Veil raced through the hallway, then bounded into the elevators, shaking her legs impatiently as she waited for the familiar ding of the doors. She tried not to think too much about what Anders had just told her, repeating in her head like a mantra that he wasn’t the source of knowledge.As far as she was concerned, Anders was wrong. Simon was just shaken meeting her that way, and she was certain that when she explained the situation to him, he would understand. Be sympathetic even.The doors sprung open, and Veil walked briskly across the floor with a straight face, careful not to gain the unwanted attention of the receptionist. She had never been into Simon’s office before and it hit her that she just might have been a terrible friend to him.Veil couldn’t remember ever doing something nice for him, whereas he had gone out of his way a million times to ensure she was settled in fine. It made her feel terrible and added one more thing she needed to apologize to him about.The office
Veil had never seen Anders that upset before, so much so that it caused her to take a step backward. He shot lasers at Simon with his eyes, so harsh that the strongest person would have melted on the spot. His hands were still folded into fists and his veins pulsed from how tight they were kept. “What the hell did you just fucking say?” Anders repeated, oddly sounding calm. But Veil knew him well enough to know he was seething inside and was probably restraining himself from doing something much worse to Simon.Simon scrambled to the wall, putting as much space as he could between himself and Anders. But he was unrelenting, taking slow steps towards Simon. “Repeat yourself.”Anders was asking for the impossible as Simon would be out of his mind to call Veil a slut again right in front of him. He shook his head vehemently, not wanting to be put in the line of fire again.Stooping till he was on the same level as Simon, Anders raised his face up with a hand on his chin. There was frig
When Anders said he was going to take Veil home, she thought the home in question was the one she shared with June. But as Anders took another route, taking the U-turn instead of going straight down, she sat up, her eyes darting from the road to Anders' relaxed state.Or an almost relaxed state.Anders hated to admit it, but this situation rattled him than he let on. His hands tightened around the steering at intervals, and he couldn’t stop his leg from jerking. He was angry, but he couldn’t tell who that anger was directed to - himself, Simon or Veil?Perhaps the contract was a wrong idea. Or maybe he should just have let it all be when he saw her in the club that night. But at the point they were, there was no going back.He turned into his street, clueless as to why he had brought Veil here. He just wanted to talk without the pressure of Kingston Groups surrounding them or the eavesdropping ears of his employees.“I thought you said you were taking me home,” Veil mentioned, looking
The notion of change took various forms, with no strict rule applying to any specific occasion. For some, it was a highly noticeable switch, the gear put in motion for the affected parties to see. For others, it was much less obvious, hidden in the little things.Something had surely changed between Anders and Veil, even though it wasn't overly in their faces. Perhaps, it could be attributed to their conversation a while back, in his living room, armed with mocktails. Or maybe it was Simon and the whole saga that had gotten Anders snapping out of his reserved nature.But it was there.Veil looked out the window as the whole world went by. Anders had pulled down the convertible and the wind played with her hair, tossing it all over her face. She splayed her fingers out, relishing in the feel of the air on her skin and her face. Closing her eyes and relaxing into the leather of the seat, she took it all in, allowing the tension of the day to seep out.It was a temporary break, but Veil
The smile on Orleans’ face died as fast as it stretched across his face. The atmosphere shrunk into a small tank, seemingly dumping the three of them into it, without enough room leg space. The cosmos must have had a weird sense of humor, as it should have least warned Orleans that Veil wasn’t alone.It was hard for him not to notice how Veil gravitated towards Anders, slowly, unconsciously. They walked close to each other, their hands dangling so closely without actually touching. It reminded Orleans of a book he had once read about the whisper of a touch.This seemed to bring that phrase to life in Orleans’ head.He should have looked out the window before rushing outside because then, he would have seen the convertible and guessed right. There were no cabs that used that kind of car. But he had been so excited at the prospect of surprising Veil that none of that had occurred to him.Who would have thought that her mean boss would follow her all the way to her parent’s house?Ander
Orleans' eyes trailed down to Veil, still standing in between them, and for all the right reasons too. Now, he was really contemplating using his fists on the bastard who had almost all the women in Mexico at his doorstep, yet chose to claim this one for himself as well.Orelans thought he was lying to Veil, and he wished Veil could see it from a mile away. There was no way Sophia would let it be, and even though she did, he thought Veil hated Anders.“Veil,” Orleans called endearingly and it irked Anders. “Please, tell me this is all some stupid joke and that you'll go back to hating him as you've always done. Remember the second time we met…”“Orleans, stop it,” Veil pleaded. It looked like a repeat of what happened at the office with Simon and Veil really wasn't in the mood to lose another friend or have him call her a slut. This situation couldn't be any more different, yet Veil didn't know how to explain it.“Can't you see that he should be the one stopping whatever he's doing?”
Nothing in the world could have prepared her for that moment. Although it was true that Veil had always felt amazed that her life had taken a sudden trajectory, she still hadn’t seen this coming, especially not from Orleans.She remembered the day she found out he was the President of J.K Corporations and how upset she had been. She had thought that the huge wedge separating her world from theirs had been removed when Orleans mentioned that he just wanted to be Orleans to her, away from all his decorations and titles.Yet, hearing those words brought her back to the harsh realities of things. No matter the laughter shared or the time spent together, no matter the pleadings and the sudden appearances, Orleans and Anders would forever be up there, and she, somewhere below the line.She couldn’t blame Orleans because he had only said the truth. But why did it hurt so bad?“Veil…I… fuck! I didn’t mean it that way. You understand, right?”It was his second strike for the night, and Veil di
Veil’s father looked up in surprise as she stormed into the house, visibly upset. She mumbled hello to him and dashed down the hallway into her bedroom, reigning her emotions in until she closed the door behind her.The room looked exactly as it did twelve years ago when Veil was still in high school. A picture of West Life, her favorite band at the time, graced the wall over her bed, and on the other side were words of affirmation her mother had forced her to put up, even though she hadn’t seen the usefulness.Standing before the cursive words artistically impressed onto the wall, she read them line after line, wishing that some part of her would take them for what they were rather than bother about what Orleans had said tonight.“I’m pretty,” she muttered to herself. “I’m brave. I’m kind. I belong to wealth.”It sure didn’t feel like it right now.“What the hell am I doing?” Veil whispered, dropping to the floor. With her back resting on the wall, she put her head in her hands, wis
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