Mary stood behind Nicholas as they entered the room. Her eyes flitted around the room, and she saw his father on the sofa, his glasses perched low on his nose. His eyes were on his phone screen, and he was scrolling through it."Nicholas." Sebastian spoke up without looking up from his phone. But he had the giggles of a baby, and he was looking up. "Mary?" Nicholas' father looked at the lady behind his son."Good day, sir." Mary greeted him politely."Is this real? Sebastian questioned his son. His forehead furrowed as he imagined it. "And who had the baby in your arms?" He asked standing up.Nicholas smiled, coming close to
They sat down at the table as they started to eat, with light conversations flowing between meals. Sebastian was curious and eager to catch up with his daughter-in-law, and Mary was only too happy to provide him with any details he might need.They finished their meal, and they converged in the living room to continue their talk. The couple left after a while because they needed to go home, and all through the trip home, Nicholas was smiling from ear to ear.He was replaying the conversation he had had with his dad earlier in the day. Sebastian had pulled Nicholas to the corner and smiled. "I don’t know what magic you have pulled off, but you did a great job. I am proud of you."Nicholas had s
And that was how Mary was cockblocked by her own child.Cole was shrieking and kicking his legs in the air, and Mary had been reluctant, but she had no choice but to leave Nicholas' arms and attend to her child. Since he started his teething process, it hasn’t been easy for her, as he has been crying at intervals.Nicholas got tired of waiting, and he slept off, leaving them alone. It wasn’t until past midnight that Cole was able to sleep with his mouth on his mother’s breast. After putting Cole to sleep, Mary managed to crawl into bed, falling asleep almost immediately after her back touched the bed.She had woken up the next morning to an empty bed; no surprise there.
Later that week, Mary went to take the GED, and now she was sitting on the sofa, the phone in her hand, as she checked the results. Was she nervous? No. I mean, she was pulling at the loose thread from the end of her blouse, and her heart was pounding erratically behind her ribcage, but that doesn't mean she was nervous, does it?The page seemed to be taking more time to load than necessary, and Mary was grateful for that fact. She could gather herself to see it. It was just GED; it shouldn’t be a huge thing, but for Mary, it was.This was the first time she had ventured out to do something on her own. She wanted to prove to sister Martha, to Nicholas, and to the whole world that she could do something, but that wouldn’t matter if she failed.
"Tuck in your stomach." The lady bellowed as she tried to zip the dress, but it wouldn’t budge. Then she turned to her other staff. "I need more hands here." They all rushed to her side at her word, and they held the dress, trying to get it to zip, but it wouldn’t."That is enough; I give up." Mary said it exasperatedly. There was no magic they would do to get the dress to fit her. She wasn’t a model; she was a new mother, and she had a lot of curves. The dress they were trying to fit her into should be at least three sizes smaller than her usual size."It is alright; it can enter if you just suck in your stomach and hold your breath. We will do this at the count of three, okay?" May said, and Mary gave her a strained smile. Her face was already turning re
It was Becca, strutting into the place like she owned the store, her Louis Vuitton shoes clacking on the marble floor, and honestly, she could pass for the owner.She could recognize the shoe anywhere because Amy had been clamoring to get that pair, and she would spend hours just gazing at the shoe in longing.Mary looked at Cameron’s sister, and she still looked as elegant and outgoing as she had always been. She was the first friend she made or the first person who made her feel welcome, and she couldn’t forget that in a hurry."Mary?" Becca frowned as she removed her sunshade from her face. "Oh my gosh! It's really you." She screamed as she walked toward her.
Nicholas was in his room, getting ready for one of the most important days of his life, and his friend Cameron was with him, helping him out.His father has finally decided to hand over the reins of the company to Nicholas, not that he will hand them over completely. Nicholas will just be the CEO on paper, and he will be in charge of innovation, expanding the reach of the company,and forging new partnerships.But Sebastian was still going to be in charge, and he would be running things from the background. But whichever it was going to be, today was going to be the best night of his life, and nothing was going to dampen his spirit."Aren't you getting dressed?" Nicholas queried his best friend, who was still lounging on the bed, his eye fixed on his phone.Cameron glanced at his friend, who was just putting on his suit pants, and he frowned. If Nicholas wasn’t his friend, he would have skipped the entire ceremony."I will." Cameron groaned before dragging himself out of the bed. He wa
The paparazzi went crazy as they stepped out of the car. This was Mary’s first experience with paparazzi, and the experience was overwhelming. Her feet halted as she tried using her hands to shield her eyes from the flashes.But she felt Nicholas’s hands on her wrist, leading her to go in, and she followed him."Sorry about that. I should have warned you earlier." Nicholas apologized as soon as he entered the hotel, and she shook her head."It is fine." She waved it off. She had been in shock at first, but she was quick to recover as they got inside. This was one of the reasons she could never be a celebrity. She couldn’t experience this kind of thing regularly. It is sure to give her a migraine.They hadn’t even gotten over the situation when some people were upon them, saying, "Congratulations, Mr. Harrington." A young girl said, completely ignoring Mary’s presence, and she frowned. From her high-pitched voice, she could tell that she held a semblance of likeness for her husband.Sh
Mary didn’t end up getting a divorce.No matter how she tried, Nicholas refused to sign the papers. But they got separated.She had moved out of the mansion to get her own accommodations in a bid to find herself. She had gotten a new apartment away from the hustle and bustle of New York City.She was willing to start afresh, and she hoped that the new environment would help.His friends have been against it, especially Helena, seeing she had moved there in search of her and was given a job by Nicholas.But Mary had reassured her that there was no need for all that. Helena had no issue with Nicholas, so there was no need to try to quit her job.But Mary had refused Nicholas help; I mean, there was no need to when she had his credit card and did whatever she wanted with it.But she had chosen to spend it wisely.She had gotten a job as a model for a small clothing line that deals with curvy ladies, and Mary liked every bit of it. She got free clothes every now and then, so it was an adde
The next day, Mary was no better; no matter how much Nicholas had tried to seek an audience with her, she always found a way to escape. Gone are the days when she was the one begging for his attention.She didn’t have such time; instead, she had taken to exploring—a harmless one, though.It began when Nicholas had come back from work rather early, unlike his usual self, and he found a strange lady sitting in his living room and his son playing around the house.Nicholas was alarmed, and he entered quietly in order not to startle the lady while his hands reached for his phone to call 911."Oh, you are back. Good evening, Mr. Harrington. I will be taking my leave now." The lady stood up to go, but Nicholas prevented her."Who are you, and why are you in my house?" Nicholas asked; he still had the police on speed dial and was ready to call them if necessary."I am the babysitter your wife hired. Here." She stood up and handed him something that seemed to be a card. Nicholas eyed the card
"Oh fuck." Mary cursed as she saw the doctor approaching her. The only time she decided to unwind and let loose was when he decided to be here.She sighed, lifting her eyes to the sky; only there was a ceiling preventing her. Why was the universe out to get her?"Well hello? Mary, is it?""Oh hi. Lewis." Mary greeted him cheerfully, still slightly tipsy from all the drinks. "Fancy seeing you here?"Lewis chuckled, finding her assuming. "I should be asking you that. I live here, and I am familiar with some people here. You are the one that is sort of a stranger here.""Yea. I live.." She gestured outside the door and frowned. Where exactly did she live again?"Let me pour you a drink." The bartender said to Lewis, already reaching for a bottle of wine on the shelf."There is no need for that. I am not staying long." He refused the drink."Oh, that is alright. You can pour me his share; I would take it." Mary offered and swerved to grab the glass. But a firm hand stopped her."I don’t t
Mary stormed to her room, bolting the door as she got in and headed straight for the sofa. She dumped herself on it and continued eating from her bowl of fruit, but she was seething inside.The audacity he had. How dare he come back home after so long? The only thing he could say was, "Hey, I got your message."Mary was seething in her seat. Has he always been this nonchalant and uncaring, or has she just been ignoring it all this time? She couldn’t help but wonder.Well, it didn’t matter what the answer was because it ends today. She was done being the doormat he could just toss aside. Starting today, it was a new Mary.She stilled as she heard footsteps coming close to her door, and her ears perked as they listened for movements. But the footsteps stopped just in front of her door, and there was silence.The footsteps resumed, but this time away from her, and Mary sighed in frustration.He was such a coward.If she could have her way, she would have spent the rest of her day in her
The surgery was successful, and they removed her appendix, but Mary was required to stay in the hospital for monitoring for another day. It was to be for two days, but she had refused, threatening to leave on the same day, so they came to a compromise, and it was for an extra day.She had been away from her son for so long—the first of a kind—and she was starting to get worried. She could imagine he would be crying his tiny lungs out, and she couldn't bear to think of that.She had woken up from the surgery with a foggy head and tenderness in her abdomen, and as usual, she was alone. She didn’t bother checking up on her phone for any messages from Nicholas because it was already obvious he didn’t care.He had yet to reply to her message from two days ago, so there was no way he would be here.With nothing to do, her mind began to wander to different places, but most especially to Nicholas, or rather, her unfortunate relationship with Nicholas.After minutes of deliberating about the a
The kind doctor, whose name Mary hadn’t bothered to learn, had taken an interest in her, and he had been helping her run the hospital stuff.He was lucky enough to be able to fix an operation for her with the surgeon the next day, so she had to be hospitalized.Mary spent most of the day sleeping in; the drug they had given her was making her feel drowsy, so she didn’t know when time passed by.But the young doctor had taken it upon himself to look into her case, especially when he found out she had no one with her.He had taken it upon himself to always check in on her when he wasn’t so busy, making sure she was well covered and the pillow was comfortable for her, and Mary appreciated the gestures.Her head had been fuzzy from all the drugs they had been pumping into her, and she was slippy in and out of consciousness.She had woken up later in the evening to see her phone swimming in a sea of messages and calls. All from Amy. Mary didn’t hesitate to call her, and she waited as the c
The mini-get-together ended on a high note, and it was safe to say that the three had become best friends, and Mary couldn’t be happier.It was easy since Helena and Amy had similar characteristics and were able to get along easily. She was happy that she had two females she could rely on, and Cole had two aunties who loved him dearly and would spoil him rotten.Everything was slowly looking up for her; even her academics have been going well. It wasn't as easy as it felt, but with time it had gotten easier for her, and she dare say she was enjoying the classes.But one thing was still stagnant. She and Nicholas were yet to make any headway.In fact, it had become so bad that she couldn’t remember the last time she and her husband saw eye-to-eye. It was Cole who had been keeping her company; otherwise, the house would become too suffocating for her.At least she had Netflix, and there was always food around, so she used that to comfort herself.Mary has been feeling some pain in her s
While Helena may not be living with them, the girls were still communicating as Helena was able to get a new phone and they had gotten really close.Mary had been the happiest since Amy came back, and she was happy to have her friend close by. Everything seems to be looking up for her.It was just to introduce her friends to each other that was left. Amy had no idea how Helena looked, and neither did Helena. Although Mary has mentioned them to each other, she has been planning how to bring them closer so it would be a sisterhood.It was the weekend, and that means Nicholas was out of town for a meeting. I mean, when is he never out? Mary barely sees him nowadays, so she arranged the meeting at her house.She was preparing the meal that they were going to have, all while praying that they liked each other. It would make her life easier if it were so. At least Cole would have two aunts, and he could be taking turns passing the night at their house.She had put the last batch of muffins
Helena is here.The words were something Mary thought she would never hear, and it was as if they weren’t true, but her childhood friend turned sister was in the living room, sitting and waiting for her, and Mary didn’t know how to act."Get your act together, Mary; it is just Helena." She said to herself as she stood in front of the mirror.It had all begun when Cameron called her that one Helena was in his home and wanted to see her. She hadn’t believed it at first and thought he was playing a fast one on her, so she had asked him to bring her over.And it turned out he wasn’t lying. Helena was actually heard.But she saw them as they were getting out of the car, and she panicked and ran to her bedroom."It will be fine. It is just Helena." She said to the reflection of the mirror, and she heard Cole huff as if in agreement with her.She went towards her son, who was attempting to stand on his own, and she picked him up. He let out a cry, angry that he was disturbed. But Mary ruffl