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Chapter 30 - The last one
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2024-10-29 19:42:56This is the end. Thank you for reading!!
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One night stand gone wrong Chapter 1 - Saving the man
Arielle Ward was 5”3’, a green-eyed, 29-year-old woman who had not enjoyed a single day of her life - at least as far as she can remember. For the 20 or so years that she could recall, she was always busy - barely sleeping for 5 hours a day, always studying, always working, always doing chores, always hustling. Finally, at 29, she became financially secure enough to take the first vacation of her life. She decided to go big as her first-ever vacation had happened so incredibly late. She was idling in the open-rooftop bar of a seven-star hotel where she was staying. She sipped her cocktail, leaning against the counter as she watched the happening crowd. The groups and the pairs were quite eye-catching, and barely a few people were alone like her. But that did not bother her at all. As someone who had been hustling her entire life, she never had time to make friends or party. Being alone was her comfort place. However, her quiet musings got interrupted when a 6’’4’ extremely eye-ca
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 2 - Virgin?
Arielle was, once again, interrupted by the blue-eyed hunk beside her who kept asking her this and that. Despite her irritation, she was relieved to find that he was asking vague questions. He had not asked anything specific like her name. Or the hotel she was staying in, where she was from, or anything of the sort. “Tom, right? I think you said that we would mind our own business.” “Well, we should at least keep the appearances of being together.” He answered with a shrug which made her frown. She looked around, and, sure enough, some flies had started buzzing around them already. Exasperated, she leaned closer to him and smiled at him. Thomas was distracted by her fake smile as he compared it with the real one she had flashed to the bartender. “How about this? Let’s chat a bit, but no personal questions,” Thomas proposed with a hint of anticipation. She grunted her agreement. “This must be your first vacation in a long time,” Thomas remarked. “Well, this is my first vacati
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 3 - I promise I will make it up to you
The next day, Arielle and Thomas’s alarms rang together. After a lot of bickering and shouting, they had fallen asleep exhausted and in a bad mood. They both grunted at once before reaching for their phones. Both jerked awake as they felt a human beside them instead of an empty bed. “Oh, dear God!” She exclaimed. “Damn!” He sighed. Arielle turned off her alarm and yawned, “It’s too early to wake up while on vacation. Let’s get some more sleep.” She fell asleep again without realizing that she had said it like they were a couple on vacation together. Thomas, having realized it, curled his lips in a smile and pulled her in his arms before going back to sleep. The next time he woke up when he heard a door close. His arms were empty, and he could hear movements in the bathroom. He wrote a quick note and left, hoping she would still be there upon his return. Arielle came out of the bathroom to an empty room. She spied a note that read, “I have ordered breakfast. Let’s eat togethe
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 4 - What if you are after my genes?
Thomas followed behind Arielle and proposed, “Let’s go together. Since we have already run into each other, let’s have some fun.” Arielle nodded as she laughed, “Why not? I would have suspected you to be some sophisticated kidnapper luring an innocent victim, but you have already spent more than I am worth. Besides, you look too much like old money to be a kidnapper.” Thomas was surprised at her words, “Hey, I should be the cautious one here. What if you are here to steal my genes and my property?” Arielle chuckled at his joke, “Well, I almost succeeded at the first one.” She added, after some consideration, “Let me cancel my hotel reservations.” “It would be a waste if I don’t enjoy a Presidential suite for free.” She added cheekily. Thomas was amused at her self-invitation, “Be my guest! I would love to have you on board, and you have my permission to try and steal my genes throughout the vacation.” He winked at her, which made her roll her eyes. Arielle only said, “You alre
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 5 - Pretending to be strangers
Arielle and Thomas had parted ways for the last time - saying goodbyes and thanking each other for making their vacation special. During the time they had spent together, they had felt extremely comfortable with each other. Whether it was doing things they liked or talking about their past, dreams, fears, or taboos; while eating and drinking; or in bed - they seemed to be intensely compatible. At the same time, they were very much like each other in that neither wanted to intrude upon another’s private space or was fantastical enough to assume something could be permanent between them. They both felt they would be their most memorable dream, but just a dream and not reality, nonetheless. After returning to their own life, neither had thought about the other. **Two months later** Arielle headed to the headquarters of Payne Group of Industries, PGI. She was poached by PGI rather handsomely. Mr. Douglas, the HR manager, helped her complete the formalities and introduced her to eve
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 6 - Professionals in the banquet
Arielle stood on the balcony of the ballroom. Payne Group (PGI) had hosted a Welcome dinner for her, which was more like an unofficial banquet given the number of people who had attended. It had been a week since she had joined PGI and settled in her new apartment. Things were looking great so far. Arielle had been worried Thomas might leak out something about their private lives, but he had been nothing but strictly professional, which had helped her relax and ease into her role effortlessly. This so-called gathering, however, was not something she fancied. She had always kept a low profile and let her work do the talking. Being bad at office politics and not normal enough to make easy friends nor having enough time to socialize, she kept everyone at a distance with a cold face. But PGI had organized this gathering to let their employees know that she was a specially recruited person with high status. It was Thomas’s way of showing his favor. She could not fault Thomas for this
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 7 - Getting back together
**One month later** Arielle woke up late. She had slept past 3 am after completing the report she wanted to discuss with Thomas that day. It was Friday, and she wanted to get some things out of the way before she could relax for the weekend. Arielle had the unhealthy habit of being too engrossed in her work and forgetting about her health and everything else. The more work there was, the more she would work off on adrenaline, making herself extremely tired by the end of each grueling project. She shut her eyes as she leaned in the elevator and yawned behind her palm. She was aware of the people looking at her wide-eyed as if she were an alien. Arielle could feel a few unfriendly gazes on her, but she ignored them. She had almost two decades of experience in ignoring hostile looks. However, what prompted her to open her eyes a crack was a feeling of someone stealing peeks at her as if she was a precious treasure, and they were afraid of disturbing her. She ignored that as well
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 8 - Fling, ex-girlfriend, ex-CEO
**Three months later** Thomas and Arielle were living in their high. Their work was going exceedingly well. They were practically living together. No one knew of the secret fling. They were happy and content with each other. However, the company was in chaos. Arielle was good at her job. She had accurately flagged most of the employees hired through back-doors - using connections or due to sucking up to others, rather than their workability. She had, similarly, flagged troublesome projects likely to end up as a liability. There were a lot of peaceful and forced exits and contract breaches in the last three months. That led to a series of unrest among the employees. The internal stir and tense environment had Arielle and Thomas cracking their heads. It was evident that people were let go due to their incompetence. As such, people hired on merit and doing their work well need not have panicked, but unfortunately, that was not the case. Arielle suspected that someone could be
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One night stand gone wrong Chapter 30 - The last one
**6 months later** John dropped Brenda off at the police station and returned to Thomas and Arielle’s. Everyone was waiting for him except Brenda, Rick, and the kids. “Ideas, guys, ideas! How should I propose to her?” John paced back and forth. “I have no clue, buddy. I told Rick that my parents said getting married on Friday brings good luck. We registered two days later, on Friday.” Joe shrugged. “Most lame-ass proposal ever!” John looked at him in disdain. “Mat did not even ask me. He asked Belle to pick the wedding theme for us and plan for the winter wedding. We were at the dinner table, she squealed, and that was that. Damn! I got tricked.” Arabella said. John was at a loss, “Yes, you got cheated. And you are not helpful!” He looked at Thomas; the latter just shrugged. Arielle had a thoughtful look on her face. She caressed her pregnant belly and said, “Baby, your father has never proposed to me.” And she started crying. Thomas caressed and coaxed her while shooting a gl
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 29 - The hungry hormones 2
Thomas decided not to overthink things and enjoy his wife’s enthusiasm. He told others they were taking an impromptu vacation for a week. Their friends did not even have to think to know that they were going on a honeymoon. Everyone knew that they had started to plan for their last baby, and what better way to make another human than to do it like bunnies. When Adrian came from school, Thomas told him that he and his mother would be going away for a week to make him another sibling. Adrian was ecstatic and ran off to Joe and Rick’s place without looking for his mother. Moreover, he shouted it at the top of his lungs for everyone else to hear. Thomas fed Arielle some food in her sleep, and she obediently ate after he alternated every bite with a kiss. He drove her to a port from where they would take a boat to an island where he had booked a small villa with a private beach. Arielle woke up when they were boarding. It had a private cabin and a person who was ferrying them to th
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 28 - The hungry hormones 1
**One year later** Arielle pushed Thomas away when they were making out and dashed to the bathroom. It was a peculiar sight in the bathroom. Arielle was crouching down naked on the toilet and throwing her guts out. Thomas, also naked, was still sporting a boner as he rubbed her back and held her hair back. “Oh, God! I feel like I am dying,” Arielle cried after a while. Thomas pulled her to his chest, his boner gone by then. He lifted her and made his way to the shower as he rubbed her head and back soothingly under the warm shower. They brushed their teeth and went back to bed. Thomas spooned her and kept caressing her until her breathing evened out. Arielle had started throwing up in the morning. It was probably due to the cold pizza that she could not resist. The entire day she had felt funny in the stomach due to acidity and had been in a bad mood. Thomas had forced her to have some bland porridge to settle her stomach at dinner. Thomas wondered if she was pregnant. He
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 27 - Don’t want to shortchange you
By the time Arielle and Thomas returned home, it was already 4 hours later. They did not offer any explanation. But the glow on Arielle’s face and the satisfied smirk on Thomas’s were self-explanatory. “You ruined my date to screw your wife. You have a big house; you could have done that anytime.” John grumbled under his breath. Having been friends with Thomas for over a decade, despite working for him for eight odd years, they shared a good rapport, even though it could not compare to that between Thomas and Mathew, who had been friends since diapers. Brenda heard him and laughed but did not comment on it. “She is sleeping now. I think John and I will get going now. I will come some other day to eat garlic shrimp.” She said to Arielle before she started tidying herself. “I would ask you to stay back, but we have not even started prepping for dinner. We will probably end up with takeouts now. You guys have fun. Call me next time you have time off, and I will cook you a feast.” A
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 26 - Her deepest fear
“You are so absorbed in thought,” Thomas remarked. “I feel like these few years have gone by too fast. Not that I am complaining. These were the best years of my life. I have never been this happy before. It’s just sometimes it’s too overwhelming.” Arielle explained as she hooked her arms around his neck. “Do you want to go somewhere just you, me, and Adrian? To relax and have your me time.” Thomas asked as he picked her up by the waist. She wrapped her legs around his waist as he started to walk to the bed. “That sounds like a good idea. Maybe wait a few months. The twins will be moving with Joe and Rick soon. Let’s let them get used to it first. I have yet to stop breastfeeding. It will take a while.” She said, tracing his face with her fingers. “Are you happy?” He asked as he lay her on the bed and hovered on top. “I am not sure. I don't regret it. It will be hard in the beginning. But at the end of the day, the twins are our kids. They are just a wall away.” She explained, u
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 25 - Clingy children
Brenda broke John out of his thoughts as she patted his shoulders. “You were so lost in thought. What were you thinking about?” Brenda asked as John wrapped his arms around her. “I was just thinking about life. How far all of us have come since Mathew, Thomas, and I graduated! Not to mention having five kids at home. It’s been a long journey and, thankfully, a very fulfilling one.” John explained succinctly. Brenda hugged him, “Well, you have good friends. They are so welcoming. It’s like living in a joint family but of your choice. You get all the good parts and not many bad parts.” John had to agree. “Well, you are more than welcome to join that family officially.” Brenda punched him, which hurt for real, “Ouch!” John cried. “Was that supposed to be a proposal? If that was, it was fucking lame.” Brenda punched him once more but managed to control her strength this time. John gulped and kept quiet. He would get beaten if he confessed that he had yet to think about marriage. T
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 24 - Babies
**One and a half years later** John stood outside a police station in Pearl city, awaiting his girlfriend. A year earlier, he had broken up with Rick’s cousin after giving each other several chances. They were simply not compatible because they wanted very different things in life. Hence, they had broken up mutually. One day, he had ended up making a scene at a bar in a drunken stupor, and they ended up calling the police. The one who responded was a female police officer. The first thing about the female officer that John had noticed was the scar on her left eyebrow that made her look equally sexy and dangerous. John had an instant crush on her. Especially with how smoothly she handled everything. John had always admired people who were good at their jobs, which had also been one point of discontent with his ex-girlfriend. Rick’s cousin was never into one thing for long enough to do it properly. John had called Rick to help bail him out. Then, John found that the female police
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 23 - New journey
Thomas finally voiced, “The idea sounds good. We all know how to run a company, but none of us know what to sell.” John nodded at the realization. “That’s right. You, your wife, Mathew, and I - have a finance and management background. Arabella is from product marketing, Joe is a network engineer, and Rick is a cop. We know how to protect and sell something. But none of us know how to produce anything.” Arabella chimed in, “How about we open a Logistics company?” Mathew asked, “Logistics?” Arabella hummed, “There isn’t any good logistics company where we grew up, especially at the international level. Same with where they currently stay. It’s been a nightmare when I have to send something to this cavewoman.” Arielle rolled her eyes at the reference, “So, I take it you did some research?” Arabella clinked her glasses, “Touché!” She shrugged and added, “Work habits are hard to suppress. There is a good market for it, though the initial few years would be bad. Combined with all o
One night stand gone wrong Chapter 22 - The new couple
The week went by exceptionally well. The friends had not spent time together in a long time, and some of them had never met. They all got along like a house on fire. Mathew got enamored by Arabella’s spunky personality and her honesty. He was pleasantly surprised to see how well-mannered Belle was and how well Arabella had raised her daughter, all on her own to boot. He asked her out after a few days, and she agreed. Arabella thought Mathew was fun and adventurous and seemed to be a good guy. He already knew all about her, thanks to all the nights they had spent drinking and spilling secrets. She felt comfortable being herself with him. More importantly, being Thomas’s best friend, he was probably not trying to score her to just hook up with a single mom. She was not looking for a marriage at the onset, but she was not okay with one-night stands or flings. Surprisingly, they got on much better than either had dared to hope. They had similar interests and were both adventurous.
