“So Hera, how far gone are you?” Diana asked just as I was about to put a forkful of the Chinese fried rice on the plate before, a delicacy that was made from scratch by the head chef, Elena and if I wasn’t exaggerating, I’d say it tasted better than the one they sold at the Chinese restaurant across the street of my old neighborhood. I dropped my fork on my plate and took a sip of water to wash down the food I’d already eaten. “Nineteen weeks.” I told her while glancing at Aziel who was sitting across from me at the dining table. I wasn’t sure if that was the exact weeks I’d been pregnant for seeing as I never visited the hospital or had a doctor tell me how far I was gone. All I did was count from the last time I saw my period to that current day. “Oh really?” She glanced between Aziel and me. “You’ve been seeing each other for that long?” She asked and I found myself tongue-tied even though all I had to do was nod my head or say yes. Ever since she had requested to speak to Azi
If I had thought brunch with Aziel’s mom was bad, dinner was much worse. If I’d known his dad will be at the dining table, if I had known he would ask me questions I wouldn’t be able to answer, I wouldn’t have left Aziel’s room, I would rather have starved than sit in the dining room to answer all of the questions Simon Walker had for me. One would think it was a job interview but then again I think it was only fair for him to ask, I was going to be marrying his son after all but that doesn’t mean I’m happy with it. “How old are you?” He asked as he cut through the steak on his plate. I noticed the man had barely spared me a glance since I walked into the room with his son. I wasn’t complaining though. I didn’t think I could handle another pair of Aziel’s eyes on me, especially one so disdainful. “I’m T-twenty, sir.” I couldn’t help but stutter. The air in the room was stiff and too serious that I thought I would puke. I haven’t even touched the food on my plate, only playing aroun
I woke up around 7 am the next morning and decided to clean up in the bathroom before having my morning coffee. I was dressed in a pair of jeans and a cute short-sleeved top. My outfit was paired with a pair of brown sandals. After checking myself in the mirror for the umpteenth time, I decided that I looked good enough for a doctor's appointment and it was time to leave the room for the kitchen. I was just about to enter the kitchen when I saw a middle-aged woman standing by the sink. I paused and blinked multiple times just to be sure that I wasn't seeing it wrongly. My brows furrowed as I cautiously walked into the kitchen. She must have noticed my presence 'cause she suddenly turned around, startling me. "Err g-good morning." I greeted, slowing down my pace as I walked further into the kitchen. "Ah, you must be Ms. Hera." She said with a friendly smile on her face that made me feel as if she had known me for a while. I nodded slowly still not knowing who she was or how she kne
"Hera!" Nina's voice shouted again from down the aisle just when I was trying to hide my face with Aziel's body."Fuck!" I cussed under my breath and I held on to Aziel's shirt like my life depended on it. "I think she has seen me.”"Who?" He asked and tried to look back to see who it was."Don't look back!" | exclaimed while still trying to keep my voice low. I didn't even realize that I was creasing his shirt as I fisted the fabric tighter in my hands."She coming over." Aziel said after looking back to check again despite my warning. I couldn't confirm how true his statement was seeing as his body was blocking my line of vision."Mierda!" I cursed in Spanish and mumbled some other profanities that I would never want to interpret to anyone who didn't speak the language. “Who is she?.” Aziel asked just as Nina got to where we were standing.“Oh my goodness! Hera! It’s really you.” She pulled me away from Aziel with a strength I didn’t know she had and hugged me so tight, I almost th
“Is there anyone you would like to invite?” Aziel asked me as he typed away on his laptop. I didn’t even need to think about it before shaking my head. “Except Alex.” I told him. It was a Sunday morning. Aziel had immediately asked for us to discuss our wedding plans—which was in six days—right after breakfast. The wedding was originally supposed to be a week ago like he had told his parents during our last dinner with them but well, Aziel was quick to realize that wedding preparations couldn’t be rushed like he had been wanting to. It didn’t matter if it were a real wedding or not. “So maximum of five guests.” He nodded without taking his eyes off his laptop screen. “Five? Aren’t you going to invite people? Your friends maybe?” I asked even though I wasn’t really sure he had friends. “No. Just Cole and my mother.” “So you don’t have friends?” I asked him. “No other friends besides Cole?” I didn’t take Aziel for a loner but I would totally understand if he didn’t have any friend
All I could do was watch, watch Aziel and this girl whom I still don’t know who she was, kissing. I didn’t care who she was to him or if they were intimate with each other. I was completely indifferent ‘cause all that mattered was me getting my green card by marrying him so why do I have this dull ache in my chest? Why do I suddenly feel weak and want nothing more than to hit away? Aziel suddenly pushed her away, he wasn’t rough but he wasn’t exactly gentle either. He immediately turned in my direction as if he was just remembering that I was in the room and they weren’t alone as he had thought. My heart stopped the moment we made eye contact. It felt as if I had just been caught doing something wrong like I’d been caught red-handed. I looked at the girl standing in front of him, she was now looking at me too with a daunting smirk on her face. It made me wonder if she had seen any of the magazines or checked the internet for the news of my upcoming wedding with Aziel. “Uhm, I er…I
I didn’t leave my room until around past 9 am the next morning when I was sure he would have left for work. I was avoiding Aziel as I wasn’t ready for the conversation he wanted us to have. I’d decided that if I ended up having that conversation with him, I would just tell him that I didn’t care and he didn’t need to talk about it with me. My stomach suddenly growled when I brushed my teeth reminding me that I didn’t have anything to eat last night. Going to bed without dinner wasn’t something I did intentionally, I mean yes I was avoiding Aziel but I’d left my home around past eleven the previous night to go grab some of the leftover cookies I made in the afternoon. I had thought he would have retired to his room for the night seeing as the next morning was Monday and he needed to arrive at work early. So imagine my shock when I got to the living room and saw him seated on the couch, working. I had immediately bolted back to my room before Aziel could as much as notice my presence.
You are the most beautiful bride, darling." I heard Diana's voice say from behind me as I stared at myself in the mirror. She was right, I really did look beautiful. My hair updo was perfect and my dress and Alex really did know me best (she had been the one to pick out my dress). My makeup was light and exquisite. I was indeed the most beautiful bride. If only this was real..."You will do great, love, it's perfectly normal to be nervous." She said as she put on a white diamond necklace around my neck. 'Thank you for your confidence, Diana." I inclined my head. "I'm honored.""You deserve it, Sweety!" Taking my hand, she gave it a gentle pat and started to pull me up from the chair."Let's go! This is your big day."My big day?Blinking, I stared past her, into the morning sun.She was right, it was indeed my big day to everyone else. The morning of my wedding day. "I can't wait to see the look on Aziel's face when he sees you." Alex squealed. She was in a light blue dress, she
Many weeks have passed and my relationship with Aziel has deteriorated drastically that even our children noticed and it wouldn’t have been that way if I hadn’t entertained Dylan or given a second thought to any of the things he told me. Although I didn’t admit that Aurora was his child, I became less hostile towards him and would even go on coffee dates with him under Aziel’s permission of course. As I started to get closer to Dylan, Aziel and I drifted apart. He indulged more in work and would only speak to me when necessary. He reminded me a lot of his old self, the Aziel I’d had a contract wedding with. Although Aziel never said it out loud, I knew he wasn’t happy with me seeing Dylan. He had told me to do whatever made me happy and it hurt to see that my actions made him less happy. The other day, Reon had asked me why Aziel rarely ate breakfast with us and I’d come up with an excuse about how he had to be at the office before everyone else but I knew it was only about time bef
I left the office late that night around past 9 pm because I was determined to sort out every pending work on my desk. I ended up being the last person to leave the office ‘cause I’d quickly dismissed everyone else in the afternoon. As I walked towards my car parked in the company garage, felt a presence behind me. I didn’t want to know if I’d imagined it or not, I didn’t turn back and instead picked up my pace and hurried over to my car. The person behind me was closing in on me and my heart raced ever faster. Why did I have to park my car so far into the garage? Who was this person following me and what did they want? I could hear the sole of their shoes hitting against the ground. I was walking so fast that I was almost running. I was really scared and thought about calling Aziel but I doubted he would have been able to do anything from where he was. When my car came in sight, I quickly fished out my car key from my purse and pushed the unlock button. I arrived at my car and just
“Aziel.” I said in a small voice, unable to look at him. I couldn’t even deny what he had said because I wasn’t sure if it was the truth or not. I didn’t know if I still had feelings for Dylan or not. I mean my body reacted to him like it had always been but still, that wasn’t enough to conclude that I had feelings for him. It’s been years since I last saw him so it could have just been a one time reaction. “Are you still unable to stop loving him after all these years with me? Are you ever going to stop loving him?” Aziel had never once asked me questions like that. Gone was the usual blank expression on his face, he looked hurt and he wasn’t afraid to let me know that. I felt a dull pang in my chest as I looked at him. He loved me, he’d always made me know that before we got married again (‘cause we had another wedding, a real one this time where my family attended). Although he might not say it often, but he’s told me he loved me before and not once have I ever said it back. “Azi
In the blink of an eye, I comported myself, standing tall with my head held up high even though my heart was thrashing so hard in my ribcage. I held his burning gaze for three seconds before blinking and walking away. As I walked past him, I caught a sniff of his scent. I shut my eyes close and held my breath, preventing myself from perceiving him 'cause his scent was beginning to stir up memories that I had locked for years, memories I had no interest in revisiting. "Wait!" He suddenly said, authoritatively might I add, and unknowingly, I stopped. I stopped. Why did I stop? Why can't I move my legs? I urged my legs to move but they didn't, they couldn't. It almost felt as if I had no control over them and he did the controlling. Like I was a puppet and his voice was just enough to control me. I felt irritated and embarrassed that I waited like he wanted. That even after all these years, his voice still elicited this unexplainable feeling in me. "You are still married..." He s
FIVE YEARS LATER"Mommy!" Reina cried out from somewhere in the house. I could hear the faint knocks on the bathroom door as she knocked on the door with her small hands. "Mommy! Let me in." She cried out again. I quickly rinsed off the soap lather on my face and looked through the glass shower to see that she had managed to let herself in. "What is it, honey? Mommy is taking a shower." She pointed outside the wide-opened bathroom door, her lips were curled downwards and her eyebrows knitted together. "Reon said his dress is prettier than mine! Mommy tell him it's not true! I have the prettiest dress, it's pink and gwOUrgeous and has a cute bow, his is just black and ugly." She stuck out her tongue in distaste. "And he's calling my dress ugly and-and Aurora isn’t taking my side...Mommy come tell him my dress is prettier! I'm prettier, my hair is prettier, my face prettier and he's just jealous of all this beautifulness...Mommy! be fast!" She whined before flailing her arms out in
“Are you going to say something?” I said after a long moment of silence. I hated that I was standing there, crying and on the verge of losing my mind while he looked as calm as the sea as if he hadn’t heard what I’d said. “I—don’t know what to say.” I had been wrong when I’d said he looked as calm as the sea. Yes his expression was calm, completely unfazed by what I’d just said but his voice on the other hand was different. I don’t think there was ever a time I’d heard Aziel sound so confused. He could have hid it with his expression but his voice gave it away that he was thrown off balance by the news. “I mean you’re pregnant that means…I’m going to be a father again. What I don’t understand is why you’re crying? I don’t know what you were thinking but I’m not like that douche. The child is mine and I’m going to assume full responsibility.” I shook my head and the tears in my eyes dropped. “I’m not having this child. I’m not. Not when I was finally getting my life together. How co
Aziel had barely stepped out of the house after receiving an urgent call from work when Athena started to bombard me with questions. “Why did your boss hug you like that? Why was he looking at you like that?” She had a skeptical look in her eyes. “What do you mean? He wasn’t looking at me in any way he shouldn’t be.” I said and tried to change the topic by asking if they wanted me to make breakfast for them but I should have known it wouldn’t be as easy as that. If I hadn’t forgotten that she and my mom would be watching us, I wouldn’t have hugged him or done anything that would make me suspicious. “Of course, he was weirdly looking at you.” She glanced at my mom as if asking for backup. “Isn’t he supposed to be your boss?” “And he is.” “So why did it seem like there’s something more between you two? Why did he look at you as if…as if he was in love with you?” If I’d been drinking something at that moment, I would have sputtered it everywhere. Aziel, in love with me? I wanted to
I woke up the next morning with my head in Aziel's chest. I glanced up at him to see that he was still sleeping very peacefully and I thought he looked cute when he was sleeping. Memories of what we did the previous night came back rushing in and then I felt a slight soreness between my legs. I couldn't help but smile at the thought that Aziel and I had finally done the deed after almost two years. I raised my head from his chest and placed a soft kiss on his chest. Our bodies were covered with the comforter so I raised it slightly to peek in it. I smiled when I realized that we were both still fully naked and that just means that we really had sex. I let my hand wander across his smooth muscular chest before gently moving downward and under the comforter till my hand was holding his flaccid member. As I slowly started to stroke him, I felt him getting harder and bigger in my hand. I found it fascinating that although he was still very deep in sleep, his member wasn't. I pulled the
Many months passed by and it was finally my twenty second birthday. I woke up that morning, extremely excited about my birthday. I’d received loads of wishes at midnight from my college friends, Theo and Alex. And although I appreciated that they all remembered my birthday but the one person I wanted to remember my birthday didn’t seem to remember. It had been that way for my twenty first birthday too, Aziel had forgotten about my birthday too. Theo had been the one to tell Aziel on the night of my birthday that it was my birthday. And although he had apologized then and got me a car the next day as a gift, I couldn’t help but think the same was going to happen that day. As I walked out of my room to the living room, I realized that Aziel had left for work. I frown appeared on my face as I realized that he had forgotten it was my birthday again. He didn’t think to wish me before he left or even send me a birthday message if he was running late. I shook my head and patted my cheeks w