BEATRICE:The two men stared at each other then returned the gaze towards me while I waited for their statement. While waiting for their answers, I craned my neck from side to side. I was tired even though I had only just woken up. “We will not fight if you don’t like it, Little One,” Josh declared. “We will not do anything that would upset you, okay? I’m sorry if our constant bickering upset you. Please forgive us for our immature behavior. We should be doing better since you’re still traumatized by what happened to you.”As usual, Josh was the understanding type. Unlike my ex-husband who did not grow up. I heaved a sigh. “I hope you will be honoring your promise, Josh. And now, would you please go now? You two, please? You’ve been here for so long.”I want to have some alone time with myself and fetch Grayson at school. With the two men here, I did not think I would be able to do that.Josh stood. “Alright. We will be going now.”Drake’s forehead knotted as he lifted his gaze an
BEATRICE:My lips parted as I stared at Christina, then shook my head a couple of times. "You're not going to tell my brother, Chrstina even if he is your husband. You promised me."Everette and the rest of my siblings should not know about me and Grayson. They just could not know. What would Mom do if she found out I contacted them? Mom never treated anyone as a family member as long as you did something wrong in her eyes. Christina's expression softened. "Don't you think six years is already too long for punishing your siblings? Beatrice. Please. You have to tell them already."Punishing? Was that how it looked to her? I cut ties with them because I was punishing them? Why would I punish my beloved siblings when in fact my heart was calling for them? There was never a day that passed by without me thinking if they were fine or not. My heart was yearning for them. If only…"You’re wrong. I'm not punishing them. I am merely following the family traditions. I don't want them to be pu
BEATRICE:Christina's voice was full of suspicion. As if she greatly believed that I fell for my ex-husband once again. Which won't be happening any moment from now. I was not the type who would do that knowing my ex-husband was with a woman right now. I was not that foolish.Are you sure, Beatrice? the other part of my mind asked. It's easy to tell a lie. What the! I'm not lying at all! I'm not stupid to fall for Drake. Why would I?"That's not going to happen," I explained, biting back each word. Christina’s eyes were full of suspicion. "Are you sure? Because that's not what I am seeing right now, Beatrice."“Whatever you say is wrong,” I defended. “Don't assume anything, alright?”I shook my head a couple of times and then glanced at the time on my phone. Grayson was already waiting for me now. Lifting my gaze and staring at her, I said, "Look, Christina. If you ever push what you planned, like telling my brother, then you might as well believe that our friendship is done. I c
BEATRICE:My body went cold, as I continued to imagine the worst things on who could be visiting me. What if Christina did not listen anymore to my pleas?"Mommy? The bell keeps ringing. Do you want me to open the door? Maybe it's Daddy, Mommy. I miss him already."I blinked a couple of times. Drake would be better than facing my younger brothers and sister. I was still not ready. I could not be ready at all. "Mommy? Are you okay?"Inhaling deeply while trying to control the fast beating of my heart, I said, "I am fine, Grayson.""Are you sure, Mommy? You seemed sick. Do you have a fever, Mommy?"I shook my head while biting my lips. "Don't mind, Mommy. Would you mind if you stay here while Mommy will check who could be the visitor?""If it's Dad, MOmmy, please inform him that we're going to play."I just hoped it was my ex-husband.Curtly nodding, I said, "I will." And I left his side and sauntered towards the doorway, hoping it was not any of my siblings.My heart was thumping wil
My hands shook while staring at Everette. He and Christina were alike. Those were easy for him to say because he did not know my struggles. “Really? Then, why don't you step out of my house and leave me alone? Don't you come in here so that you will stop seeing me. If I will only cause you stress, then you remove me from your life. You got that?"It was not like I asked them to look for me. I did not. I was already fine with spending the rest of my life with my son and no one else.Everette yanked his hair out of frustration."You don't understand, Beatrice."I smiled bitterly. "Yeah. All of you think I am an imbecile and I don't understand what you are all talking about. It's only my son who understands me. No one else. So why don't you disappear from my life, Everette. Don't you dare come back again. I don't need you. Or any member of the family."Maybe being alone was better. "Beatrice. You don't know what you're talking about. You need us in your life."I averted my gaze. "I kn
BEATRICE:Everette inhaled sharply and there I saw how his face darkened. “You never learned your lesson, Beatrice. How could you still be a fool and love your ex-husband? That man…you and my nephew don’t have any future with him!” he growled. “Stop loving him and move on.”Was I considering Drake to be my husband again? I did not know. But one thing was for sure. I wanted to annoy the hell out of him for barging into my house uninvited and for saying mean things towards me."He is a changed man," I said. "And whether I choose him or not, you don't have a say on that."I bit the inside of my cheeks. What was I doing again? Defending Drake? Really? As if he was already apry of my life again. Everette inhaled deeply and I could feel his disappointment mixed with frustration on his face."You're out of your mind. It's clear Josh is better than your ex-husband.""You don't know Drake."He cursed loudly that I was afraid that Grayson would be able to hear us."Stop defending him, for g
BEATRICE:Josh's smile faltered and looked at me with a nervous expression on his face. My eyes narrowed even more.I do not like it when someone is acting suspicious. I had already had enough of men betraying me.If Josh would betray me in the end…I did not know what I would be capable of doing. "You did not answer my question, Josh. How come you know that Everette visited me? I never said anything like that.""I-I am so sorry, Little One. But that time, I was in your house vicinity to check on you annd found your younger brother stepping out of his car. I became embarrassed and did not continue entering your house. You know how protected he is to you especially in high school.""How will I know if you're telling the truth?" I asked.He chuckled nervously. "Are you suspicious of me, Little One? Is there some harm in knowing about your brother's visit?"I folded my arms in front of my chest. "Why not? Everyone might be a suspect, especially the burglar who was not caught."The smile
BEATRICE:Josh was dangerously close and even if I was staring back at him, he was not doing anything to lean backward. His eyes continued staring at my lips while shamelessly getting closer and closer. My hands were at my side, not having the strength to push him off. Maybe I want to know if he would really kiss me or not. Would he dare to? In front of this crowd? At the corner of my eyes, no one stopped and looked at us, all of them minding their own business.Yeah. No one was watching us. So, what's the harm of letting this man kiss me and see for myself if I was now ready to be with another man. Maybe Josh was the one who would change my views about marriage and men?Inhaling deeply, I closed my eyes and waited for him to kiss me.Whatever.How would I know if I won't allow him to kiss me? I was single for crying out loud and why would I imprison myself in the past? I waited for his lips to land on mine. I waited, but it already took a couple of seconds, but there was no kiss.