***Hi! This book is under MAJOR revision, so some things might not add up in the next chapters. Please read on with this in mind.Audrey colored herself thunderstruck as she stared dazedly at the man climbing out of the car in front of her. She was just leaving the restaurant after a meeting with Christian Parkinson - editor in chief of a leading men’s magazine alongside hers. They occasionally had their paths intertwined when the other’s in need or simply celebrating the achievement of another. Sassy and Bachelor are partners - although sometimes a competition.Audrey’s just dealt with a Parkinson and now here comes another with a bouquet of flowers in hand to bribe her. Actually, if she’s really being honest, she’s got herself involved with the Parkinsons long before she realized it. She met Margaret Parkinson when she volunteered at Parkinson Foundation. She was working between jobs back then. Margaret probably saw she’s got the potential and recommended her to
***Hi! This book is under MAJOR revision, so some things might not add up in the next chapters. Please read on with this in mind.Vren swirled the wine in his glass as he gaze at the empty seat across him. Audrey has been in the bathroom for quite some time and he’s starting to get worried. She’s excused herself twice, okay, make that thrice and this time Audrey took a little longer. He wanted to flee to her side when he saw her reappearing from the ladies’ room, looking paler than she did the second time she went in the bathroom.“Hey, you okay?” He was up to his feet, ushering her back to her seat. He was surprised when she allowed him to.She murmured something that sounded like a ‘thank you.’ She reaches for the glass of water and sips on it. “I’m fine.”Vren flops back down to his seat, perusing her. “The last time you told me that it nearly gave me a heart attack.”“I won’t faint.” She rolled her eyes.“You know, we can just go. You’re tired.”
***Hi! This book is under MAJOR revision, so some things might not add up in the next chapters. Please read on with this in mind.“Audrey, your doctor’s appointment today is.... Ahhhh.” Kylie gapes at her, her head tilting to the right. “What are you doing?”Audrey frowned. “Do you think you can buy me more vases? If I put so much water will the flowers drown?”“Uh. Yeah, I think they will.”“But if I put just a little water they will get thirsty, right?” Audrey just had her first bouquet of the day delivered and she couldn’t bear to not tend to it after the story Vren told her. He’s getting into her nerve; that’s something she will deny even to herself.“Uh, maybe?” she hesitated.“So, how much would be enough?” she slumped on her swivel chair.“I’m not sure. You want me to look it up?”“How do you not know that?”“I don’t really get flowers.” She types something on her phone. “It says water should be about 3/4 of the vase’s height. And
***Hi! This book is under MAJOR revision, so some things might not add up in the next chapters. Please read on with this in mind.Vren didn’t expect a text from Kylie at 7:00 AM. Hell, he never receives a text unless Audrey has instructed her assistant to relay an information to him. He’s come to a conclusion that Audrey never does that herself. And now, he’s been informed to not bother dropping by her office or if he does, he’ll never find her there.Though he was puzzled of what could have been the reason of her not being there, that part was left out. It was only after lunch that he gives in to the urge of going against of what he was told.As he steps inside the elevator and pressed the floor to her apartment, he’s still in mid-contemplation. Audrey was too quiet after seeing the doctor. Although, she’s the prickly type and that was her process of taking in all the stuff the OBGYN was talking about, there’s an inkling in his gut that he couldn’t scratch. Th
***Hi! This book is under MAJOR revision, so some things might not add up in the next chapters. Please read on with this in mind.“Sweetheart? Really?” Audrey hissed to his ear. She’s been dreading to attend the wedding. The first time she tolerated one was her best friend, Kathie Parkinson’s wedding and she ended up in irrevocable consequences. Lili Scott has eagerly invited her to her wedding and would do the cover for Sassy only if she did.Audrey shoots daggers at him although he refuses to acknowledge it. His hand is on the small of her back, a permanent grin on his face. “I did it on the spur of the moment.”She’s hell-bent on scratching that annoying smug look on his face. They made their way to the parking lot and she held her breath until they neared his Audi. By the time they were in a safe distance from the guests’ line of sight, the breath breezed past with an irritated, “are you out of your mind?”Vren simply looked at her. “I’m sorry. We should’ve
Vren has considered himself thrown out of her apartment. He was having the surge of regret for jumping at her like an impulsive teenage kid. He’s lucky she didn’t resort to slapping him across the face. Audrey has repulsed his advances with a slight push on his chest. Or has he misread it? He definitely did. If he has not, Audrey wouldn’t be on his lap, pinning him on the sofa.His hands were on her waist and he stare at them, as if confused how they got there so quickly. Then very slowly, deliberately, he cupped her face in his either hands. Audrey’s eyes broadened as he fused their mouths to a searing kiss.Her fingers dug into his hair. They shifted to his bow tie, undoing it. Her blonde hair pooled around her shoulders and the sight of them brings back tons of drunken memories. She smells divine. He’s losing himself in her. His restraint was flaking off.Audrey arched into him when his hands started a trek upward. A nagging thought tickled the back of
***Hi! This book is under MAJOR revision, so some things might not add up in the next chapters. Please read on with this in mind.Audrey sweeps the conference room with her gaze. When she was sure every single one is gathered around, she flops down on the seat next to Christian Parkinson whom she have set the meeting for in the first place.Her writers were gawking at him the moment they entered the room. She feels unattractive just sitting next to him. Kylie is standing by the door. She was about to go back to her desk but this time she’s needed to be there while she announces she’s taking a sabbatical. Although Christian wouldn’t be overseeing both Bachelor and Sassy for the next few weeks – not yet – she liked her staff to be prepared.If she were in their shoes, she would hate to be surprised a new leader is taking over them. She hates surprises. Partly because she hates the unknown and partly because she doesn’t like not being prepared.“So, I heard you and
***Hi! This book is under MAJOR revision, so some things might not add up in the next chapters. Please read on with this in mind.Audrey is proficient at making conversations with his family. Vren expected uneasiness – even just a smidge. However, that’s just him forgetting this is the Audrey Danler. She’s flawless at pleasing his family. If anything, she’s the perfect girlfriend material every parents are hoping for. Vren could never classify her as the friendly type. She surprises him once again.He sits next to her, mesmerized at the uncharacteristic laugh she just had. Her face dramatically changes when she smiles. His parents are fond of her – even way before the family dinner. His siblings has evidently warmed up to her despite the obvious intimidated shake hands earlier in the night.Audrey is next to him, relaxed and utterly comfortable. Their family dinner were just his father on the end of the table. Their mother is on his right, a no-nonsense Cade on
Audrey nodded, sweeping her gaze on every faces in the conference room. She was in one of their weekly meetings. She was following up on their stories, barely speaking because there wasn’t much to say to the competent and insightful women around the table. The fitness team were just giving her an update when her phone buzzed with a text message from Vren.She clicks her pen, wishing nothing more but for the meeting to be over. And when it did, she watches in agony as everyone exits before her. She types a reply on her phone, changing her mind when a man she recognized in one glimpse comes in as everyone else was going out.The lingering glances didn’t go unnoticed. She was getting used to the female attention he constantly gets wherever he goes. She still has her moments though – where she just couldn’t help but get jealous. But, of course, Vren doesn’t have to know that. The things is, she really thought the women would eventually subside once he no longer have the lux
“Berry, nude or matte blue?”Audrey squinted closer to her computer screen where Jessica was holding three nail polishes and Kathie was shifting in her enormous couch. “Nude.”Since two out of three has had hassles going to places, they resorted to video calls.“Yeah, nude.” Kathie nods, pausing to fluff a throw pillow.“Boring. I think I’ll choose matte blue.” She glances briefly at them, then snort laughed.Audrey shot her a glare. “What?”“Nothing. My screen is ninety-five percent round bellies. Five percent faces of my best friends.” She shakes the bottle, grinning at the screen.“I’ll kill you if you take a screenshot right now.”Jessica bellowed a laugh. “I’d like to see you try with that belly.”“Just wait until you get one of these bellies too,” Kathie chimes in a sing song voice. She adjusted her phone, angling it to her face.Their friend merely snorted and started painting her toenails.Audrey would’ve given a skeptical eye
“Sweetheart?” Vren closes the door behind him. She hasn’t opened the door for him. Although she only meets him at the door on a few occasions, he’s still allowed to expect a peck from his girlfriend. He padded quietly inside his penthouse, chest fluttering as he hears her elegant voice from the living room.He watches in amusement as the woman he’s been obsessing over for months now chided someone over her phone. He couldn’t exactly hear the entire conversation but he was able to get the idea that it was about an advertiser who pulled out from a prime spot at the last minute.She’s supposed to be on sabbatical leave but she kept everything monitored through Kylie. Although she reassured him she’s keeping herself from stress, Vren tries to get her off the phone. Mainly for his own personal gain because he needed the attention. Some days she’s hunched over her laptop, maybe checking her emails, and sometimes engrossed in a video call with her friend Rachel Myers whom she
Audrey paces in her bedroom. The pink interior slowly transitioned into an irritating shade because her room looked happy in contrary to the dread dwelling in the pit of her stomach. Her mother came over to her Aunt Gemma’s house—the first time she went out of the house since she has been discharged from the hospital.A revving car from outside snapped her out of her thoughts, reorienting her to the task at hand. The engine groaned loudly into a stop but she couldn’t care less about it. She leaned her back against the wall, looked out the window where the sun was streaming in several hours ago. There wasn’t any trace of it anymore which means she’s spent the day fruitlessly.The wall felt cold against her back. She gathered a calming breath in through her nose and scrolled through her contacts one more time. Swallowing the bile in her throat, she rings him. The soles of her feet were freezing as her palms. She hoped it will go to voicemail and save her from the embarras
One call. All it takes is one phone call. For Pete’s sake just call. She’s been staring at her phone all morning. She’s been mustering all the courage she needed to make the call. Since when did a single phone call became her toughest obstacle?Right. When she started mooning over Vren Parkinson without control over it. And that’s why she’s been wanting to call in the first place.Audrey figured she needed the fresh air to clear her mind, so she sat in the front porch and breathed in some courage.She’s been so occupied she didn’t pay attention to the car easing onto the driveway. Her head snapped to the direction of the driver’s side where the car door just closed with a soft thud. Her hands clenched at the sight of a familiar face she’s known by heart.He hesitated when he sees her on the porch swing. Mistaking her lack of movement for something else other than pure surprise, he turns and reopens the door.“Dad, it’s okay.” She bolted upright, stopping her
Vren pursed his lips irritably as he reaches the end of his contacts. Yet again. In emotional conflicts, he would resort to calling a past fling. But, surprising himself, he was deleting each single one from his contacts.What the hell was he supposed to do?For a great portion of his life, he had women as proven distraction from the noise of business ordeals. However, he haven’t met Audrey then. He didn’t have a deep emotional conflict that could only be relieved by one particular woman.His life is way off course. The only solution to put it back on track is to have his Audrey back. Whatever it might cost him. He had long lists of grand gestures he’s taken a mental note of. If that doesn’t give away how much he hasn’t been sleeping, maybe the dark circles might.He was on the verge of smashing his phone for having no one else to call. He takes out a heavy sigh and pressed that one phone number he has considered to call.Damn it. What the hell?Vren cli
Audrey won’t talk about it. She won’t even think about it. She wrapped her arms around her legs and tucked her knees against her chest. Her fingers shielded her eyes from the sun. She peeks through the space between her thumb and forefinger to assess how much she overslept. Her arm slumped back to her side as she wishes she could sink further to the cushions.He loves me.She shakes her head aggressively, shoving the thought out of her head.She told herself that this is how things are supposed to be. It was right to keep him in arm’s length. The barely there suggestion of marriage triggered everything she had kept at the back of her mind and pooled all over her. The mention of the ring really did a number on her. Her mother’s words that angered her then, came back to haunt her. However, she developed the habit of setting aside outside influences from her decisions over the years. So if Audrey were to screw up, she has an accusatory finger right to her face.Aud
Audrey sink to the rug, her gaze going over the opened door of the bathroom where she just spent the entire morning after having a round of morning sickness and some other stuff she doesn’t want to think about. A small sob slipped out, followed by another.She began crying in the quiet of the guest room. Her chest heaved from huge, racking sobs that doesn’t seem to end. She pulled her legs close, tucking her knees to her chest. She buried her face on the comfort of her thighs. Hoping it will muffle the sound.She was fine yesterday. She was doing well in keeping her mind off the soft spot. But waking up today with a terrible morning sickness felt like stepping right onto a landmine. Amidst the distressing process of cleaning her stomach clean, she thought about how bearable it once was when Vren was right on her side, holding her hair back, rubbing her back and his voice so soft on her ears.“Damn it!” She hissed as the memory flood in fresh new tears to her already
Vren’s hand covers hers, snapping her out of her stream of thought. They were in the kitchen having coffee after lunch. He wanted to stay for the weekend. Badly. But he had important business to attend to that he couldn’t reschedule. He likes to think that Audrey was just sulking that he couldn’t stay, but that’s not Audrey. She won’t show her need for him to stay because that would be demanding him to stay. And she’s not the kind to hold someone back.“You’re awfully quiet, Audrey.” He links his pinky finger with hers, finally drawing her attention to him.Her other hand grazed the curving handle of her mug. “It’s nothing, really.”“What is it? Maybe I can help?” Vren wasn’t dense not to notice her mother locking herself up in her bedroom. Audrey leaves her be.She kept her eyes on the mug like she found entertainment in the swaying steam of her coffee. She was silent still.Vren urges her face up with a finger beneath her chin. “Is this about getting a rin