Anders didn't bother to change into something else, getting onto the private jet from his landing. The tuxedo made him look like he was going to a ceremony, but there wasn't any time to go back home, especially since Anders made the decision in the spur of the moment.The usual readings of the weather, flight safety information, and weather forecast were announced before the jet took off from the ground, and Anders wished they could go faster. His legs bobbed in the aircraft and he shuffled between looking out through the window and scrolling through the magazines before him.He wasn't going to get to Veil in the next five hours and now that Anders was midair, he was beginning to think about the spontaneous choice he had just made. Perhaps, he should have celebrated the day with his best friend, then waited till the following morning before making the trip. He hadn't even considered if Veil would be open to receiving him. If that happened, was he just going to come right back?The ans
Anders walked into the house with trepidation since Veil hadn't said anything about welcoming him with open arms. He had taken too long to realize he was in love with her, and the thought plagued him as he stood in the center of the small and cozy living area, struck at how homely she had made it look.“This is nice,” he noted, not expecting Veil to dignify him with a response. That explained how his eyes raised in surprise when she smiled at him, a sigh escaping her slightly parted lips. “I'd always wanted my own space,” Veil explained. “But living with June has made me realize that perhaps, solitary living isn't for me.” She laughed awkwardly and sat on one of the mismatched couches. “It's been a little bit hard living alone. I don't know how to cook just for myself, and there's no one to fix me a quick snack when I'm too tired to lift a finger.”Anders wanted to tell her that he would happily do all of that for her, but something kept him mute. He wasn't certain how open she would
MONTHS LATERElvis Presley's “can't help falling in love” reverberated across the full hall as Veil walked down the aisle slowly, in the arms of her father, with June behind her, unable to stop smiling so wide. Veil's best friend seemed to be the most excited about this wedding, as she had been in such a great mood since Veil returned with Anders to Mexico, the news of their engagement in tow.She and Amanda had been responsible for all the planning, leaving Veil nothing to do than being doted on by Anders and taking care of her gradually bulging stomach. Veil thought it was better to do the wedding before she wouldn't be able to walk easily, and Anders was cool with whatever she wanted.Anders was at the aisle, with Lucas by his side, the roles reversed so beautifully. His wife, Amanda, was at the front pew, dabbing at her eyes and at the same time, glancing at her watch. She was in charge around here and since Amanda was the queen of perfection, she wanted everything to be in place
In the spaced parlor of a three-bedroom apartment, adorned with comfort requirements of a flat-screen TV, air conditioning, a modest-sized refrigerator, comfortable couches, and a glass table in front. With pictures of a light-skinned brunette hanging on the walls. On the glass table sitting in front of one of the two lemon couches, a bunch of local newspapers lay scattered across the table, a few others on the floor, and come across the other couch. Two brunettes sat across the table, ransacking the papers.Gazing at a particular heading on the paper with apt uncertainty evident in sea-green eyes, Veil let out a long sigh she didn't think she had been holding. Her expression was one of innocent frustration."I don't think I can cope with the job of a bartender." Flipping the pages of a paper with the picture of a male model as its cover picture, the other brunette gave a glance at the paper in Veil's hands."You're not working in a bar, we'd find something better."Veil bit on th
Veil trailed behind a group of young girls in mini-exposing dresses as they made their way through the entrance hallway. Under the blue lights, she could see a few couples making out, and hear groans and moans and soft music playing. The more they walked down the hallway, the louder the music got. Reaching the end of the hallway, she entered a place where the music was at its loudest. The room was more like a hall and was crowded. She stumbled upon a few insatiable love-making lovebirds, some drunks, coughed once and then twice at the choking smell of cigarettes. In less than five minutes, she was already regretting the decision she made in a state of excitement. Why didn't she just sit back and wait? First time in a club and she was already hating the idea of it.How was she supposed to find June in such rowdyism, and that too, with such lights?As she moved around searching for June, a group of drunk dudes in the company of three drunk ladies quaked her "Hey!" One of the guys scr
At 7:30 AM, Veil was up and preparing for a 9:00 clock interview. She had her shower, made breakfast, ate, and used the rest of the free minutes taking in deep breaths. Once it was 8:20 AM, she dressed up. In a white polyester V-neck long-sleeved shirt, a knee-length black skirt that accentuated her perfectly defined curves, and a pair of heels, she looked almost ready to rock. What was she missing....... Yap! Her hair. She brushed the waist-length hair and packed it to the back. She's never been a fan of make-up, so she didn't apply any, besides, her skin was pure and smooth. She picked up one of the bags they had gotten the day before, a Channel. Hurrying to June's room, she knocked on the sleeping girl's room and made her aware of her departure, before leaving. In a hurry, she almost flagged down a Bentley, but thank heavens she was quick enough to withdraw her hand......But. Why did the car feel familiar?....In the passenger seat of the black Bentley that had just passed Veil,
"Ms. Veil Smith. You're up next!" The speaker announced."Huh!!" Veil asked. Was it her or someone bearing the same name as her? Why was it her turn now? She had only been sitting there for five minutes. Some too many other people came before her, so, why was she next?As she stood up and confidently approached the door, she knew that others had the same thoughts running in their minds. Probably she was amongst the top firsts on their list. But! why was her name called, instead of her number? She noticed a lot of people staring at her with disdain and it made her feel strange in a way. She forced a smile in other to clear the air around her before walking in.As soon as she was out of sight, a few women turned to each other."She's the last person to walk into this room, yet she gets called before us all, and that too, by name?" One blonde asked."I think she must be acquainted with the CEO. Hmm! Lucky her." Another, a short-haired brunette murmured with a fixed gaze on the door V
Veil followed Simon as he took her to a spacious office on the fourteenth floor. The office was decorated with a white lilac flowery wallpaper, and designed to fit three or more persons, but, it had just one desk, one arm swivel chair, and a window that looked outside the city. From there, one could see a lot of things. Like, the famous Chinese restaurant."This will be your office. I'll leave you to settle in. If you need anything, you can ring me on the telephone at the desk." Mr. Simon said and turned to leave, but, Veil called out to him just immediately."Isn't there anything I should know about the CEO? Like, his schedule, favorite drink, coffee or tea, etc..." She inquired, earning a smile from Simon."His schedule will be sent to your work email. His favorite color is black, and...strong black milkless and sugarless coffee is his preference. You'll get to find out other things as time goes by. Have a nice settling." With that, he turned around and was gone.The moment Simon le
MONTHS LATERElvis Presley's “can't help falling in love” reverberated across the full hall as Veil walked down the aisle slowly, in the arms of her father, with June behind her, unable to stop smiling so wide. Veil's best friend seemed to be the most excited about this wedding, as she had been in such a great mood since Veil returned with Anders to Mexico, the news of their engagement in tow.She and Amanda had been responsible for all the planning, leaving Veil nothing to do than being doted on by Anders and taking care of her gradually bulging stomach. Veil thought it was better to do the wedding before she wouldn't be able to walk easily, and Anders was cool with whatever she wanted.Anders was at the aisle, with Lucas by his side, the roles reversed so beautifully. His wife, Amanda, was at the front pew, dabbing at her eyes and at the same time, glancing at her watch. She was in charge around here and since Amanda was the queen of perfection, she wanted everything to be in place
Anders walked into the house with trepidation since Veil hadn't said anything about welcoming him with open arms. He had taken too long to realize he was in love with her, and the thought plagued him as he stood in the center of the small and cozy living area, struck at how homely she had made it look.“This is nice,” he noted, not expecting Veil to dignify him with a response. That explained how his eyes raised in surprise when she smiled at him, a sigh escaping her slightly parted lips. “I'd always wanted my own space,” Veil explained. “But living with June has made me realize that perhaps, solitary living isn't for me.” She laughed awkwardly and sat on one of the mismatched couches. “It's been a little bit hard living alone. I don't know how to cook just for myself, and there's no one to fix me a quick snack when I'm too tired to lift a finger.”Anders wanted to tell her that he would happily do all of that for her, but something kept him mute. He wasn't certain how open she would
Anders didn't bother to change into something else, getting onto the private jet from his landing. The tuxedo made him look like he was going to a ceremony, but there wasn't any time to go back home, especially since Anders made the decision in the spur of the moment.The usual readings of the weather, flight safety information, and weather forecast were announced before the jet took off from the ground, and Anders wished they could go faster. His legs bobbed in the aircraft and he shuffled between looking out through the window and scrolling through the magazines before him.He wasn't going to get to Veil in the next five hours and now that Anders was midair, he was beginning to think about the spontaneous choice he had just made. Perhaps, he should have celebrated the day with his best friend, then waited till the following morning before making the trip. He hadn't even considered if Veil would be open to receiving him. If that happened, was he just going to come right back?The ans
Anders was in the room with Lucas, helping him with his brooch before he went to the aisle to wait for his bride. Lucas hadn't stopped talking about how special he thought Amanda was and how lucky he was to have her as his bride. At first, Anders was receptive to the emotions flowing, even handing Lucas a napkin when tears threatened to fall from his eyes. But three hours into the day, Anders decided that it was getting on his nerves. And not in a bad way. The more his best friend spoke about love and the beautiful things it had done to him, the more he feared that his choice not to believe in love was more damning than it did him any good. It was becoming oddly real to him, that Lucas and Amanda were going to need their privacy after today, so he wouldn't be able to disturb them as often as he was used to.“Don't look so sad, Anders,” Lucas drawled, patting his friend's face affectionately. “We're still going to be your friends. Things are just going to be a bit different.”“How so?
“Veil!” June yelled from the living room, where she was huddled with her laptop, peering up at the screen. She had been at it for a couple of hours now, muttering that she had a deadline to meet up with, more urgent than having a shower or eating. Peeking out from the kitchen where she had been trying to whip up a snack for her best friend, Veil rolled her eyes and muttered something about her yelling being worth it before leaning on the door frame. She was only about six weeks gone, and the pregnancy hadn’t started showing yet. “I hope it isn’t something as mundane as getting you a glass of water,” Veil murmured, eyeing June, who still had her eyes glued to the screen of her laptop. “You got the job!” June said at the top of her voice, and for once, Veil didn’t complain about her best friend yelling when she was right beside her. Veil covered the distance in one second, planting herself by June’s side as she peered down at the mail open on the screen. Veil had logged on to her ema
Anders was in Lucas’ studio, watching his best friend and Amanda gush over the idea they had for their wedding. They wanted it to happen there since it was not only cost-effective but they could, at the same time, have an influence over the decorations.Lucas wanted the paintings he had made of Amanda gracing the walls that day, with the pictures they'd taken together showing the journey of their dating life. They giggled when they saw an old picture of the four of them - Amanda, Lucas, Anders, and Camila, and tears pooled at the corner of Amanda's eyes. She whipped them off hastily before Anders or Lucas could notice. She only wanted to have happy memories of her best friend.“What do you think about beige?” Amanda threw at Anders who looked like he wanted to be anywhere else but there. Unfortunately, he had nowhere else to go. The bar sounded like a very tempting idea right now, but Anders knew it was too much of a show since the whole of Mexico knew who he was and there wasn't goin
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND FORTY-SIXJune couldn't get rid of the surprise etched on her features, no matter how hard she tried. And oh boy, she did try. She walked behind Veil like a shadow, following her every moment and popping the question a million times, so much so that Veil started locking her room door to keep June out in the middle of the night.She had to inform her parents too about the development, and they were supportive of her decision. Veil had resigned from Kingston Groups and sent her CV to the English Investors’ company. She was awaiting feedback from them. On the day she sent in her resignation letter, Veil ensured she was in and out of the company like a breeze, too fast before Anders could realize she was there in the first place. She came just after lunch, meeting Simon at the desk who was about to make a sharp U-turn to stay out of her way.It made Veil laugh about the comedy that had become her life. Just a couple of months ago, Anders was threatening every sing
June was waiting by the door when Veil got home, and she allowed herself get whisked into the living room, with June watching her like she would drop to the floor at any minute. June was not far from the truth because the only thing holding Veil up was the fear of doing anything to harm the baby.It was still pretty early and she had read somewhere that the first few months of a pregnancy were usually the most delicate, and extra care needed to be taken in order to get through it.June said nothing until later in the night, when Veil came out for a snack. She was working in the kitchen, a huge pair of frames on her eyes when Veil sauntered in, covered in her cute small pyjamas.“Hey,” June called, taking off her glasses. Veil hadn't told her anything since she returned because she didn't want to overburden her best friend with the drama that had been going on in her life. They felt unending, from one level to the other. Veil couldn't remember the last time June had complained about so
Those words would have rocked the whole of Veil’s world if she wasn’t so certain of what she had seen in Anders. He was one of Mexico’s greatest businessmen, but the one thing he couldn’t do as expertly as running a business was lying to her. He tried to be mean, to act like he didn’t give two fucks about Veil. But she could see through the walls he had put up, and he had no one to blame for that but himself. The days he had spent with her had opened him up more than he had thought possible, and now, he was left staring at the face of the woman who didn’t believe him one bit when he said he wasn’t in love with her. “I can’t lie about my feelings for you,” Anders said, his tone almost pleading for her to reason with him. “And I have tried my best to make it clear from the beginning that I want nothing more from this than what you want, or at least, what I thought you wanted.” Veil shook her head. “Maybe at first, you believed those words as much as you try to convince yourself now