LYRONSix years later The plane touched down at JFK International Airport. It was bustling and rowdy as always. It's been six years since I last stepped into the US, yet it felt both familiar and foreign. My mind went to Amil, he most likely hadn't moved so it wasn't entirely impossible to not bump into him so I'd do everything to prevent that from happening. “ Daddy?” Eleo tugged at my pants. “ Yes, Lee?” I snapped back into reality hearing my son calling out to me. He was the cutest five-year old. “ Is it necessary to keep this on?” He pulled at his face mask looking sulky. “ Just bear with daddy a little bit okay? You won't need to wear it when we get into the car,” I kneaded his soft cheeks. “ But it's uncomfortable,” he complained. “ I know but you don't like when those people with cameras show up, do you?” I tried my best to convince him. I was yet to reveal Eleo to the public and I doubt I planned to do that anytime soo
LYRON I got ready for the signing of my endorsement contract. After getting dressed, I headed downstairs. “ You were quick,” Ryan who seemed to have been waiting for me said. “ I can't leave a wrong impression, can I?” I asked rhetorically. “ I guess, you can't. Where's Eleo?” He searched for Eleo with his eyes. “ He's still asleep,” I answered. “ He's like an angel when he sleeps. He's an angel as well when he's awake but you get,” I doted. “ You're such a mom,” Ryan heaved. “ Well, that's not a lie,” I mean, I did give birth to him. “ Has the nanny come?” I asked Ryan. “ How would I know? I don't live with you,” he slumped into a more comfortable position on the chair. I went to the kitchen to see if the nanny had come but she hadn't. “ That's odd,” I muttered. She wasn't the type to run late. “ Lyron!” Ryan called out to me from the living room. I briskly walked over to see why he was calling me. “ The nanny is here,” he said once I was in the living room
Putting on my shades, my bodyguards opened the door of the van for me. “ I hope I don't have to deal with reporters today,” I groaned as I stepped out. “ I made sure no one knows about it but I'd be lying to say i can prevent reporters from finding out,” Ryan said as I stood side by side with him. My bodyguards shielded us from the reporters as we walked into the company building. Getting into the company, I was welcomed by a lady who introduced secretary of the vice chairman. She took us to the VIP elevator and we headed straight for the conference room where we'd be using for the endorsement deal. I was somewhat nervous because this contract signing would solidify my position as a global sensation. I was famous in Europe but not as much in North America so this was an important deal for me. “ He's here, sir,” the secretary announced as we walked into the conference room. “ It's an honor to meet you personally, Vice president,” I bowed my h
AMIL The driver back to the penthouse was quiet. Joe, my personal assistant had noticed the shift in my mood the moment he caught up to me by the elevator. I never thought I'd meet Lyron again, especially like this. The encounter with Lyron had stirred up emotions I thought I had buried deep within. How long has it been since I last saw him? “ Sir, are you alright?” Joe asked. “ You've been acting strange since I met you at the elevator.” “ It's nothing,” I said, rubbing my forehead. Even though I wanted to talk to Lyron so bad during the six years we were apart, I couldn't bring myself to search for him intensively, not after everything I had done to him. Not to mention that if I had searched for him openly, grandad would have found out. “ Actually, it's about the artist that came to sign the contract,” I chose to tell him. Joe wasn't my assistant back then so he has no knowledge of who I associated with in the past. “ Do you not like him?” He looked conce
AMIL Two days had passed since we last met. Those two days felt like forever and the look in his eyes when we met was a picture I couldn't get out of my head. “ Since when was Lyron feisty?” I groaned as I lay flat on my back. I couldn't sleep for two days straight as my though were all about Lyron. I tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. Was he thinking about me the way I was? Did our brief encounter two days ago linger in his mind? “ Tch. I must be crazy to think he'd have me on his mind. Even if that's the case, he's probably terrified that he ran into me,” I gave myself a quick reality check. I let my thoughts drift aimlessly with the intention to bore myself to sleep. The morning light filtered through the blinds of my window. As I tried to get my heavy eyes open, I saw a masculine figure and the one thing that came to my mind was… “ Lyron?” I called out softly but why would he be in my room? “ You must have drank yourself to sleep to be confusing me for Lyron,
AMIL “ Are we there yet?” I asked, taking my sleeping mask off. “ Almost. Get some rest while you're at it,” Joe instructed and I nodded my head. Studio X was one of the company's premier studios and usually celebrities affiliated with our company have their photoshoot here. It made me wonder why I didn't think about Lyron doing his photoshoot here as well. “ Hey,” I said to get Joe's attention. “ You can't be rude first thing in the morning,” he was always so uptight. “ I just gave it a thought and why do I feel like you moved up my photoshoot?” I was nearly sure I wasn't supposed to have my photoshoot today. “ Did you do it so I and Lyron's schedule would align?” “ I would have been more surprised if you hadn't noticed eventually,” he sounded so proud of me. “ You were so hung up on him that I chose to take matters into my own hands,” he shrugged. “ You can be such a bother at times but you also come in very handy,” I appre
AMIL “ Lyron, why are you acting like this?” I was just as frustrated as he was. “ Just leave, Amil,” he said in a low voice. “ Now.” “ If I don't tell you what I have to, I will keep being haunted by it,” I stood my ground. “ You're very persistent for someone who never gave a fuck about anyone,” he scoffed. “ Your memories haunting you has nothing to do with me,” he stated. “ Lyron, please…” I pleaded. “ Please just hear me out.” “ You only want to talk to me and express yourself to get rid of the guilt you feel, isn't that right?” I had a feeling he was going to make out a totally different meaning from what I had intended. “ You haven't changed one bit. You only ever think of yourself,” he muttered. “ I'm sorry,” I apologized, ignoring every other thing. “ What for?” He frowned. “ For hurting you the way I did. I was inconsiderate about your feelings for me,” I apologized. “ I don't know why hearing this from you hur
AMIL The rest of the photoshoot was a blur. My mind was scattered everywhere and I could barely focus. “ Amil, try not to look too intense okay?” The photographer said. “ Alright,” I nodded my head. Usually, my photoshoot wouldn't take this long since it was rare for me to waste so much time but with my mind distracted, it was hard to focus on the present. “ Let's wrap up for today,” the photographer clapped his hands. “ You did great everyone,” he commended as the photoshoot finally came to an end. “ How are you feeling now?” Joe whispered to me. “ I don't know,” I heaved. I felt guilty that I felt bad when the actual victim was Lyron not me. “ You need to rest,” Joe concluded, not knowing what else to say. “ I'm more surprised that you haven't asked me what happened between the both of us,” I said, looking at him. He was the curious kind that would bug me until he gets everything out so it was weird that to see him letting go of this
LYRON Two days had passed since that incident but I haven't been able to get it out of my mind. Whenever I think about what happened, my face turns red and my breathing becomes unsteady. “ Is it possible for me to keep avoiding him?” I banged my head against the dining table. “ Lyron, what's eating you up?” Zara sat down next to me with her arms folded. “ Nothing,” I muttered. “ Is that so? But you look like you had the worst night,” she said.“ Did something happen?” “ Yes and you'll get real mad at what I'm about to say,” I bent my head. “ What is it?” Her eyes were fixed on me. “ So… I met Amil,” I fiddled with my fingers. “ Wasn't they when you wanted to sign the endorsement contract?” She raised a brow. “ That time and two days ago,” my tone was low. “ You met up with him again?” Her voice was laced with slight annoyance. “ It wasn't intentionally though!” I raised my voice a bit in an attempt to d
AMIL Michael sat down next to Mirio while I sat down opposite the two them. Their bromance was a little too over the top and I didn't want to have to deal with it. “ What's gotten into you, Amil?” Mirio asked. “ Context?” I raised a brow. “ You rarely drink especially outdoors like this,” he said. “ That's because I need to distract myself a bit,” I poured myself a drink. “ Before we get to the main course, starting off with dessert won't be bad,” Michael said, rubbing his palms together. “ You start off with appetizers, Mikey,” we chorused. “ Oh, yeah. Whatever,” he shrugged. “ So starting with the appetizer, are the rumors true?” He squinted his eyes at Mirio. “ I'm actually slightly curious to be honest,” I voiced. “ Not you too,” he laughed awkwardly. “ So is it not true?” I inquired. “ My gossip senses are telling me that they're true because he's practically glowing,” Michael assessed him as he sta
AMIL I stared at Michael for a while longer before letting out a sigh. I was going to call he and Mirio regardless after the photoshoot before I saw him approaching me “ What bar are we headed to?” I finally responded. “ Yes!” He exclaimed as he tapped my back proudly. “ I knew you wouldn't turn down such an offer. You don't have any other friend besides us,” I didn't know whether to take it as a compliment or an insult. “ I might just reconsider if you keep yapping,” I threatened. “ Stop being such a pain,” he clicked his tongue as he briefly glared at me. “ I'll text Mirio,” he said. “ Is Mirio even in the country?” I questioned. I had been so busy with work and preoccupied with the thoughts of Lyron that I wasn't aware of his whereabouts. “ You're such a scatterbrain, you know?” Michael heaved. “ Mirio has been back for quite some time now.” “ That's unlike him,” I muttered. “ Exactly what I said!” He clapped his hands togethe
AMIL The rest of the photoshoot was a blur. My mind was scattered everywhere and I could barely focus. “ Amil, try not to look too intense okay?” The photographer said. “ Alright,” I nodded my head. Usually, my photoshoot wouldn't take this long since it was rare for me to waste so much time but with my mind distracted, it was hard to focus on the present. “ Let's wrap up for today,” the photographer clapped his hands. “ You did great everyone,” he commended as the photoshoot finally came to an end. “ How are you feeling now?” Joe whispered to me. “ I don't know,” I heaved. I felt guilty that I felt bad when the actual victim was Lyron not me. “ You need to rest,” Joe concluded, not knowing what else to say. “ I'm more surprised that you haven't asked me what happened between the both of us,” I said, looking at him. He was the curious kind that would bug me until he gets everything out so it was weird that to see him letting go of this
AMIL “ Lyron, why are you acting like this?” I was just as frustrated as he was. “ Just leave, Amil,” he said in a low voice. “ Now.” “ If I don't tell you what I have to, I will keep being haunted by it,” I stood my ground. “ You're very persistent for someone who never gave a fuck about anyone,” he scoffed. “ Your memories haunting you has nothing to do with me,” he stated. “ Lyron, please…” I pleaded. “ Please just hear me out.” “ You only want to talk to me and express yourself to get rid of the guilt you feel, isn't that right?” I had a feeling he was going to make out a totally different meaning from what I had intended. “ You haven't changed one bit. You only ever think of yourself,” he muttered. “ I'm sorry,” I apologized, ignoring every other thing. “ What for?” He frowned. “ For hurting you the way I did. I was inconsiderate about your feelings for me,” I apologized. “ I don't know why hearing this from you hur
AMIL “ Are we there yet?” I asked, taking my sleeping mask off. “ Almost. Get some rest while you're at it,” Joe instructed and I nodded my head. Studio X was one of the company's premier studios and usually celebrities affiliated with our company have their photoshoot here. It made me wonder why I didn't think about Lyron doing his photoshoot here as well. “ Hey,” I said to get Joe's attention. “ You can't be rude first thing in the morning,” he was always so uptight. “ I just gave it a thought and why do I feel like you moved up my photoshoot?” I was nearly sure I wasn't supposed to have my photoshoot today. “ Did you do it so I and Lyron's schedule would align?” “ I would have been more surprised if you hadn't noticed eventually,” he sounded so proud of me. “ You were so hung up on him that I chose to take matters into my own hands,” he shrugged. “ You can be such a bother at times but you also come in very handy,” I appre
AMIL Two days had passed since we last met. Those two days felt like forever and the look in his eyes when we met was a picture I couldn't get out of my head. “ Since when was Lyron feisty?” I groaned as I lay flat on my back. I couldn't sleep for two days straight as my though were all about Lyron. I tossed and turned, trying to fall asleep. Was he thinking about me the way I was? Did our brief encounter two days ago linger in his mind? “ Tch. I must be crazy to think he'd have me on his mind. Even if that's the case, he's probably terrified that he ran into me,” I gave myself a quick reality check. I let my thoughts drift aimlessly with the intention to bore myself to sleep. The morning light filtered through the blinds of my window. As I tried to get my heavy eyes open, I saw a masculine figure and the one thing that came to my mind was… “ Lyron?” I called out softly but why would he be in my room? “ You must have drank yourself to sleep to be confusing me for Lyron,
AMIL The driver back to the penthouse was quiet. Joe, my personal assistant had noticed the shift in my mood the moment he caught up to me by the elevator. I never thought I'd meet Lyron again, especially like this. The encounter with Lyron had stirred up emotions I thought I had buried deep within. How long has it been since I last saw him? “ Sir, are you alright?” Joe asked. “ You've been acting strange since I met you at the elevator.” “ It's nothing,” I said, rubbing my forehead. Even though I wanted to talk to Lyron so bad during the six years we were apart, I couldn't bring myself to search for him intensively, not after everything I had done to him. Not to mention that if I had searched for him openly, grandad would have found out. “ Actually, it's about the artist that came to sign the contract,” I chose to tell him. Joe wasn't my assistant back then so he has no knowledge of who I associated with in the past. “ Do you not like him?” He looked conce
Putting on my shades, my bodyguards opened the door of the van for me. “ I hope I don't have to deal with reporters today,” I groaned as I stepped out. “ I made sure no one knows about it but I'd be lying to say i can prevent reporters from finding out,” Ryan said as I stood side by side with him. My bodyguards shielded us from the reporters as we walked into the company building. Getting into the company, I was welcomed by a lady who introduced secretary of the vice chairman. She took us to the VIP elevator and we headed straight for the conference room where we'd be using for the endorsement deal. I was somewhat nervous because this contract signing would solidify my position as a global sensation. I was famous in Europe but not as much in North America so this was an important deal for me. “ He's here, sir,” the secretary announced as we walked into the conference room. “ It's an honor to meet you personally, Vice president,” I bowed my h