BASH
It’s been days since dad tightens the security. No report from those guys dad hired to watch out Tennings’ whereabouts.
With all the tensions about our safety, there is still something great happening, and that is my relationship with Trinity. She’s the best woman I can ever ask for, and I can say that she’s a keeper—she’s a God gift and always so sweet and thoughtful. Of course, there’s a part of her that’s annoying, but what’s more annoying is that I love it, and I love everything about her, especially the flaws she never tries to hide.
Trinity complains about everything I offer, not that she doesn’t like it, but she argues first before accepting it.
We’re back to work after our long discussions about that email, and I failed to convince her to take a two weeks break to travel to France for a seminar. I thought she would be glad, but she wasn’t.
She’s really something but that something makes me fall for he
BASH My eyes bulge, and my pulse races the moment I recognize him. I can feel the sound of my heartbeat thrashes in my ears in terror. I’m still glued in my place, and I am unable to move a muscle even if I want to. My jaw is locked up even if I want to scream for help. Everything just freezes. He slips his right hand inside his coat. The only thing that comes to my mind is maybe he’s pulling out his gun. Is he going to kill me now? My parent’s words flash right into my face. He’s a psychopath! “Bash, I’m not gonna hurt you.” His deep voice makes me blink and brings me back to reality. I’m in front of a fucking murderer for fuck sake, yet I can’t do anything. He’s blocking the only exit I know unless I jump from the rooftop. And there’s no way I will survive, or maybe I end up with a couple of broken bones. When panic strikes me, I raise my hand and drop the half-empty bottle to the floor. “Don’t come clo
TRINITY I wake up to the muffled voices from my apartment’s living room. Bash is still sleeping soundly in my bed. I feel so bad for him, but I can’t change the fact of what he just revealed to me last night. His family loves him, no doubt about that. My heart breaks for him and for his family who loves him unconditionally. “Sorry, sweetheart. Did we wake you up?” Aunt Abby stands up, pulling me into a hug. I doubt if she even sleeps. She looks so stressed with a puffy face. I guess she cries all night. I squeeze her into a hug, giving her a smile that I can do best. I can feel her pain because I love Bash so much. “No, Aunt Abby. He’s still sleeping.” “I’m sorry for the trouble, K,” Uncle Seb looks so affected. The looks on his face say that he’d been up all night—sad eyes and his hair looks like he’d been running his fingers a thousand times, but he manages to give me a tight smile. &nb
BASH I can still remember the hissing sound of the bullet passed through the air, and that terrifying sound pierces my ears, then there’s that moment of silence that is more horrifying. I despise silence these days. It’s deafening, and now all I can hear is the ticking of the clock on the wall. Ranjiv left my place about half an hour ago. Trinity hasn’t said a word until now. I know she heard everything that I was talking about with Ranjiv. She’s just looking at the copper-colored wall in my kitchen, and she’s so drowned in her own thoughts. “Tri, please say something. I know you heard everything we talked about earlier.” I lean my elbows on the countertop, and she reaches out for my hands, squeezes them, then lifts her chin to give me a tight smile. I bring her hands to my lips, kissing them. “I was worried hell about you, Trinity.” She shakes her head. “I was worried hell about you, Bash. Your life has b
TRINITY The clock seems to stop ticking, and everyone is anticipating the result to see. Though whatever the result is, I know it won’t affect how much they love Bash. But Bash needs to find out the truth. The expression on his face changes--he looks shocked. Is this what I think it is? I suddenly feel an ache inside my chest. His mom calls him. I can’t move, and it seems that everything is in slow motion. Then he laughs out loud, his voice echoes in the entire office. He rushes to his mom, yanks her up, and spins her in the air. Finally, Lizzy and Uncle Seb release a huge sigh of relief. He hugs her mom tightly. “Mom, I love you much, and after all that you’ve been through you still nurture me and love me unconditionally. You’re the best mother in the world.” A tear fall from his eye when he releases his mom, then he moves to his dad and hugs him. “I’m sorry if doubted you as my dad, and the reasons wh
BASH Something is off. After the party everyone seems can’t stop talking about the game. I guess they like Lizzy’s idea, and what they like most is the grand prize Lizzy gave. A 1k gift certificate Luke found. Trinity got only one pumpkin, and the prize is not bad, but she’s been silent, and I don’t think that’s the reason. “I can’t believe Lizzy added a box of condoms as a prize,” Pyke scoffs. “You’ve got a good supply, I guess,” Dean teases. He laughs, giving Dean a high-five. “Lucky Luke,” I announce. Luke grins and looks satisfied. “I hate my best friend right now. She should’ve told where she placed the lucky pumpkin.” Saph pouts. “That would be unfair, don’t you think?” Xandry snorts that end up Saph slapping her brother’s thigh. He jerks. “Whoa! Easy there twinnie. You might hit the wrong area,” he says with a scowl on his face. “I don’t think I wouldn’t miss the hit if I wan
BASH My rage is still over the edge. I can’t even think straight. No one else came and out of my penthouse, only Trinity. So, this is all the silence and odd behavior are all about? How did she even know? I never tell anyone about that journal. I have never gone through the pages of it, and worse, I don’t have any copy of it. What gives her interest in that? I hear Edmund’s voice from the doorway since I keep my office door open. “I’m in here!” I yell from my desk where I use to lean on. I feel like I lost all my strength. Edmund and Derek are almost in the same sizes, but Derek is a lot younger than him, and he’s in his mid-thirties. “What’s wrong, Bash?” Derek speaks. “Have you seen the feeds?” I am referring to the video footage. Edmund raises his brow. “Video feeds? Yes. Nothing’s off in your parking area, elevator, and outside your penthouse. Why did you ask?” I clench
BASH It’s almost eleven in the morning when I check the time on my wristwatch. Everyone seems to relax a little. “Trinity, let’s go,” I almost plead, and I don’t care what happened earlier. I want to get out of this place as fast as I can, away from Rexwell. She walks in my direction as she looks at Rexwell. I feel a pang inside my chest, and m I guess she’s trying to say something to Rexwell with that look. Rexwell looks back at her, then he meets my gaze. “Bash—” I raise my hand. I don’t want to fight with Rexwell again and not in this place. I’m beyond pissed, but I don’t care about his shit. “You’ve done enough, Rexwell. You put my girlfriend’s life in jeopardy. I’ll let it go this time because I was here when that happened, but you’ll not gonna drag her to your mess again or whatever you are dealing with that goddamn man!” I wish I can punch him with eye contact. I can’t believe he’s so selfish to dra
TRINITY I enter the Night Stalker with Bash gripping my hand. I had to bribe him to come with me. As always, this club is jam-packed. This club has been closed for weeks due to the incident that happened with Mr. Tennings. “Over here!” My eyes fix to where the voice comes from. Our friends occupy the two L-shape black leather couches, facing each other at the left corner of the Bar. “Thank God! I thought the two of you are going to bail us,” Lizzy says, rises from her seat, and gives us both a hug. “I was planning to, but Trinity bribed me that I couldn’t say no.” His sister waves her hand to dismiss him. “I don’t wanna know.” Everyone chuckles. Bash takes a seat at the end corner of the couch, pulling me to sit on his lap. Sean walks in, scanning the place. “Sean!” I yell at the top of my lungs. He grins when he sees me as he comes towards us. Everyone curses, certainly not
TRINITY Who says there is no such thing as perfect? It’s been six years of a perfect life, and what can I possibly ask for more? It feels like yesterday when I marry my hot and gorgeous husband, and now I have three beautiful kids who enjoy playing at the park. “Baby!” I turn my head to see Bash making his way towards my direction with our twins in both hands. He just comes from the airport, and he’s still wearing his dark blue suit perfectly tailored for him. “Hey, you’re early.” I rise from my seat and walk to meet him halfway. He pulls me into a big hug. My kids’ arms are wrap around his legs. “I miss you terribly, Trinity,” he whispers in my ear. I giggle. “It’s been only eight hours, silly.” I break the hug. “But I was miles away from you. You didn’t miss me, did you?” He went to Boston to visit his branch since he’s been the President and the CEO of Hughes Industries for four years. I, on the other hand, is a full-time mother since Baby Fifth was born. Bash didn’t allo
BASH It’s been ten hours since I brought Trinity to Maternity and Children Specialist Hospital, but her cervix only dilates from three centimeters to five centimeters. Trinity is still so stubborn when the contractions kick in, she stops walking and complains of pain instead. I’m already on my fourth cup of coffee. I’m done reading the book I brought with me. I walked ten times more compared to her just to encourage her to walk more. She’s wearing a blue hospital gown, and her hair is tied in a messy bun, and her hands are on her hips for support. I sigh helplessly. “Baby, if you follow what your doctor has told you to do, our baby would be distressed, and you don’t want that to happen, do you?” I ask when she sits back on an empty bench outside her room. I’m so glad she didn’t suffer too much throughout her pregnancy. I let her stop from her job when she’s in her last trimester. She complains of having edema on her feet, but th
BASH I wake up when Trinity whines beside me. I’m sure she had a bad dream, which is weird because since we sleep together, she never wakes me up because of a nightmare. I rub my half-opened eyes and sit up on our bed. I nudge her shoulder slowly, but she doesn’t budge, her whine gets stronger. “Trinity, wake up, baby,” I say as I continue nudging her shoulders. She jolts awake, throwing the blanket away. Her eyes widen, and her face fills with shock. Trinity spreads her legs wider, even in my half-awake brain, my cock stirs. She’s only wearing deep red nighties and thin panties with a bedhead, but she’s still beautiful to me. Then I notice she’s patting her panties. “Baby, what are you doing?” I ask out of curiosity. She sighs and looks at me. “You had a bad dream, that’s why I wake you up.” I kiss the top of her head. “Yeah. I had a bad dream, and it was weird,” she says with worry in he
TRINITY The sonographer presses the transducer on my exposed tummy. Bash squeezes my hand stronger unbeknownst while his eyes are pinned to the monitor. “What does it say? Is everything okay? She’s pregnant, right? Is it a twin? When will we gonna find out the gender of our baby or babies?” He has been babbling since we came to our appointment. The sonographer stops and looks at smiling Bash. “Mr. Hughes, I know you’re excited to find out just like any other soon-to-be dad. Just relax, and Dr. Lee will answer all your questions.” Bash releases a deep sigh. “And you’ve been squeezing my hand, Bash. Relax, I should be the one feeling nervous because I’m the one here having a baby inside my tummy.” “I’m not nervous. I’m just excited. I agreed with you to get a check-up here and not in Paris or Greece or Italy.” Bash scratches his head. He only stops when Dr. Lee walks inside the ultrasound room. We drive back to the
BASH I catch my wife’s unconscious body before she falls straight to the floor. She just turns pale then her eyes flutter close. Everyone gasps and starts to panic. I hold her in my arms when everyone comes surrounding us. “Move away. Give her some air!” I yell while my wife is still in my arms. “Do we have a doctor or a medical expert around?” Mom’s voice fills in the air. “She will be okay, Mom. Just calm down. You will be the next to collapse if you won’t calm down.” Trinity’s parents come closer. “She’ll be alright. I need to bring her to the suite,” I tell them while they’re clutching each other’s arms. I’m not worried. Trinity doesn’t complain about anything weird. She’s maybe a little bit overwhelmed, and I know she has a steady heartbeat because I can feel her warm breath on my neck. When I walk out of the reception area, I hear their footsteps get close. I can’t blame them, though, and they’re just worri
TRINITY Experts said when someone is depressed, he should involve himself with aspiring things and makes time for the things that makes him feels better. I spent every day in this street market since I arrived here in Paris. The entire city has a lot to offer, but art makes me feel better—it gives me a little happiness and diverts me from my sorrows. I found time to visit some historic places; museums, restaurants, and of course, art galleries. I remember Bash told me that once you’re an artist, you will always be an artist. When I grab the paintbrush, start mixing colors on my palette, and brush my canvass, it feels like I did this for years and have never stopped. When Bash gave me a set of art supplies on my sixteenth birthday, I started to paint since then. I still love to sketch, though, when I didn’t want to get messy with paints. It feels natural for me. This is what I love doing after all. Either sketching or pai
BASH It’s been three days since the last time I saw Trinity. I made a decision that I hope was for our own good. I want her to realize that I love her, and I never lied to her. It was torture not to hear anything from her. I even cancel my business trip to the U.K. After sending Dana and her husband to the airport, I came here to my family’s beach house where I was supposed to surprise Trinity after our engagement party. That was my plan, but she ruined it. I already planned a week’s vacation. I was planning to spend it with her, but damn it! Everything went wrong. She doesn’t trust me even a bit. I missed her so much, though. Not a single day I didn’t think about her. More guilt flashes through me, and I should’ve talked to her, but I was taken over by my anger, pain, and disappointment. Teaching her lessons maybe will make her think before judging. Maybe we only lack communication? We’ve been apart for four years, we c
TRINITY Loving so much it hurts, being lied to hurts a lot. But I can feel everything we shared these last three months was real. How could he do this to me? What should I do now? I’ve no place to go. I finally decided to move in with Bash last month when he’s been bugging me that I should stay with him for a good just a week before I moved in. I gave my apartment to Luke and Ryker, and now I’m homeless. “Tri, I was thinking this many times. I think we should stay together.” My fork freezes in my mouth. The dessert is delicious, and I can’t get enough of it. “What can you say?” He looks at me across the table. I pull the fork out of my mouth and swallow the panna cotta. It melts in my mouth, and the aroma of rum fills in my nose. But I’m I almost choked at Bash’ words, not the dessert I’m devouring. “Come again?” I’m such a stupid like I didn’t comprehend what he said.
TRINITY Last night, Sean told me about our high school days before I went to my room, and I’m not that drunk to forget what happened last night. I know this isn’t Sean beside me because I know how it feels when Bash is around. He has my heart, but how about that pregnant woman? What is he doing here with me? I can also feel the ring on my finger, which I can’t remember I put it back on. He must have seen it on top of the dresser where I left. Bash stirs, pulling me closer to him. I can even feel his morning wood pressed against my butt. His arm tightens around my waist because he knows that I’m already awake. “Morning, drunkass.” His voice makes me shiver. Something down there awakens at his presence, and he kisses my shoulder. “No good morning back for your fiancé, Trinity?” he asks when I haven’t said anything. I swallow the lump forming in my throat. “What are you doing here, Bash?” I know he wants to talk to me, but