I wear my best comfortable clothes for today because I want to represent myself not only as Dmitri’s guest but a respected feature writer of Manhattan Heights. I wear red high-waist bell-bottom pants, and a sexy white bralette with a zigzag string pattern at the back, and I finish it up with a brown leather turtleneck cut-out long sleeve that only covers my neck, shoulder, and arms.Lastly, I use gladiator black sandal heels. Then I bring my best weapon in feature writing, a polaroid camera, and a brooch pen recorder. Dmitri arranges the schedule, and by ten in the morning, someone will pick me up from my room. Not even a second late, the doorbell rings at exactly ten in the morning. Jeff’s face is the first thing I see upon opening the door. His eyes lavish in my wardrobe and get stuck a little bit on my face. So I start with a jest, “Jeff, you may want to close your mouth, or else you can’t stop it from drooling.”The woman beside her laughs at my joke, while Jeff turns red. “W
“Ava, I like you a lot, and if only you aren’t my boss’s woman, I would have already kissed you. I’ve fallen for you the moment I saw you,” this statement put me on a pedestal of addicting happiness. Well, my love life isn’t something others would have wanted. My first and last relationship was more on talk and not show, while the current one, is not even a relationship and more on a sexual relationship. But this man, who is sitting in front of me is just the right taste for me, a man who isn’t all talk, and who isn’t afraid to say what he feels either. Now that he is holding my hand, I can feel his warmth, and the way he looks at me, I could melt away. So without any delay, I jump at the opportunity and blurts out, “I am nobody’s woman, well, for now,” I emphasize the words ‘nobody’ and ‘for now’. He couldn’t hide the exuberance he is feeling at the moment. His dopamine seems really active when he heard my last statement. “So, you aren’t Mr. Sullivan’s woman?” he clarifies with
While I am fixing my clothes, I saw Dee lurking around my pouch on the bedside table. “Hey, what are you looking for? You’ve been searching it in and out?” I question him while putting on my earrings. He ignores me and just continues with what he’s doing. Then he picks something up and then walks towards me. He hugs me from the back and shows me the picture, then he bites my ear and whispers, “You look stunning, and stunned in this picture.”I look at it and try to snatch it from him, but he hugs me tighter and starts kissing my neck. “Oh, Dee, we are both going to be late, we still need to travel, stop mooching and sizing my breast,” I casually call him out. “Tell me, Avery, are you really going out with other guys?” he turns me so I could face him. His eyes are quite serious, so I brush his nose with my fingers like he always does, “Are you going to fuck other girls?” I throw the questions back at him.“But, fucking and dating are different,” he insists. “On your terms, yes,
“Fuck off!” is what she says to me, while Nikolai quietly looks at me.K’s face tells me that she couldn’t believe what I just said. So she squeezes my hand and goes off blabbering something gibberish,“A, so after all that drama with Seid, and your break up and your fated encounter with Dmitri, and your full obsession of him just some days ago, now you are telling me that you are so over him?”Then she raises the picture in her hand while saying, “And now you are telling me, that you are in love with this guy in this picture?” her eyebrows raise.I know K, and I know how keen she is, and how stubborn she could be, “Yes, that’s what I’m telling you. So, you won’t be seeing him with me, anymore.”I take a sip of the refreshment drink in front of me. But K’s eyes are stuck on me, “Hmm, so where is he now? Why aren’t you with him? Or why isn’t he with you?”“Cause, this time I bet on fate. I need something more convincing than how I met Dee, so I can easily get over him,” my tongue slips
I finally arrive in front of K’s apartment. The taxi parks in front of the building, “Here, please take a ten-dollar tip,” I give my card and instruct the driver. “Thank you, madam, I hope you aren’t so famous,” he teases me, I get my card and winks at him. I walk to the entrance and ride the elevator as calmly as I am. Little did I know the disaster waving at me and my future. Once the elevator dings, I walk out and then go straight to K’s unit. I look for her unit number, and there it is. So I ring the doorbell, and then her voice, which sounds like a spy is heard through the intercom, “Who is it?” she whispers. So I whisper back, “It’s me, your bestfriend, Avery Anderson, over,” then I giggle. I hear the locks being opened. I am about to greet her but the moment the door opens narrowly, she pulls me without any finesse and then looks outside as if I’m being followed. Then she immediately shuts the door and then sighs deeply. She points at me with her finger looking extremely
I go straight to my parents’ mausoleum. It is the place where I go if I don’t want anyone to find me and if I want to cry my heart out. I don’t know what the hell happened, but all I know is I became an internet sensation overnight. My goodness, who would have thought that it will be the end of me, just because of my sexual desires.“Mom, Dad, what should I do? Am I wrong for wanting him? Did I do something wrong? It’s not as if he’s married, right? He’s single. But why is this happening to me? Why?”What should I do? Where should I go? What about my career? Will I still salvage it? What about my business? All these questions pop at the same time.I sit down in the middle of them and succumbs to loneliness. I bury my head on my arms that are placed on top of my parents.But because of too much paranoia, I could feel as if someone’s watching me here, “Don’t tell me the media and paparazzi are already here?” I thought. So I shout, “Respect my parents and leave me be, just wait until
No one talks until we get to his penthouse. We have competition now of who’s best fit for being mute. And despite my gloating right now, I don’t have much choice but to follow wherever he drags me to since I didn’t have my wallet nor my smartphone with me. Once we are inside, he confidently leaves me alone while he goes straight to the tub. He knows I can’t run since the elevator inside his room only recognizes his fingerprint. So I just go inside his study room. I cry and cry until there’s no more left to cry. I blame myself for being such a whore. I blame myself for everything. My throat hurts trying to suppress my weeping sound. I cover my mouth with my two hands and just lay down on the couch. After half an hour, I hear Dmitri comes out of the comfort room, but I have no strength to stand so I just stay there.When he realizes I am in the study room, he follows me. And there, sees the vulnerable side of me, lethargic, demotivated, wasted. He doesn’t say a word and we avoid e
After having breakfast, Dmitri and I really spend the day inside his penthouse. Like he said, he has no intention of going to work today. “Are you sure you are not going to work or what?” I ask him. “Yes, I want to be with you and I also need a break from all those paparazzi,” he explains with a smile on his face like it is nothing. “Okay, so let’s see,” I utter thinking of what to do next, “Aha, why don’t we watch some movies?” I search for the remote around the bedside table and Dmitri is saying something, “I think it is best not to open the televi-” he warns, but before he could finish the sentence, I already clicked the power button. The static sound starts and a woman’s voice reporting fades in until the television shows its true color and sound. “We are now outside the building where the penthouse of the renowned young billionaire Dmitri Sullivan is located. People have divided commentaries about the said bachelor. All the more, their company’s stock market price plummets
(Avery’s Thoughts) (Two Years After The Divorce)I am standing backstage at one of the famous morning talk shows here in NY.I don’t know why I feel so nervous, well, it is my first TV appearance nationwide.Then I look at the mirror and fix myself, “Well, I am not yet ready to reveal my personality so I think of a way to hide my identity, and that is to use a pen name and a sophisticated mask, like the ones you wear in a masquerade ball.”A staff finally reaches out to me and says, “Miss Sparks, in a minute they are going to call you on stage. And your cue is the dimming light, okay?”“Uh-huh,” I hesitantly answer.But she is there to boost and cheer me up, “Take a deep breath, relax, and remember, you are good, and you definitely got this!”The sound from the crowd suddenly dies down and the voice of the host is heard. I look up at their gigantic spotlight and wait for the cue.I take a deep breath and say to myself, “You got this, Avery. You got this!”“Let us all welcome with a ro
(Avery’s Thoughts) “Dear Avery - My Loyal Wife, When you came into my life and agreed to be my wife, that was the best day of my life. That day, on our sudden wedding day, I promised that I would cherish you more than anyone else.I swore to protect the smile on your face, a smile so genuine when I first met you at that hotel five years ago. Avery, I know you’ve been trying so hard, and you never once failed to fulfill your duty as my loving wife, even if it means putting your heart aside. You’ve been so good to me, and you’ve been faithful to me like you promised me. But sometimes kindness and compassion aren’t enough when love is forced. Eventually, the true feelings will immerse.With so much regret, I’ve seen you fell right in front of my eyes. I’ve witnessed how your bright spark faded when you married me. I’ve become the reason why you lost yourself.I let it happen. And I can’t forgive myself for that ever again. You were forced to love me. I forced you to love me. And
(Avery’s Thoughts)“Babe, did it come out now?” Jeff yells behind the door. While I am damn nervous to even peek at it. “It is only a minute, it needs another minute, babe. Please, don’t stress me out,” I yell back at him. “I’m sorry. I just feel so excited about the news. I can’t wait to tell mom and dad about our baby!” he says exhilaratingly. “Don’t jinx it!” I scream angrily. “Okay, okay, I’ll wait here patiently,” answers Jeff. I am here sitting on the bathroom floor, waiting for the result to come out from the pregnancy test kit. It has been almost three years since we got married and there was never a time that we didn’t try having a baby. But until now, there’s still nothing. I hug my knees and start crying silently, “What if it fails again? Am I infertile?” I ask myself. The kit finally ticks and now I have to face the truth. God knows we’ve been trying so hard that’s why I even ask Kendra to take full charge of the business for now. I stop all my physical activities
(Avery’s Thoughts) Our El Nido, Palawan experience was splendid. And of course, I still can’t believe it. I came there single, “And now, I am officially Avery Tales. I am now married,” I murmur as I stare at both my and his wedding ring while he’s holding my hand in his sleep. It’s been a week since we came back here to America. Of course, the honeymoon stage has just begun and Jeff wants to make love to me almost every time. And me, being a good wife, always give him what he wants. Although, right now, I think I am still a little swollen down there. I go to the bathroom to clean myself up and wash my face as I promised Kendra I’ll be meeting her so we can talk about our new business venture. After brushing my teeth, I wake Jeff up, “Hey, babe. Didn’t you say you have an interview at Kirkland’s Best?”He groans and instead of getting up, he pulls me into the bed and showers me with morning kisses. I giggle as his kisses tickle me, “Babe, stop it. We have a lot of things to do tod
(Avery's Thoughts)Even though the wedding is sudden, Jeff managed to pull it off, and he has planned it all along. So after the wedding ceremony, we stayed for a little bit, I got to finally meet his parents. And for the longest of times, I once again felt the warm embrace of a parent. It made me cry because I knew that I am no longer alone, and no longer an orphan. Because now that we are married, his parents became my parents, too. And I can’t deny, my heart is full. After that, we stayed to talk to our guests for some time, and then we ate and enjoy the party, too. And now I am here standing on the balcony staring at the moonlight, while Jeff is still cleaning. I don’t know why. It isn’t the first time we are going to have sex, but for some reason, now that we are married, there’s this tension inside me, a feeling of hesitation, a feeling that I am officially owned by him. And unexplainably, I feel afraid. And now, my heart almost stops as I hear the gushing of the water fina
(Avery’s Thoughts) Later this evening, all four of us will meet Jeff’s parents. And because of it, I am so dead worried and I can’t get this nervousness out of my system. So while Jeff is away meeting his parents ahead of time, I rush downstairs and go to our neighboring villa. I knock ceaselessly, but Kendra and Nik aren’t coming out. I move back to look up, and I see that the light is on, it means they are there, so I continue to rampage on their door. “Kendra, Kendra,” I knock nonstop, “Open up, please!” I scream a little loud. Then after five minutes of almost breaking their door down, someone finally opens the door for me. “Thank God you finally come out, what took you so l–” I am about to complain but when I see her glaring at me with her hair a little bit frizzy and wrap in a blanket, I know that I should be more careful with my next words. Then later on Nik comes down with a little sweat on his forehead. “Uh-oh, definitely bad timing, Avery,” I say to myself. Then Kend
(Avery’s Thoughts) “Hey, we are going to be late for our flight!” I yell when I notice Kendra still struggling with how to put all her stuff in one big luggage. “Wait up! This stupid luggage just won’t listen to me!” she frustratedly yells back at me. Kendra is not a patient and she hates dealing with this kind of stuff. So I go to her room to check up on her. And there I see her leg wrestling with her luggage just so she can close it up. “Stupid-little-luggage!” she yells and kicks before she pounds it hard in the end. And then she sits beside it looking at me with so much energy wasted. “Help me out, A?” she begs. I smile at her and then gently hit her on her forehead. “That’s why I’ve been telling you to pack a week ago,” I nag at her a little and she sticks her tongue out for a moment. “Hmm, let’s see what unnecessary things you put in here,” I tease her. Then I begin to take out some clothes and things she can’t wear to our destination. “Nope!” “–But I need it.” “–It’
(Kendra’s Thoughts)Then a slight touch on my shoulder and a breathy apology are enough to get hold of the situation, “I am sorry, Kendra. Let me fix this,” is all he says. And even without looking, I know this one is definitely Dmitri’s voice since it triggers the hatred hidden deep within my bones.And as he passed by me, he steps up and grabs the arms of that tallest guy, “Let go, Luke, please,” he calmly says.Then the man who fell suddenly stands up continuing his tantrums like a child, “Why are you siding with them, Dee? He punches me first, you should get mad at that bitchy Heather’s husband” then scowls at Dmitri. But Dmitri is true to his words for the first time in his fucking life, he is trying to fix the situation. He glares at him and Luke, “I said Let go, Luke. Don’t make me say it for the third time, and you, I told you to be more careful with your words, this is my city, they know me here as a businessman, you should have thought of me more before creating a scene. T
(Kendra’s Thoughts)Avery finally got discharged from the hospital and in the meantime, I invite them over to stay in my apartment instead of wasting all their money paying for a hotel room. I have two more spare rooms in my apartment so I guess it is fine. Kervin is still here, so they will look after him while I go out with Nik and enjoy our anniversary. I am about to finish dolling up when A enters my room. “Hey there, gorgeous,” she says while leaning on the side of the door. I am currently wearing my earrings when my side zipper comes undone. So she goes to me and says, “Here, I got this,” she says and helps me out. I can’t stop smiling. I am just happy to know she’s here. I am happy we get to do this again. I hear the zip sound finishes, “Okay, you are good to go, sexy K. Are you going to bring the house down tonight with your fiery red velvet bodycon dress?” she pokes my side. “Oh god, no. We will just eat and then go home since that bitchy wife already knew our annivers