Melanie's hands shake as she pushes open Alex's door after entering her fiancé's passcode. She hadn’t planned on coming here today, but the stress of a prospective pregnancy has forced her to seek consolation in the one person that she feels she can trust. She is ten days overdue for her period, and she is beginning to lose her mind about her mother's likely response. “How is mommy going to respond?” Her stomach knots at the thought. Before taking a pregnancy test, she feels like she should speak with Alex face-to-face so that he can mentally get ready to become a parent if the findings are positive. "Alex?” Melanie yells, "I need to talk to you," She says as she enters, but no one answers. Melanie starts to get nervous since she knows for sure that Alex is at home since his car is parked outside. “How could he be anywhere else?” Her pulse is pounding as she moves from the living area to Alex's bedroom. “What if he reacts badly?” she thinks and She notices them at that p
Once Melanie and Alex split up, Alex enters denial mode that he would rather focus on Melanie's eternal place in the afterlife instead of giving up that she is just gone, period. He is confident that she will come begging for him to return and that he is what she needs so doesn't bother to chase her and he doesn't talk to her for three days at which point he is boiling in hate and disdain. “Where are you?” “Why are you ignoring me?” On the fourth day of their breakup, Melanie reads Alex's text message after Shirley and her neighbors told her about Alex showing up at the house as well as right in front of where she works. Melanie is terrified and she pulls out her phone, texts her twin sister Kalinin about what is happening, in case something does happen to her. Melanie sighs and sets her phone down because Kalinin is a medical doctor, so she might working in the hospital. “How are you, baby girl?” Kalinin replies almost immediately “I am not fine,” Melanie replies, unable to
Melanie takes the next few days pondering if Kalinin asking her to move to Orion is the right decision to make and she would have loved to get a second opinion from someone else but she has been betrayed by friends too many times and now she had cut off all her friends for the sake of her mental health. Melanie hands over her beauty studio to Shirley to manage for the six months that she may likely be away from Pearl Coast and she ties up a few loose ends. Melanie books her flight to Orion and informs the parties involved that she will be in Orion the next day. Melanie did not think saying her goodbye to Shirley was going to be hard because her assistant was the coolest thing that she had to a friend at the moment. The next morning, Melanie ducks out in the early dawn of her last days in Pearl Coast, packing stuff, and saying her final goodbye to her assistant, She then checks in for her six-hour flight to Orion at the airport. She gets a coffee and makes herself comfortable a
“Why didn't you speak to me before putting me on that dating site?” she demands an answer from Kalinin “We did not want to hurt you,” Kalinin answers. “…But you need to begin living again.” She proclaims unapologetically. “Mom doesn't know about the state you are in and I know that you will be alright...it is just a matter of time.” She sounds like she is trying to console Melanie but she is threatening her with this statement. “It is not as simple as you make it sound,” Melanie complains. “Well sure…but we just want to get you out of your shell, we can cut it out eventually if that is what you want.” Kalinin is quick to assure. “I feel like you are trying to rush me into things.” Melanie sobs. “I thought leaving Alex would help but now I am lost.” she completely breaks down. “Why can't you just allow me to figure shit out on my own?” Melanie complains again. “We thought moving you away from all the reminders would help make it easier for you, but we are still so c
“Hey Meelah, hope you’re doing well. It's Alex’s uncle, Ethan.” the text reads. “I know that this might seem unexpected, but I've been thinking about you lately and I wanted to reach out,” he continues. “you’re an incredible person, and I always thought you deserved better than my nephew so, would you love to grab a coffee and catch up sometime?” Melanie’s eyes widen as she reads the message from Alex’s uncle. She couldn’t believe he would reach out to her like that. Although Ethan Sinclair’s message seems friendly and casual, but Melanie can't help but feel that it sounds slightly flirtatious. Melanie feels a mix of emotions: surprise, discomfort, and a hint of fear and even though Ethan is being respectful by acknowledging the past relationship but he is also showing interest in getting to know Melanie, she doesn’t know how to respond or even if she wants to. Trying to shake off the uneasy feeling, Melanie decides to focus on something else. She suddenly remembers the datin
“Okay, sure. What time and where?” she asks him after pondering for a while, her heart racing with anticipation because agreeing to meet up with someone that she just started talking to is way out of character for her. “10 pm at ‘The Beat’ club. I’ll leave your name at the door,” Caleb replies. Melanie nods to herself, even though she knows that he can’t see her but she is feeling a thrill of excitement at the prospect of meeting Caleb later in the day so she quickly gets up from her bed and rushes to Kalinin’s matrimonial room with excitement radiating from her face. “Kali, Kali! You won’t believe what just happened!” Melanie exclaims, barely containing her enthusiasm and forgetting to acknowledge Kali’s husband’s presence. “I will just excuse myself,” Martins takes the initiative and excuses him from the room without making the situation awkward. “What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Kalinin looks up from her book curious “I matched with someone on the sit
Melanie crosses Kalinin's gates and draws a long, steady breath. Exhilaration combined with a hint of fear permeates the air. Melanie has only visited here very once since Kalinin relocated with Marcus four years ago but she is resolved to find out where the night will carry her, but the thought of how to navigate her way in this unfamiliar city at night makes her anxious and resolute at the same time. As she leaps into the Uber her sister booked, she gives the driver the club address that Kalinin helped her copy out and she relaxes into the car. Enthralled by the city’s sight, Melanie watches out the window on the trip. Though overwhelming, the pulsating street activity and the brilliant neon lights are thrilling. The thrill of adventure beats her heart, a nice break from her nervousness about the upcoming meeting. When she gets to "The Beats," the club is large and before her, its door is decorated with powerful lettering suggesting an evening to remember. Melanie pays the driv
After leaving Caleb's office, Melanie pulls out her phone and opens the Uber app that Kalinin downloaded and helped her set up earlier. She requests a ride, selecting the "Home" destination saved on her profile by her twin sister. Melanie stands outside the office building, taking a deep breath of the evening air. She watches as the Uber driver's estimated arrival time count down on her screen. The driver arrives promptly in a sleek black Honda Civic. Melanie hops into the backseat, exchanging pleasantries with Amir. "Hi, how's your evening?" he asks. "It's been...interesting," Melanie replies, still processing the events at Caleb's office. As the driver navigates through the city’s streets, Melanie gazes out of the window. Lost in thought, she replays Caleb's behavior, Alistar's intervention, and her feelings. "We're here," the driver announces as he pulls up to Kalinin's Estate complex. Melanie thanks him and steps out of the car. She takes a deep breath, feeling relieved to
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