She had on a yellow flowery sundress and brown ankle boots to match. She slipped on a denim-cropped Jean jacket. Her long blonde curls cascaded down her back framing her cute face. She grabbed her brown sling bag and turned around excitedly. “I am ready" she announced. Henry was laid back. His lips curved in a smile when she turned around to show him her dress. He had on black denim trousers and a plain white polo that clung tightly to his perfect body, and a pair of white sneakers. “What do you think?” she asked. He leaned backwards, his hands behind his head. “You truly don’t want to know what I think" She playfully rolled her eyes. “If I didn’t, then I wouldn’t ask” “I am thinking a lot of nasty dirty things that if I tell you will have you red...exactly like this" he pointed at her. She had turned bright red with embarrassment. He got to his feet and took her hand in his, he played with her fingers for a while before placing a kiss on the back of her hand. “Perfect is an inade
They made a short stop to get a delicious meal together. After which they shopped in a local market. “I think I am killing this straw hat" she announced. She had bought it from one of the shops. “To be fair you will kill in everything...” She chuckled. “And nothing" he added. She looked away. There was no denying there was a drastic change in the dynamics of their relationship during this trip. A lot had happened, she couldn’t keep track of any of it. It was almost like she was never in control in the first place. She had introduced herself as Henry’s girlfriend to his whole family, an act she had not stopped to thoroughly think about neither had they had the time to talk about it. They had shared their first kiss on this trip, one that had rocked her whole world. Heck, she had been on the verge of giving this man her virginity, out in the open, on the beach of all places like it was scrap she was tossing out without a second thought, with no care in the world. The truth was if sh
Mary looked at every one of her family to the stranger seated around the table. She gingerly placed the napkin on her thigh and dramatically cleared her throat. “It is our last family dinner and our last night on this vacation...” Everyone stopped eating to listen to her. Her eyes were fixated on Henry. “I hope you all are on your best behaviour this night” Henry sighed internally and went back to his meal. Ashley stared at Henry from the corner of her eye, there was something off about his mood since the time they went out. He had suddenly grown somewhat cold. He was still nice to her and never made her feel uncomfortable but he was not as attentive as he used to be. There was a bit of wariness about him with her like he was trying to protect himself. Mr Allen used his fork to clink his glass. “I have an important announcement to make after dinner, there will be a small party after dinner, a celebration of some sort, of course only close-knit family...”. Ashley sighed, she had s
Mary stared at Allen with her mouth open. Arnold sat reclined on his chair, a glass of wine to his lips. Ashley stared at Henry all the while, her eyes never leaving his face. Henry for some reason had a laid-back and calm expression like his father had not just dropped an announcement that would greatly impact his life. Allen’s face was stoic as he watched all of them. Eric was fuming with anger, he frantically ran his fingers through his hair. “I won’t have it Father, I won’t!” he shouted in anger. “I clearly said my decision should not be met with any form of opposition...” “I do not give a fuck about what you said!” Eric retorted. he was visibly shaking with anger. “Eric!” Mary screamed. “Will you take it easy" “Don’t try to calm me or anything Mother, what do you have to say about what he has done...” he leaned towards her. “Does Henry truly deserve any of this, does the outsider deserve anything?” She looked away. “You know what's even funnier at this moment?” Arnold asked
Ashley hurried so she could walk side by side with him. She interlocked her fingers in hers. “Henry...” “Ash I am truly sorry you had to witness all of this, that you had to see me like this...” She stopped and cupped his face. “Henry you have nothing to be sorry for. I want to see you, I want to see all of you" He swallowed deeply and managed a small smile, “Thank you for staying by my side through it all, words cannot truly convey how grateful I am" She nodded, her eyes searched his eyes. He was hiding away his emotions, from his family, even from her. She didn’t know how to make him open up to her. She slipped her hand in his as they walked to their room. As soon as they entered, she turned around to him. “Henry you know you don’t have to be...” He was looking away, his lips quivering, although he covered his mouth, she could see the tear stains on his face. “Henry" she ran towards him. “I am so sorry," he said to her. “I don’t want you to see me like this, you didn’t have t
Henry went back to his normal activities as soon as they got home. It was all work for him, it didn’t sit well with Ashley at all. There were a lot of unsaid things between them. Things had been different with them, there was no denying, no pretending. Maybe the whole idea was to pretend they were in a relationship on the trip but it was more than that, anyone could see it. They shared a kiss a couple of times when no one was watching. They lived like an actual couple. Not a word was spoken about their time on the trip when they got back and it worried her. Ashley of course understood he was still hurting after the revelation but the day when they left he had seemed cheerful like he had completely forgotten about the previous day. She was rocking Asher to sleep in her arms, she peered at the staircase waiting patiently for him. Not long after she saw him descending the staircase. “Hen...Henry” It felt weird to call him by his name now that he was back to being uptight with her. “As
He walked into the dining area and there she was, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen and it was the truth. She was helping the maids lay out the table for breakfast, Asher was strapped securely to his baby seat, a bowl of food in front of him that he was making a mess of. She held his gaze for only a brief moment before she went back to what she was doing. The maids mumbled their greetings but he didn’t say a word. “Thank you," one of the maids said to her. She smiled in response. She walked up to Asher. “Look at the mess you made Asher," she said in a playful tone, she looked at the maids with pleading eyes. “I am sorry I am going to take care of this" Henry pulled out a chair. “Thank you” They merely nodded their acknowledgement. “No, no do not worry about it...” “No I can’t" she insisted. “Just go take care of Asher, I think he is going to need to take a long bath to get all these food soils away,” one of the maids said with a chuckle. They left the dining area. Ashley
Henry pulled up to Adrian’s parking lot. He scanned the whole area, if he wasn’t clear-headed he would have thought he was in the wrong place. The building was Adrian’s, and the fleet of outrageous sports cars parked in his parking lot which he never used was Adrian’s. He had met the security on his way in and of course, they had easily let him in because he was familiar with them. He got out of the car and stared at the building. It was eerily quiet and dark. No lights were coming from inside the house. For a moment he had a scare that something had befallen Adrian. He brushed the thought away Immediately. He took tentative steps towards the house until he was at the front porch, he pressed on the bell and waited patiently. He was about to press it again when the door opened up and Adrian’s head bobbed out. The inside of the house was like a whole new world from the outside, it was bubbly and quite loud, a stark difference from the outside. Adrian pulled him inside before he knew it