Apologies for the short update, readers. Please bear in mind that TTCS will be updated from Mondays to Thursdays throughout the month.
-Leia-The first day back at work after the winter break and Moore Industries is a madhouse. The stockpile of emails, the missed calls, voicemails, planning meetings, and arranging trips overseas. This always happens, and I always say that I’ll never leave for winter breaks again.It’s 4 PM when I eventually touch base again, and only because my stomach started growling. I order myself some lunch, lean my head on the table and breathe out a long-ass sigh; I am so going to enjoy that bath tonight.“So this is what you’re doing while I’m worrying about you?” My head whips up at the sound of Christian’s voice; so I jump to my feet, run towards him and throw my arms around his neck.“What are you doing back here?!” I exclaim. “I thought you had back-to-back meetings?”The thrum of his chuckle makes my heart soar, and he kisses the top of my head before breaking off the embrace. “Yeah, but I forgot to mention that I have a meeting right next door in twenty minutes, so I just wanted to co
-Christian-“Oh, come on, mate! Just an hour or so then you can go again!”I’m on the way to the airport when Jasper calls me asking me to join him and his cousin for a few drinks at his newly opened club. After finishing my long-ass meeting, I was tempted to go back to see Leia, but it was after six, so she would have left already.“I am literally on the way to the airport, asshole; some of us have work to do, you know,” I say while rolling my eyes.“Aw, but I promised Marc you’d be there!” Marc is the cousin Leia’s friend works for, the one who doesn’t swing the way most men do. “Please! You’re my bestest mate and it wouldn’t feel right without you!”Sighing, I pinch the bridge of my nose and try to calm down. “Sorry, Jas. I gotta be in Spain to meet with an investor and I literally just drove onto the tarmac. See you when I get back,” I say while listening to him groaning.“Wanker. Fine, I’ll let you go this time, but we’re definitely getting sloshed when you get back,” he grumbles
-Leia-After the other night’s disaster, I’ve decided not to jump to any kind of conclusion when it comes to Christian. I burnt my goddamn fingers and was left to suffer without talking things through with a man I know is good for me.He might have a history, but that’s just it, right? Everyone says he’s changed, my mom likes him, he’s hard-working and doesn’t lie to me. I know it’s just my insecurities speaking, but what does Christian even see in me?The tabloids always have him with skinnier women than me, tall blondes, or brunettes who have legs for days. Women who wake up looking like they’ve stepped out of a magazine. Not someone with red hair, a little pouch on her belly, and boobs that gives her backaches. What’s so special about me? “Stop it, Leia,” I chastised myself for the third day already. “He wants you; he’s shown how much he wants you, not them!”And his texts…gosh his texts warm my heart, while his selfies warm my lady bits. I knew Christian could be naughty, but ho
-Leia-I visit my sleeping mom again when I’m done with work. She’s been sleeping most of the time and apparently, it’s all the meds for the pain they have her on. Why is she in so much pain now, though? Are the treatments not working?After saying goodbye, I walk out to the waiting car, but then someone calls out my name. I turn to see Oliver running towards me, his blonde hair moving as if he’s on a TV ad for Maybelline. “Hey, long time no see,” I remark when he comes to a stop. “Have you been well?”He smiles. “I’ve been great, love, but I need to speak with you about your mother,” now my heart is trapped in a fist and it’s growing tighter as the seconds tick by. “Is something wrong?” Oliver sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. “Lydia is refusing to take the new treatments,” he says and just like that, fate drops a bucket of ice-cold water on me.“What? What do you mean…Why is she refusing them?”“I think that’s something you need to discuss
-Christian-After Leia’s call, I immediately packed and got my private jet ready. There’s no time to sleep when my woman is on the other side of the world feeling shattered. I can always sleep on the flight over, but for now, she needs me.Just a few more minutes before we land, just a few more minutes before I see her again.This will always be an issue until I have my company be an established name, and while I used to love jet setting, now I can’t stand it. I want to go to work and come home to my wife, have dinner with her, and listen to her talk about her day. I want the small things with Leia, but I can’t right now while my company is still fledgling.But, I will always drop whatever I am busy with just for her and this thing with her mother is tearing her apart. As much as I know it hurts Leia, I also understand where Lydia is coming from. My mother was tired of everything, too, and when she heard nothing further could be done, it came as a relief to her. She wanted the pain t
-Leia-I wake up and stretch, then abruptly stop when I feel a hard body against me… not only that but the thick length of a cock against my butt. That’s when I remember Christian is home. The shower, the washing, the talking, and making plans to take my mom abroad. It wasn’t a dream, he was really here!Grinning, I snuggle more into his embrace, until I hear a groan. “If you wiggle your ass any more than that. I’ll have to do something about it,” Christian says in a voice thick with sleep.“Ha, can't do anything without sorting out that morning breath, Mr. Moore, and I won’t kiss you while mine is rank as well,” I say and I’m about to get out of bed when he pulls me back and gets on top of me.There’s a naughty grin on his face, but he doesn’t say anything…he just nudges my legs open and moves lower.My eyes widened, knowing I'm not wearing panties. “Christian-!” but he shuts me up by running his tongue up the length of my folds. I moan and arch my back from the bed, but he holds me
-Christian-Her smile right now is intoxicating; watching the way she interacts with her mother, her laugh, the way her eyes light up when her mother holds her hand… I would do anything to chase this feeling over and over.Lydia’s clinic finally said yes to the trip; after I told them I would hire two full-time nurses and assured them Lydia would be fine, they relented. Well, Leia told them, not me. She wanted to do it herself.So here we are, on our way to one of the hotels my father owns on the first stop of our vacation. At first, Lydia refused to go, saying it was a waste of time, but she came around eventually. This trip means a lot to Leia since her mother’s decision, so I’ve decided to spare no expense to see both of them happy.When we walked into our hotel room, Lydia gasped and placed a hand over her heart. “Oh, this is beautiful, Christian!” she exclaimed with nothing but wonder in her eyes as she stared over the night skyline. “You truly didn’t need to do all this.”I sho
-Leia-You would think I’d get used to my mother dropping bombs on me, but right now I am more pissed off than hurt.“Why?!”“Leia, calm down-”“No!” I exclaim, shaking my head at both Christian and my mother. “No, I want to know why you’re cutting your vacation short. We haven’t even left for Greece yet!”My mother looks down at her hands in her lap and one of her nurses takes her hand and gives it a squeeze. “I’m tired, Leia, and I want you two to have fun without worrying about me all the time.”I shake my head. “Mom, this vacation is so we can spend time with you before… before…” I can’t bring myself to say it and a sob chokes me up. “You can’t leave!”I feel Christian’s arms around my waist and lean into him without even thinking. He’s become my rock lately, always there when I need him, and I’m starting to worry if he’ll ever get sick of me. That would just be the icing on this ruined cake called my life, wouldn’t it?My mom gets to her feet and I reach out for her. “No, please,
-Christian- I watch his face light up as I pin the boutonnière to the lapel of his fitted little tux. “You got me one too!” he exclaims when he sees that we’ll be wearing matching sets. “Of course; we’re two of the most important men in Mommy’s life. We need to match, don’t you think?” I say, before placing my hands on his shoulders. “Now, remember what I said?” He nods sternly and a serious look crosses his tiny face. “Even if I drop your rings, it’s not a bad thing because accidents happen.” I reach up to tousle his hair and shoot him a grin. “Good boy, Mason. Why don’t you go show Mommy and Aunty Del your boutonnière?” He giggles and wraps his arms around my neck before sprinting out of the bedroom. The smile doesn’t leave my face as I’m looking at myself in the mirror. The few grays and smile lines grow by the day and it doesn’t bother me because I want to look my thirty-three years. It’s been five years since Leia agreed to marry me, and we’ve decided that now would be the
-Leia-“A boy? We’re having a boy?” I ask with a choked-up voice as I look at the screen in front of me. “Are you sure?”The doctor nods with a smile on his face and points towards the screen, circling a spot. “Yip, that’s a boy alright. Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Moore.”I don’t bother to correct her and glance up at Christian, noticing his blue eyes are wide and glistening with unshed tears. He takes my hand and kisses the back of it and when he blinks, those tears now slip down his cheeks. “We’re having a little boy, Red,” he murmurs, his voice tight with emotion. “You’re giving me a son.”He says this as if it’s the most wonderful thing in the world and by now I can’t stop my own tears from rolling down my cheeks. And man, do I ugly cry. The rest of the check-up goes by smoothly, and the doctor gives me a revised due date for mid-December. The only issue was that I won’t be able to give birth naturally, so we opted for a c-section.Christian leads me over to his Phantom and we
-Christian- “Oh, my God; Alexander must hate me!” Leia exclaims while we’re driving to my father’s villa. “And Olivia! Did I tell you how awkward she looked when she saw me in the pharmacy? She kept staring at me!”“Yes, love,” I answer, my gaze going to her, then back to the road. “And no, my father absolutely loves you. I think even more than he loves me.”Leia shoots me a look that lets me know she’s going to strangle me and I can’t help but chuckle. It’s been about a month since we’ve made up; a month of nothing but absolute happiness and getting to know each other again.She was right about us not needing to jump right into getting married or living together because then we would simply be love-bombing each other without really working through our problems. Just because we cleared up our misunderstanding, doesn’t mean everything will go back to normal.Besides, there’s no normal now; Leia is pregnant with my child. This is the reason for us meeting with my father and Olivia - we
-Leia-“I’ll be right out here if you need me; text me when you’re done,” Delilah says when we’re in Christian’s underground parking the following evening and I give her a quick nod and hug before getting out of her car.Tonight I’m dressed in a pair of stretchy maternity jeans that stretch around my belly and a blouse that covers my bump. I’m still telling Christian about Bean tonight, but I first need to hear what he has to say.I walk towards the elevator and it opens before I can call Christian, and out he walks wearing a shy smile that gets my heart pumping in an awful way. His baby blues are shining with excitement and when he walks towards me, he places a kiss on my cheek.“Hey,” I greeted him awkwardly again.“Hey,” he responds, still wearing that smile as I get into the elevator with him.We ride in awkward silence with Christian’s delicious cologne making me float on a happy cloud. I will always associate Tom Ford with this man - God, he wears it so well.The doors open into
-Christian-My father’s eyes widen when I walk into his study at his home and he stands up to greet me. “Oh, this is certainly unexpected,” he says as we embrace. “What brings you around?”He gestures to the bourbon and I shake my head. “Nothing for me, thank you. I’ve actually come to seek your council,” I say and he gives me another raise of his eyebrows.“Again, unexpected but most definitely welcomed. Come, let’s sit next to the fireplace,” he says and we walk over to the entertainment section of his study.He pours himself a glass of the amber liquid and sits down next to me on the plush sofa. “Is this about Leia?”I chuckle at his ability to suss me out and I nod. “What gave it away?”The corner of his mouth lifts in amusement and he leans back on the sofa. “Well, you’re no longer looking as if you have the entire world on your shoulders, for one. And that determined spark is back in your eye,” he says, then he takes a sip of his glass.I heave out a sigh and lean back on the so
-Leia-I hear Delilah sneaking into the bedroom and feel as she wraps her arms around me. I have no idea when Christian eventually left the apartment because I’ve been crying in here non-stop ever since. The last time I cried was when I found out I was pregnant and I’ve refused to shed another tear ever since. There was only me and my life with my baby. No one else will come close.Or so I thought - the second I saw how broken Christian was, all my defenses crumbled to dust. He was hurting as much as I was, I could see it in his eyes. He knows what he did was wrong, how he treated me was wrong, and thought an apology would take away weeks of pain.I love him, but I am not naïve.“Are you gonna be okay?” Delilah asks behind me. “Need me to go beat him up for you?”I laugh through my sobs and clasp her arm closer to me. “No, I’ll be okay. I needed him to hear me say that…It had to come from me. Hopefully, he moves on as I will,” I say.If anything, this will probably make Christian try
-Leia-I’m laying on Delilah’s couch with my hand over my belly, stroking it gently. Ever since I started eating better, the hectic nausea went away, and I started filling out nicely. You can just make out my bump now, almost four months later. “Aww, is he moving again? Damn it, I always seem to miss it!” Delilah says as she sits down on the floor next to me and leans her head on my stomach. “When are you going to move for me, Bean?”I can’t help but chuckle at her pout. “It’s not full-on movements, you know; it feels like tickles at times,” I say for the tenth time, but she just grumbles and crosses her arms. “So unfair-”A knock at the front door silences her and when I look at her expectantly, she shrugs and moves over to the door. I immediately see her stiffen up when she looks through the peephole, then she turns to me with wide eyes, scoops Klaus up next to her, and puts him in my arms. “I need you to go to the bedroom,” she hisses I look at her questioningly and she sighs. “
-Christian-Life is moving in slow motion, everything is still happening as if I didn’t lose my purpose for living. The morning after I kicked Leia out, it took everything in me not to call her back or answer her calls. I wanted to beg her to come back, that I’ll put everything behind us if she forgave me and still loved me.But my pride stopped that.Her scent was still all over my penthouse so I immediately had her things packed up and taken away. I wanted no sign that she lived here, I wanted every trace of her removed from my life. But I couldn’t be an asshole and have her things left outside, so I had them pack it all away. Now my penthouse is an empty shell once again; it doesn’t even smell like Leia anymore.It’s been two months since I saw Leia last, two months since I removed her from my life, and two months since I’ve touched alcohol. The smell of it reminds me of the ugly things I said to her, and I am already stewing in my guilt as it is.I’m never home anymore. I always
-Leia-Rain.The weather matches my mood perfectly as I watch my mother’s casket being lowered. I haven’t cried all day; I’m not sure if it’s because I have already cried so much already; right now that numb feeling has settled in my heart and I don’t think it’s going to move at all.I didn’t bother to let my father or siblings know our mother had passed away; what would be the point? They sucked her inheritance dry and then left without another word, so no I do not owe them this message.Another person I didn’t tell was Alexander and Christian - again, what’s the point?Walking forward, I throw a single white rose onto her casket and it lands with a gentle thud, then I walk towards my car even as my friends call for me. There will be no ‘after-tears’, no well-wishing, or anything of the sort. I didn’t want any of that, I just want to go home and curl up into a ball with my cat.Thankfully they all accept my privacy, but I know it will only be for so long. I haven’t told Delilah or Lu