NOVA “Mum!” River called out to me, grinning as he raised a chocolate bar. “Should I get this?” He pouted, his grey eyes sparkling as he watched me, knowing how much of a sucker I was for his cuteness. “Of course. Anything for you, darling.” I leaned down and ruffled his hair, smiling at my darling. “You can get as much as you want. Just know, you can't have more than a bar a day,” I added, reminding him of the rules I made. “I know.” Grinning, he threw the bar into the shopping cart and rushed back to get more, while I stood by, waiting for him. From where I was, I could hear Willow laughing as Brion carried her on his shoulder so she could reach for the snacks on the last rack. Seeing how happy my kids looked was enough to ease the disappointment I felt when Mara called and told me she had an emergency at home. She needed to return to take care of it and had to drop the kids off at our location since they were awake. At first, I wasn't pleased. I thought they would ruin our
Groaning, I turned to face him, folding my arms with my eyebrows raised as I watched him approach. He didn't look to be in a hurry. With a swagger to his step and his hands in the pockets of the black jeans he was putting on, he looked as if he had all the time in the world. There was a lazy grin on his face, and a little glint in his eyes, one that reminded me so much of Willow. That was exactly the look she always had each time she wanted to do something she perceived I wouldn't appreciate. “I knew it was you when I saw you from outside,” he said, more to himself than me. “There's no way I will ever mistake your hair. I —” “What are you doing here?” I demanded, shaking my thoughts off the lane it was going towards because it was dangerous. “What?” He tilted his head a little to the right, with a smug on his face. “Last I checked, this is a supermarket, Nova, not a private property. I have as much right as you do to be here.”He was right, and I had no response to that, which wa
“Nova —”“Dash?” At the sound of the familiar voice, I turned my back, focusing my gaze on the restroom door. “Your lying bitch is calling you,” I spat out before I walked the few steps to the door and entered, slamming it shut behind me before Lilith could come near. I wasn't running from her, and neither was I scared to meet her. I just didn't think today was the day for us to meet. When we finally clash, I want it to be on a day I deemed, not because I was speaking with Dashiell. I left the restroom a few minutes later, and hurried towards the checkpoint, knowing Brion would be waiting, and he was. He had his face pulled up in a dark frown as he stared at the exit. I didn't need to ask, to know why he looked like he was just minutes from punching a hole into someone's face. He must have seen Dashiell leaving with Lilith. “Have you been waiting for long?” I asked, grinning as I got to their side. “Mum!” River and Willow called, smiling when they saw me. To keep them from runnin
DASHIELL“Can we not use condoms tonight?” Lilith requested, looking up at me with a pout. She wrapped her hands around my neck, to bring me closer for a kiss, but I averted my face, so she could only place it on my cheek, narrowly missing my lips. “What's wrong?” She frowned, sitting back on the bed. “You have been behaving oddly for days now. Did I do something bad?” She folded her arms, looking at me like a petulant child. “Not at all.” Smiling, I reached towards her. “It's just….” I trailed off, struggling to come up with an excuse that wouldn't make her raise a brow. “I have been preoccupied with work. There are things I need to sort out," I lied through my teeth, knowing she wouldn't realize I wasn't telling the truth. She frowned, not uttering a word, just looking at me like she was trying to figure me out. Sighing after a few seconds of staring at me, she placed her head on my chest. “You can tell me whatever you need to get off your chest. I promise to lend a listening ear
NOVAI tried all I could to get Brion to speak with me, but each time, he found something else to do, so we wouldn't talk about it. Though he gave me the cold shoulder, it didn't extend to my babies. He still took care of them, like always. I was the only one he hardly spoke to unless it was necessary. It had been going on for four days now, and it was telling on me. This was the longest we had gone without speaking to each other ever since I met him five years ago. His silent treatment was hurting me more than I thought possible, but he didn't seem ready to break it. “Good morning.” Smiling, Dashiell walked over to my desk with a bouquet. He didn't bother to knock on the door. “How are you doing?”I ignored him, keeping my focus on my laptop. I had important things to do, and none of them was about him. I had gotten used to seeing him each morning and, most times, it didn't matter anymore. What mattered at the moment was to get Brion to speak to me. That was all I wanted.Sighing,
He looked shocked when I stood up, as if he was expecting me to back down, to show his superiority. Clearing my throat, I began, going through everything I had already prepared. As if I knew this was going to happen, I went through a rundown of the new design I was working on, the same that was almost crippling me with the excessive demands. For the first time since I started my career, it was the first time I was working on a given theme, not from inspiration, as I had always done. It was a challenge to me, one I wasn't ready to flunk. Dashiell and the others looked shocked as I went through everything I wrote. He was surprised, like the others, that I actually prepared for it. “That's all I have to say. Thanks for listening.” I sat back in my chair, a small smile playing on my lips at my victory. Without being told, I knew I had won the battle. “Is there anything you desire me to speak on?” I lifted an eyebrow at him, smirking. “Do you need me to speak on the colours or ….” Just
DASHIELLFuck. What the hell was I supposed to do? How do I rectify the damned situation???Biting the cap of my pen, I glanced up as my secretary walked into the office. “You said she would back down when I push her to a corner, but that wasn't what happened! There was no way for me to save her like a knight in shining armour when she was fully prepared!” I complained, my gaze fixed on her. Back when I asked Nova to give her opinion on the new project we were discussing, I figured she would be scared and unprepared. I was ready to swoop in and save the day, so she would look at me as a saviour, not an enemy. Who knows, it might have been enough to make her see me as more than the nuisance she thinks I am. However, things didn't go the way I planned it. “I'm not at fault here, sir,” Bridget said, walking over to my table. “I believe Miss Nova isn't like the others who you will easily help. I thought it would be easygoing with that approach, but that doesn't seem to work at all. I
NOVATo take my mind off Dashiell, and the thing that happened in the boardroom, I took half a day off to rest. Brion had already informed me he wasn't picking the kids up from school because he had a meeting with someone. This he told me through a text he sent this morning after he took the kids to school. Like I said, he hadn't spoken to me since that fateful day, aside from when he deemed it necessary to do so. “Mum, did you argue with Uncle Brion?” Willow asked, peering at me with her cute eyes. I stilled at her question before I cleared my throat, forcing a smile as I demanded, “No, why did you ask?”“Why has he stopped smiling with you?” “He doesn't help you in the kitchen anymore,” River added, his mouth in a pout as he watched me. “Did you do anything to him?”Now, that amused me. “Why do you think I was the one who did something to him and not the other way around?” I patted their heads, smiling to ease their worries. “Because Uncle Brion likes you. He can never do anyth