Anna entered the room swiftly and banged the door shut as if she thought Ivan would wiggle himself past with the little space. The moment she bolted the door shut, she pressed her back against the door and took a deep breath. She sighed, exhaustion coursing through her. The information she had heard a few minutes ago had weakened her, and she felt like she needed to make the world pause for a second so she could catch her breath. She felt sorry for her sister, and she wondered how she would react when she found out about everything the doctor had said. From losing her baby to Gavin fibrosis. For some reasons, she chose to stick to the belief that her sister was aware of the pregnancy, whether or not she'd have told her. It just didn't make sense that Aria could hide such information from her. It just wasn't possible. Aria stirred on the bed, raising her hands upwards, but she stopped when she noticed that something (an IV) was attached to her hands. Anna walked towards taking a seat b
Aria stared straight ahead, even though it looked like she could not see anything and was far out of his world. "I wish it were a dream." She told Anna, and she kept quiet as she kept on thinking about how the baby would have added to her life. She didn't know how to grieve because it felt weird, firstly, that a baby wasn't growing inside of her, and she didn't until she was gone. She didn't know how to cry, even if she felt like that was what she was supposed to do. She felt unworthy to grieve crazily for someone she wasn't attached to, yet she felt somehow incomplete, like she had lost an old friend. She sighed, thinking about how things would have turned out differently. She would have likely not made her choice yet about whether she should tell Robert that she was carrying his baby, or maybe if he had found out through the doctor at the hospital, she'd have wanted to keep the baby, but eventually she'd have felt the need to run away from him with her baby, and he'd not have heard
The moment Robert entered his car and turned the key in his ignition, he felt his heart beat faster. One, they hadn't spoken in a while, and two, he didn't know how she was going to react when she saw him. He hoped she was fine; that was what he cared about now. Even though there was a rift between the two of them, he couldn't help but think about her and show his concern for her by showing up at the hospital. He breathed out as he turned off the ignition and got out of the car.With each stride he took towards the door, he longed to see her oval face and how she was doing.At the reception, surprisingly, he spotted Ivan, his former personal assistant, who had told him he was out of Las Vegas. He was pacing around the room, like he was in a critical condition, and he halted on his tracks, eyes wide, when he saw him."What are you doing here?" Robert asked him, bewildered.He scratched his hair and blinked as if the beads of sweat pearled at the top of his forehead and rolled into his
When they stepped inside, Aria's eyes flew towards the door and she saw the two people she didn't believe would ever be standing side by side standing."Robert," she called out softly, surprised, examining his appearance. He was dressed in signature all black fit. "What are you doing here?" She asked, completely ignoring Ivan as though he wasn't standing near Robert. She wished Anna hadn't called him yesterday, all she wanted to do was to return his freaking money back to him so he doesn't see any means to creep back in to her life. He can be with Lily for all he wants, he disgusted her."I just wanted to see you." He blurted out, now feeling excitement bubble Within him because she hasn't responded harshly and coldly towards him and the way the Ivan had quickly faded into the background because how their two looked like the main character of the movie slightly brought joy to his heart but ofcourse he wasn't going to say that out loud.Before Aria could say another word, Ivan quickly
"so about Ivan," Robert started and Aria's body stilled, wondering what he wanted to talk about concerning Ivan because he didn't know him."Hm?" She adjusted her position on the bed, staring at him intently."So, he was my personal assistant I told you about." Robert informed her.She struggled to make sense of the words and she knew for a fact that he wasn't joking. So Ivan had worked closely with Robert? Meaning Elanne should know him. She thought about asking Elanne few questions about Ivan and then she decided against it, he wasn't worth it."Oh." She simply said. "I wasn't aware." Then she shrugged."I know." He nodded. She wondered the kind of conversation Robert and Ivan had had before they walked into the room and whether Ivan had tried to say anything to him that may have given him second thoughts about her."He's my ex," she voiced out, the words feeling odd in her mouth."I- observed." He stuttered. "He made it quite obvious." As they talked, she noticed that their sentenc
"Are you good through?" Robert's question was cut short by the bolting ot the door and their eyes flew eagerly to see who was coming in. It was a doctor and a nurse. The doctor has grey eyes that were barely hiden under his see through ash glasees and she had seen the smiley nurse before she had given her an injection when she woke up."Afternoon," the doctor greeted her and the nurse simply smiled at her"Afternoon, Doctor.""I'm glad to see that you've regained your strength by now. If you had lost a little more blood, you'd have require a blood transfusion I may ask to he sure. How are you doing?""I'm fine, thank you." Aria's heart had started beating fast. She knew Robert would soon hear the news of her miscarriage but it won't be free from her but from the doctor and it would seem like she was deliberately hiding it from him.Robert squeezed her palm assuredly like he always did that day when she was at the dineer and reflectively she withdrew. He stared at her without saying a
"I'm sorry," Ivan muttered, breaking the silence between them."So you had sex with Lily because I refuse to have sex with you." It wasn't a question but a statement."Not exactly but-""When you cheated, you needed everything between us and you made it clear that you didn't want us anymore.""No, it's just that when Lily sent that picture in that moment, it erased every trace of guilt because I felt you had been cheating too."The pain jabbed at Aria's heart because of how Ivan had Just proven that he never trusted her because how he say such... The wound that she had been struggling to bury felt like it had been cut open again and it made her feel like she had not even healed before and she shouldn't have entertained the conversation but now that she had, she'd get to the bottom of everything."Is this you trying to justify yourself now?" She asked, her voice strained with emotions.He sighed. "You don't understand me. That's not it.""I don't understand you now? Because I'm calling
It's been three weeks now and Aria still hasn't gone to work because Robert had asked to take a little break off and truly she appreciated the gesture because she was truly tired and needed the rest and she was definitely going to get it now she was home. Robert constantly texted her all day, and she'd find herself giggling and waiting for his text if she hadn't gotten any from him yet. It was amazing how he made her feel and the longing she felt if she hadn't heard from him. Elanne visited her frequently, and she loved having her around. Anna still went to work frequently, but did not fail to text her. Ivan kept on texting her incessantly and so she blocked him again so he wouldn't get access to her. He kept telling her that Robert wasn't good for him and he knew something about Robert would surprise her. She kept on asking him but he refuse to divulge the information so she figured that he was just trying to make her scared and he wasn't worth any sort of attention. But on the other
Aria tried to memorize all she had learnt for her final exams while she texted Robert who was keen on distracting her. She had herself to blame though, she was the one who kept on texting him like she wouldn't see him later when he came home.A: Can you let me study?R: Can you let yourself study? You keep responding to my text when you know you shouldn't.A: that's because I can't help it and I always want to talk to you.R: That sounds cute but I'm going to have to stop responding to you. Meaning I'm not going to reply to your texts if you send another one after this.Robert kept his word. The next messages she said afterwards to him were left unanswered as she brought her mind back to her books so she could study. When she finished studying, she texted him back that she was done and she was heading to the shelter where she now volunteered. The shelter was a safe place for people who suffered abusive relationships and grief who needed other people who could understand them. It also
Aria had been looking forward to this dinner just like her husband. She noticed how happier her husband seemed after his meeting with Harry. Robert didn't give her the details, he just told her they got to discuss at length and they were now on good terms. Aria asked Anna if she wanted to come alone with them but she refused, saying she wanted to watch cartoons at home. Aria sighed and nodded.Now she and Robert were prepared for the dinner. Robert was dressed casually but since hadn't gone out in a while, she took this as an opportunity to scan through her outfits and combine them aesthetically. She finally settled for a short chiffon, a piece of jewelry and silver heels."Now look at how I look like your bodyguard standing beside you," Robert joked while he held her waist from the side and kissed her hair. "You look beautiful my queen." He complimented."So do you so, my love." She blushed. His muscular arm was evident under the shirt he wore and his biceps rippled. Aria imagined ta
Harry couldn't bear the guilt of what he did and he kept thinking about whether to tell Robert about it or not. They've been getting along just fine and they've recently been texting online and it's been amazing. They mostly spoke about their father's health, work and just random stuff. It felt like they were in a talking stage, they were starting to know each other very well, something they would have done years ago, but it took this long to achieve which wasn't really bad. Lauren and her husband loved this new change and they supported it more by inviting Aria and Robert for dinner. They conveyed the information through Harry and Robert loved the idea and agreed to show up with his wife.Harry's mind kept bugging him, he couldn't act all friendly with Robert when in the past he had previously tried to sabotage his career. Now they were getting along, he didn't want anything to come between this new found friendship. He was going to tell Robert about all of it, he'd soon go back to s
Anna was getting better and she no longer cried about the death. She was starting to carry on without her life. She now ate, watched cartoons and giggled about funny things like she used to do before she heard about the news. Aria loved the change, it brought a smile to her lips that her sister had successfully escaped the confinement of grief.Aria felt like her life was worth more and she hadn't explored as she should have. She was too carried away with external factors and had forgotten to be the main character of her life. This was what her mother would have wanted for her, now that she was gone, she had the strong urge to pick up her life. Not that she hadn't been living before but he was ready to live as her capacity would allow. She wanted to go to therapy and then go back to school. Therapy first, because she wanted to unpack all that happened to her in the past month, heal and understand better in what direction her life should take. Aria realized she wasn't really okay and s
Harry had already resigned to his fate as soon as his mother told him about everything. He knew that one day, this would happen, now in the moment, he felt nothing at all. He just keenly watched the scene unfold. The only thing that troubled him was that the internal turmoil his mother felt was visible and he felt sorry for her."I said go on," his father said, growing impatient.Matteo stared at Lauren, hoping she would change her mind but he just looked scared without saying a word."Say whatever you have to say, you heard my dad." Harry added, looking at Matteo with disdain. The reaction Matteo got was different from what he expected. He smiled nervously, staring at all of them. Harry knew he was finding it difficult to comprehend with the way no one seemed to be grovelling at his feet not to spill like he expected. His face hardened again, "So your wife here lied to you.""About what?" His father instinctively touched Lauren and his eyes darted between her and Matteo."About a lo
As Robert drove them home, he felt a sense of relief that his father didn't have to stay at the hospital for more than a day. Robert hated the hospital, not in the strong sense of aversion kind of way, but he felt like the hospital wasn't really a place a sick person needed to be. He couldn't place a finger on why he thought that but he didn't think a sick person deserved to hear about more people dying and inhaling the weird antiseptic that dominated the air. And most people he knew who stayed in the hospital for months due to one illness or the other didn't make it alive, for example his mom and Aria's mom. So for that reason he was happy that his father didn't have to stay there longer than the day he was brought in.His father coughed and he briefly glanced back. Lauren was sitting next to him, holding his hands which moved to rub his arm.Harry who was near Robert stretched the water he held to his father. "I hope you're okay." He asked.His father nodded and for the rest of thei
"Dad!" Robert kept screaming as his father held his neck almost like he was getting constricted.He continued coughing as Robert tried to offer him the water. His hands become shaky as he contemplated running out to tell Lauren about what was happening to her husband. He blinked his eyes as he watched his father fight for air and then he sprang out of the room to inform Lauren."Lauren, the ambulance! Dad is dying," he said breathlessly. Her eyes widened in horror as she placed a call to the ambulance with shaky hands. "My husband -"Robert zone out, his mind conjuring the worst scenarios. Soon the ambulance arrived and lauren and Bryan accompanied his father while he was wheeled away. He grabbed his carkeys as he made his way to enter his when he saw Harry scratching his hair as walked closer to him."Can i go come along?" Robert watched him stutter before he nodded."Thank you," he said shyly before they both entered the car. They drove in silence before Robert's curiosity got the
Robert told him he couldn't continue thinking about his father without making the necessary move therefore he had to go to his house and have the conversation. He didn't even know he loved his father this much. The past months without hearing his voice made him feel like something was missing and he was tired of feeling that way. It was kind of feeling he had to end because it ruined him. Yeah, he didn't care nor think about the consequences or aftermath of the action he was going to take as he drove down there. He had told Bryan to inform him if Dad was at home and the little boy did it as soon as he could because he wanted his big family back. When Bryan told him he was now on talking terms with his mother, Lauren, a big smile spread across his face and he remembered how he wasn't talking to his own father and he knew he had to fix that as well.Robert got to the house bracing himself for the conversation they were going to have.He saw Lauren sitting in the sitting room like the pre
Anna has been moody since Aria told her about her mother's death. She had to tell her though, she couldn't stall it any longer. She wasn't crying anymore but she barely spoke nor showed excitement about anything as she would have before. Anna took that as a sign, she was grieving silently, which was okay. She had to express herself in whichever way she deem fit. As much as she wished Anna didn't have to feel this way, it was necessary and had to happen. Aria glanced across where Anna was lying on the sofa, covering herself with a duvet as her eyes darted between the TV where her favourite cartoon was flickering and her phone in her hands."You sure you're not hungry?" Aria asked again for the third time.She raised her gaze and shook her head."Why? Food is important." Aria asked, worried. "At this point, I'll have to force you to eat something even if you claim not to be hungry."Anna adjusted her lying posture to a sitting one, putting her foot on the floor. "Trust me, I'll eat when