Valerie The sweet smell of pancakes and coffee woke me. I couldn't think of any other nice way to wake up. I rolled to the other side of my bed to find Aiden not there but the pillow smelled like his cologne. Burying my face into the pillow I just inhaled his scent smiling happily. I could hear the clanking of the utensils and I knew it was time for me to wake up. Forcing myself to a quick shower, I got dressed to follow the sweet scent of breakfast. When I reached the kitchen I was in for a wonderful surprise. There stood Aiden shirtless setting breakfast on the table. It looked like he already had a bath because his charcoal hair was still wet making him look sexier than ever. Standing in the doorway I admired the view. "You know I could get used to this view every day," I startled him. He really hated it when someone would sneak onto him or do something like this. Letting out a few curse words he picked up the spoon that fell down from his hand. "You know I really hate that,
Valerie "Melanie, give this file to Mrs. Williams and inform her that I have sent her the ideas for Laura's wedding. She needs to give her input on these before I present them to Laura today or I will have to reschedule," I made the last changes to the presentation before attaching it to the mail to Williams. She was the kind of woman who always liked to put things in for later and I had been the one to feel the heat for that. "Okay, anything else?" She questioned, I tried to concentrate on my work but my mind was so occupied with what had happened last morning that I almost wanted to wrap up work and vent out my feelings. "A cup of coffee please," I gave her one of my fake smiles rubbing my temples. The memories from the morning were playing on my mind like a reel in a loop. "Are you alright? This is like the fourth cup you have asked ever since you came in," I could hear the worry in her voice which seemed like a strange emotion. I had never shown any emotions that would make an
Blinking too many times I made sure that what I saw was real, that it was him. It was hard to believe my eyes that it was my father on the footpath, shivering in the cold as he lay there like a homeless person.Trying to have a closer look, I took a step towards him ascertaining that it really was him. He looked so messy but I knew that it was him. After all these years, I could still identify him with his beard all grown. He didn’t look to be in good condition as he lay on the blanket trying to cover himself with the same but there was no way I could forget him because he was the man who destroyed my family.There were so many things he had destroyed and ruined for me. My belief in love had died down because of him. The day my mother took her life, I started loathing him. It was his cheating that had forced my mother to take her life.I had hated him ever since then with every part of me. It was his entire fault. I lost her because of a shitty father and a husband like him.Things af
Another day, another morning, I woke up early. I informed my boss l about my dad being hospitalized, she let me take off for two days considering it a family emergency. There was no denying the fact that she was shocked to know that I had a father. She made it quite evident in her shock-filled gasp over the phone. Getting office out of the way I thought about what to do. I didn’t have any idea about what I was going to do with my father. All I knew was that I still had to see him, hiding wasn't an option. I made the short journey to the hospital, taking the long route and delaying as much as possible. When I entered his room I found him staring at the ceiling. I literally would have felt more relieved if he was sleeping. He didn't avert his eyes once as I settled myself on the chair beside him. It almost felt like the old days, when he never cared at all. I cleared my throat to get any reaction but none came. "Dad," I called him softly but his eyes didn't tur
The feeling of betrayal hurt me beyond control. I wanted to rip my heart out and finish it. "No," I shook my head in denial but anothetr look at my father and I knew he wasn't playing around this was really happening. There was this need inside to kill all the emotions inside me. I wished to grow numb but it was hard. I couldn't bring my mother back from the grave and ask her what made her do such a thing. Was Dad not enough for her that she decided to play around? She was the loving wife and a mother. She was my idol, my everything but now she is nothing. What happened to make her do such a thing? How could she cheat? I needed to know the truth but was afraid of letting my heart be torn apart. All these years, I cursed the wrong person that I knew as my father for my mother's death but who shall I blame it on now, myself or her? I didn't care about the cold I felt, about my phone ringing or anything else but the sorrow and pain I held in my heart. Dad sat there in front of me and
Valerie There were times when I was stubborn and my father would always tell me this letting me know that there was nothing more left to discuss. Same again this was the thing. I was told to go into my room and rest. I tried to bargain my way around it and in the end I just nodded my head in affirmation making my way to the room. I could see him happy and see that was the happiest thing for me. I was just in time to help set up the table after my relaxing shower. Dad made a very good dinner for sure with salad, a chicken dish, as I preferred, served with well-cooked vegetables. It was a shock for me to see that he still remembered things about how I liked my food. We had our dinner with talks about my present life like what I do, which college I went too and other things. We remembered the happy moments of my childhood and I was great about that. Dad apologized once again for missing out very important days in my life but I told him there was nothing to be sorry about. I was glad
Valerie "I’m sorry, Val," Dad said and my face shot up. Why was he saying sorry? He hadn't done anything. "I‘m sorry, I know you have lost your faith in love because of me. I am sorry for that—" Before he could apologize more I cut him off. "It isn't all because of you, Dad," I said fast and saw my father looking at me, his face a mask of confusion. Okay, maybe dad was right maybe I had lost my faith in love because of him but he was not to be blamed for it wholly. "I swear it was partly because of you," I said and saw his face not losing the look of guilt. "You are not be blamed for all of it, someone else put the nail in the coffin," I added. I could see once again his brows raising in confusion. "When I was in college, I fell for someone hard. My whole world revolved around that one person and I loved him with my everything and gave up all of me to him only for him to have it crush it. He just left me like that saying that we were no more together and that too on a note. I ne
Looking outside at the passing by city, I let my thoughts flow to the happy times of my life with Aiden. There were so many of them. As I think about it now, I realize that he had loved me for so long, I was just too blinded by the past to see it. As we stop at a traffic light, I was drawn out of all my thoughts. Looking outside, I was slapped with the harsh reality of my past.In the car beside me, I saw that one person who had hurt me the most, that one person who had put the nail in the coffin of not believing in love.Drew sat there in sleek back car with a laptop in his hand. He still looked that very same man who I had fallen in love with besides the long hairs brushing against the nape of his jacket. In a dark business suit, he looked as handsome as ever, someone who could make any girl fall to his feet but not me. Not anymore. I knew the true colors behind that devilishly handsome face. He was no one's lover, just a player who played me. I stared at his face wh
Valerie "I feel like a whale," I told to Shay, who sat at the end of the sofa while I laid on the couch with the remote for the tv. I was going to be around nine months pregnant in a week and this little buddy was going to come out soon. A lot has changed in last six months. I was no longer living in my apartment. Bryan had bought a new house which was closer to Travis and Aiden's house.The nursery was ready with hues of yellow and blue. Aiden and I had grown close but there had been nothing more than kisses and holding each other. The new house had many rooms and one of them was Aiden’s but he usually slept with me. He didn't go to his apartment often and just stayed here with me. He didn't want to miss any part of the baby and me being pregnant. He had warmed up to my heart, but hadn't been able to get that place back in my heart. His relationship with his mother was still rocky but they were at least talking. Whereas Laura and Aiden had drifted worlds apart.Laura had a breakdown
ValerieGod, this had to happen with me only. I groaned internally. this was right embarrassing. I felt Aiden sleeping on my legs with his hand feeling heavy on my belly. Besides it, I realize one more thing which was that I was going to puke. I felt it was coming, I knew it was and before I know I quickly pushing Aiden away and rushing to the bathroom kissing the porcelain seat. I puked and puked then brushed my teeth, gargled with mouthwash to get rid of that vile taste of bile. Being pregnant was not an easy task. "You have been caught red handed Aiden." It was Shay who was talking when I reached back to the living room. Aiden was on the floor rubbing his head. In my run to the bathroom, I might have pushed him a little too hard. Carmen stared at him while Shay busy staring at his share of uneaten food and smoothie. "I think we should have clicked the picture of the two together first," Carmen spoke without caring about the food. "Carmen she was eating mozzarella sticks and d
Aiden held my face and kissed me. I was stunned. I should have pulled back but I couldn't. I just couldn't. I was responding to his kiss, tasting our tears in it. Our kiss was passionate, our lips hungry for each other. It was a kiss filled with love and passion but yet soft. I could feel every part of my body needing his touch. It was wrong and yet it felt so right to do it. I was being lifted and pushed on my back. Our kiss never breaking. His torso in between my legs and my legs wrapped around him. His face in my hand and he took control over our kiss. Our tongues danced in sync. I was breathing heavily, I was feeling a need and then suddenly out of nowhere Laura popped up in my mind and the moment was lost from my side. My body stilled. My lips no longer responding to his and we break apart from our kiss. His eyes looked into mine searching for what stopped me. "What happened Val?" He asked concerned and worried. I closed my eyes and touch my lips. I knew that kiss we just had wa
Valerie "You... you what?" I finally managed to choke out."I didn’t know what else to do," he said, tears streaming down his face. "She was crying, Val. She was so upset, and I just wanted to make it better. I thought if I agreed, she’d be happy, and things would calm down. But I didn’t mean it. I don’t want to marry Laura. I don’t want to be with anyone but you."His words swirled around in my mind, but I couldn’t make sense of them. He had agreed to marry Laura? How could he do that to me, to us? I felt a surge of anger and betrayal."You agreed to marry her?" I repeated, my voice shaking. "How could you, Aiden? How could you do that to us?""I didn’t mean it," he pleaded. "I was just trying to calm her down. I don’t want to marry Laura. I love you, Val. You and our baby are everything to me.""But you said yes," I said, my voice rising. "You told her you’d marry Laura. Do you have any idea how that makes me feel? Do you even care about what I want, what I need?""Of course, I car
I waited for Aiden to speak something. I wasn;t a patient being but with him I was trying to be. I could see he was fighitng a battle on the inside buit I couldn;t do anytging until he spoke himself. "Mom dropped by the office today," he began. "She demanded to know when I was marrying you," that was literally nothing new. Why ouldn;t the woman get the hint that it wasn;t happening. "I told her it was none of her business, and she went ballistic, telling me that wasn’t the way I should speak to her." I still hated that woman. Travis had made sure she left me alone, even cutting ties with her. Aiden had tried to do the same, but she was his mother, and it was hard for him. I didn’t want him to cut her off for my sake anyway. He had a mother, and although she was mean and self-centered, no son should be separated from his mother. I wouldn;t want my child to be serpated from me like that. "Then she said that if we weren’t getting married, I should marry Laura." I was stunned. I looked
ValerieAs the doorbell rang happiness surged inside of me. At last, my angel came.Opening the door wide my whole concentration was on the packets in his hand rather than on him. Taking the packets for him I just went inside straight to the kitchen without a hello or anything.I just wanted to devour what was inside that packet before Carmen or Shay caught me. Carmen would literally fry me if she knew that I was busy eating fried mozzarella sticks that too with a vanilla chocolate smoothie. I heard the door close and him coming to the kitchen.This had become our norm, I would rush to the kitchen with the food and set each of us with a plate, mine always had a little a more than his. Whatever I ate, he had to eat that too, it was a part in a way for him to become the part of my pregnancy. I hadn;t lied to him when I had said that he would be a part of this preganncy in every step. As I looked up to see where he was I found his near the kitchen door. He stood there smiling at me wi
Valerie Two months later..................."Why," I questioned. "Why now," I was almost near to pnaick. "Why?" My father asked. "What do you mean by why. We are just going to meet each other and Bryan called me here to meet with him, Valerie. I think we should have talked to each other months back." Dad said while standing at the entrance of the house and by dad I meant Travis. I called them both dad but this was going to be first freaking time they were going be together face to face. I won't lie this whole dad one and dad two concept was so confusing for me. I have already told them if they ever were in the same room I will call them by their name rather than Dad. I haven't let them meet each other until now. If you remember when Bryan met Laura's father he beat the shit out of him. I don't want a recap of that with Travis. Gosh I still cringed thinking how beat up Laura's father was after Bryan's beating. "I'm having a bad feeling about this." I really was not going to tend t
Valerie "I.. never knew." a tremble in his voice made me believe that he really had no idea that what had happened."When my father came to know that I wasn't his he decided to hurt my mother by having affairs and dangling them in front of her," I paused taking in deep breaths. "My mother loved my father a lot but she understood what she had done," I continued even though all the memories were painful."She knew that she had hurt him too much, betrayed him. So she decided not to fight with Dad, she fought with the pain she suffered but she didn't give up easily. For four years she lived on knowing how her husband was cheating and hurting her. She lived for me until the day it became too much to handle." A tear escaped my eyes as I remembered finding her dead. The memory was ingrained in my brain for the rest of my life. Looking up to Travis I saw his eyes turned away from mine. He couldn't even look at me anymore.If only he had been brave enough to do the test last time this wouldn'
ValerieI waited for him in the cafe near my office, and let me tell you it was torture. The smell of coffee was in the air and it was hard to not have it. So I did the right thing and ordered one latte for me. I googled and even my doctor said a cup a day won't do any harm but under the watchful eye of Carmen, Shay, and dad I couldn't even have a whiff of coffee. One little sip of it was heaven for me. It had been six days since the thought of meeting him has been taking over my mind. The last I had seen him was a week before.Last night I had asked Aiden for his number when he came home with me. Aiden did really give me space and time. He called before even thinking of coming and he apologized times and again because of his mother showing up here. I really didn't say much about what happened between me and his mother. The only words that slipped my lips was that I didn't like her and he had promised that she won't disturb me anymore. I had called Travis and asked him to meet me at t