Veil stared dumbstruck at Anders’ retreating figure, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. She knew she should have just left the damn iPad back at home even if that meant appearing so incompetent. But at least, she would have gotten to the office early enough and in turn, would have avoided Anders’ wrath.But then again, she had a strong inkling that it was more than her coming late. It wasn't the first time Anders’ had gotten upset over his reaching the office before her, but it was never this intense. Something else was wrong, and she wasn't sure she was interested in finding out what it was.“What is the saying again?” she said in her head as she made the short journey back to her office. “Oblivion is sometimes bliss.”This oblivion couldn't be blissful in any way, and that would have only been if it had agreed to remain undiscovered. ***Anders walked in through the glass doors, barely noticing the people who bowed low in greeting as he walked briskly past them. This meetin
The ride back to the office was not uneventful for Anders, as for the most part, he replayed the covers he had with Orleans outside JK's building, counting the number of times he had to suppress the urge to hit him on the nose. Orleans was with Veil just last night, and there was no getting that away from his mind. She had opened her door to him as if it wasn't his first time coming around, and suddenly, Anders needed to break something to feel better.He had suppressed this rage so much that it was threatening to spill out of him in a rush.The driver looked at him through the overhead mirror, observing how Anders’ forehead was burrowed in concentration like he was trying to remember something or keep himself from remembering something. “Is anything the matter, Sir?” He asked.“Nothing is wrong,” Anders answered him curtly, ejecting every thought of the conversation continuing. He didn't want to have to talk about how nothing made sense right, about how all of these were based on a
A lot of things were happening all at once, maybe too much to pay attention to. Perhaps that was the reason Veil failed to pay attention to the voice of reason, which screamed at her to push Anders away and get the hell out of his office. But she couldn't.The moment his lips touched hers, she felt everything disappear. They were no longer in the office at Kingston Group, but at the same time, she couldn't decipher where they were. Perhaps Anders and Veil were lost in between time and space, where nothing else mattered other than the hot, smoldering kiss that was going on. At first, Veil felt her body tense up at Anders' intrusion, but that didn't discourage him. His lips lingered on hers, teasing and pleading with her to open up. The moment she did, Anders' mouth closed over hers, and she gasped from the feeling of his lips on hers. Veil tasted of vanilla ice cream and a tinge of strawberry, probably from her gloss. Anders drank in the odd yet alluring combination, tugging at her
“You look flustered. Are you fine?” Simon asked Veil as she got to the first floor, armed with her purse. The ride from the sixteenth floor to the first floor had been too quiet for her so much so that her mind had decided the best thing to do to while away time was to replay her kiss with the CEO of Kingston Group.“I'm fine, Simon,” Veil breathed, trying not to wobble on her feet. She still hadn't recovered from that intense moment, and she really needed to go home immediately.But Simon was still talking and she didn't want to cut him off.“Are you sure? Your face is red. Are you…”Veil knew he was just genuinely concerned, but she just wanted to be out of there. “I'm just tired, Simon. It's been a really long day, with Mr Rodriguez treating me like ….” Closing her eyes, Veil took a deep breath and tried again. “I just need to get some rest.”That seemed to have done the trick as Simon nodded and wished her a splendid evening. As Veil got outside the building, a red Lexus sports
June stared wide-eyed at her best friend, Veil, wielding a bat with so much ferocity in her eyes. She was still in her office clothes and looked like she had only just returned from work. When Veil had told her that her boss was a pain in the ass, June only just realized how serious her best friend must have been. “You aren’t supposed to be back until the weekend!” Veil yelled back, dropping the bat at once. “I thought you were a thief?”“A thief making toast and jam? Really? Come here!”Veil ran into the arms of her best friend, relishing in the familiar smell of her shampoo and perfume. She didn’t realize how much she had missed June until now when she was standing in the middle of the kitchen. It felt like ages since they’d last seen each other. “You look like you’ve lost a lot of weight since the last time I saw you,” June commented, holding Veil at arm’s length. “What has Kingston Group been feeding you?”Veil didn’t even want to think about work right now because then, she wou
June hadn't let Veil go to bed without telling her every single thing that had happened since she had been away, including the gift from Anders and the moment on the rooftop at the party. Of course, Veil left out the part where they kissed, as she didn't think it was important information for June to know. At least, not yet. The next morning, Veil was surprised to see June up as well when she went to the kitchen to get a glass of water. June was a remote worker who could work from the comfort of their house, so it was strange that she was awake that early. "I don't have any more stories for you," Veil yawned as she walked into the kitchen, grabbed a cup, and filled it with water. "I've had my fill of you," June answered, chuckling. "But do you know the best element in a story?""The suspense?""No! The imagery."Veil stared at her best friend like she had just grown horns overnight. "What are you rambling about? Are you sure you don't want to get back to bed?""I have decided that
Veil wished the ground would open up immediately and swallow her. The last thing she expected was for her best friend to appear before them after she had left clear instructions for her to return home. June seemed to be having a swell time as she giggled when Anders surprisingly took her hand in his and shook it firmly. “It’s nice to meet you as well, though I dare say this isn’t the first time I’ve seen you.”“Really?” June was impressed with his memory. It wasn’t her first time seeing him as well, but she hadn’t even expected him to recognize her, especially since he had no reason to pay attention to her. “Yeah. At the club. You’re a regular there. The club is one of my many establishments, and your name seems to come up often during the monthly account balancing. You also bring in impressive personalities.”“Wow!” June mouthed to Veil, wondering where the bad boss was. Anders was nothing but polite to her, and it made Veil look like a raging mad woman. “I’m flattered that you pa
JK Corporations were ready to receive them in their building for the meeting, but Anders had insisted that they meet on neutral ground this time. With the way he sounded, one would think they were going for a battle, where the war needed to be fought on a neutral and strange ground.Anders took the cup of coffee along with him, and he sipped it during the ride. Veil was pleased with the fact that Anders had seemed to stop complaining about the coffee she made and now drank it contently. She watched as he scrolled through his phone with so much concentration that she dared not interrupt. When Veil looked out of the car, she was surprised to find the driver pulling in front of Anders' usual restaurant. So much for neutral ground. This ground was familiar to Anders, which was why he chose it. "Isn't this…'"Say less and pay close attention, Veil," Anders interrupted, then alighted the car, taking the lead inside. They were the first to arrive, and Anders made some statements about tar
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