” Ryan jumps to conclusions as he eyes the lady in front of him from head to toe. “Good evening ma'am…I am Ryan, Mel’s friend” he introduces. “I know you” Kalinin answers him curtly because she is really tired after the day's activities and she just wants to get back to the comfort of her bed. “Sorry to disturb you
Melanie slowly opens her eyes, lethargically taking in her surroundings, and she is met with the sight of Caleb’s chiseled features, his eyes gazing softly at her. They’re in a luxurious hotel room, the morning sun filtering through the curtains and she thinks back to the list place she was the last night and it was inside Caleb's private jet, so her expression changes from relaxation to discomfort as memories of their intense night flood back. She tries to sit up so that she can figure out her next move but Caleb’s arm wraps around her, holding her close. “Good morning, beautiful,” Caleb whispers, his voice husky and Melanie’s cheeks flush awkwardly as she extricates herself from his embrace to sit down upright on the bed because that position is too distracting for her to think straight. “Morning,” She replies curtly, avoiding eye contact. “Regrets?” Caleb asks as he notices her unease and raises an eyebrow. “No time for regrets…we have work to do” Her tone is clipped, dism
Melanie and Caleb stand frozen, their eyes locked in a profound connection. Time seemed to fade away as they delved deeper into each other’s souls. The air is charged with an unspoken understanding, a sense of vulnerability and openness. Caleb’s gaze wanders through Melanie’s chocolate brown eyes, searching for answers to unspoken questions and Melanie in turn, finds herself lost in the golden flecks dancing within Caleb’s irises, like caramel-colored leather. Their face inclines as if drawn by an invisible force, their lips barely an inch apart. The tension between them is palpable, a spark waiting to ignite. “Housekeeping!” unexpectedly, a knock on the door shatters the spell and Melanie’s eyes snap back to reality, while Caleb’s face mirrors her surprise. “Right,” Melanie stammers, taking a step back. “Breakfast.” She remembers, and Caleb clears his throat. “Yeah, we should go,” He says as they reluctantly part ways and Melanie smoothens her hair, attempting to compose hersel
Melanie watches as Caleb makes himself comfortable in the driver’s seat, adjusting his rearview mirror, so Melanie steps out of the owner's corner where she is seated and settles in beside him, her eyes focused on the passing scenery.“So,” Caleb starts, his voice low and smooth and she waits for him to continue because she kinda has an idea of what he wants to say, but she still wants him to land first.“About last night…” he continues.“What about it?” she cuts in, her gaze unwavering.“You’re really going to play it like that?” Caleb’s smile hints at amusement.“Like what?” Melanie’s tone is neutral, but a hint of warning lurks beneath.“Like it didn’t mean anything” He chuckles.“It didn’t” Melanie’s expression remains impassive as she answers.“Just sex, then?” Caleb raises an eyebrow.“It was just sex, Caleb. Let’s not make it more than what it was.” Melanie nods her voice firm.“Okay,” Caleb answers, with his eyes leaving the road, but his jaw clenches slightly.“Are we really
Caleb's sight lingers on Melanie's disappearing silhouette as she hastens towards the Apple Store and he can't help but feel a mix of wrath and curiosity."It was just sex, ”"Don't read too much into it." Melanie’s words stick in his thoughts as he sees her disappear in the mob.“She is hiding something... Her emotions run deeper than she admits,” Caleb mutters“It has to run way deeper than she is letting on” Caleb's thoughts churn as his grasp on the steering wheel tightens, his mind racing with questions as he parks the car properly.“Why did she shut down the conversation?”“What was she afraid to reveal?” Different questions flood through his train of thought again.With a long breath, Caleb steadies himself and walks out of the car. He takes his time surveying the crowded retail atmosphere before making his way to the Apple Store.As he enters the store, he sees Melanie scanning smartphones, her countenance intent, so he approaches her gently, not wanting to shock her."Have yo
Caleb’s mind reels with the Alistair ten-year-long revelation. He feels like he has been punched in the gut, his breath is knocked out of him as the room seems to be spinning around him as he struggles to process the truth that Sophia, the woman he blamed himself for violating almost ten years ago, had manipulated him and actually fed him aphrodisiacs without his knowledge or consent.“When did you find out?” Caleb asks his best friend, trying to suppress the wave of anger, betrayal, and disgust, trying to overshadow him.“The morning of your accident,” Alistair answers and a wave of emotions hits Caleb.“How could she do this to me, most importantly, how could you do this to me?” Caleb questions Alistair as he thinks back to that night, wondering how he could have been so blind.“It wasn’t in my place to tell you at first, because later that day you got involved in the crash and was in a coma for two weeks,” Alistair tells him.“What happened to telling me after I woke up two weeks l
Caleb waits for a while before trying to clarify anything with Alistair, and his order actually comes in, so he picks up the room delivery, opens it, and takes it to Alistair who is a picky eater to lick so that the natural sugar from the honey can help stabilize his blood sugar level.“I don’t like honey at all, so I won't lick it,” Alistair refuses and Caleb almost loses his temper, but he calms himself down and goes to the table to find a cup, then he takes a large spoonful of honey, mixes it with water to create a soothing drink for him before going back to him.“You have to drink this, otherwise I will force it down your throat myself,” he says to Alistair, but he still shakes his head.“I don’t like the taste of honey,” Alistair says.“Well brother, you don’t have a choice here, so take it and chug it down in one goal because neither of us will sleep with their two eyes closed in this room today if we don’t sort this out” Caleb warns as he hands the soothing drink over to his be
Since Melanie insisted that he should order takeout for Alistair, he goes back to Oakwood Essentials to grab him pizza from Food Court and a wide variety of soda from the departmental store, so that he can have something to snack on later after they probably talk things through, before he leaves the mall and heads back to the guest house.On getting back to the guest house, he picks up the key card to the room, before making his way back to his and Alistair’s shared room, but on getting to the room, he realizes that everything in the room is just like he left it, without any sign of Alistair entering the room while he was away.He feels really disappointed and sad, as he drops the peace offering that he got for Alistair on the ground, before stepping into the shower for a quick bath. His shower doesn’t waste time because he wasn’t under the shower this time around to get his mind off things, he just wanted a cold shower after a stressful day, after which he returns to the room to chan
Caleb and Melani eat their dinner in considerable silence without either of them trying to say anything to each other, even though they both have quite a lot to say.“Like I said earlier, the reason for this trial relationship is because I came close enough to getting trapped inside a marriage with Alex Sinclair almost a month ago, which is while I feel like a trial relationship is an important vetting process to determine if the other person matches what each of us wants in our partner, so the fact that I brought up this trial relationship doesn’t mean I should be the one benefitting from it,” Melanie finally breaks the silence, while Caleb listens carefully because he isn’t halfway gone with his food like Melanie is with hers.“This is an evaluation period for me, where I am trying to check if you have everything that I want in a man because the last thing I want is to settle for less just because you have a lot of money to throw around”“I may not be from a rich family, but I am wo
“Both,” Caleb speaks up after a while and even though Melanie wants to ask him so badly if he is sure or not, she doesn’t and she picks up the menu that she was checking earlier to see what she wants to eat.“S, what catches your eye? Want to start with some appetizers?” as they both check the menu, Caleb asks Melanie.“No, I think I’ll skip the appetizer and go straight for the main course,” Melanie answers as she shakes her head.“How about you?” she asks him as her eyes scan the menu for something suitable to eat and instead of doing trial and error with food, she tries to look for a dish that she knows isn’t likely to go wrong since she is starving.“Same here…I’m in the mood for something hearty” Caleb smiles and they both return to searching the menu and few minutes later, a friendly woman with a warm smile, clad in the same uniform that Melanie saw Valeri wear earlier, and assumes that she is their server.“Welcome to Coastal Cove! What can I get for you tonight?” she inquires.
“Hey babes, you are running late, and at this point, I think we might have to compress our date night plans.” Caleb sends an actual text that Melanie reads instead of trying to hurry her up as he has been doing for the past 15 minutes. “I am out now, where should I meet you?” Melanie texts him back almost immediately. “Just wait in front of the guest house; I will come and get you,” Caleb texts her back. So she and Valeri make their way to the front of the guest house together while having the conversation they couldn’t have in her room because Melanie didn’t want the other crew members to know the terrible thing that happened to her. “I am sorry to ask this, but I really want to know a few things about your child, if you don’t mind” Melanie starts, and Valeri nods, asking her to go on. “How old were you when you had her, and how old is she now” Melanie inquires. “I was 16 when I had her, and she is 5 years old now” Valeri answers Melanie. “I am sorry to ask so many questions, b
After Valeri left Melanie with instructions on how to look for her date, before leaving the boutique, the sales representative returned with the same dress in two sizes, one two sizes lower and the other her exact size that she tried on earlier.“Explain to me why you have two dresses with you,” Melanie asks the sales representative after inspecting the sizes of the two dresses.“We are in a bit of a pickle because your upper body is a size eight since you have a relatively smaller upper body up your hips is where we have an issue since your lower body is a size twelve” the sales representative explains.“I understand your concerns and one size lower would have been understandable, but two sizes lower?” Melanie expresses her hesitation as she inspects the size 8 with clear judgment in her eyes before returning the dress and shaking her head that she doesn’t want to try it on.“Why don’t you just step into the fitting room to fit it out first,” the sales rep says as she returns the dre
“What the hell just happened” Calen questions himself because he can’t seem to wrap his head around it. “Anybody who doesn't know the type of relationship that Alistair and Sophie share will think she is either his sister or he is in love with her because I don't get why he is trying to make an enemy out of me for something that happened 12 years ago,” Caleb mutters as he hisses. “Now he walked out of the room angrily, but he didn't feed me back about the details of the reservation that I asked him to make” Caleb mutters,“I was so engrossed with the movie that I was watching and the fact that I wanted to make it up to him by giving him the gifts that I starved him of, that I completely forgot to ask about the reservation that he went to put in place” he blames himself.“Well, in my defense…I had no idea that he was going to blow a conversation as simple as that out of proportion and even end up walking out on me” he tries to justify his actions.“At this point, I don't know if I ow
Caleb returns to his and Alistair’s shared room before Alistair comes back, and then he picks up Alistair's PC, logs into Alistair's Netflix account, selects his profile under Alistair's account instead of login out the account and logging in his own, and he goes straight his list to check out of the series of movies that he added earlier. He selects the first movie on his list that is not a seasonal movie, just a 1-hour 36-minute movie, called Happiness Is, while he snacks on his French toast that is supposed to be his breakfast. He starts the movie with no hope or expectations whatsoever, he is just watching it because he doesn't want to commit himself to yet another seasonal film that he knows he doesn't have time to keep up with. When he started watching the movie, the movie was really chaotic and he couldn't understand what the focus was, so he started hoping and praying for Alistair to just show up.Then the movie seems to resonate with what is going on in his life at the mom