While Aurora and Carter were out having fun, she noticed Carter wasn’t his best self either. “What’s wrong? You seem pretty distant too.” “What?” Carter chuckled, looking at her as he took in a large part of his vanilla ice cream. “Don’t pretend like everything is fine, Carter. I know you well enough to know that you are not always like this. Is there something bothering you? The least we can do is share it.” She tried to convince him to talk. He heaved a loud sigh and nodded. “I’ve been trying hard not to think about the future lately, you know? I mean, the future is now. I’m not getting younger. I’m in my early forties.” He muttered, taking another bite from his ice cream. “What are you trying to say, Carter?” “I’m saying I don’t know where my relationship with Derick is heading. I know he has stood up to his homophobic parents already, but we can’t just keep dating forever. I want to get married to him badly, but I don’t know how to tell him. I don’t know if he’s even ready.
Arthur impatiently checked the wall clock in the living room, waiting for Aurora to return. It was 9 p.m. and she had not returned. He tried to think of places where she could be, but aside from Derick’s house, he knew no other place she could go. He also didn’t want to call Derick either, so he tried calling her multiple times but her phone was switched off. “Daddy, mummy isn’t back?” He heard one of the boys ask from behind him. He looked back and saw Rowan, yawning sleepily. “Rowan, mummy isn’t back, but she’ll be here soon. You should go to bed, okay? It’s late. I’ll make sure she kisses you goodnight when she comes back.” Arthur assured him, brushing his hair playfully. Rowan nodded slowly and walked out of the living room, heading back to the boys’ room. ‘Where the hell are you?!’ He asked in his head, staring at his phone. He tried her phone again, but it was the same thing. Her phone was switched off. Just when he was about to lose it, he heard footsteps at the door.
~The Next Morning~ As Theo advised, Aurora headed to Arthur’s room still in the clothes she wore the previous night. Theo already told her the suit he planted the wiretap already. Getting to his room, she opened the door and walked in to find him dressing up. TtyHe turned to look at who it was, and when he saw it was her, he heaved a sigh and looked away. “Good morning.” Aurora greeted with a faint smile, but Arthur ignored her. He kept buttoning up his shirt in front of the mirror. Aurora moved close to him, fiddling her fingers. “About yesterday…” “We don’t have to talk about it. I need to get to work.” He muttered, still not looking at her. “We do need to talk about it.” She moved closer and stood in front of him. “I’m sorry, Arthur.” She uttered in a low and remorseful manner, causing him to finally look at her. “What exactly are you sorry for? That you came home late and drunk? That you left me worried sick about you? Or that you started saying things you shouldn’t say?”
Getting to the office, Arthur met Anita waiting for him in front of his office. She wore a white shirt that exposed her cleavages and a very short skirt that hardly covered her thighs as she sat. ‘Who even let her up?’ He thought in disbelief as he walked to his office. “Arthur! You’re here.” Anita uttered with excitement as soon as she saw him. She sprang to her feet and ran cutely towards him, but he wasn’t having it. He moved away from where he stood and headed into his office. “Go away.” He muttered, but this wasn’t going to stop Anita. After grabbing her bag, she headed into his office too, still grinning widely. She stood in front of his desk and looked around his office. “I knew you always had good taste. Even though your apartment wasn’t the biggest back then, you knew how to take care of it the little way you could.” She uttered, while Arthur kept ignoring her. He removed his suit and hung it on his chair before proceeding to sit. “Blue? I thought your favorite colors
On Arthur’s way home, he kept recalling what the therapist had told him to do. He had to forgive Anita and move on, and this wasn’t going to be so easy. He had to train himself not to be so mad at her when she appeared. ‘But how will I do this? Setting my eyes on her makes me hate her every single time!’ Arthur yelled in his head, hitting the steering in anger. He let out a deep sigh as he tried to calm himself down. “You can’t keep using Aurora, Mr Arthur. It isn't good to distract yourself with a romantic relationship or it won’t end well, we’ll have to start from the very beginning because, in the end, one of you will get hurt. “You need to be sure she isn’t just a distraction, and if she is, you should try to take things slow.” The words of Mr Richard came to him again. He began to think of ways to take things slow, but it was all cloudy. ‘She doesn’t want to be a girlfriend for a long time. She wants me to marry her, but how can I do this when I’m asked to take things slow
Theo walked into Aurora’s room after getting permission from her to enter. He met two big boxes on her bed, all filled up with her clothes. “What are you doing?” He furrowed his brows, moving closer to her. “I’m leaving.” She muttered. Her eyes were swollen from how much she’d cried. “Leaving? What are you talking about?” “Arthur doesn’t love me. I see no reason why I should still be here.” She responded, locking the boxes. “What? Why are you saying this? What happened? What did you hear?” Theo bombarded her with questions, still feeling very confused. “I heard everything. I’m just nothing but a distraction. He also told me he wouldn’t be able to reciprocate the feelings I have for him. There’s no use of me being here.” She pulled the bags with her and headed out of the room, leaving Theo speechless. “But… but wait… what about the kids?” He asked, causing her to take a halt. “What will you tell them?” He further inquired, and she looked at him from above her shoulder. “That I
The next day, Arthur went to his office feeling so much better. He felt relieved that Aurora now knew how he truly felt, and he didn’t have to deceive himself, pretending to reciprocate her feelings. She was right, he had to work on himself, and that was exactly what he was going to do. Work on himself, and get rid of Anita totally from his life, then he could heal, forgive, and then fall in love. This seemed like so many ladders for Arthur to climb, and the thought of it wore him out. ‘All these because of that manipulative woman.’ Getting to his office, he met Anita sitting in front of his office again. ‘Is she this jobless?’ He wondered, staring at her from afar. She wore a short pink dress, her flowy long hair dropped down her shoulders, and her canvas shoes were white. In her bag was a bag which she placed on her legs as she waited. Arthur let out a sigh and walked to his office door, alerting Anita. She sprang to her feet immediately after she saw him, holding onto the bag
Derick’s phone began to ring, disrupting his sleep. He groaned softly as he reached for his phone on the bedside table. “Hmm.” He moaned, answering without opening his eyes to see who it was. “Mr. Derick?!” The ear-splitting voice of the event planner he has hired hits his eardrums hard, causing him to flinch. “Maria?” His eyes opened wide as her voice made his slumber disappear in seconds. “Yes, it’s me. We have finished the preparations. I sent you a picture already. Can you please get back to me on what else you’d love to add?” She explained to him. “Oh… yes. Of course, I’ll check it out now. Thank you.” He answered, and the very next minute, she hung up. He let out a sigh and proceeded to check the pictures she had sent. In the picture was the restaurant where Derick saw Carter for the very first time. He had booked this restaurant for a week, so it wasn’t open to anyone because of the things he was trying to put in place before the day of the proposal, which happened to be