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Sixteen
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2024-10-29 19:42:56I almost brought my guards down before Nathan. I’m hoping he didn’t notice how teary my eyes got. I’m not going to allow any other person to treat me the way I have once been treated in. I’m not going to let anybody make me question my self-esteem. It took me a while to build up my confidence and I won’t let anyone bring it to the ground.
Work is going to distract me from any negative thoughts. I need to finish the project I’m currently working on. I put on some music and open my laptop. Although I want to specialise in security software programming, I tend to accept easy projects from time to time, because I still need experience on various fields.
I’m currently working on developing a website for a startup; an easy task compared to many things I have done before, but as long as it brings me money, why don't I experiment with other topics?
I don’t know how long I have been working, but the ache in my back tells me that I need to take a break. I stretch my ar
Sara Islam Published on December 14th, 2021
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“Promise me you’re not going to chicken out?” Nathan says, holding his pinky fingers towards me. “I promise,” I link my pinky with his. Nathan and I start to get prepared for the dive. My heart refuses to calm down, but I promised Nathan and I’m not the one to break promises. I value them. Nathan hollers as he makes the first jump and my face breaks into a wide beam. I made Nathan check one of the items on his bucket list. “Are you ready?” the trainer asks me, and I nod, adjusting the GoPro I’m wearing. Nathan and I decided to wear them to document the experience and we can also film one another. “We’ll jump on three,” the trainer announces, and I gulp, looking down outside the plane door. I can see nothing but clouds from up here. “One, two.” He doesn’t wait until three and makes the jump and I scream at the top of my lungs. It feels like I’m falling to my death. After a matter of seconds, my screams die and I take a deep breath. The air keep
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“I’m sorry.” Why is she apologizing? “What— Oh my God, I’m such a moron. No, Linnea. I’m happy that we did it together. I wouldn’t change anything about that I swear. Please don’t feel bad about this,” I talk faster than lightning. I should have been more careful. My choice of words was terrible. “I wanted to do it with my girlfriend, but I got to do it with my wife. Don’t you think that this is one hell of an upgrade?” She went above and beyond to give me an unforgettable day and I made her feel bad about the whole thing. Couldn’t I just keep my mouth shut and give her any other excuse? I’m a fool. “You can always go bungee jumping or ziplining with your girlfriend, right?” Is this girl for real? Is she trying to make me feel better because she took me skydiving? She’s the best companion I could ever ask for. No one is better than her. In anything. I will blindly follow this girl anywhere. “Does that mean I should start booking these things for u
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“Am I imagining or are you and Nathan getting close to each other?” I was sure Thalia wouldn't let such an opportunity go. “We became friends. Nothing more.” I try to act casual. My cousin may be my best friend, but I don't want to declare my feelings for Nathan to anyone because I'm not sure about them. I'm confused too. “Friends? Didn't you see what he did at the dinner table? He stood up for you against your mum. He embarrassed her that she ended up apologizing to you,” she exclaims, trying to keep her voice down. “He's just being a good friend,” I insist, bringing the birthday cake out of the box. “Believe what you want, but I'll give it less than two months. You and Nathan are going to be head over heels for one another. It's crystal clear that he likes you,” Zoey tells me and I laugh a little. Nathan would never like me. He told me before that there was nothing about me that he could ever like, so why would he suddenly like me? After get
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This day has been going well. Why should something or someone come out of the blue the way Chelsea has just done? I’m trying to build a good relationship with Linnea, hoping that I can later ask her out. Knowing Chelsea, she may mess up everything I have been trying to do in a matter of seconds. It took me months to get rid of her annoying ass. She may say anything in front of the girl I’m dying to win and destroy the blooming relationship I’m attempting to have with Linnea. “It’s been a while, Nathan. Where have you been?” She technically tackles me into a huge and my nostrils flare. I awkwardly wrap my arms around her for a couple of seconds, then I drop them. I internally cringe the moment she kisses my cheek and I dare to glance at Linnea, who happens to be watching in complete silence. In a moment like this, I wish I could read her thoughts. Part of me wishes that she’d be jealous, because if she’s jealous, this means she cares. “We should totally get ba
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The two dresses are in front of me. My makeup is done and so is my hair, yet I don't know which dress I should put on. The choice between my comfort zone and a challenge I don't know if I'm ready to undergo is a hard one. A challenge that makes my knees wobble in fear. Even my heart thunders in my chest whenever my eyes fall on the burgundy masterpiece. The burgundy dress is flawless and I'm in love with it, but I don't think it's for me, yet the way Nathan looked at me when I had it on said otherwise. I don't know whom I should trust. My judgement is clouded and I'm running out of time. My mind takes me to the skydiving experience. I was a step away from not booking myself an appointment, then I almost chickened out when I was about to jump, but Nathan was there to convince me not to. Perhaps all I need is a little push. Maybe I have to take this step to try something new. Taking a deep breath, I pick the burgundy dress. Nathan is my friend now, a tru
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She’s going to be okay. I know she is. But that doesn’t prevent me from worrying about her. She is in surgery. She has just entered the operating room. The doctors told us that this may take up to eight hours. What would they do for eight hours? What am I supposed to do until she’s out of surgery? Wait? Pray? “You’re going to pass out if you stay like that,” Thalia says, handing me a cup of coffee. “I can’t just calm down. What if a complication took place and they couldn’t find a solution? Have you seen Grey’s Anatomy? Complications happen out of the blue! When you least expect it! A woman once died because of hiccups and another one died because the resident forgot to check her throat and there was soot in there!” I exclaim. “Can you guarantee that they won’t make mistakes?” “Wow… She made you addicted to the show and it ruined you,” Thalia comments, and I frown. Am I going out of my mind? “Linnea is going to be more than fine. She’s our fighter. She has be
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I wasn’t the only one who was tested. Zoey, dad, Nathan, Thalia, Asher, and I all got tested, but I was the only one who turned out to be a match. “There are no dangers on her life, right? She’s going to walk out of this surgery in good health, isn’t she?” Nathan asks the doctor. “She’s not going to walk out of the surgery all fine. She will need time to recover, but her liver will grow back to its normal size in about a year. It will function normally though after two to four weeks,” the doctor explains everything to my worried husband. “I will be fine. Stop panicking.” I look up at him. “It won’t hurt to be more sure,” he mumbles. “I also have to let you know that there will be a scar that will fade by time, but it may leave a trace. You can always get it fixed through plastic surgery though,” the doctor says. “I don’t care about the scar. I just want Henry to be okay,” I say. “We will run some tests and if all is well, we wi
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I have been too caught up with Nathan to ask about Henry. I feel like a horrible sister. But my world completely stopped the moment my eyes fell on my husband. I was petrified of losing him or having him terribly hurt, so when I saw him in front of me, I was finally able to breathe. Asher told me that my parents, Zoey and Malory were here. Are they with Henry now? I have millions of questions running through my head right now and I don’t know if I should dump them all on Nathan. “Baby, sit down,” he says, gently pulling me to sit beside him on the bed and I do. “Henry and I were in the car. We were running some errands before coming to pick you up. Yes, I’m at fault, I was on the phone, but I swear I was still paying attention. The phone was even connected to the car. somebody was driving their truck quickly and they weren’t paying attention. They passed the red light and they crashed into us, sending our car flipping in the air.” A gasp escapes me as Nathan recounts
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“You seem happy,” my therapist smiles at me when I walk inside her office. “I am!” I grin, sitting down on the couch. I’m getting out tomorrow. I was supposed to be staying for a month, but I ended up staying for forty-five days based on my request. I was even more strict with myself regarding my use of my gadgets. I was allowed to freely use them after the first two weeks, but I decided to minimize my use for them as much as possible. I only used my phone when I wanted to make phone calls. “You know, I still can’t believe you chose to stay here for more than the period assigned for you,” she tells me and I shrug. “It was my choice to come here. I truly wanted to get better. If I had left after only one month just like how we originally planned, I would have been lying to myself.” “Your honest desire to get better really warms my heart,” she tells me. “So how are you feeling today?” “I feel fine. Really fine. It doesn’t hurt to breathe or to w
Marriage Contract: the Billionaire and I Ninety-two
“Why did you leave?” I mumble, bringing myself before him. His handsome face is gloomy and his eyes aren't as bright as they usually are. “It's a familial moment, I thought I should give you some privacy,” he says, causing a crease to appear between my eyebrows. “You’re family, Nathan,” I say, wrapping my fingers around his arm. “You’re my family and I… I love you.” It’s been a while since I said those words. My words seem to be foreign to him as if he didn't believe I'd say these words again. “I love you as my husband. The man I married. The man I want to build a family with,” I add, feeling the need to be more specific because it seems like he’s in a state of disbelief. “Wait… so we’re not getting a divorce?” he says and I shake my head, smiling a little at him. “You’re not moving to the UK?” “It’s so cold for me. I prefer Miami,” I grin and he laughs, pulling me into his arms and twirling me around, causing me to squeal. “I love you, Linnea
Marriage Contract: the Billionaire and I Ninety-one
“I know your gadgets are your life, but this is temporary. Just for the first week, yeah?” Nathan says and I just nod. I want to get better. I want to heal, so I will do anything to get better. “It's just for a month. I guess I will manage,” I say, taking a deep breath. The only thing that makes me feel at ease is that I can check myself out whenever I want. I also despise how I will get no visitors during my first week there. I packed many books with me to kill time. They say there will be many activities we can do there, but I still like to bring my own entertainment items. I came back five days ago. I talked to my mum once on the phone, assuring her that I was okay. Nathan has been keeping his eyes on me, making sure that I won't do anything stupid. Honestly, I haven't gotten the urge to act foolishly ever since I came back. “Your parents are here,” Nathan tells me when the doorbell rings. Anxiousness fills me upon hearing that. I'm supposed to be
