“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
“This is the second time you are trying to make me discuss this issue today, and I see what you are doing but I won’t fall for your trap” Melanie reads the room, refusing to not only give Him an answer but also stop walking side and side with him as she hurries to their room.Caleb makes a mental note to continue to find out things that will break down Melanie’s walls completely, but he doesn't push the issue further as she has seen through him.As Caleb and Melanie return to their hotel, Caleb's mind remains focused on the lead about Shirley."Riverview Gas & Go," Caleb mutters to himself, recalling the name of the gas station where Shirley's car was spotted as he set down the shopping bags."Everything okay?" Melanie notices Caleb's distraction and she asks him."Just thinking about the lead on Shirley." Caleb nods."What's the plan?" Melanie's expression turns serious.“I'll get my team to review the security footage from Riverview Gas & Co to see if we can identify any suspects."
Caleb and Melanie drive to the shopping mall instead of going straight to the apartment where they think Shirley is being held hostage because Caleb thinks it won’t make any sense to just storm in without a plan, so Ryder and the other team members wait for them at the shopping mall for them to discuss their plans extensively and as soon as Melanie and Caleb arrive, they locate their people on the last floor of food court where Ryder reserved in advance for the meeting.“Alright, what is the plan?” Caleb asks, getting straight to business.“I feel that since the victim is being held hostage in the warehouse on 12th Oakland Lane, just a block from this shopping mall, we will move in quietly, probably in groups of twos or threes to avoid detection” Ryder informs everybody even though they are privileged to the information of where Shirley is being held hostage.“I hope you know that I won’t be allowing you to leave me behind here right?” Melanie’s eyes lock on Caleb.“You are not necess
As Alistair navigates the streets of Blackwood, he can’t help but feel a sense of unease. He does t know a lot of things about Melanie, but from what Caleb told him, she seems to be really close to her twin sister, for her to leave her comfort zone to come to stay with her, but her sudden refusal to go to her sister's house, sort of threw him off guard, and now Caleb is not saying anything concerning where they are supposed to go from here, and now he is left wondering where to take them.He glances at the rearview mirror, catching a glimpse of his best friend's concerned expression and his babe's stony silence. It is clear that something that she isn’t willing to talk about is seriously bothering her. Alistair’s eyes flick back to the road ahead, his mind racing with possibilities. He contemplates between taking them to Caleb’s house and the hotel since Melanie doesn’t have a place to stay, but just dumping her at his father’s hotel may not be the best idea. Given the tension betwee
As Melanie steps out of the guest house, she can't help but feel a mix of excitement and nervousness because the day started well for her with that really thoughtful gesture from Caleb. However, Shirley's call sort of negatively altered her day. She has been trying not to let it get to her and just figure out a way to deal with her issue with her mom so that things will not get messy at all.She has also been looking forward to seeing Caleb all morning. For some reason, she wanted to speak to him about the latest development, because she didn’t want him to think that he was the problem, or he did something to her when she decided to go MIA like she always does because she can’t come up with a better option, and especially after the lovely breakfast that he had sent her way, she had even taken extra care to dress nicely after Alistair left her room, hoping to make a nice good impression.She has a yellow and black long off-shoulder sundress, with a slit that reaches all the way to the
As soon as Kali drops the call, Melanie’s mind reels. She wonders how she will deal with the situation when she finally gets to that bridge while stuffing all her things in the mini-traveling bag she brought with her.“In the next few hours, I should be out of here, but where do I go from here?” Melanie questions herself as she routinely stops forcing her unfolded clothes into the bag.“The only people I know here are Kali and her little family, but I can't even go back there because what if I get comfortable in my sister's house and my mom decides to pay her a surprise visit?” Melanie ponders, and she shakes her head, to dismiss the idea of going to Kalinin’s house because she knows that for her mom to wake up one morning, and decide to visit her, then she can also do the same to her other daughter and it won't be strange in her dictionary.“I also know Ryan, but that man wants nothing to do with me since he hasn’t left me a message since he left, nor has he tried to even call or rea
As soon as Melanie hangs up the call with Shirley, she puts a call through to Kalinin almost immediately. It tells her that the line is busy, but instead of just letting her sister call her back, she persists with the call until her sister picks up her call. “What the F is wrong with you?” Kalinin asks her angrily as soon as she picks up her call. “Shirley told me that Mom went to Pearl Coast, and I wanted us to agree on what you are going to tell her before you spoil things way beyond what I can salvage for her,” Melanie informs her sister. “What is that supposed to mean?” Kalinin asks pissed. “I figured that you may not be able to come up with something very fast, so I decided to call you immediately,” Melanie let’s get sister know. “You should know that I won’t tell our mother something that you haven’t told her, because I know how she likes to blow things out of proportion and also overreact,” Kalinin hisses as she says. “Whoosh!” Melanie exclaims. “I can’t believe that you
“Hey, I got the surprise delivery that you asked your best friend to deliver to my room, and I am grateful for that.” Melanie’s eyes sparkle with gratitude as she types the text that she wants to send to Caleb before she procrastinates and forgets to do so. As she types, she smiles to herself.She hit send, but the messages only ticked once; they didn’t double-tick, which can only mean one thing: his data is not on or he is not available.“Excuse me, Alistair, do you know where Caleb is? I tried texting him to thank him for the breakfast, but the message didn’t deliver,” Melanie says, frowning as she turns to Alistair.“I’m afraid Caleb is unavailable at the moment, and that is exactly why he sent me here to drop food off for you, so that you can know that you are still on his mind,” Alistair’s expression turns sympathetic.“Is he okay?” Melanie asks with furrowed brows.“He is perfectly fine, there are just a few things that he needs to sort out quickly, which is exactly why he is in
After sorting Caleb out, he goes to the side of the room where Caleb’s stuff is arranged to get an outfit change out of the duffel bag so that he can have a warm bath and change into something fresh. He then goes into the bathroom to take a quick bath because he starts feeling really uncomfortable.While he is busy drying his body, the landline in the room starts to beep, so he quickly gets the call so that it won't disturb Caleb.“Alistair Rolands from room 77B speaking,” He introduces as he picks up the call.“You placed an order for a breakfast platter to room 16B on the fifth floor right?” the caller confirms from him.“yes I did…is there any problem with delivering my order?” Alistair inquires, concerned because the other was placed way over 30 minutes ago.“We brought the delivery to her room door five minutes ago, and we have been knocking since then, but there has been no response from the person inside since then,” The person at the other end of the phone informs Alistair.“
Location: Silver Oaks Resorts, Maple Ridge, Orion.Alistair's eyes slowly flutter open to the soft glow of the morning light peeking through the curtains. He stretches, feeling refreshed and fully sober after a good night's sleep. He glances around the room, expecting to see Caleb asleep in the adjacent bed, but he is nowhere around.Alistair hisses, he throws off the covers and gets out of bed, thinking that Caleb ditched him to go and spend time with Melanie again while he is left lonely and sad in the room at a vacation that was told was going to be compensation for being away from the country for a whole week with a woman that he just met, without giving him a proper explanation, and just shoving all his duties down his throat.On getting into the bathroom, Alistair stands in front of the bathroom mirror, brushing his teeth with a rhythmic motion. As he scrubs, his mind begins to wander to the events of the previous night. Specifically, he isn’t able to shake off the feeling of ma
Location: Silver Oaks Resorts, Maple Ridge, Oakland.Melanie returns to her room, reeling in her good sorts because she didn’t expect to have such a nice time with Caleb. Still, him setting up such a surprise for her during the day, just because she insisted that she didn’t want to talk to him is something that she isn’t able to get over, and then the date wasn’t something out of the extraordinary. However, it was still perfect in its own way, exuding its own uniqueness.She isn’t the type to agree to go on a date easily with someone, but first, it was the dating site that she didn’t have a choice but to check out, then the first date with Caleb at his club where he left a sour taste in her mouth and she made up her mind not to have anything to do with him again, but then the man keeps following her everywhere like he wants more from her.In all honesty, Caleb Wellinton is a good-looking man who screams money even though Melanie doesn’t know his net worth, but after she did him dirty
Sophia’s eyes drift away, her mind consumed by the turmoil that is brewing inside her. Aiden is an inquisitive child who always has questions, and if she doesn’t properly coordinate her mind on how to answer his question, because if she answers his question the wrong way, she may end up setting herself up for a huge problem later.“But really, how will I pad the truth to Aiden that over the past 12 years, his father never wanted to see him?” Sophia asks herself again as her eyes drift from side to side.“How nicely can I put it to a 12-year-old that his father’s idea of fatherhood is only limited to throwing money at us, but never is time and attention,” Sophia’s heart breaks as she thinks about it. Her tears threaten, to spill because the weight of the truth threatens to crush her.Aiden’s innocent question has unleashed a torrent of emotions. As Sophia struggles to find a perfect response to his question, she can’t bear the thought of shattering her son's illusions that Aiden must h