All my presumptions proved to be correct about why Rafe disappeared in an instant after kissing me. I comprehended it through his behavior. He is regretting it. He didn't like kissing me. He's probably ashamed of cheating on his girlfriend with me. He plainly ignored me the entire next week. He barely came home at nights. He didn't talk to me in the office. He treated me like I don't exist as if he couldn't hear me or see me, as if I had become invisible. I tried a few times to talk to him, to find out what's wrong with him, but he made excuses, showed reluctance, and pretended that he's too busy to talk about anything, but work. It made me angry. It made me hurt. His cold attitude and the way he has been avoiding me. It made me think that he's giving me hints that he doesn't want himself around me, that he suddenly became allergic to me. I'm surprised by his sudden change of behavior with me. He was being so friendly, so understanding before the kiss and now this. . . He's making
I paint my lips with cherry red lips. The color is contrasting with my shimmery, sleeveless red dress. "Woah, you're looking fab, Freya."I see through my dresser's mirror that Mia enters my room then stares at me from head to toe with an opened mouth. I move to my eye-make. Mom and Dad have already left for their designated hotel leaving Mia behind. "But isn't this too sparkly for family dinner?" "This is not for dinner." I move a mascara brush on my lashes, "I'm going out. The food is in the fridge. If you feel hungry, just microwave it. Stay comfortably at home, watch a movie on TV or do a live streaming. And do not stay awake till late. It's not healthy.""But what about dinner? Mom and Dad invited you and Rafe."I turn to her, "It is cancelled. I just talked to Mom and cancelled it." I've changed my plan.I decide to skip the family dinner and go somewhere else. I knew if I would not do something to distract myself, my stress would kill me. "Did they agree?" She asks."Yes."
Around ten o'clock in the evening, I hesitantly enter the villa with my coat hanging on my arm. I intend not to come face to face with Freya. It will be difficult again to avoid her and her eyes filled with questions.Locking the main door, I walk inside and notice empty cups and plates scattered on the dinner table. I feel strange. Someone was here at the villa?I walk further and then I hear the faint sound of music coming from the room which usually remains vacant.After a few seconds, I see a familiar woman step out of that room. She stops midway when she catches me. A young girl with short hair and a petite figure. I instantly recognize her."Mia." A smile plays on my lips, "What a pleasant surprise!"She darts to me, "Rafe, you're finally here. We all were waiting for you."She hugs me and I hug her back, "Yes, I now remember you were going to come today." I groan at my lost memory. I forgot that Freya's parents were going to land here today. I also remember that I got to know f
I am sitting at the bar counter with Luke, observing people dancing and eating. The atmosphere is vibrant and animated. It is animated enough to put some life into a spiritless body like me. The music and dancing is lifting up my mood a little if I ignore the part of me that is feeling lonely and wishing Rafe would be here.Luke and I did attend the musical event but midway I got bored so I asked him to go to the dance bar. The event was formal and I wanted to be in some non-formal and relaxed environment. I even dressed for a non-formal place. So I changed his plan and he thankfully agreed. "The ring is still not in your finger. Did it sort out with your husband?" Luke questions. I give a brief glance to my finger then grab my glass of drink, "What sort out? It's near the end." I murmured, but he still heard me, "Really? That's awful. Rafe can't be this imprudent to let go of a woman like you. I mean you have a great personality and flawless looks. There can't be anything in you t
Anxiously, I dance my eyes everywhere as soon as I enter the dance lounge Luke Salvatore has told me about. I see heads all around, flashy dresses and colorful strobe lights. The loud rock music is hammering the ground and the entire place. I stop and think that I can't find Freya in this massive crowd.I'm going crazy with anger and acute worry. I hope I'm not late and she is okay. My paranoid brain gave me all kinds of weird thoughts about her on my way to here. I walk further and keep my eyes engaged in an impatient search for Freya. With continuous walking I reach the bar counter and there I see a familiar face. He sees me too and raises his arm up in air and waves at me.I rush to him at a supersonic speed and grab his collar, "Where's my wife? What did you do to her?" "What are you saying?" He gets surprised and tries to push away my hands from his collar, "Why would I do anything to her? She's my project partner." "Cut your crap and tell me where she is?" My impatience is rea
I get baffled at her sudden rude tone. She sits on the backless chair, but does not touch the lemonade glass, placed across her on the counter. "You're making me mad." Her hair falls on her sides, making it hard for me to see her face.Did she mind that I didn't go along with her?I go beside her and tilt my posture to see her, "I'm making you mad? You're making me mad. Do you have any idea how worried I got when Luke called me? I was--""Wait, Luke called you?" She interrupts me, turning her head to me. Her eye lids are heavy."Where is he?" She looks around.Should this be important right now? "He has left." I grit my teeth. She grumbles. Then again ease herself on the stool. "That fool." She mutters lowly, but I hear her. She's so concerned about him.She's making me frustrated. "Drink this." I pick up the lemonade glass and offer her, "It will reduce the effect of alcohol." She takes it from my hand with a jerk and drinks half of the glass in one sip."What were you doing here
During the whole car ride, Freya didn't utter a word. She stayed silent and kept her head rested on the headrest of the car. Her quiet state gave me the impression that she had fallen asleep so I glanced in her direction after every few minutes just to confirm. But I saw her eyes were opened the entire time. I got a hint that she's for sure angry with me. I stop the car once we arrive in front of the villa. I pull up the handbrake and turn off the car's AC. I turn my head and see Freya doesn't move. She stays in the same position. I wait for some seconds so that she would sit up on her own and get to know that we are at home. But she doesn't.Her eyes are fixated on a windshield as if she's boring holes into it. "Hey, we are home." I say in a low voice. She moves her hands when she hears me. She slowly sits up, runs her fingers in her hair, then quietly goes out of the car.She walks slowly towards the entrance door. I observe her steps are wobbly. She's unable to walk straight in
"Rafe, you're here. Everything's okay?" Freya's sister stops me. "I saw Freya, but she didn't talk to me.""Oh. Because she's not herself. She's drunk." I answer, "But don't worry she's fine." I smile in assurance.She nods. "Why are you still awake? I told you to go to bed.""I was a bit worried." "Okay. But now we're here. You saw your sister so now sleep in peace." I advise her. "Okay." She turns towards her room.I continue walking in the direction of my room, but then I stop in the middle and remember that I'm supposed to go to Freya's room. I have shifted some of my luggage into her room in order to pretend in front of her parents that we live as a married couple and share a single room. I turn towards her room.I made preparations beforehand. If I didn't plan on meeting Freya's parents why would I have shifted my stuff into her room? Freya shouldn't have doubted me. I open the door of her bedroom and open my mouth to call her name out loud, but I close my mouth immediately
"It's confirmed now." I hear him sigh on the phone, "that you'll work there and I'll work here. We have to work now at separate places.""Hmm. Indeed." I enter my room and look around, remembering how my office here looked like. It's weird, indeed. To be back at my old workplace. So much has changed within me and in my life.I visited Howard's main building a few times in past weeks, but didn't get a chance to see my office. "But I was used to seeing you around me, Fay. It was good working with you and getting to see you whenever I wanted. It will be difficult to be habitual with this new setting." He becomes downhearted. I smile as I understand what he meant."Yes. It was a good time. But that's how our situation is now." Rafe and I have different responsibilities. He's the CEO of his own company and I'm the CFO here at my family business. Life is going to be very busy from now."I'm not liking the situation." Me too.I say in my head. But I don't tell him that, thinking, he would
Few weeks later*Coming out of my car, I slip up my sunglasses at the top of my head and look up at the Howard's Constructions' main building. I close the door and lock my car.Walking through the main doors, I make my way to the elevators. The employees who know me greet me. I respond to them with a wave and smile. Then I reach the designated floor and go to Dad's office room. I've decided to see them after rejecting their umpteen number of calls. I knock once and enter in it. Mom is there too as per my expectations. "What now? Why have you been pestering me with continuous phone calls?" I remove the glasses from the top of my head and hold them in my hand, "And why did you call me here?"Dad comes to me, "How have you been? I've heard you've cancelled your divorce with Rafael. That's a relief."I roll my eyes, clenching my jaws. "Answer your Dad, Freya. That's not how I taught you." Mom interferes, "We've been worried for you since you've broken your contact with us. I understand
Rafe strolls out of the bathroom after a few minutes and begins making up the bed. I stand still on my spot, nervous. I look through the large window of the room and see the downpour of the rain. If it has stopped raining, I could've escaped this awkward moment. I can't tell if Rafe is feeling the same discomfort or not. It would be surprising if he's not because it is literally the first time we'll sleep together. I again bring my eyes on him and observe that he smoothens the bed covers of both the sides. He sets the pillows and then the single comforter. I become more uneasy. He is making it certain that I'm spending a night in this hotel room with him. Once he's done, he sits on the bed and looks at me, "Aren't you in mood to sleep? Why are you standing?""Umm." I move my gaze around, "I should first freshen up myself." "Okay." He unfolds the comforter.I stride to the bathroom and lock the door. Sighing aloud, I see myself in the mirror in front. I'm blushing. The pink tint is
With a smile on my face, I bend and pick up the ring box from the floor and turn to Rafe again. He looks at me confusingly. My smile turns coy. His love confession to me before our kiss is still ringing in my ears. I can't believe he actually said that to me. I go to him."Here. Give this to me." I move the ring box in front of him. I raise my head high, faking arrogance, "Do it as you planned on my birthday."He arches his brows while giving me a playful smile, "Are you sure?""Yes." I nod firmly."Okay." He takes the box from me and inspects it, "I was not going to offer it right away. I was going to see your reaction first after telling you how I feel about you. If you would've said that you like me back then I showed you this. So I should skip that part now."I press my lips together to stop my smile."I was going to do it like this." He moves the box behind his back, "Fay, I've brought something for you. I don't know how you would react to it, but I just wanted to do this." He bri
As she remains quiet, I remain confused about whether I should say something or not and if so, what should I say to her. "There is something you should know." She begins speaking again. I hear her sniffle. That gives me a hunch that she's still in tears. "I...love you, Rafe. You should know it was not one-sided." This causes my mind to be boggled. My body freezes. "The care and sincerity you always showed to me made me fall for you." She says it again, "Any woman at my place would be fond of you. It hurt me to see you with her. I didn't know you were feeling the same. And I didn't want to act selfishly this time. I wanted to do something to ease your love life so you could be happy with the person you liked." I can't believe my ears. So it means she applied for the divorce because she was thinking I wanted to be with Mona and not her? She was actually ready to sacrifice her love? Seriously, Fay. She again becomes quiet and cries. I start getting restless. It's not making sense
*I've written this Rafe's POV because I felt like it won't be fair to the character if I do not show how he felt when he listened to Freya's reasons and her confession and why he agreed to give her a chance. You can skip it if you want, but I advise you not to do that ;)*-------++++++--------"Excuse me, Mr. Eastmond." As I walk through the reception of the hotel, one of the hotel's clerks calls my name. I stop and turn around."There is a message for our guests that it is raining outside and the forecast's predictions say that it can turn into a bad thunderstorm so guests are advised to stay cautious for tonight. Please do not go anywhere far or call someone here that lives far from the hotel. We just want to protect you from any incident." "Alright. Thanks for the information." I nod slowly, "But don't worry I'm not expecting a visitor nor I'm leaving anywhere." Who can come here... No one knows where I am. "Thank you, sir. Have a nice evening." He smiles then turns to his way.I
After some seconds, I move my hand down from my mouth and say the words that ached my heart everyday, "There is something you should know....I...love you, Rafe. You should know it was not one-sided." "The care and sincerity you always showed to me made me fall for you. Any woman at my place would be fond of you. It hurt me to see you with her. I didn't know you were feeling the same. And I didn't want to act selfishly this time. I wanted to do something to ease your love life so you could be happy with the person you liked." I whimper, losing control on my tears. The pain that I was hiding inside me is coming on the surface and making me vulnerable. Rafe stands in the same position. I'm unable to know if my words are affecting him or not. Maybe I should really accept that I've lost him. It is not going to work. He's too angry to forgive me."And you said that I should have talked with you before applying. I did talk about ending our marriage once or twice. It was not a direct conve
By the time I reach the hotel, raining starts all of a sudden. It took me around an hour and half to reach the hotel where Rafe is probably staying. And in the midway, the rain started. I didn't check today's weather forecast, but I knew that it is not the time of monsoon season in New York. This rain is unexpected. I stay inside the car, hesitant to come out because I've not brought the umbrella with me. The rain will drench my clothes. I stay inside for some minutes. Rain seems like a good excuse to delay facing Rafe. My mind is turning blank. Now I'm here and near him, I'm losing my confidence. My body has turned quite heavy for some reason although I haven't eaten anything since morning. I know it is happening because of the strong emotions that are stirring inside my stomach. I'm scared to face him. I'm scared of his reaction and his rejection. I won't be able to handle it without dissolving into tears in front of him. After almost sitting in the car for twenty minutes, I step
As I landed to New York, I decided to go straight to the Eastmond Enterprise to meet Rafe's father. He's a resourceful man. He certainly must have done something to find his son. If not, then I can even rely on his instincts. He's someone who can help me to start my search in this city. I winded up my work at Seattle once I made sure that Rafe is not in Seattle. I took the earliest flight to New York. I waited for a whole day and did everything in my power to search for him, but when I became hopeless, I decided to follow Mia's suggestion. There is a chance that he went back to New York.I sent my luggage to my New York's apartment with the help of my driver. He took my car too. So I took a taxi and headed to the Eastmond building with a hope that I get to see Rafe's father. He has to see me too and do not deny my arrival. I wish I had some supernatural power that would help me find Rafe. That could help me tell him this very moment that I like him too, that I like him more than him,