After staring into thin air for a while, my feet dragged me in the small living room of my aunt's apartment. There, I saw Conrad sitting on the couch with his legs crossed. My aunt is also sitting on a couch across him.The sleeves of his white polo are still folded up to his elbows, but his hands are not wet anymore yet I suspect that they're still cold. He gives me a small smile and it's also meaningful, when his gaze spots me standing beside the rack just a few steps away from them.I look away and decided to approach my aunt to sit beside her.My aunt and Conrad started conversing with my head still floating. I have no intentions of saying anything, or even listening to every word that the both of them says. I can't focus on anything as of now, and I'm certain that it will drive insane again.Not because of the kiss that he gave me earlier. But because of the feeling that came along with it.I do want him. I'm just too in denial to admit it, even to myself.When afternoon came, Co
My aunt and I shared a tight embrace as we both once again had tears streaming down on our cheeks. And after saying our goodbyes to each other, she opened the door for me and she sends me off with a smile formed by her lips.As soon as the door closes, I look around until my eyes spot Conrad just a few steps away from me."Head still throbbing?" I ask as I started taking steps to approach him. He nodded at me as an answer to my question. We both walked into the elevator and we're both silent the whole time. His head is probably throbbing awfully that it kept his mouth shut until we both climbed into his car. He agreed into letting me drive his car as he instructs me where's the right direction is.And when we arrive, I parked his car and I just followed him into the building. We took the elevator all the way up to his penthouse. I decided not to go to my suite that he paid for me.Geez, I almost forgot about that."Is there something you want me to do?" I ask right after he swipes his
Letting go from the tight embrace of my aunt, I bid my goodbye for the last time before turning to Conrad who's just behind me."Ready?" I heard him ask, his voice soft.I nodded at him as he diverted his attention to my aunt who started thanking him again for a hundred times now. That made him laugh before we both started walking away. I wave my hand in the air while still looking at aunt Astacia whose gaze is following us as we walk farther.Our last day in Chicago ends here in the airport. I still wish that I could stay here longer than just two days, but I am not the one who gets to decide. And this is also not a long ass vacation that I can possibly have with my boss.Thick face, ew."Are you going to sleep again before your fancy jet takes off?" I tease Conrad as he sits down with his eyes glued on the screen his phone."Why? So you can take another photo of me again while I'm sleeping?" He teases back without even having to look at me.I chuckle and sit beside him.I don't know
And it's definitely not me when I didn't fall asleep after half an hour of keeping both of my eyes close as I roll over back and forth on my bed.I sat up, "What's wrong with you?" I ask myself.My gaze landed on top of the bedside table where my phone is. I grab it as I think of calling Feliza for a little chit-chat. I haven't heard her voice or just anything about her since the night that we went to Conrad's villa for that party.I dialed her number and it rings but she's not answering. She must be busy, yet I still tried until she answers after my third attempt."Hello? Who's this?" I heard her ask over the phone, her voice sounded like someone just tickled the hell out of her.Flirty. Just say it, Genevieve. She sounded flirty.Whatever."Uh, it's Genevieve?" I have no idea why it turned out sounding like a question even though it wasn't one."Oh, Genevieve. It's not the right time to call."I wanted to ask her why she answered my call if it wasn't the right time to call but a par
"Genevieve!"I turn to the owner of the voice that just called me by my name.It's Blaise."Hey, ahm, can you give this to sir Conrad for me?" Her eyes pleading. "I'm sorry for asking you this, but I really need to go home now."My eyes then landed on the transparent envelope that she's holding. It contains papers but it's really not that thick.Instead of saying 'no', I beam at Blaise and accepted her plea. I have not idea why she's doing this to me right now, but I'm going to pretend that it's okay. I need to calm my system down, I need to calm my nerves.Specially about what happened last night.God! I swear, I had enough shots of vodka last night to be able to forget about it somehow. But mercy's not bestowed on me for I remember everything all too well."Thank you." Blaise smiles at me before turning her back and walking to the elevator.As for me, I decided to head back to my cubicle and overthink the hell out of everything again.It's torture! It's absurd. I can't properly gras
I took a step closer to him. "You thought what? What, Conrad? Tell me."He shakes his head, "I can't. I don't want to.""I already told you everything that night. I don't want to repeat myself, and I don't have the guts to do so."I just stared at him. Examining his face if there's a single emotion that he's keeping behind his face. With hopes that I can trigger him into giving in, and telling me his reason that he's clearly burying six feet under right now."I won't push your buttons." I smile half lie. And then I started to walk to the chair in front of his marble table. I sat down and started playing with my newly polished nails. I strictly remind myself to keep my head down."So... all this time, I, uh." I can feel my cheeks starting to heat up. "I've been having sex with you?" I almost ran out of air after saying that. It almost took everything for me to say that."Yeah, we've had sex."Conrad chuckles and that actually made me look at him. He's now smiling ear to ear and I can t
Staring outside the window of his Bugatti, I sigh as the heavy rain falls. I remember very well that the sky was so bright earlier and there were absolutely no signs that this heavy rain will pour down. This is something unexpected.Well, everything that happened earlier was unexpected.My attention drifted away from my thoughts when Conrad climbs in of the car and he's slightly wet due to the rain. He has now changed his clothes, but his necktie isn't yet tied. He fixes his suit and I just watch every move that he's making. Trying not to miss even just a single detail."What?" He asks when he finally turns to me.I just smile at him. "Nothing, come close."When he leans over, I took the will of tying his black necktie for him. He stays completely still and I can feel his eyes on me as I try to look busy and not observant of his stares. After I got done, I push him a little to settle him back to his seat. I might not be able to let go of him if I didn't do that.I might once again sha
My tummy rumbles, but I distracted myself into reading an article because Conrad is not yet done in the kitchen. I have to wait, I can't be impatient. That will be me being a thick face again. And with that, I'm totally shameless.My forehead wrinkles when I read the headline of the article that I chose to spend time with while Conrad is still busy."The V's Frontman, Lilian Johnson, is Heide Delcour's New Beau for the Week!"What does it mean by for the week? Is this some sort of an agreement? Just for a week?I continue to read through the body of the article, and from time to time, my brows would raise with my lips parting with a gasp. The whole article is obviously made to humiliate the singer-songwriter and celebrity, Heide Delcour. The article doesn't tackle about other things but Heide and her 'awful' taste for men. They are mocking and making fun of her choices and decisions that should be considered private and out of the spotlight. Nothing such as a positive comment can be f
"A runaway groom? What the hell? Why would he do that if he's just using Aurella for self interest?"My face is probably showing Conrad a huge question mark right now. A huge question mark with my curiosity coming with it. The origin of my curiosity is cannot be identified, but I have a feeling that I somehow believe that this Lucas Zayd Foster can't betray his own system that day.I have a feeling that this Lucas, became a runaway groom and it's all for a woman that he can't stop thinking about.Cupid probably made him realize exactly the moment that he's standing at the altar waiting for Aurella.Poor Aurella."I don't know. None of my friends know. It's still a mystery up until now."Well, that mystery is fucked up. Really fucked up. There's no way that Lucas wasn't rooted on his place when he saw Aurella walking down the aisle. There's no way that he never thought of the consequences that comes after his actions. There's no way that he just decided to put Aurella in so much fame.
"Where's the banana cake?"I look around the kitchen to search for the banana cake that my aunt Astacia bought for me.Today, Conrad and I decided to gather everyone up and tell them the good news. Well, some friends already knew 'cause Conrad couldn't contain his happiness. But our family still have no idea at all. All they know is that we're all gathered here for a dinner together. And they're not going to suspect anything at all due to the reason that Conrad and I do really host a family dinner every month.I figure out that it's a good way for Calvert to know the whole family. It's like a get together but all for Calvert. It takes so much effort for some members in the family to make it here in our house every month. And I appreciate it very much that they all agreed to this family tradition in the making. They reschedule more important matters and sometimes, I think that it's too much. But sometimes, I think that it's worthwhile especially that it's all for Calvert."I placed it
"What?! What do you mean she's back on business?"Bryce is shocked to the core and it's makint me want to burst into laughter. And it's all because I know that Aurella Aglauros is not just a widely known supermodel.She's someone from Bryce's past. Someone that's trying to put him down for years now. But actually, they're like cats and dogs in the business world. It's not just Aurella that's trying to destroy my friend here. My friend here is also determined with every fiber of his being to fire back as strong as she's trying to kick him out.But that was years ago though. After bickering for a long time, Aurella decided to stop handling their family's business and just focus on her modeling career. Maybe it's because of the pressure that her family is putting her into. Or maybe she has other reasons kept.Just like my dirty little secret."Conrad? Are you still there? Hey? Talk to me, asshole.""Bryce, language! You're with my son." It's absolutely my turn now to snap on him."Relax.
"No need to cry about it, Eve. I understand, and I can see that you've been tired and stressed out lately. You're doing your best, and that's all that matters."Whatever I do and say to calm my wife, I still can't succeed at stopping her eyes from crying and dropping tears all the way down to her cheeks.She keeps on apologizing about misplacing her wedding ring, and then accusing me of cheating on her with Aurella. And me, being me, as her husband, I keep on assuring her that it was all fine for me. I always understand her, and I always try to picture myself in her shoes. And every time that I do that, I'll eventually think that I won't survive as a woman and a mother at the same time. I don't even think if I can be graceful and incredible just like how my wife Genevieve is."No, it's just, it's so stupid of me to misplace my ring. And it's not just any ring, Conrad. It's my wedding ring! The ring I had since we got married. I'm sure that offended you even just a bit."I cup her face
I have a feeling deep in my gut that Bryce won't disappoint me at all, and that he will take care of Calvert real good. But the mother in me says that I needed to tell him that in order for him to get even just a single hint that I'm a monster at worrying when it comes to my son."Don't worry, Eve. I won't make you regret on the decision you've made. And this is not the first time that I've watched over kids. I'm good at taking care of them, so just trust me."I nod, "Okay. Thank you.""You're at the nursery school now, right?""Yeah.""You sound really tired, Eve."I look around to find an unoccupied bench to sit to. But when I'm finally about to sit, my phone beeps telling me that the phone call I had with Bryce just ended."Oh, well—""You sound really tired, so you should go home now and take a rest."Bryce suddenly pops in front of me and he's wearing his signature small and unrecognizable smile. "Go, Eve. I'll be watching over Calvert. I promise, after I watch you get into your
"Come on, mama! I'll be late!"I have no idea if I should be proud of Calvert being excited to go to the nursery school everyday, or be all lazy and have Conrad to send him off.It's been a week since my little Calvert had started going to the nursery school, and I've been trying my best to match my schedules with Conrad. And of course, with Calvert too. Asides from having different schedules, Conrad and I have no one else to watch over Calvert or to send him to the school whenever that I can no longer ditch my work with a massive force.I am still a magazine journalist under the publishing company of my own husband. But now, I am also a mother and an author who's busy with her third book. I know that I can just take it easy, or maybe do things one by one. But I can't just easily cross out one thing that I am passionate about. One thing that makes me who I am. Without these things, I wouldn't be someone who Conrad calls his wife; I wouldn't be someone who my little Calvert calls his m
"Mama and Dada are here for you. And about Paddington, I think I can find you a teddy later after all of this. What do you say?" Calvert claps and kisses both of my cheeks. "Can I come with you, dada?" I glance at my wife to look for her approval. But the look on her face is asking me, 'Really? Spoiling him?'. I know that this might not be good, but I can't stand looking at my boy knowing that he's nervous."Of course, you can come with me. But now, let's handle this preschool business first. We'll be over it, and you will have a very good time. Mama and Dada will watch over you."He smiles, "You promise?"I show him my pinky and he instantly binds his with mine. "I pinky promise."After promising to my son, his tiny hand holds mine and he walks over to Eve to hold hers too. We all walk together inside the nursery school without letting go of each other's hands. And when Calvert finally finds the best seat for him, he waves his hand at us who are quite far from him. He then listens att
"Good morning."Even with my eyes closed, my lips manage to form a smile when I feel her lips touch the surface of my cheek.How the hell can she wake up so early?And how is she so good at this?"You better get up now. You're going to be late for work if you stay in bed for 5 more minutes."Oh, whatever. I don't care if I'm going to be late for work. I'm the CEO anyway and I'm very good at it. But for now, I want to stay in bed for a little longer. With my wife.The sound of Eve's sweet giggle instantly fills the whole bedroom when I pulled her on top of me by her wrist."Conrad! You should get up and take a shower now." She's still giggling as I wrap my arms around her. Stopping her act of resistance; only making me tighten my hold on her. "I feel very lazy today, my wife. I don't want to go to work. Can we just stay here all day?" How dumb of me to ask even though I know she'll never approve it. Plus, I interfered with her work last night. Meaning, nothing can stop her now to conti
"Mama, let's have an agreement."I heard Conrad let out a small laughter that made me glare at him. Only for a matter of seconds because my eyes settle on Calvert and I give him a soft look.Conrad laughed because he knows that Calvert is about to propose an agreement that will lead to letting him stay up past his bedtime and finish the entire show. Conrad also knows that my defenses are always weak for our little boy. And honestly, I find it difficult to hold my ground sometimes. Back then I used to wonder why some mothers would just easily give their young ones whatever they ask for. But now? I totally understand. It's a different kind of tormenting feeling when you don't want to give your child what they want. But as an adult, you should always choose to do whatever is best for them. The level of difficulty of parenting will never be matched by anything in this world. And I just hope that I won't lose my mind.God."You don't have to give the same agreement all the time, baby." I s