Trent's POV I walk down the hallway, taking a right turn towards the visitor's room. I think I saw a coffee vending machine there. I hate hospitals. The smell, the white walls, everything about it. It leaves an ugly taste in my mouth and brings back unpleasant memories, a past I want to forget. I've avoided hospitals for most of my adult years except important occasions like supporting Alina. I grab a plastic cup and fill it. I bring the cup to my lips, take a sip and spew it back into the cup. Hospitals can't even get coffee right. I wipe my mouth and sit on their uncomfortable chair, setting the cup beside me. My mind starts to drift back to the ward. Alina's eyes locked in mine. I saw something in her eyes. I saw fear with an hint of desire? Want? Need? My phone starts to vibrate in my pocket bringing my mind back to reality. I pull it out of my pocket and decline the call. It rings again and I turn it off. I wish the woman would leave me alone. I don't know how she found out w
Alina's POVNigeuz is getting discharged today. I stop to look at him as I pack the bags. He's playing with an action figure Trent got him. He's still a little pale, but he's bubbling with energy. It's so nice to see him up and about again. Watching his weak little body on the hospital bed for the past few days have been torture. No one told me being a mom was this hard. My heart aches thinking of my mom. I don't remember ever seeing her complain. We didn't have much but she gave us the world and I failed her. A crash brought me out of my thoughts. “Niguez, be careful.” I rushed to his side, checking to see if he was okay before squatting to pick the broken toy. “Sorry, mama.” “It's okay, baby.”“Good morning!” Trent's voice filled the room. “Hey, Niguez. Uhhh… where's your mom?” “Right here!” I declared, standing up. “Whoa! You scared me. What were you doing down there?” He creased his brows looking puzzled. “Picking this up.” I gestured to the broken toy. “Sorry, uncle.” Ni
Alina's POVI hurried Vanessa inside and headed off to find Niguez. Goodness knew what he was up to now. Not that I didn't trust him, but I wouldn't want him to turn my friend's house into a circus.I was about to head into the room when I looked back at Vanessa.She stared at me, giving me a weird look, then shook her head with a small smile.“What?” I asked, cocking back my head with a frown.“Nothing,” came her default reply.Why did she look like she was desperately trying to hide a smirk?“Good,” I said, refusing to dwell on it.“If I didn't know better, I would think that you didn't want me near Trent,” she called after me.God, no... She wasn't going to bring this up.I felt grateful that Trent's car had already pulled out of the lawn and he was probably halfway back to his house by now.I looked back at her and sighed. The truth was, I didn't even know why I did that in the first place.It just came naturally, I guess... And I wasn't even going to think of the implications beh
ALINA'S POVNiguez finally managed to unbox the gift Vanessa had given him. I was certain she had made it difficult for him to open on purpose. She was the only person I knew who strangely believed in the “work for it” concept.Which was even weirder since she took the time to carefully go against her strong principles to spoil Niguez silly.That's why she gave him a brand new pair of headphones even though he was barely four. I was certain that none of the kids around walked around with headphones hanging around their necks anyway.But apparently, Niguez knew just what they were and wasted no time in connecting them to his tablet, or rather, kicking up a fuss until I connected them to his tablet and put on his favorite songs for him to listen to.Vanessa came back after a while with a bowl of chips in one hand and a bigger bowl of popcorn in another.“So fast,” I commented as she settled down beside Niguez, so that he was between both of us.“Aw, I was kind of looking forward to the
ALINA'S POVI woke up... Or rather, the noise of incoming messages as they dropped into my phone woke me up the next morning.“Urgh..” I muttered slightly annoyed.Like who the hell would text someone this early in the morning?Someone who didn't bother sleeping last night obviously. And why the hell didn't I put the damn phone on silent anyway?Just my luck. Somehow I didn't even have to wait for nature to wake me up. There was already someone waiting patiently to do it.Then I reminded myself that Niguez had to go to school and I had to be awake early to get him ready.We slept over at Vanessa's so I still had to get back home and clean up a bit myself before going to work. So, maybe this was a not so bad idea to begin with.I groaned as I rolled to the side and pulled down my phone from the headrest to see who was texting me.I stiffened as a name appeared on the screen the moment I swiped open the phone.Trent —There were five unread messages from him.What happened? I thought, f
TRENT POV Alina pushed open the door and beamed at me. I smiled back, waving at her.I would do anything to see her smiling like that every single day. And what's more, I would be the cause of that smile.My fondness for this woman was really turning into something serious. Well, maybe it was time we got serious ourselves, I thought as she opened the door and stepped aside, letting me in.“Hey tiger,” I strolled over to Niguez first and ruffled his hair.“Don't do that,” He swatted my hand away, his lips pulled up in a cute pout.“Mummy spent extra time combing it down and I stayed because she said it would make all the girls in class go 'aww!'” He completed, doing the 'aww' part complete with a dreamy expression.“See, you're ruining our handiwork,”My head snapped in Alina's direction,“You told him that?” I asked incredulously, failing to hide the smile that was forming on my face.“Well, I had to bait him with something,” she shrugged with a half grin.“Mum was just kidding,” I s
TRENT'S POV“Clarence,” I said in greeting the moment he picked up.“Yes, sir?” His voice replied.I imagined he was really surprised that I would be calling him this early in the morning. I didn't usually call him at all unless there was an emergency.And recently, I avoided it altogether, especially when I was at the company myself. Anyone could easily overhear us, and with the kind of respect Clarence was obliged to regard me with, anyone with brains could easily put one and two together.I imagined how it would look.The CEO disappears from the earth for months on a never-ending trip to goodness knows where, and around the same time, a young worker named Trent, whom the manager himself regards with respect, is employed.I had no doubt that the story would make the headlines, and a lot of investors would be forced to pull out, seeing that I was making a fool out of them.“Are you at the company?” came Clarence's voice. “Did you finally get whatever you were looking for and finally
ALINA'S POVI quickened my pace as I walked into the company and approached the front desk, where I worked as a security personnel.I greeted a couple of my coworkers as I entered the office."Well, guess who's just been promoted!" The office door swung open as Gloria rushed in, yelling at the top of her voice, resembling someone who had won a lottery.All heads in the office turned in her direction, and I sincerely hoped she wasn't heading towards me."Yeah, baby!" She sauntered toward me with a wide grin, placing both hands on my table and leaning in."No," I thought. "She just had to come here."Great! Unwanted attention from half of my coworkers directed solely at me, thanks to Gloria's theatrics in front of my desk.Just what I needed!I inched away as far as I could while managing a polite smile. But truthfully, I wished I could sink into the chair and disappear from the room altogether."Congratulations," I said, smiling at her.I genuinely felt happy for her. This was her drea