The fifth and final stage of grief where we can finally be able to accept the reality of what happened. And, during this stage we finally tend to accept how this loss has changed our lives and we will eventually stop wishing for everything to go back to how it used to be, for the better. Three and a half months later. ."Will you stop pacing around, Zam? You're literally making my head spin." Zara complained in a loud voice, her arms crossed against her chest while looking up at her youngest sister walking back and forth in front of her."Ohh, right. Sorry, princess. I'm just fucking nervous. It's been ten minutes already and we still don't have any orders coming in online. No one is also coming to check out our first opening day." Zamantha groaned with so much disappointment laced in her eyes.Zoey only smiled at that, she was sitting on the counter of their newly opened boutique while sipping a hot cup of chocolate milk, with lots of marshmallows. Zoey looked above on the opposite
They say acceptance often occurs later in the grieving process, so it was considered the hardest stage of grief simply because it requires fully accepting that a loved one is really gone. It is not that we no longer feel the pain of loss. Instead, we are no longer resisting the reality of our situation, and we are not struggling to make it something different. More than a year later. . Sebastian rubbed his hands against each other but the coldness of the morning air still creeped inside his body. He was even wearing winter gloves but it can only warm him if his hands are inside his coat's pocket. Sebastian hissed when he suddenly noticed that he was so behind from following his boss. "Boss, wait for me!" Dionysus stopped walking just to wait for Sebastian. "Would you please walk faster? We still have a meeting before the actual meeting for the Californian investors. So, hurry up." "Why work so hard for the past months like a madman when you're already a fucking triollionaire? I
Whatever someone has done to us, is going to be attracted back to them at some point. We are not involved in this process anymore. It's a simple 'Law of Attraction'. Their bad deeds, their freaking lessons for life. "My treat, for today. Yey." Zoey came back with a tray full of food. There were two cups of coffee for Dionysus and Sebastian, a cup of mint tea for her and three slices of tiramisu cake for the three of them. "Your coffee, gentlemen. Just how I remembered them from before." Zoey muttered in a singsong voice while putting down the cups of coffee in front of Dionysus and Sebastian.Zoey feels so proud of herself to finally be able to treat Dionysus and Sebastian with her own money. After all, she doesn't really have any friends. The two gentlemen in front of her were the nearest to that category for her. "Your treat because you're successful now?" Sebastian teased as he helped Zoey to serve the cakes this time around. Zoey laughed before sitting down again. "That and bec
Courting a girl 101 guide: Drive her around. "See, boss? Zoey is safe and sound." Sebastian uttered as soon as he sat beside Dionysus on the couch, placed on the farthest corner of that hotel's waiting lounge. "Hang on. This is one of your five star hotels, right?" Dionysus sighed and blew a deep breath while watching how Zoey laughed and conversed with a lady near her age, in a table a few feet away from them. "She had laughed so much when she was with us a while ago, yet she can still laugh like that with other people. She's an introvert like me, remember?" Sebastian shook his head. "That's got nothing to do with her being an introvert, boss. Zoey can laugh as much as she can because she's happy." Sebastian's phone chimed again, but this time, it was one of the department heads who was tasked to supervise their meeting for that day. "Dio, I think we should really be going now." "Cancel it." Sebastian was too stunned and had to ask his boss again. "I said, cancel the meeting." "
Courting a girl 101 guide number two: Steal her mother's heart. Zoey bit her lower lip after she slid herself onto the passenger's seat. It was even Dionysus who closed the door beside Zoey. Zoey started fidgeting as she watched Dionysus walk back to the other side.Her husband looked so drop dead gorgeous in all regards. Everything about Dionysus was hollering absolute danger for her already healed heart. Sure, she managed to drag herself out of the quicksand that she fell into right after Dionysus parted ways with her.She managed to cure herself all the way because of her family and her faith in God. But, that doesn't mean she had absolutely made herself be immune to her husband's charms. Even the way Dionysus' eyelashes flutter with his every blink was enough to make Zoey swoon internally.Pinching and playing with the hem of her dress, Zoey slapped her cheek. "Woah, Zoey. What's wrong?" Sebastian immediately asked after witnessing what Zoey just did. Zoey stared at Sebastian th
Courting a girl 101 guide number three: Show her your sincerity. "Go inside, Zoey Veera." Mrs. Zenaida Lavigne instructed in a firm voice. Zoey hesitated and looked at Dionysus. "Mom. I think Dio is just joking. Just let me talk to him for a sec and. ." "I said, go inside, sweetheart. It's already ten in the evening." Zoey sighed and even if she wanted to protest and all, she also doesn't want to upset her mother. She loves her mother so much. Once Zoey had stepped inside their house, Mrs. Zenaida Lavigne slammed their front doors shut, right in front of Dionysus' face. Sebastian, Marco and some of Dionysus' men, who were watching the scene from afar, while standing near the cars, frowned and creased their foreheads. "Uh-oh. Our boss got rejected." Sebastian whistled playfully. "Who in their right mind would refuse lord Dio like that?" Marco asked out of nowhere. "Well. For one, Dio really fucked up." Sebastian answered Marco.Dionysus walked back towards where he had left Seba
Courting a girl 101 guide number four: Be honest. Zoey wanted to enjoy the view in front of her more. But, when she remembered and suddenly felt how cold it was out there, she trudged towards Dionysus, completely forgetting that she was almost undraped as well in her lacey nightgown and looking so ready to give her husband an earful. "What are you doing, Dio? It's so cold. And, you're only wearing a thin piece of clothing." Dionysus straightened his back and squinted his ocean blue eyes as soon as it landed on his wife. "Good morning, Zoey." Zoey blinked. It was just a mere greeting. A mere greeting but her freaking heart started booming loudly against her chest, she felt like it would jump out from her rib cage. It was painful, but deliciously painful. Zoey coughed. "Good morning."Right after that, Dionysus dropped his eyes on the piles of wood in front of him again. "I saw your mom struggling a while ago from chopping these woods. So, I offered to help." Dionysus answered the qu
Courting a girl 101 guide number five: Impress her. "I had confessed, Seb." Dionysus uttered while tying the shoelaces on his sneakers. He was seated on the bed and Sebastian was in front of him, sipping his newly brewed coffee.Sebastian almost choked on his coffee after hearing that. "What?" "I told her that I like her so much." Sebastian seemed like he just saw a miracle descend from the heavens above, right in front of him. "Really?" Sebastian placed his coffee on the table, stood up, turned his chair around before sitting again just to have a comfortable position interrogating his boss. They were inside Riley's room and that was where they had both spent the night, last night. Dionysus' other men slept on the couch outside, in the living area, including Riley. "So, how was it? Are you two back together now?" "No." "What? Why not?" Dionysus pulled a new, clean, white shirt from his duffel bag and wore it over his head. "I didn't ask." "Then, how about Zoey?" "She didn't as
All's well that ends well. A knock on the door made Zoey and Dionysus move away from embracing each other. Dionysus wiped Zoey's cheeks gently and smiled. "I love you." Zoey beamed widely. "I love you, too." Zoey hit her husband's shoulders. "But, I hate you, too." Dionysus' forehead creased. "Why, baby? Did I do something wrong?" Shawn and Sebastian materialized beside Dionysus. "I have the results of her tests, Dionysus. And, I want to. ." Dionysus held his hand up in the air to stop Dr. Sprouse for the time being. "What is it, baby? Come on. Tell me." Zoey frowned and looked at the two gentlemen standing on the side. "I. . I forgot, Dio. Just don't mind me." Dionysus smirked. "Then, no one's moving and going away until you tell me why the bloody hell you hate me?" Dr. Sprouse looked down at his wristwatch. "I don't think I can play along with your lover's quarrel, Dionysus. I have surgery to perform fifteen minutes from now." "Did you hear that, baby? So, come on. Tel
Against all odds and against all obstacles, when two people are meant to be together, they will unequivocally make it to the end. "Mr. Chevalier. Should I order something for dinner?" Zoey asked because it was already past seven in the evening and they were still at the office, working. It has been over a week ever since Zoey had known the truth, that she was indeed Dionysus Zephyr Chevalier's wife. But, she hasn't confronted nor asked anyone about it.She wanted to recollect all of her memories first before anything else. So far, some memories had resurfaced to her like the one from the elevators but not all of it. Zoey wanted to remember everything, detail by detail. So, Zoey continued pretending for a whole week that she still doesn't know what her real relationship with her boss is. So, does Dionysus. Her boss continued treating her as a mere secretary as well."Ohh, damn. I didn't realize it was so late already. I have so much work to do." Dionysus closed his eyes, massaged his
There are three things that cannot be hidden for so long. The sun, the moon and the truth. Zoey kept glancing back at Dionysus. She had been sitting on her new desk but her new boss won't give her anything to do. It was her first day so she expected some things to be a little hectic.Dionysus could utterly feel his wife's lingering gaze over him. But, he tried to ignore it all because he might do something shocking to Zoey. He had missed Zoey so much and all he fancied to do right now was to hug her, snuggle close to her body and shower her kisses.Yet, he can't do all those things because Zoey might have another panic attack. And, that was the last thing he wanted to happen. Dionysus was just pretending to type something on his laptops because he didn't really program himself to work on that particular Saturday."Mr. Chevalier?" Dionysus felt his heartbeat had gone much louder inside his chest after hearing Zoey's soft voice. He didn't realize that his wife was already standing in f
And, at the end, she still found her way back to him. "Breaking news: Cronus Chevalier and Gaia Chevalier were found kneeling in front of the New York Police Department early this morning. The Chevalier couple whose chain of businesses went bankrupt more than a year ago confessed to a horrendous crime involving the murder of one of the richest tycoon in New York, Hermes Chevalier. Cronus and Gaia Chevalier told the police that it was them who ordered someone to kill the old Chevalier and frame their own son for their own crimes. Several evidences about their confession to the murder were also sent to all the computers of every police of the N.Y.P.D. When asked about who was the assassin they had ordered to kill Hermes Chevalier, the couple only said that they had already killed him."Dionysus was watching the news in the comfort of his own bed, still wanting to sleep some more but the news had him all awakened. Sebastian and his men had already done their job. Flashback, more than t
We all know that God's plan is always the best even though sometimes, the whole process was very painful and hard to endure. A painful tear fell from Dionysus' eyes. He tried moving an inch towards Zoey but Zoey's screams intensified more. "No! No! Don't come near me! No!" Dionysus' voice broke. Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that Zoey would look at him the very same way she was looking at him at that jiffy. "Baby. . it's me. Please. I missed you so much." "No! No! Mommy! He's going to hurt me!" Zoey was uncontrollable."Why won't I hurt you, Zoey? I'm your husband. I love you so much." "Argh!" Zoey screamed at the top of her lungs, Zara and Zamantha were too shocked to react on the corner. Mrs. Zenaida Lavigne cannot even hold her own daughter in place anymore. Zoey kept trashing the pillows behind her and even throwing one to Dionysus' direction. Dionysus looked so hurt even though the pillow thrown was just soft and actually weighs nothing. "Go away!" Zamantha star
Our brain is the body's most complex organ. Because even if we do own it, it still has the absolute power to control what will happen next in our lives. Dionysus and some of Apollo's men had helped each other to uplift the stretcher containing the unconscious body of Zoey into the humongous military helicopter. Afterwards, Apollo faced Zamantha and Mrs. Zenaida Lavigne. "You can both come with us here. The helicopter is large enough for all of us." Zamantha and Mrs. Zenaida Lavigne nodded without hesitation even though both of them weren't actually sure who the bloody hell was Apollo. No one was still introducing him to them. Apollo even offered his hands to Zamantha and Mrs. Zenaida Lavigne to help them climb the stairs of the military helicopter.Afterwards, Apollo turned to Dionysus and smirked at him. "You owe me for this one, little brother." "Then, Zoey has to live first." Dionysus clenched his jaw and climbed the helicopter next. While Apollo hopped inside the seat beside th
They say that everything happens for a reason. Because without these small tests, we won't be much stronger than ever before. Something was wrong that bright morning, Zoey thought. She was back in Illinois after spending the whole day with Dionysus yesterday. They had so much fun exploring islands after islands that were surprisingly owned by her husband himself. Before the night came, her mother called and told her to come home already.And, now that she was back, she was slightly expecting some kind of surprise from her little sister, Zamantha, and from her mother, who always does that for that particular day of the year, her birthday. "Hera?" Even her little puppy wasn't sleeping beside her on the bed.Zoey looked around and thought that Zamantha might have come inside her room while she was sleeping to get Hera and make her baby girl play with Azlan. With that thought, Zoey jumped down from the bed and decided to get ready for the day. "Who knows? Mom and Zam must be waiting for
When two people are meant for each other, no time is too long, no distance is too far and nothing can keep them apart.One blink, and Zoey was back to present time. She was no longer inside her own bubble of her flashback dated twenty three years ago. She found herself still imprisoned inside Dionysus' arms. She couldn't believe it. She looked at Dionysus with her wide, shocked eyes. "Hey. Do you remember it now, baby?" "How. ." Was all Zoey could utter back. She couldn't grasp the reality that something like that happened to her back then. How on earth did she forget about it? "Remember when I told you that the first time we met again after all these years, when you bumped into me that day on your final interview for my secretarial position? I instantly recognized you back then. That's why I told you I immediately knew right there and then that you were the one for me. Because I had wished to see you again. I wished so hard, baby. I didn't marry anyone because I was waiting for you
We don’t get over or move on from our trauma. We are forced to make space for it. We carry it. We learn to live with it. And, sometimes, we thrive in spite of it."She shamelessly did that in front of me and the little girl, without thinking of the consequences. I felt like the whole world stopped at that moment. I was fucking traumatized. If I was feeling that way, how much more for the little girl?" Zoey moved away from her husband to see his face. Zoey saw the undeniable misery radiating through Dionysus' eyes. It was like what he was telling her was long buried deep down his heart, wanting for so long to be heard by someone, so it can be finally free from him. Dionysus painfully closed his eyes, not desiring for Zoey to see the lurking darkness in his eyes. It could also literally ruin Zoey's bright and positive outlook in life. In the end, Dionysus doesn't want that to happen. But, Zoey cupped his face and made him look at her, determined for him to continue. "Go on, Dio. You c