Tyler wasn't expecting the knock on his door that soon. He wasn't even expecting a knock or that his doorbell would go off. He had expected that he would have to go to her place to get her like he did the first time.So, with his shirt still untucked into his pants, he went to get the door. When he threw the door open, he expected anything else but the sight of the tired looking woman at his doorstep.“Good evening, ” she flashed him a smile that instantly made him suspicious.His eyes did a quick crawl over her and he noticed that she was still in the lemon dress she wore to the office. It wasn't like he has been keeping tabs on what she had been wearing or not wearing, he just happened to have seen her get into her car that morning.“Hi, ” Sophie waved her hand in front of him in greeting and to also snap him out of whatever daze he had gotten into.“Hi, ” he straightened and managed a small smile at her.“Well, as you might have guessed, I'm just returning from the office and I'm s
Sophie knew that no victory ever lasted for her. She should have known that. Yet, the amount of disappointment that coursed through her when she saw their text from Mira that morning was enough to have her spiraling out of control.She had meant to climb out of bed and have a beautiful morning by jogging over to Joyce's place down the street but there went her morning mood.She hissed and shuffled out of bed. Sitting up, she shoved her phone somewhere before climbing down. Shoving her feet into the bunny slippers at the foot of her bed, her gaze landed on the hamper filled with a pile of her dirty wears.Groaning because she wasn't in the mood to do her laundry, she ignored it and padded into her bathroom instead. For some reason, she felt very hungry that morning despite having eaten casserole with Joyce the night before.She grabbed her toothbrush, applied an ample amount of paste before she started to brush her teeth. When she finished brushing, she stretched and came out of the ba
Sophie had just finished her laundry and returned to her apartment, feeling a pleasant exhaustion from the day's chores. She hadn't wanted to do it, almost picked up her phone to call her housekeeper but then she had thought about it when Joyce came around to help her out with it. That had been what had encouraged her.“So, like you are traveling home next weekend?” She asked, glancing over her shoulders to see her friend's face.“Yes, I'm so damn excited Sophie. Finally, ” She exhaled.“I get. And I'm so damn excited for you, babe. Say in a few months now, you will be getting married.” Sophie squealed before collapsing on her couch, her face set in an excited smile.“Thank you, ” Joyce mused as a blush crept up her face.“That reminds me, my neighbor, Gina invited us to her parents' surprise wedding anniversary. It's next weekend.” I relayed her message to her.“Woah, isn't she like an event planner or something?” Joyce asked watching Sophie gulp down water from her bottle.“That's
“So, you are just going to freshen up and head to your parent's house?” Tyler asked when they stepped out of the elevator. His large hand was latched onto hers and they both didn't even realize it. Tyler had taken her hand when they alighted from the car earlier, his other hand resting on her lower back.They had cut the act in the elevator ride up but had still gone ahead to hold hands without realizing it.Sophie exhaled, brushing a hand through her hair. Her hat had been long discarded and even though the picnic had been nothing but eventful being that about two reporters captured her with Tyler, she still felt exhausted knowing about how her day was about to end.“Honestly, I wish nothing more but to end it before it even begins.” She exhaled, shaking her head slightly.“Wow, ” Tyler watched her. He had noted on three occasions that whenever she talked about her family, the color just seem to drain out of her face, leaving her pale and extremely tired.“Well, I hope you have a nic
Tyler cursed his luck as he strode out of the car. His car keys dangled around his fingers and as uncomfortable as he was, he didn't let that reflect on his face as he stood in the open space, looking around for one person.When he said he had urgent work to attend to, he didn't mean work like this. He didn't mean work that involved shit like this but of course, his evening just had to get ruined before it even began.A white Mercedes rolled into the driveway and Tyler had to cover his face with his palm from the blinding lights of the car. He scoffed before leaning against the car, watching as the lights went off and the sound of the engine got cut.Shoving his hands into the pocket of his jeans, he waited impatiently for Gabby to make his way out of the car over to where he was. Gabby stepped forward and without a word, handed Tyler a blind folder.“See man, I know that you are upset but—”“—The hell, I am!” Tyler lost it and interrupted him. He turned around angrily and hit the bo
Sophie woke up with a splitting headache and an irregular pound in her head. She held her head, a small cry escaping her lips. Still holding her head in place, she sat up on the bed and for a moment she realized that she wasn't in her room.But she didn't panic before the events of the day came tumbling in her mind and she couldn't suppress the loud groan that escaped her. How could she have been so foolish to stay the night at Tyler's?He wasn't her boyfriend, she had to learn that quickly.She shuffled out of bed beside the pound in her head and was about to make a beeline for the door when her eyes flickered to the bed stand and she saw the glass of water and a packet of pills put in place for her.She blinked twice to clear her confusion, surprised to see that there. Hesitating, she took slow steps toward it like it was going to hurt her or something before she finally came to terms with it and made use of the pills and the water.It wasn't until she was done that she caught her
Sophie wasn't surprised when Kristen walked into her office with a bouquet of carnations and a box of chocolates. The gesture had been happening frequently. It would arrive almost at lunchtime when she was about to take a break and each note told a different story.Sophie had no idea who it was that was dropping the flowers but she knew that whoever it was would show up eventually. Still, she accepted the flowers from Kristen with a large smile, shrugging internally at the thought of it being Giovanni. “Thank you, ” she took a sniff of the fresh flowers before she went ahead to pick out the note.“May your day be filled with love as the carnations.” She read with a small giggle before handing it back to Kristen to put away in the vase. Sophie stuck open her drawer before tucking the handwritten note into a folder she had kept there for such purpose. When she glanced back up, she realized that her bubbly assistant was grinning at her and she was starting to raise her brows in suspici
Sophie wasn't sure what she was expecting after receiving the call from Harper but nothing in front of her beat her imagination. Nothing before her warned her of the impending storm.Tyler had barely parked the car properly when she jumped out and climbed up the stairs that led into Harper's salon. What she definitely wasn't expecting that caught her attention was the presence of the red-haired, destroying things around the store while a frantic Harper went after her.At first, Sophie had thought the red-haired was Joyce because of the way she had her hair packed but the woman was curvier and shorter than Joyce was. Also, Joyce would never resort to violence the way the woman was.“Bitch, you ain't ruining my shop. I got customers here. You ain't doing this to me. This is personal. Hey! Don't you dare trash that? Bitch, I'm talking to you!” Harper was screaming at the madwoman when Sophie got a hold of one of the stylists running around to stop the bully's assistant.“Silva, what the
Tyler was nervous. He had been since he saw her in that beautiful dress at the hospital. He had known it was her opening night at the gallery and even though she wouldn't want him there, Tyler had gone anyway. He was proud of her. He was proud of everything she had done and became with or without him.But he needed her now and more than ever.He wanted her now more than ever and he was going to get her.She had looked seemingly unaffected by his presence at the hospital the night before but he knew it had touched her as he had touched him too. He hoped she would wear that dress she wore for her gallery opening. He also wished that she wouldn't. He wished she would smile at him when she arrived but Tyler was close to losing his mind. It was an hour after the arranged time yet she wasn't here. He had refrained from texting her so as not to appear too pathetic. He wanted her but he also had to play his cards right.When his phone buzzed in his pocket, Tyler took it out to answer the cal
Kristen folded her arms against her chest as she stared at Sophie. She wasn't complaining about having her in her house but Sophie could be exhausting. Especially in moments when she was this stubborn. And she was done, she couldn't deal with this attitude of hers anymore.“Do you need me to call Willow because I will. Oh, I know. Joyce would get here quicker than Willow would.” She tsked, eyeing the woman in pajamas lying on the floor of the living room to Netflix and chill.“You wouldn't dare,” Sophie barely glanced away from the screen of the TV as she grabbed a handful of popcorn from the bowl in front of her and poured them into her mouth. She munched cheerfully like she didn't have a worry in the world.When in fact, she did. She had a lot running through her mind but she would never say it.It was only a day after the opening of her art gallery. A day after she met Tyler at the hospital. A day after Harper's birth to Baby Ivan. It was the date night Tyler had scheduled for her
Sophie didn't get a breathing space that night as she wandered about, talking to her guests and the families of her featured artists. She had almost let herself go into worry about Harper but Joyce had handed her a glass of non alcoholic wine that had put her at ease.So, with a glass in hand, Sophie had wandered around in her gallery and attended to guests. The number of people that had turned up were more than she had expected but she was glad that she had enough resources to handle them. She had just finished selling off a beautiful glass piece to a man when Joyce pulled her aside for a break."Heard anything from them yet?” she whispered as Joyce pulled her away from the scene to a corner.“Not yet,” Joyce whispered back with a hiss. She was equally very worried but that wasn't what she wanted to talk about.“Okay, so what's going on?” Sophie asked when she saw the look on her face.“I just saw Jasper and Olivia.” Joyce confessed trying to look past her friend's shoulders toward t
It had been exactly two weeks since the whole episode with her father. With the help of her friends, Sophie had gotten back on tracks with her dream art gallery. She had channeled all her emotions into setting up the perfect gallery she wanted.In two weeks, she had set up the podium and given the place the taste it deserved. Countless times, Joyce and the rest of the girls had dropped by to help her set up. And when she wasn't setting up, Sophie would lay down on the floors of the place and imagine what her future would be filled with.In everything she had pictured, there had been Tyler. It has been more than a while. Since the day she had ordered him out of her hospital room, she hadn't heard back from him. Although she felt extremely bad for treating him that way, she'd been hurting too. She hadn't wanted to see him. Now, she didn't know.She missed him. She missed everything about him but that wasn't the topic for the day. It was her gallery's opening night. Her friends had he
When Sophie got the call from Willow asking her to come to the police station the morning after the day she was released from the hospital, her mind had conjured up different thoughts that she didn't think were appropriate. Willow had sounded calm yet very worried. Like she was very close to killing someone off which had made her extremely worried.Kristen had driven her to the police station because she hadn't been strong enough to drive. Although she had been properly taken care of in the hospital, her wound hadn't completely healed off and her body still sometimes ached her. She still couldn't believe that someone had almost succeeded in killing her.The thought still paralyzed her whenever she thought if it. What if the bullet had gone straight to her heart? What would have become of her? So many if's and possibilities always left her paralyzed.“You are going to be fine,” Kristen had told her repeatedly before she walked into the police station. Everyone around her seemed to know
"Congratulations, Tyler.” Willow shook his hand when they stepped out from the court. His smile was wide, big yet very much incomplete. This had been his dream for the past few years; To put Manuel and Andy away for good.It had been simple yet very difficult.But Willow had made it happen. She had gathered all the obvious evidence she could find and made him set up a meeting with Adelaide on the guise of getting her to confess to what she had done alongside Manuel and Andy. His half-brothers were very smart and intelligent but one thing they all had in common was their pride at their winnings which always led them to gloat and talk about everything they weren't supposed to.All it had taken were a few bottles of drinks to get them put behind bars. Now, he had custody of the little girl he was starting to call his.“No, Willow. You made it happen,” he smiled genuinely at her and she smiled back with ease. Willow was a beast when she was in court and that much was apparent. She had pu
Joyce pushed past the crowd in front of her when she sighted Harper and Willow waiting ahead. She had almost lost her mind when she had gotten the call from Harper telling her that Sophie had been involved in an accident. Joyce had thought that Sophie had refused to pick her calls or answer any of her texts because she was trying to give them space.She knew Sophie and she wouldn't put that past her.But the call from Harper had almost destabilized her. Already, she and Nick were already planning on returning back to LA after being in New York for close to a month now but Harper's call had sped up the whole process.“Slow down, baby.” She heard Nick say behind her. She knew that if it wasn't for the bags he was juggling, he would have rushed toward her. Joyce finally got to where her friends were standing and without any warning of some sort, she plunged them into a hug. Well, that was if Harper's large baby bump allowed her to hug her properly.“Joyce,” Harper pouted as she struggle
Tyler hummed as he flipped the pancake on the pan. It was late into the afternoon yet he hadn't had anything to eat all day having been busy. Taking Adelaide and his half brothers down had been a lot harder than he thought and everything was messin with him more than he thought it would.He barely had any time for himself to breathe and do all the things he needed to do. As if that wasn't enough, Tyler had had to deal with Giovanni when he went to the office the other day for an official meeting. The beast of a man had barged until his office without knocking to talk to him, being all rude to everyone around.Tyler hadn't been surprised when he saw him. He knew that it was only a matter of time before Giovanni De Luca figured out who he was. He had played enough and to him, he thought that he had taken more than enough time to figure him out.Too slow.“Well, this is late,” he'd said when he walked in, leaning back into his chair as he gazed up at the man. “Let me guess, somebody tipp
When Sophie opened her eyes, everything seemed fuzzy and out of focus. She blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision, but everything remained hazy and indistinct. Slowly, she became aware of a dull ache in her head, and she realized that she must have hit her head during the accident. She tried to sit up, but a wave of dizziness washed over her and she slumped back down onto the bed. Everything was a blur, both literally and figuratively. As she struggled to regain her senses, the memories of the accident began to come back to her in flashes. She remembered the screech of the tires, the sickening crunch of metal, and the blinding pain that had followed. It was all a blur, but slowly the details were starting to come into focus. She tried to sit up again, this time with more success. She took a deep breath and looked around, trying to get her bearings. Where was she?It wasn't until she finally registered the antiseptic smell that came with hospitals and the white walls that