Meredith woke up wrapped in the duvet and on the other side of the bed was a separate blanket and no body. Brayden had already gotten up to start his morning routine. Meredith sighed. She wasn’t sure if it was a sigh of relief or frustration.
She decided not to think too much into it. She had a fine time reflecting in her last session. Maybe she would just let things play out and think about them in that one hour lunch break on Wednesdays.
Meredith got dressed in her workout gear and went down to the gym. She made sure to set several alarms so she would get off the treadmill. She sighed as she stretched after her warm up then straddled the treadmill as she programed her workout into the machine.
Meredith let out a huff and stepped onto the mat and her feet began to move and soon she was pounding the revolving tra
Meredith went through the majority of the week on autopilot. Taylor had initially commented on Meredith’s mood but eventually she knew better than to say anything more. Meredith just needed time to work through whatever was going on with her and her husband.Meredith didn’t want to have to figure out what was going on with her and her ‘husband.’ She didn’t even want to be married. She admitted to herself while thinking about what was going on several times that there were pros.She had fun with Brayden sometimes. She actually didn’t mind his company for the most part. He was intriguing and tried to be thoughtful even if he was ignorant to other people's feelings most of the time.She definitely enjoyed the physical part of whatever kind of relationship they had. She wasn’t s
Meredith sat in the lotus position in the corner of the sofa where Brayden usually sat. She wore her casual clothes, a pair of soft lavender rose colored skinny corduroys. She had a cream colored top that was a hybrid-like top with a sweatshirt hoodie from the sternum up and from the chest down was a cable knit sweater. She had her ankle socked feet crossed under her with her house slippers on the floor in front of her.Taylor was sitting next to her on the extended chaise part of the sofa. Meredith had let Taylor borrow something to change into to save time. Taylor had picked a Burberry black logo print hoodie and a pair of Burberry plaid leggings.The leggings were a little too long and scrunched at the bottom but were the best fit considering the difference in size between Meredith and Taylor. The two girls were surprised when Helena showed up and brou
Brayden finished cleaning up the sitting area and putting away all the food that was still out. He popped a couple of cherry jello shots as he rolled up his sleeves and cleaned up the kitchen island and put the dishes in the dishwasher.He was a billionaire with a promise to his wife to not have their housekeeper Estrella come into an after party mess the next day. He wasn’t going to give her any further reason to be upset with him. He still hadn’t figure out what was going on.After he finished cleaning everything up he went to check on the girls. Meredith was still in the guestroom with Taylor and Dino watching a movie. Brayden had planned on just popping in to let Meredith know he had finished up and telling Taylor goodnight.Brayden could hear the Bibbid-bobbidi-boo of their movie playing as he walke
Meredith had slowly made her way to the thirty-seventh floor to have lunch and an important discussion with her husband about things that he had been doing in the past week that were in her eyes a bit on the unacceptable side. She had been trying to avoid him because his body and what he could with hers were things that she couldn’t resist but she was doing a good job she thought. He had told her that he loved her and that maybe complicated things, she thought. But when she had got to his floor on the way to his office his secretary stopped her to tell her he had an impromptu lunch meeting and had to cancel with her. Meredith had a million questions regarding this change of plans. Brayden was very organized with his time and generally had everything scheduled perfectly so an impromptu meeting was unlike him. The
Meredith woke up on Sunday wrapped in Brayden’s arms. It felt good to have some semblance of her friend back. She had started viewing him as a friend when the idea of them being teammates came into play. It was a difficult relationship to navigate, she thought. But being in his arms against his bare warm skin felt right. If Taylor had known the truth that Meredith and Brayden were in a marriage agreement she probably wouldn’t have seen it as big a problem as Meredith did. Taylor had been trying to hook Meredith up with a David anyway. ‘If you have to be stuck together forever, might as well be friends with benefits,’ Meredith imagined her best friend saying to her. And while Meredith didn’t think it was that easy she did think her friend had a certain bit of wisdom to her. As she felt a certain body part of her h
Meredith walked into Edward’s office. She was wearing her cream-colored Burberry coat with the panel snap closures and a Burberry plaid scarf. She set her black hourglass gold chained Balenciaga wallet on the coffee table as he was taking his coat and scarf off and told him she was going on the trip whatever it was. She had no idea but it seemed like it might be a trip to somewhere warm and that would be fine by her.She wasn’t sure if she was angry at Brayden or herself. She had given in instead of talking it out with him and getting on the same page again, if they ever were on the same page. She had let him do whatever he wanted to her and He hadn’t even told her he was leaving. He was just gone.She felt like trash that he kept around to fuck and use to get his throne. She needed to do something. She needed to feel like she had even just a
Meredith was in her three-quarter sleeved black bodycon dress that fell to just below her knees. It had a small skinny black belt at the waist. She had on black leather sling-back asymmetrical mule wedges.She stepped onto the elevator with a gold chain over her shoulder holding her black leather wallet-purse; it was clasped close with a gold letter B. Meredith pinched the bridge of her nose as the elevator doors closed. Brothers, she thought.She was thinking of what Karen had said to her about thirty minutes or so ago regarding the duties of siblings. Meredith never had siblings. From what Karen said Merediththought Dino was more of a sibling to her than a pet.She rolled her eyes thinking about Dino’s moods and got off the elevator to see that Taylor was already in the lobby talking to Ben waiting for
Meredith finished her work and turned off her computer. She shrugged her coat on and draped her scarf over her neck as she headed to the elevator. She still hadn’t figured out who the other friend was to bring but she knew one thing was for sure; she was going to have fun for the night.Meredith had already told Sean when he dropped her off she didn’t need him to pick her up; she was going out. He complained but she insisted. Even if Taylor hadn’t agreed Meredith still would have gone out.Meredith got in the elevator with several of her coworkers including Karen. Karen was on the other side of the elevator so they didn’t talk. When they got off Karen held her phone up and mouthed, ‘call me.’ Meredith nodded and then hurried over to where Taylor was waiting for her. They walked out and made their way to Ginos in the cold Chic
Meredith was thoroughly enjoying the garden party. There were immaculate flowers, greenery and shrubs delicately sprinkled around the greenest lushest lawn Meredith had ever seen. She had gotten so many compliments on her outfit. Of course, she gave all the credit to Brayden who had picked it all out. Brayden charmed all the women without even saying anything, when he did they were almost faint.Meredith shook her head at it all and went about the party trying every bit of the au d'oeuvres that were presented. If she found one that was exceptional she would pop it in Brayden’s mouth. Brayden didn’t complain because he loved watching Meredith doing this little dance of the foodie.The Baxton’s finally caught up with Meredith and Brayden near the sushi station where Meredith was trying a mini dragon roll. Brayden was talking to a well known architect and promising to stop by and take a look at his home designs.“I see you two made it okay,” Dave Baxton greeted he chuckled watching Mere
Meredith and Brayden had finished their fourth and last jump of the day. They had been at the Chicagoland Skydiving Center for nearly the whole day. They were having so much of a fun time it felt like time flew by and before they knew it they were on jump four and starting to wear out a bit.They thanked Steve and scheduled to come back in a week to go over more ground training and get some more jumps in. Then they headed on their way.“I’ll drive. You’re exhausted, babe,” Brayden said and he opened the passenger seat for Meredith to get in.“It’s just an excuse to drive my car.”“Maybe”“Did you like it really?” Meredith asked with a yawn as Brayden slid into the driver’s seat.“I loved it! I think we should do jumps on Saturday and Sunday. Eight jumps a week and we can get to two hundred in no time.” Brayden looked like he was grinning, which to anyone else would look like a small smile. Meredith knew her husband was excited and so was she. Brayden drove towards Schaumburg and foun
Meredith woke up earlier than usual for a Saturday. She had a long night and had only managed to squeeze in a few hours of sleep. Still she felt refreshed and with excitement that her husband was slightly afraid of. He of course had been up long before she opened her eyes.Brayden recalled the kayaking date, which was fun with a hint of danger being him falling into the river with Meredith laughing. But that was nothing compared to her jumping down the Swiss Wall. And while they were separated Brayden had no idea what Meredith had been up to. Jacob had been very vague with his reports.Brayden, who wasn’t sure how to dress for wherever Meredith was taking them, opted for casual attire. He wore a pair of Bruno Magli Italian leather sneakers in a dark burnished chestnut color. He had on a pair of Brunello Cucinelli navy cashmere creased sweatpants and a white Tom Ford t-shirt under a black The Row cashmere zip up hoodie.He followed Dino into the kitchen where he first fed Dino then pre
Meredith and Brayden took the elevator down to Brayden’s office. Brayden seemed to be deep in thought so Meredith decided not to interrupt. Finally just as they entered Brayden’s office he turned to her and raised an eyebrow.“What?” Meredith asked, confused.“What’s going on tomorrow?” Brayden asked in a serious tone.“I just decided to pick up a new hobby and thought it would be great if you came with me,” Meredith gave her best I’m-an-angel smile and puppy dog eyes.“As long as you aren’t planning on jumping off the side of a mountain again.” Brayden moved in close to his wife and searched her eyes.“Not at the moment,” Meredith smirked. Brayden leaned in to kiss the smirk off Meredith’s face. She reached around his waist and he wrapped her in his embrace as they both sighed a calming peaceful sigh simultaneously.“If you want to move back to the condo let’s make it happen.” Brayden conceded. “I don’t care where I live as long as I’m with you.” Meredith looked up into Brayden’s sin
Meredith was on her way out the office to have lunch with Brayden before they went to see his father to talk about the CEO position. Brayden had felt very strongly about securing the title. So much so that he had coerced a random stranger in the elevator into marrying him. Meredith sighed in relief as she walked out of her building and saw Sean waiting with the familiar Mercedes to take her to the Maxwell Sharpe building. She had on her black belted pleated short sleeve Burberry dress and her strappy Louboutin stiletto sandals. “It’s good to see you, Sean. Thank you.” Meredith said as she reached the car. “It’s good to see you too, Mrs. Maxwell.” Sean responded. Meredith smiled and got into the car and they were soon on their way. Meredith was slightly nervous about
Meredith felt that familiar thumping and the pounding through her body as her feet hit the treadmill mat in her building’s workout room. She looked out the window at the natural light shining in the already bright workout space and smiled. She no longer needed to run as an escape or to be strong enough to push things down in order to be a perfect Maxwell. This time she had chosen Brayden and they truly were a united team going into things. As she was running she remembered her parents’ had been suspicious about her relationship with Brayden. Maybe they should look for a new home. It would be weird if Meredith had told her parents that they were getting a new place and they just kept the old one. Meredith shrugged to herself, and started her cooldown. Technically her apartment was a new place for them. And t
Meredith woke up in her husband's arms and didn’t want to get out of bed. She sighed and picked up her phone and pressed the button to light up the display flashing the time before her eyes. Another sigh and a light groan later and she was getting out of bed and headed into her shared walk-in-closet and chose something to wear from her work wardrobe.She picked a Tommy Hilfiger pencil skirt with front faux zippered pockets. She paired it with a pair of BCBG black pumps and her Eileen silk top. Meredith got washed and dressed and grabbed her Michael Kors bag and headed out for work.She texted Jacob as she walked from her apartment to her job and made sure that was going to send Brayden home on time and make sure that he ate lunch. Meredith decided she was going to nag about this for the week.She d
“No secrets, Mere.” Taylor was looking Meredith up and down and her outfit. She knew Meredith had kept her ‘billionaire wardrobe’ at Brayden’s for whatever reason but was now suddenly wearing them. “I can’t wear them?” Meredith tried to feign ignorance to no avail. Taylor just gave her a look and Alyssa was still confused. “Isn’t Brayden your husband?” Alyssa asked, having never met him but heard stories. “I don’t understand. Do you have separate homes?” “Yes. Sort of.” Meredith responded and Taylor raised an eyebrow as the server dropped off more drinks. “We separated.” “What!” Alyssa gasped while Taylor casually picked up her drink and waited for Meredith to get to the part she was interested in; why Meredith was wearing clothes that were at Brayden’s. “We missed each other. He's moving in my place and we are working things out.” Meredith shrugged then began to sip her drink as well. She had gotten a lemonade so she wouldn’t have to worry about Clinton popping up and carrying he
Brayden wanted to help Meredith get rid of her Christian problem. Meredith didn’t really want Brayden involved at all. If she had needed help she would have called Jacob but she wasn’t ready to go that route. In all actuality, Meredith was hoping Christian would get the clues and bold hints she had for him that she wasn’t interested.“If it gets too much for me to handle, I’ll let you know.” Meredith told Brayden over some twenty-three layer chocolate cake that she had picked up earlier. Brayden picked the dessert wine and as always Meredith was loving the combination and they accented one another.“I was worried you would say that. Meredith, I want to be with you. Hopefully that’s a little more obvious by me moving in but for this to work I think we are going to need some sort of structure.”