Vren handed her the bowl of popcorn just when the opening credits of Frozen 2 started. She shakes her head and gestures at the box of pizza next to the cupcakes he’s brought along in case she’s craving something sweet. If she answered his calls to have somebody bring her food, Vren is thanking their baby for her cravings. He hands her a slice and he half-expected her to take one ugly bite because she appeared to be famish when she opened the door.Audrey sunk her teeth into the crust and worked her way to the pointed tip. It wasn’t supposed to be an elegant bite. The string of cheese dangling on her chin that she peeled off and ushered to her mouth were poorly a turnoff. “So what’s this sequel all about? Are you gonna tell me or what?”“And ruin the surprise? No way.” He grinned.She leans over, picking two popcorns on the bowl and flicked it to his forehead. “Selfish turd.”He chuckles. “Still hate surprises?”Audrey glares at him. It would have been menaci
“I’m at my office and I’m fine,” Audrey managed to sound bored and irritated which is a big case of hypocrisy on her part. Audrey is not about to admit that his name showing up on the screen of her phone made her leap for it. She’ll deny it until her face turns blue.Audrey falling asleep on the sofa for a couple of times now and miraculously finding herself on her bed in the morning is somehow an embarrassment to her. Falling asleep on someone’s shoulder is not really her thing. Hell, she’d rather fall off the sofa if she ever dozes off.Vren chuckles on the other line. “And hello to you, gorgeous.”She puts last night’s waterworks on top of her embarrassing list of mishaps. And that list doesn’t have much in it because she could handle them. She never wished to cry in front of Vren, especially not over a stupid throw pillow.“How are you this morning?” He asks.Audrey knows he’s referring to the morning sickness. Thank, God. Vren didn’t mention anything ab
Vren signaled the bartender for another drink. There were a few women flashing smiles his way, the invitation clear and plain. He would jump to the opportunity to spend the night with one of them and leaves her bed early in the morning before she wakes up to offer breakfast – which he normally steer clear from. He enjoyed most of it. He likes to socialize and he happens to like women. However, things got a little different when he turned thirty. His choices narrowed and he went from a little picky to exceedingly... picky. And it sucked the fun out of everything. He could even say it was so damn close to lonely.He took a swig of his drink and set it back on the cocktail napkin. A decent display of dainty female legs caught his eye and he turned for a better look. It was wrong to stare but the long pair of legs got his eyes trained on them. His gaze drifted slowly from the heel clad feet, working their way up to the delicate ankles, a shapely calf and a ton of smooth thighs.
Audrey swung her legs off the bed, her hand clutching her mouth. It took her a while to panic that this was not her room. But then she was more panicked in finding the bathroom. She lurched forward, completely out of his bed and heaved her stomach empty on the toilet bowl. She tries to keep her hair from getting in the way but the retching makes it harder a thousandfold.A hand clasped around her shoulder, the other collecting the stubborn locks of her hair behind her head. He was on the tiled floor with her, comforting her. She was immediately pulled into his chest as soon as she was done emptying her stomach. His hand strokes her back.Audrey closes her eyes, acknowledging the unfamiliar bathroom, the bedroom she just ran from and the bed she spent the whole night sleeping in. Her mind made a flashback to how she ended up in his penthouse. Although not for reasons she once had waking up in his hotel bed. She may have given in when he offers her to watch a movie at his
Vren slouched in his swivel chair as the call went on unanswered. He doesn’t want to sound desperate but he’s been ringing her phone three times in a row. He turned to his computer, his fingers drumming on the mahogany desk. He swore he would stop at three. And technically, calling her assistant is not breaking the standard he set for himself. He spun his chair and focused on the view out the glass walls of office. His thumb hovered over his phone.A brief knock on his door interrupted the peace in his office.“Come in.” He twirled his chair back around and greeted his secretary standing in his doorway.Regina’s almond-shaped eyes wrinkled on the corners when she smiled at him. She was over her 40s when he took over as the CEO of one of the largest hotel chains. He earned the title along with the secretary. “Conference in fifteen minutes.”He nodded.“And what’s going on with that?” Regina motions a hand over her face.Vren chucks his phone on his desk.
Audrey surreptitiously glanced down at the hand intertwined with hers. Vren has been sweeter the past few days. He even canceled on important meetings to go with her doctor’s appointment. He insisted he comes with. It’s not that he was acting strange. He was constant in displaying a thoughtful gesture. It was crossing the thin line to romantic but she keeps that idea locked up in the back of her mind. It was almost like he was trying to win her over.“You know everyone here. And they know you.” He winks, a wry grin on his face.The pool splashed from the familiar faces clad in swim suits. Floats were on the pool, pink lemonades in every hand to balance the afternoon heat. The smell of barbecue made her stomach growled. Nathaniel Forester, one of the few people who skipped the swim suit, approaches them.“Hi. I’m glad you could make it.” He pushed his sunglasses up his head and gave Vren a manly hug before turning to her.“Happy birthday.” Audrey smiled.His
His knuckles made a faint knock against the door before his arm slid back to his side. He rereads the message from Kylie this morning. Audrey called in sick and demanded to not be disturbed. Like that would stop him from checking on her. The door clicked open, Kylie’s head popping out. “I knew it would be you.”“You’re developing clairvoyance, Kylie?” He quipped, sneaking a peek over her shoulder.“No. You’re making this annoying pattern of showing up when you’re not supposed to,” she replies flatly.He fiddles with his phone before vocalizing his silent question.Kylie had a knowing look. “She’s inside.”“Oh. Is she okay?”“If I say yes, would you leave her alone?”Vren purses his lips as if in thought.“Save it. You’re not.” She opens the door further and steps aside. “Living room. If she asks you why I let you in, tell her you held me at gunpoint.”He chuckles. “Is she okay though?”“You men make my job hard.” She muttered to herself a
Stilettos clicking on a marbled floor was the sound Audrey grown accustomed to since moving to the city. It sounded more appealing to her ear when she was the one making the sound. High heels are power. And she traded sneakers for power. Her feet weren’t always clad in stilettos. She was once a doe-eyed girl who thought her purpose in life was as simple as her best friend Rachel’s was. However, the naiveté wears off when childhood faded in the background.The tapping of her heels halted as she waits for the elevator. She looks down her burgundy heels, smoothing her skirt. Her mother calling every night becomes bearable enough. Comforting her mother becomes easier after every call from Vren. For the first time in a very long time, she doesn’t feel entirely alone.It became a routine. Her mother calls prior to Vren. And then she falls asleep unceremoniously while listening to him ramble on the other line.Audrey steps in the elevator and pressed the floor to her offic
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