"Those pictures you saw of him kissing his wife, his ex-wife rather, she was behind those pictures. According to him, she tried to kiss him in a public place and she had planted a photographer who took the pictures." She took a slow breath and continued. "When you saw him with her, he didn't invite her over. She came to tell him that she wanted him back and when he told her he had moved on, she kissed him without his consent. Helen, I don't know what to make of all this. Aaron isn't one to be petty. He won't just lie. Please listen to him. His ex-wife has many reasons to want to come back to him. She's fighting to be with him. I think you should put up a fight too."Helen froze, the announcement jarring her into a stupor. “What are you talking about?” she breathed.She tried to recall what she saw and realized he struggled to break off the kiss. But all her brain could interpret at that moment was the fact that he was with another woman. “Aaron’s on his way right now to the hospital
Aaron was conflicted as he watched her. He stood away from her door but positioned himself in a way that gave him a clear view of her. She sat in a sullen silence, her head lowered and seemingly deep in thought.He didn’t know what to feel. On one hand, his heart burned with malice that she’d kept her pregnancy away from him, and for so long. She was now almost two and a half months along, so that meant that she had most likely been aware of the baby even before he had arrived in Chicago. Maybe it was why she had fallen sick and taken the day off when he had first arrived there. Maybe that was why she had initially tried to push him away.His head was swirling, and he didn’t know where to begin. He heard approaching footsteps and lifted his gaze to see it was a nurse. She wore a cautious smile on her face. "Sir, I'm sorry but you can't be allowed in there. The patient needs some rest and has asked for us not to let anyone in".What the hell was the nurse talking about? "Well... She
She gazed at him and from nowhere, her eyes filled with tears. A drop fell before she could turn away. “I’m sorry,” she said with a nervous laugh. “These damn hormones keep pushing me out of balance.”He gave her the time to recover and reached forward to place his hand on hers. That little gesture he could see, greatly encouraged her.“I’m not ready,” she answered. “But I doubt that I’ll ever be. And since… I’ll never consider any other options, I don’t have a choice but to be ready do I?”He was well aware of the alternative options that she was referring to. “Did you consider getting rid of the child?” he asked.“Honestly, I didn’t. Even though at the time I didn’t know if I would ever see you again. We had gotten involved and parted ways in a not-so-peaceful war” Her laugh was bitter. “I didn’t even know if I should reach you or if you may want to have anything to do with me, not to talk of a child. So no, I didn’t consider anything other than having the baby, and then you showed
After the intense conference for CEOs of advertising, marketing, and media companies, Aaron emerged from the conference room. He exchanged pleasantries and engaged in brief conversations with several acquaintances and fellow industry leaders. He couldn't wait to get home as he'd had a hectic day.He was about to walk towards his car when a distinguished-looking man in his late fifties approached him. The man extended his hand with a warm smile and introduced himself, "Mr. Churchill, it's a pleasure to finally meet you. I'm William Harrington." Aaron knew who he was. He was the owner of the Novelty Network and its numerous spinoff affiliates including Novelty Magazine and the Tastemakers line of licensed cookware, grimaced.Aaron offered him a firm handshake, reciprocating the smile. "Likewise, Mr. Harrington. Your reputation precedes you".The two men engaged in conversation that revolved around their businesses then Harrington cleared his throat. He proceeded to dab his eye before
Early morning sunlight seeped through the curtains, casting a warm glow in the room. Aaron lay in bed which was tangled in a mess of sheets. His phone buzzed loudly on the nightstand. He groans and reaches out, fumbling to silence the annoying sound. Some days Aaron missed the heavy landline phones. The kind you could slam forcefully to hang up on someone. Pressing a button, no matter how angrily, just didn't have the level of fuck you he looked for in ending a call like the one disturbing his sleep. It was just six a.m in the morning and he intended to sleep well into mid-morning or early afternoon. Helen was beside him, her long hair sprawled across the pillows. She stirred slowly, her hand seeking refuge under Aaron's arm. She groggily called out to him. "Baby, turn off the phone." His finger hovered over the phone's screen. He hesitates for a moment, contemplating whether to answer the call or not. The caller had been calling non-stop for the past five minutes. He finally deci
Aaron's meeting with Novelty Network CEO, William Harrington, was in twenty minutes, and he was sorted in his office. He has thought long and hard about the offer and decided that since he didn't have much office work to do, he would probably join the reality TV show. Helen thought it would be fun to be on television so, why not? He heard a soft knock on his door and his Secretary came in."Sir, Mr Williams Harrington is here." She said,"Send him in."A moment later, Williams strolled into the office, looking very excited. He always looked excited. They shook hands and he sat down on the seat across from him. "I presume you've gone over the email we sent you?" He asked."Yea yea. I have. And I must say, this is totally out of my league. It isn't something I ever thought of doing at all. But, I've given it some thought, and well... I could give it a try.""Perfect! This reality TV series follows single successful men and how they date their partners. You can decide to use your real
Aaron drummed his knuckles against the tabletop as Helen sighed heavily. "Listen, I don't know what else to tell you." He burst out. "They're not the same."Helen pressed her lips together. She was fully made up for the cameras, the heavy, pancake makeup hiding the lovely glow her skin had developed these past few days. Seeing that glow was one of the best things about sharing a room with her. The other best things included seeing her bare toes peeking out from under the crisp white sheets as she slept diagonally across the huge bed, listening to her mumble herself awake before she realized he was listening, and watching her brush her hair away from her neck before she twisted it up into that bun she always wore.But thinking nice thoughts about sharing a room with her wasn't how this scene was supposed to play out. From behind the cameras, Catherine, their director, mimed snapping her fingers at him and then drawing her finger across her throat. He rolled his eyes and sighed.Right.
He moved closer to Helen and pressed his hands to hers. "Can you stop talking for a second?"She blinked. "What do you mean?""Look around." He threaded his fingers into hers and gave her a gentle tug, leading her deeper into the garden and further from the camera's prying eyes. "This is incredible isn't it?" Deep green leaves twined upwards in a canopy of green. Bright orange hibiscus bobbed like Japanese lanterns floating in a deep green sky. "It amazes me," he exhaled. "I've seen the world, but mostly my view is the same. If I'm working, it doesn't register to me whether I'm in Paris or Florida. But sometimes, when I get out of work and look around—" He caught himself as her eyes widened."That wasn't part of the script, right? Sorry about that."She looked longingly upward, sad that she couldn't express her love to this man on camera for the whole world to see. "I understand you." She smiled up at him softly. He took her other hand in his, and she looked up at him. Her eyes da