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
"Shit!" Nicholas cursed as he saw the woman strutting towards him. Their last meeting had been something else, and he knew that she still had feelings for him.With Mary in the picture, he was hoping there wouldn’t be any problems. But he will have to give it to her; she was looking amazing in her cream dress, as she has always done."Hey Nicholas, or should I say boss?" Anna said as she got to where the couple was standing. She threw herself on him, hugging him tight, and Nicholas allowed her while trying to give as much space between their bodies as possible.His wife was just beside him, and he didn’t want her to have the wrong idea about it. Although he was a little surprised, Ana ha
Mary heard screaming, and on further investigation, it was hers. She was afraid to open her eyes for fear that there would be blood all over."Where are you screaming?” Nicholas's stern voice broke her from her reverie, and her eyes flew open. She checked the floor for any sign of blood or a slumped body, but there was none.Then she lifted her eyes to check on the stranger that had been sitting beside her and found that he was fine; no teeth are missing yet."Nik." Mary sighed, grateful he hadn’t done anything stupid. He had been having fun with his colleagues when he turned and saw Mary sitting on the stool.Ni
"We need to talk." Mary heard Nicholas' voice booming from outside the door, and she sighed. There was no avoiding this anymore. She needed to go out and face her battles."Alright, I will be down in five." She yelled at the door. She wore black jeans and a blouse, and as she walked to the mirror to brush her face, she did a double take on the person staring back at her.Her eyes were red and bloodshot, and as if that weren't enough, she had eye bags on her face with dark and hollow depressions. She felt so unlike herself.Mary reached for one of the tubes on the dresser, and she read the label. She had never been one to use makeup, but today called for it. She had stayed with Amy enough, and the girl loves her makeup, so she had picked up one or two things.She squirted some of the product on the sponge and swiped it across her under eyes. The product was too much, so she tried to reduce it by dabbing it all over her face. But it was a disaster; whoever had shopped for the product ha
"So?" Amy began as they entered the room. Mary sat on the sofa in her room and positioned Cole in her arms so he could latch well. "Are you going to talk now?""I didn’t want to talk about it in front of Nicholas; his father had already chewed him out today, and I didn’t want to reopen the wounds." Mary explained, stroking the dark mop of hair on Cole’s head. His hair growth was fast, which wasn’t surprising since he had been born with a bit of hair."He should be able to take a chewing." Was what Amy wanted to say, but she decided against it. She wasn’t going to let her hatred for him cloud her sense of judgment. "So how are you doing? You guys have been trending all over Twitter, and gosh, it is so horrible. I don’t get how people get p
The week went smoothly, free from all the social media trouble. They had left her alone and were focused on Cameron and Amy's relationship.With that, I gave her more breathing space, and as they say, the internet is quick to forget, so all was well under the bridge. Instead, she focused on taking care of Cole and herself.Mary was still undecided about college, so she decided to wait and use the energy for something else.The situation at home was still the same. Nicholas was a caring husband when he wanted to be, and she had been on the receiving end of his care recently.But his new position meant greater responsibility. And she had no idea how much it was going to eat deep into them. She had thought Nicholas was busy before, but it was nothing compared to now.They barely see each other eye to eye, and sometimes during the weekends when they were supposed to be together, he was out doing something. Or in a meeting, or on the plane flying to another state or even country.The first
Nicholas strode to where they were, looking all expensive and important. It was just some minutes past six in the morning, but he was dressed in a black two-piece suit, and his shoes shone as he made the walk to them.Mary smiled, unable to control herself. Her husband was here, looking like Adonis, and that was all that mattered. The other occupants in the room were craning their necks to see the man who was arriving.Their jaws hung open in admiration as they looked at him, and Mary raised her head a little straighter, soaking in the pride. Her husband was here, and everything will be alright.She reached for her phone and turned on the front camera as she looked at herself in the mirror. She had to look presentable, at least."Mr. Harrington." The nurses and even the doctors crowd him. "It is so nice to have you here; what can we do for you?" Mary watched them, and it reminded her of chickens gathering their food.But Nicholas ignored all of them and focused on his son. He came clo
Mary hurried to the door as she heard the voice, and she opened the door. "Amy." She yelled as she pounced on her, squeezing.It was so nice to see a familiar face, and she didn’t know when she burst into tears. Just when she needed her, Amy showed up. Amy hugged her back, squeezing her. She has missed her friend."I didn’t know you missed me so much; I would have come earlier." Amy mused, but she got no reply; instead, Mary sniffed, and Amy stiffened in her hold. "Wait, are you crying?""No," Mary said as she left her embrace, trying to dry her eyes with the back of her palm. Amy was terrible with tears. "Sorry about that; I was just so happy to see you. Come in, please.""Yea yea." Amy scrunched her nose as she entered the room. "Girl, were you working in a sewer because you stink?" She said. Amy could be blunt sometimes, or most of the time, but one should never take her words to heart. Mary was practically immune to it, and she doesn’t get angry, unlike before.Mary looked down at
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