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
Location: Blackwood, Orion. Alistair makes it a point of duty after being bribed by his best friend, Caleb, to get out of bed early so that he can ensure that the project with the Sinclairs does not flop. Even though Alistair and Caleb are business partners, Alistair is more of a sleeping partner and he hates it when he has to make important decisions for the company because he is majorly in the business to support his best friend and to also prove to his father, the almighty Julian Roland, a self-made billionaire who built his empire through strategic takeovers, ruthless negotiations and savvy investments that he is not just a notorious playboy, serial dater and party animal that is always spending Roland’s family fortune like everybody in their family thinks he is, but his mind has always been. Most of the time when Alistair has to do things for the company, Caleb is always in the perimeter, but now that Caleb is out of the country, he is kind of scared but he still loves the fa
Alex wakes up early feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day,“Alex, I need updates on the progress with Calleb Wellington as soon as you get to Orion” his uncle Ethan Sinclairs' voice echoes in his mind.Alex got to Orion yesterday and if he was to obey Ethan, he should have gotten back to him yesterday night, he didn’t really have much to tell his uncle but he still has to call him to update him even though there is barely anything to tell him, and he answers on the first ring.“Uncle, good morning” Alex greets while trying to compose himself because Ethan can be scary when it comes to business.“What is the update…” Ethan questions him and he rolls his eyes to the side because he kinda he saw the fact that his uncle will not care whether he got to Orion safely, but now that his uncle does not care, it doesn’t sting any less. “I’m meeting Caleb Wellington today to finalize the project details.” He informs.“Excellent!” Ethan exclaims.“What’s the plan?” He asks.“Honestly, Unc
Ryder drives the car, while Caleb tries to engage Melanie in a conversation so that she won’t close her eyes, but her eyes are starting to close despite the effort he is making.“I promised your sister to take care of you, but I ended up putting you in harm’s way,” He blames himself, as Ryder is focused on getting them to a proper hospital. Ryder is able to find a proper hospital and he screeches the car to a halt before running towards the accident and emergency section to obtain a stretcher that will take Melanie inside.Caleb gets out of the car eagerly, clutching Melanie’s limp body as he starts running towards the hospital, he meets Ryder and the nurses bringing the stretcher midway, so he puts Melanie on the stretcher so that she can be comfortable.“What is wrong with the patient?” one of the nurses inquires as they make their way inside the hospital.“She got shot” Caleb answers as the other hospital rushes to transfer her to a hospital bed.“If she got shot, then I am sorry
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