Raya"Uhn, Mac, Raya," Maxwell said when I came out of the restroom, stopping on his way to my mom's hospital room, where he had been obviously headed, and he turned to face us."How did you? You were here?""Yes, I came here after seeing her," my mom, I meanHe nodded and glanced between me and Miss Sterling.I couldn't believe I had seen her.That was why she had seemed so familiar. They looked so much alike and shared almost the same features, except the womanly features she possessed."I'm guessing you two already met," he said, and we both nodded."You didn't tell me your dad was here though."He ran a hand through his forehead, sighing, "Yeah, it slipped my mind.""Can I go and see him?"He seemed taken aback by that, "Why?""Uhn? Nothing. Just...""Sure, okay"He led the way to the hospital room while I followed awkwardly behind him with his sister, and she turned to face me halfway there. "Our family can be very... You know, interrogatory."I smiled awkwardly."Just ignore any
MaxwellThe process for breaking off the fashion company from the whole group was finalized after my meeting with the shareholders the next day, and the press was informed."Di Lusso is now a separate company from its parent company after the youngest son, Mr. Maxwell Sterling, pushed for the spin-off of the company from the Sterling group. He would now be seen as the CEO of the company and run the company's activities independently from the Sterling Group."I nodded my head at the press news and met up with Raya for our meeting the next day.She was in a simple flowery gown that stole my breath away, and I had a hard time keeping my eyes off her when she got to me."What? Is there something on my face?"I cocked my eyebrow, "Beauty."She blushed, hitting my hand slightly as she tried to walk away, and I pulled her figure into mine to smear the lipstick that was on her lips on mine.She pushed me away after the success of that and glanced back at her building, "Someone could be watchi
MaxwellI was still fuming by the time Diane walked into my living room the next day, her hand on her head and a groan escaping her lips, and she did a double take when she saw me."What the f*ck?! Why am I here?"She must not remember anything."I should be asking you that. Why do you always come to me when you're drunk and don't tell me you drove to my place drunk?"Okay, that was not what I had planned to say.I shouldn't be concerned about her, but driving when she was that drunk was dangerous."F*ck! I didn't know I came here. Sorry.""Is that all?" She asked after a while of sipping the coffee I had made for her... us and I glanced up at her."Of course."There was no way I was going to mention the fact that she had kissed me and asked me to sleep with her, even though I was fuming about that."Oh, thank God."I gulped down the rest of my coffee and moved to the kettle to pour myself another, wishing myself not to ask the question... But I did."And how are you?"She glanced up
RayaI spent the rest of the days counting down to the hypnosis appointment thinking about how it'll go and what could go wrong, and it didn't help that it was just three days in between.That was all the days I had to overthink things.Kendall wasn't helping either, as she tried to deter me from the whole process."It's dangerous," she said."But I have to know who Kyle's father is.""And what if he's an asshole?"I had no answer to that but thought of it as we drove to the appointment.At least I would know who he is and give Kyle the option to know who his father is or not."Are you okay?" Maxwell asked, holding my hand as he had been doing a lot, and it was so heartwarming that he was standing by me in all this.Like never in my life would I have thought that there would be someone who would be so willing to stand by me when I had nothing to offer him.He was literally the one spending the most money, doing the most things, and it made me feel weird at times, I wouldn't lie, thoug
MaxwellThe ride back home was silent, Raya fidgeting with her nails and staring out the window as I drove her back to her apartment, and I had to use all of my control not to ask her what she had seen during the hypnosis.It was obvious that she had seen something apart from the relapse into other memories, but I wasn't sure what it was.The father of Kyle?Why had she called my name though?I had thought it was my imagination, but it kept ringing in my head."Mr. Sterling?"I wondered what that meant."So... I started halfway through because I couldn't bear the silence, and she turned to look at me, hope in her eyes.For what?I wasn't sure, but I spoke anyway."We need to register you for the SAT exams.""Oh..." I saw the relief flood into her eyes.What had she been thinking I would ask?"...the SAT.""We have to register you this month to get you to ensure you can partake in the exam next month, and there's your portfolio too.""Right."She seemed quite detached."We should get y
Raya"M-mr. Sterling..."F*ck! I hope he hadn't heard any of the statements that Kendall made. She was just as appalled as I was behind me, and I breathed a sigh of relief when Maxwell suddenly smiled."Hey, I came to tell you something. Are you busy?""No, no, I'm... You can come in."I paused by turning around when he touched my arm. "Uhm... I think we should have the conversation out here.""Uhn?" I was surprised by that."W-why?""It's quite sensitive, and the kids are in, right?"As if on cue, Kyle came out of his room for whatever reason and ran to meet him"Uncle Max!"More like Daddy Max.Oh God, I couldn't believe he was actually the father of my kid.Was I dreaming?Had I seen wrong?Probably, maybe I had just wanted a good father figure for my son and concocted him in my mind because how do I want to defend the fact that a man I met recently who is my boss is also the person I had a random one night stand with making him the father of my child?Like, how would he even feel
RayaI don't know what I was doing here.Maybe it was the unnecessary guilt or unwanted emotions; I found myself in front of my mom's hospital room anyways by 3am in the morning.I hadn't been able to sleep due to the news that Maxwell had given me and the note he had given me, as I said earlier hadn't helped.It had told me exactly where she was and how to find her if I wanted to.So here I am.I wasn't even sure what to do or say if she was awake.She wasn't though, I wouldn't say thankfully, but she had all these wires and stuff attached to her, like without them she would sail away, and I wasn't sure where the thought came from, but I found myself thinking about what would happen if I just removed that oxygen from her nose.She would die, of course.Jesus.I glanced away from the transparent part of the door where I had been looking at her.That was not why I had come here.Why would I even think of that?I slipped to the ground in front of the door and ran a hand through my hair
RayaI woke up the next day to the sun shining on my face and a pounding headache as expected, but what I wasn't expecting was the familiar bedroom I found myself in.I've been here before; I just couldn't remember where.Oh wait, I know that painting...Maxwell's house.What?I got out of bed, stumbling immediately my foot touched the ground, and I took a minute to gather myself before walking out into the hallway.This was indeed Maxwell's house, but what was I doing here?From what I could remember, I went for a drink with Diane, and then... And then what?Oh God, I thought I said I would quit drinking.I had just really needed it earlier that morning and drank way more than I should, so..."Maxwell?" I said when I entered the kitchen and he turned to me with a worried face, his form immediately moving towards me."Are you okay? Are you fine?"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"Y-yes""Jesus, why did you go for a drink, and with Diane?""I just... I needed a drink.""Right."He seemed