BRIELLE
Shawn tried his possible best to lighten up the situation, but nothing he did was helping.
To be honest, I was super surprised to see him still so full of spirit, and trying to crack jokes and all that. I really didn’t know if I could be that strong had I been in his shoes.
Dylan wasn’t coping. You could see that he was struggling with himself, especially with all the things he had accused his father of, and how mean he had been to the man in general.
It was almost night-time. I could tell that father and son needed to talk and clear things up, and so I bid them goodbye and managed to drive myself home.
Silvie was at work when I arrived, meaning I had the house all to myself. It was so silent and gloomy, and the whole atmosphere felt like the colour grey.
I turned on the TV, watched about two movies, and had dinner, but I wasn’t really able to eat much.
I was tired, but I didn’t feel lik
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BRIELLE What was I going to do with him now? "Look Dylan, you really can't be here right now, I mean look at the time, it's super late. You're tired, I'm tired. Maybe we should do this tomorrow when you and I both feel sober and refreshed, alright?" "No." No? What did he mean by no? I tried another tactic. "Dylan, you really need to leave. My boyfriend is very possessive and should he come and meet you here, I don't think things would turn out good for you." He looked at me critically with his drunk eyes. "You want to know what I think, Bree? One, I think that boyfriend of yours is the most stupid man ever. I mean, who leaves his girlfriend to get up and go out to check who's at the door all by themselves? Two, if you're implying that your boyfriend will hit a drunk man, then he must be an even bigger jerk, and three, if he should have allowed you out of his sight to co
DYLANI woke up with the nastiest headache ever only to find myself sprawled on my couch instead of being in bed, still in yesterday’s outfit minus my shoes.What had happened?I yawned tiredly and reached for my phone to check the time, wincing at how bright my apartment was.Wait, brightness! What time was it?A quick look at my phone confirmed my worst fear.I was late for work.Late-like-it-was-almost-time-for-lunch-late. How could I have let this happen? I staggered to my room as quickly as I could and opened the medicine cabinet for some aspirin which I swallowed without water. Stepping out of yesterday’s clothes, I trudged to the bathroom to get ready for work.I splashed some water on my face, and just like that, memories from last night flooded my mind.Fuck!I had really made a fool out of myself, hadn’t I?I re
DYLAN “Ma! This is a pleasant surprise, how are you doing?” I asked pleasantly, praying to the heavens that she wouldn’t ask about dad. “I’m doing alright honey, but this isn’t a social call.” She said to me in a rush. “Are you at work? Is your dad around? He hasn’t been answering my call for two days, and I’m worried. I even want to cancel my stay at your Aunt Helen’s place because I really have a bad feeling about this.” There she goes again; Always interested in her husband so much that she overlooked petty things such as my feelings. Typical ma. I was used to it now, but that didn’t mean it made accepting it any easier. She always had this notion that if you pretended a problem wasn’t there, it would go away on its own eventually, and I think that notion had been responsible for ruining our perfect family. I guess we all never got the closure we needed to begin our forgiving process as
BRIELLE A date! Ryan Rodriguez… businessman extraordinaire and probably the most beautiful man on the planet wanted to go out with me! Me… of all people! Now, don’t get me wrong, I know my worth and know he should actually be considering it an honour to go on a date with me and all that stuff, but I still didn’t understand. I mean, from the way he had pushed me into such a tight spot, it was obvious that he knew that I would not even be contemplating it had he asked in a normal way, so the question now was, why? Why waste so much time when you can easily just have anyone else? I cleared my throat nervously. “You know, Ryan… under other circumstances, I would have been thrilled to go out on a date with you, but this is business… and I really don’t think it is wise to add something such as that to the equation.” He smiled wanly. “Now, I knew you’d say th
DYLAN I just couldn’t stop thinking about it. Brielle was going on a date with that douche bag tonight, and there was nothing I could do about it. Yeah, I know… I had waited for a whole week without putting in any effort to change her mind, and I had also already kind of resigned myself to the fact, that whether I liked it or not, she was going to go on that date… because let’s face it, the woman was one of the most headstrong women I had ever met. Another reason, for my hesitation perhaps, was the very fact that for the first time, Brielle and I were exploring a chance at friendship without going for each other’s throats and to be very honest it felt amazing. I mean, we still riled each other up… occasionally, but it was even more fun now because we got to laugh it off at the end of the day. As for Savannah, she was still around for some reason. I was yet to find out, but she was using dad’s illness a
BRIELLE I didn’t know why Silvie was home so early… my guess was, she probably left something and was returning for it, but that was bad news for me because I had decided to collapse on the couch instead of making it to my room after I got back. I certainly didn’t want to talk about the date… not now at least, and so, I did the only thing I could think of to get out of having to talk to her… Feign sleep. Trying to slow my rapid heartbeat, I managed to get myself relaxed enough even as the keys turned in the lock and Silvie entered the apartment. “Gosh, it’s not even 11 pm, and she’s back, already sleeping.” I heard her mutter to herself. From the corner of my eye, I saw her drop a couple of shopping bags, then proceed to her room. She came back a few minutes later. “Lucia?” My inquisitive best friend called out tentatively. I ignored her, turning over dramatically for goo
BRIELLE Dylan Thoma was my boyfriend!!! It still felt unreal, you know? And it was just as I had imagined it would be… maybe even more than I had, if we’re being real. Dylan was the kind of guy who stimulated you in every way and not just sex-wise if you know what I mean. I always looked forward to our intellectual banters especially, because they were highly entertaining, and well… because they almost always led to amazing sex. That was a fast way to get to a consensus, amirite? Speaking of amazing sex, We were doing it everywhere… my office, his office, the elevator, the conference room, his apartment, mine… Life had never been this perfect. Now, I know you’d be skeptical, because office romance almost always gets out of hand, but Dylan and I had learnt how to balance things. We knew when to keep things strictly business and when to loo
BRIELLE The grand lobby of the Prestige Hotel glittered with radiance from the many chandeliers littering the ceiling. Surprisingly, there weren’t that many a people around and so I was able to breathe out and relax into the warm ambience and the soft music. “This way ma’am, sir.” One of the valets steered Dylan and I towards the massive, popular restaurant Artemis, where my amazing boyfriend had decided to take me out to, to climax a very weird week. It’s been four days since the whole Madeline fiasco, and I had come to a pretty obvious conclusion about the woman… she seemed to have some kind of mental illness. I remember the day like it was yesterday, Well, it was technically just four days ago, but still… I had left Dylan to deal with his mess, the Madeline woman still stuck in her high to notice. No one at work, except for Savannah knew of our budding romance, an
BRIELLE My phone rang again just as Dylan and I were getting ready to head over to tell Shawn the good news. It was Silvie. I knew she was definitely calling to ask about Shawn… she had seen the frantic way I had exited our apartment, and I knew she was undeniably worried as well. “Hey.” “Lucia, how’s Shawn?” “He’s not good, Syl. He’s in very critical condition and the doctors don’t think he’s going to make it.” I told her. “Oh Lucia, I’m so sorry to hear that.” “Yeah, we all are.” I admitted sadly. “But there’s good news too.” I told her, my voice lightening up a little at the change. “Savannah just gave birth. She’s healthy, and so are the babies.” I said. “Oh my God, that’s excellent news!!! I’ll be at the hospital as soon as I can.” “Sure, sure.” I answered. “I guess it’s safe to say you haven’t heard the news then?” I raised an eyebrow in puzzlement. “News? What news?”“Madeline has been
DYLAN“I want you all to know that I love you. Much more than you can ever know, and I’m sorry that my naïve cowardly actions drove such a huge rift between us for years, I can never forgive myself for that.” Our father rasped weakly.“Don’t say a word, dad… save your energy and focus on getting better.” Savannah whispered, tears streaming down her eyes as she held onto his hands. She sat on a chair right beside his bed, I was okay with leaning against the wall. Ma sat in a couch at one end of the ward, her legs tucked under her, eyes red-rimmed from crying so much.“Where—” A painful fit of coughs racked his frail body for a moment, cutting of whatever it was he was going to say. “I-is Brielle coming?” He asked when he had recovered.“Yes, she’s on her way.” I informed him, my jaw clenching real hard to sooth the
Chapter 40- ShawnDYLANI was finally ready to leave for the airport.With Brielle being on sick leave, I was basically the one in charge and I needed to oversee a couple of things before I left for my trip.I stepped out of my office, only to bump into Savannah about to knock on my door, a distressed look on her face.I panicked.“What is it Anna? Oh, fuck, are the babies coming?”“Dylan—”“Come on, let’s get you guys to the hospital.”I reached for her hand and started leading her towards the elevator, but thought better against it and made to lift her up instead. “I don’t think you should walk, come here I’ll carry you to the car.” She smacked my hand off frustratingly. “Will you listen to me for a fucking second?”I stopped. “Okay?”“The babies aren&rsq
DYLAN I was such a coward. A stupid, helpless dweeb who couldn't protect his woman. What good was having her in my life if I couldn't even fucking ensure her safety? Madeline was out there, and every minute Brielle spent with me was one that could put her in even more danger. I couldn't have that. She was better off with someone else… someone who was more capable of taking care of her— someone whose… whose baggage didn't turn around to haunt his perfect life in anyway, She needed someone who wasn't me. That was why I was gently exiting her life. She may not want that now, but eventually, she'd come to thank me for saving her from my messy life. She would come to realize that I'd done her a huge favor when she's happy with some other man. With some other man who could give her the protection and safety I never could. I was going t
DYLAN“How’s she doing?” I asked the doctor as soon as he exited the master bedroom where Brielle had been resting.“Luckily for her, her body went into a state of delirium to take her mind off things, but she’s slowly coming off it now.” The old man told me. “Her wounds are frightening at first glance, but they’re not too serious. They’ll disappear in a few weeks. Generally, she made it out okay, it’s her emotional and psychological wounds I’m worried about however, but we’ll find a way. Just make sure she takes her medications.”I thanked the kind doctor and walked him to the front door, thanking him once again for showing up at such a late hour and on such short notice.I sighed deeply after the door closed shut and stood there, deep in contemplation for a moment.Madeline was nowhere to be seen.The implic
DYLAN“What have you got?”“My men tracked her cell to a pub around Warrington Drive, but they found nothing.” The investigator told me.“Keep fucking searching!” I snarled. “They should either be in that area, or it’s a whole decoy to throw us off their tracks. I shouldn’t be the one telling you this? Do your fucking job!”“We’re on it, sir.” The five men walked out of my office.I swept my hair back frustratingly.If anything happened to Brielle…She’ll be fine man. Positive thoughts only.But how could I do that?She had been gone since noon, it was almost 10pm, and we still had no idea where she could possibly be. No ransom calls had been made yet, and I still couldn’t reach Madeline.The door to my office barged open and Ryan Rodriguez walked in. I l
BRIELLE I was floating. Floating over my lifeless, sleeping body. I tried to reach out for her… but all I grasped was air. Was this truly how dying felt like? Because instead of feeling pain— I felt free. I felt— liberated. There was no light, no darkness, no heaven, no abyss… there was just; Me. If this was death, then why wasn’t it scary? If this was the end, then why did it feel like this was just the beginning? It was another space, another dimension… where the main focus was no one but, Me. “Fight.” “You can do it.” “Just hold on.” “I’ll find you.” Voices. No, a voice—Dylan’s. It was fading… fading into the darkness
BRIELLE I don’t know how Dylan had done it, but whatever he did had worked. Never had I felt so much at ease since the incident, and now thanks to his wonderful connections and that restraining order, I had gone about my daily activities without stress or worry for the past two weeks. I finally felt free, you know… like a huge burden had been lifted off my shoulders. I was even sleeping much better now. Of course, Dylan still had to go out with Madeline for her usual checkup and all of that other stuff. And hey, though it wasn’t that easy dealing with the whole thing, I had resigned myself to the fact that that was probably going to be our new normal. But Dylan had told me that the doctor said they could do a fetal cell analysis to determine if he was really the father without waiting for the child to be born, and he had told me they would be doing that tomorrow, which meant that the day of reckoning was going t
BRIELLE At first, I thought he was angry at me for threatening his mother, and apparently, so had she. “Dylan, you see why I never approved of her, look at how she’s talking to me!” She lamented, trying to seek his sympathy as she wrapped her arms around him. But he pushed her off, inching closer and closer to me. “Brielle, what did you mean by that? And don’t lie to me.” He ordered. He called me Brielle, not Bree. One thing I had promised myself was that Dylan was never going to find out about the whole Anya and the gun situation, and now, thanks to his mother, he finally had. I rebuked myself bitterly. Perhaps, I should have gotten a tighter leash on my anger, and then none of this would have happened. I feared for Dylan and what he would do were he to find out about this, but it was a little too late for regrets now. Taking in a deep breath, I told him everything. From how she was bip