Caleb's POVI was finally going home! I had signed all the papers at work and made the transfer official. It all still felt surreal. Brianna was still upset so I had done a lot of ass-kissing before I left. I spoiled her with flowers, candy, shoes, and countless reassurances that nothing about our relationship with her would change and l was still eternally devoted to her.She was not happy about it but she gave me her blessing eventually and I was thrilled. The only aspect of going home that I was dreading was seeing Victoria again. Now that I was going to be in Arizona permanently, we could not continue avoiding each other for good.There was no way that was going to work. I owed her an apology but the idea of actually executing it did not come easy to me. I didn’t even know where to start and more than that I did not want to give her the satisfaction of knowing that she was right about my girlfriend being a terrible person.I knew that letting my pride get in the way of apologisi
Victoria's POVI had gotten through the weekend. I probably hadn’t taken the most mature approach to the situation. I met up with Alice the next Monday after work to shop for groceries and the first thing that she asked me was, “how did this weekend go?”“Jeez Alice, you could at least pretend to be interested in how I’m doing or how my day was before you go fishing for tea, you know? Like civilised members of society.”“Fine. Hi Tori! It’s wonderful to see you. Blah blah blah! Now spill!”I had not talked to her all weekend and the suspense was obviously killing her. I thought of milking it a little more but the angsty look in her eyes told me that that might not be the best idea.“It was fine. It came, it went. That’s what’s important,” I said and rolled my cart down the produce aisle.The next thing, I knew I was being yanked back by the collar of my shirt.“Ow!” I exclaimed.“I’m sorry but is that really all you’re going to give me? I need details woman!”I rubbed my neck and scow
Caleb's POVI had been living in Arizona for a month now and it had been absolutely incredible. I loved my new job. I got to make calls about how the paediatric department was run and had even managed to start some initiative that I had always thought about while I was still in Los Angeles. For example, every month, we would do at least one pro bono surgery for a kid who needed it but could not afford it.Everything from the diagnosis to the surgery and even the post surgery care would be catered for. I had expected a lot of resistance from the board of directors but to my surprise, they were completely on board with the idea and the first one had already been approved.I had settled into my new house nicely. I had gotten to know some of my neighbours and they seemed like very lovely people. My dad, Eric Gloria and Melissa had all come to my place for a ‘house warming’ of sorts. Victoria’s absence was glaringly obvious but no one commented on it. Brianna and I were doing well all thi
Victoria's POVIt was finally the Labour Day weekend. Mrs. Pullman had given me some time off which I was grateful for. I had the entire weekend to just sit indoors and be a bum and no one could say anything. To be fair, it’s not like there was anything better to do.Alice and Ben had gone to visit Ben's parents for the weekend, Sam wasn’t going to be able to come home because she wanted to spend the extra free time working on her designs for her clothing line. Mom and Gloria had gone to Prescott for the annual Stallone family camping trip so I had no one else in Sedona that I could talk to.“I desperately need to make more friends,” I said to myself for the umpteenth time.Deep down, I knew that it would never happen. The thought of having to socialize with strangers gave me so much anxiety, I knew there was no way I could do it but still, a girl could dream. I had come up with a plan for that weekend, I would stay at home and bake. Maybe read a book or two or catch up on the shows
Caleb's POVBrianna woke up first that morning. She hated waking up early so the fact that she woke up before I did attest to how badly she wanted to leave. We woke up and started to gather up our things slowly. Once we had taken everything out of our time, I instructed Brianna on how she would take down the tent.Nice she got the hang of it, I left her to go inform dad and Eric that we were leaving.I started with dad because I figured that it would be easier. He was an unbelievably light sleeper so he heard my footsteps before I even got to the tent and called out, “who’s out there?”“It’s Caleb. Hey dad, could you come out here for a second? I want to talk to you.”I heard some shuffling in the tent before he finally emerged from within it. When he got out, he saw Brianna taking down our tent and looked very confused.“What's going on?” he asked as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes.“We have to leave.”“Oh! That’s a shame. Is everything okay? Can we help?” he asked genuinely. “Bri
Victoria's POVThe labor weekend was finally over.Mom and Tom came back from their camping trip in foul moods. According to my mom, Eric was taking everything that happened even harder than Tom was because Caleb had not even bothered to inform him that he was leaving. He just up and went. I was still peeved at Caleb but I decided to stay out of it.As defensive as I felt about Eric and the rest of the gang, I was not a Stallone and this was a family matter. I kept to myself for the remainder of the holiday and before I knew it, Tuesday finally rolled around.Over the weekend, I had done some thinking regarding my future and the plan that I had for myself. I had been working at Mrs. Pullman’s bakery for a few months now, and I loved it. I loved waking up early and spending my mornings surrounded by the sweet smells of baked goods.I loved chatting with the regulars who came in every day for their morning pastries and the joy of watching them take the first bite of their tasty treat. A
Caleb's POVIt had been a week since the camping trip and a week since I had spoken to any member of my family, excluding my mom. This was the longest I had ever gone without talking to either dad or Eric. It felt horrible like I was going against the very nature of who I was and in truth, it sucked. My family didn’t do this sort of thing. Whenever there was an issue, we never stayed mad at each other for this long.Dad had tried to reach out on the first two days but I didn’t pick up his calls. After a while, he gave up completely. Eric, on the other hand, had not talked to me at all which informed me that he was pissed. I reckoned, the next time we saw each other, he would have some choice words to say to me.In hindsight, I could have handled the whole thing better. I should have at least given my dad a chance to defend himself or allowed him an opportunity to talk to Brianna before we left. This could all have been one big misunderstanding.“Or maybe it was all a lie.” This though
Victoria's POV It was my first Saturday as a free(self-employed) woman and that morning had started out exactly like I had expected it to: with me nursing a terrible hangover from the previous night. Alice, Ben and I had gone out to celebrate me finally quitting my job, the best way that we knew how. We had initially planned to just have a few cocktails and call it a night but after Ben and his workmates showed up, that plan immediately went out of the window. They had a long day of work and all they wanted to do was to party the night away to properly usher in their weekend. Alice and I did not need a lot of convincing. The main motivator for me was definitely the fact that most of Ben's workmates were hot! Ben had warned me that they were womanizers so I knew nothing serious could come from it but it didn’t hurt to just look. Besides, I wasn’t looking for anything serious with anyone. This week has affirmed my decision to continue focusing on myself and my dream. I could not affo
One Year LaterVictoria's POV“Annabelle, no. don’t put that flower in your mouth,” I heard Gloria’s voice shout followed by the sound of little feet running.The next thing I knew, two little figures came running into the room I was in. Annabelle who was in a beautiful blush pink poofy tulle dress had a rose stalk in her hand and my son, Liam followed right behind her with a huge smile on his face. When I saw him in his little tux, my heart melted. I couldn't believe that it had only been a year since I gave birth to him. He had gotten Caleb’s brown hair and my blue eye; the best of both worlds. Even at one year old, he had so much personality.He was the happiest baby that I knew. I didn’t know that I could love someone so little so much. Being a mom meant that you literally walked around every day with your heart outside your body. I wanted to just scoop him up and smother him with kisses.“No no no. Resist the cuteness. We have work to do,” Kathy, my makeup artist said, snapping
Victoria's POVEveryone had been acting rather strange for the past two weeks. I didn’t know exactly what was going on but I could tell that something was up. When I asked Caleb if he saw it too, he told me that it was probably in my head. My mom invited all of us to their place for dinner because she thought that it had been a while since we were all together. I didn’t mind because that meant that I got to see Caleb. He had been so busy with work for the past two weeks, that I hadn’t gotten the chance to see him.I had started getting used to the idea of being pregnant. The only people who knew were me, Caleb, Alice, and Sam. I called Sam immediately after Caleb left and she was so happy for me. She told me that she hoped that it would be a girl because her head was already bursting with ideas of all the clothes she could make for her.I was honestly excited. Sure, I was very nervous about bringing new life to the world but he or she would be a product of the love between Caleb and
Caleb's POVI rushed over to Tori’s apartment as soon as she called me. I could hear the panic in her voice and I knew something was wrong. I was already in Sedona to visit Eric, so it wasn’t too far of a drive.When I arrived, Tori was standing at the door, tears in her eyes. “Caleb, I don’t know how to say this, but I’m pregnant.”I felt a rush of emotions wash over me. I was elated, overjoyed, and terrified all at the same time. I couldn’t believe that I was finally going to have a family with the woman that I loved. This was everything that I had ever wanted, and I knew that I had to do whatever it took to make this work.I pulled her into a tight hug and hugged her really tight. She had no idea what it meant to me. Ever since Annabelle was born, I had the overwhelming desire to settle down and have a family of my own. I wanted someone to come home to every day.Someone to love and hold and grow old with. I wanted a mini version of me running around the house and making a mess. I
Victoria's POVBliss.Pure unadulterated bliss. That's what I felt every second of the day. dating Caleb was the easiest decision that I had ever made. He made me feel like the most special girl in the world and made sure that I knew I was loved.He constantly sent me sweet texts. We would talk on the phone for hours and would drive to and from Arizona to Sedona every two days just because we couldn’t bear to be apart for too long. He had sent so many flowers to my house that I was running out of counter space to keep all of it. I had only dated Caleb for a month but I immediately knew that this was what dating should feel like. I was happy and felt secure knowing that my heart was in his hands. Everyone else before him faded in comparison like a distant foggy memory. Everyone was thrilled for us. We decided to keep our relationship under wraps at first. We wanted to remain in our little love bubble but that plan quickly went to the dogs two weeks after we started dating. Gloria had
Caleb's POVI placed my phone beside me on the couch and tried to ignore it. my eyes however kept drifting back to it hoping that it would light up with a response from Tori. When I heard a chime, I basically dove for it. Just like I had hoped, it was a message from Tori.Hi Caleb!Don’t worry about me. I’m going to be okay. I think we should meet and talk about everything. Let me know when you’re available.ToriI pumped my fist up in the air. This was huge. I had absolutely no hope that she would text back let alone be open to meeting with me. If she wanted, I would get into my car and drive to Sedona right away as tired as I was, I felt a surge of energy go through my body. I had to take deep breaths to calm myself down before I responded. I didn’t want to push my luck.How about tomorrow? I could come down to Sedona.I texted back then dropped my phone like it was hot metal. I worried that maybe I sounded too eager. I was so nervous, I didn't think I was capable of playing it coo
Victoria's POVIt had been two weeks since my bakery was vandalized and I still couldn’t shake off the feeling of unease. Every time I heard a sudden noise, my heart skipped a beat and my mind instantly jumped to worst-case scenarios. I feel like I couldn't trust anyone anymore.I couldn’t believe that someone would just destroy something like that. every store next to mine was untouched which indicated that this was a targeted attack. I couldn't shake the feeling that Brianna was behind this.I always knew Brianna was trouble, but I never thought she was capable of doing something like this to me. She took away my pride and joy, the one thing that I worked so hard for. She set me back so much that I had to turn down orders because I was not in a good mental space to work. It was not just the financial loss that was weighing on me, it was the fact that Brianna took away something that was so dear to me.She took away my sense of security and left me feeling exposed. I had been staying
Caleb's POVThe room was deathly quiet in the wake of Tori’s outburst.“Ummm…what was that? What was she talking about?” My dad asked.Every eye in the room turned to look at me expectantly. They were all waiting for me to shed light on the situation. I was still loss for words. Tori was actually blaming me for what happened to her store. I was in shock.“I don’t know. Tori never told me anything about Brianna threatening her. It’s the first I’ve heard of this,” I finally said.I was having a very hard time wrapping my head around the fact that Brianna could have done something like that. It wasn't like her at all, especially judging from the amount of damage that had been done to the store if my dad’s account of events was anything to go by.“Do you know where Brianna is right now?” my dad asked. “No, I haven’t seen or heard from her since we broke up so I have no way of knowing where she is. Wait, do you guys actually think that Brianna did this? There is no way.”Eric ran his hand
Victoria's POVA full day after Caleb had dropped the bomb on me, I was still in the trenches. I felt like shit. He had single-handedly managed to turn my entire world upside down. When I walked into the living room, I got flashbacks of our conversation. The wounds hurt all over again. That’s when I knew that I had to make a change. I couldn't keep living in the same house where I had spent countless nights thinking about him.I had been secretly browsing real estate listings for weeks, not telling anyone about my plans to move because I wasn't even sure if it was what I wanted. But after my last interaction with Caleb, I knew that it was time to make a change.I called my real estate agent and told him to expedite the viewing. I wanted to be out of the guest house for a week, and I didn't care about the cost or the logistics. I just wanted to leave, to start anew. Over the next few days, I visited several different houses. None of them felt quite right, but I knew that I couldn't kee
Victoria's POVAs I sat there staring at Caleb, I couldn't believe what he was saying. For years, I had dreamed of hearing those three little words from him, and now they were finally coming out of his mouth. "I love you, Tori," he said.My heart leaped in my chest at the sound of his words, and for a moment, I felt like I was floating on a cloud. He loved me. Caleb Stallone actually loved me back. All these years that I had spent pining over him thinking that there was no way that he loved someone like me, I was wrong all along. He felt the same way that I did! I was elated. At that moment, I felt invincible.But then, as he continued to speak, my happiness quickly turned to anger. "I even broke up with Brianna for you," he said as if that was some kind of accomplishment. He just had to go ahead and ruin this wonderful moment for me. He made it sound like he was doing me a favor.I felt like I was being made to sound like the consolation prize like I was some kind of second choice th