"No. Too exposed." They brought another dress. "No, I don't like the frills, it is too much." And that was how it continued, with Nicholas rejecting every dress they had picked. He had yet to see any that suited Mary.Either they were too tight and all her breasts were out in display, or they were not fitting enough. It was hard to find a ready-made dress that fit her body type.May sighed as Nicholas rejected yet another of her beautiful pieces. She was so close to losing it if he didn't pick one. "Just pick one already, Nik." May complained, getting frustrated. She had already taken care of Nicholas and Cameron's suits, but Mary's dress was still having issues.Nicholas didn't seem to like any of the ones she had picked out. "I will if I see what I like, but none here has caught my fancy." May gave him a sharp look, and he quickly added, "Yet.""Why don't you ask your wife to pick? She may have a different opinion." May tried to reason with him."Mary." "Huh?" May was confused, won
As Nicholas was narrating a scene to Cameron, he secretly prayed in his heart and hoped the dress was Mary's size because there was no time to get it amended again if it wasn't."Have you informed your ex?" Cameron asked his friend. The correct word should be exes, because Nicholas had a lot of them."The right word should be fling. But no, I haven't told any of them. There is no need for that. We parted ways amicably." Nicholas replied, making Cameron snicker."If you say so. I have heard enough about crazy ex-wives destroying their ex-marriages, and I don't want that to happen to you." Cameron replied, his eyebrows knitting in concern."Don't worry, none of that would happen to me. They are all..." Nicholas' words dried up in his mouth before he could say anything.Cameron looked at Nicholas, wondering what made him stop his speech halfway, and he found his friend wide-eyed and his mouth agape. He followed the direction of Nicholas' eyes, and he could see why his friend was surprise
It was the eve of Nicholas's wedding, the last day he was going to be a bachelor, and all he wanted to do was enjoy his last days as one.He opened his eyes even as the bright sun greeted him, and he shifted to the other side of the bed, trying to avoid it. His rolling made him hit the sleeping figure in the bed, and the bed groaned."Hmm." The voice murmured lazily. "Just go; the money is on the table."Nicholas hit his friend in the chest. "You whore, you have fucked a lot of girls so much that it is now your natural instinct.""Nik, that hurts." Cameron grumbled, his voice heavily laced with sleep. "And why are you waking me up so early?" He used his hands to shield his eyes from the light as he tried to look for his wristwatch."It is the eve of my wedding, dumb ass. We have a bachelor's party to plan, and we still need to take a trip to the salon." Nicholas replied. He got up from the bed and strolled to the bathroom to relieve himself.He washed his hands and was about to go bac
Meanwhile, back at the convent, Mary had woken up to the faces of her friends, turned sisters, peeping down at her. They were the only family she knew in this world. And it was sad that she was leaving them as she moved into a new phase of her life."What is going on?" Mary asked as several curious faces looked at her. She sat up straight and covered herself with the blanket. "What is going on?" She asked again, curious to know what had warranted this.No one was willing to speak to her, as they didn't know how to confront the issue. A rumor had been going around in the convent about one of their own."You should be telling us, Mary." Helena, the brunette, spoke up. She was one of the outspoken girls in the convent about Mary's age and one of the few girls who would dare stand up to sister Martha. But she would always get into trouble because of her mouth."I don't understand." Mary asked, looking around, all confused. "What is going on?""Well, we only heard a rumor that you were get
As the reverend sister stepped into the dormitory, everywhere became as silent as a graveyard as the girls scurried to their respective beds.They each held their breath, respectively, as they watched to see what sister Martha would do. She must not have known what was going on because she came and stood in front of the dormitory that held about 30 girls."Mary, we need to talk.""Yes, sister," but the sister had already gone before Mary finished talking. Mary hurriedly stood up and stored the gift in her bag.She quietly signaled to the girls beside her that they should help her close her bag. She couldn't risk throwing away the content. Mary hurriedly followed the sister in the dark, and they crossed the cathedral and were heading to her room.It had been a while since Mary had been in her room, and she wondered why she was called there. "Take a seat." Sister Martha gestured to the only sofa in her room, and Mary sat down. Her back was straight and stiff as she sat, not wanting to i
Mary looked outside of the window, watching as Helena was waving, and she waved back until they were out of the gate and off the road.The journey was quiet as they entered the ever-busy streets of New York City, the city that never sleeps at night. Mary watched with interest as the street was lit. It was as if it had never been night, and business was still going on as usual."So how did you and Nicholas meet?" Becca asked. She had been curious ever since she was told that Nicholas was getting married. Because her brother and Cameron were the same peas in the pod known as forever bachelors.So you could imagine her surprise when she came for the engagement party and was walking to the front. She thought it was going to be a hoax."Uhmm..." Mary was at a loss for what to say. How was she going to start explaining their pairing? She doesn't think this lady would take it kindly if she mentioned that they bought her. And she didn't even know her, so she had to be careful with what she sa
The ladies had massaged Mary so well that when she wanted to stand up, her legs buckled from under her. Her bones were feeble, and she was as light as a feather—a feeling she hasn't felt for a while.The sheets were changed, and Becca took her spot as they began to work on her while Mary wore her robe and was led to another room.In the room, she was made to sit down, and a woman immediately came to her, her thick Spanish accent coming through as she spoke, "This is the bride, right? So beautiful, so beautiful. Your skin is flawless." The woman whose name Mary didn't know praised her, and Mary blushed at the praise."Thank you, ma'am." Mary replied, and the woman's eyes turned starry."And also well-mannered, a very rare trait in Americans," she spit out distastefully. "Come sit, child, so we can further make you beautiful." The woman gestured to the chair, and Mary complied, moving to sit there. "You are in safe hands, dear; just relax and everything will be okay."Mary closed her ey
The band was playing the popular wedding hymn, and the choirs were singing sweetly. Everyone seems to be happy. Well, it was a good day, so it was something to be happy about.But as Mary walked down the aisle, clutching the bouquet tight as if it were her lifeline, she didn't feel the excitement that others seemed to feel. Instead, she was numb.She walked down the red carpet as she and Becca had both practiced, her eyes fixated on the floor, careful not to fall. It was her first time wearing heels, and she didn't want to embarrass herself by falling.Nicholas stood at the altar with his best friend and best man, Cameron, beside him. Finally, the day had come, and in a few hours, he was going to be a married man. Despite how he had tried to put it off, his father's plan had worked.Nicholas stood in his well-tailored tuxedo, looking every bit like Prince Charming. His hair had been slick back with a few strands falling to his face, and his beard had been trimmed short. He was looking
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