‘Shit.’
Audrey was cursing herself when she couldn’t find her phone in her bag nor her pockets. “Ah! Where is it?” She rummaged through her things inside again, and she wasn’t contented, she poured everything in her bag on the ground. “I’ll be doomed if I can’t find it. After all, I don’t want to ring the doorbell and let that guy act like he’s the house owner,” she murmured while picking her things up, one by one, and putting them back.
“Found it!” she happily exclaimed when she saw her phone lying on the surface. In fact, it wasn’t in her bag earlier. It fell from her pocket while she was busy looking for it. After accompanying Nathan to his apartment which happened to be nearby, he drove her back. She insisted on getting off at the main gate to take a walk. Nathan agreed and went back to his place to arrange the interior, so they bid their goodbyes. She made sure to ask him about the passcode before getting out of his car. And he told her that he’ll send it through text message, so she won’t forget.
“What? So this is it?” she mumbled and entered the numbers.
(Clank)
She smiled proudly after hearing the clanking sound of the opening door. Her smile disappeared when her eyes caught her husband kissing another woman in the doorway.
“What the heck?!”
Audrey’s voice roared within the concrete walls. She felt the heat rising to her face, turning red in an instant. She exhaled to calm herself down and the carbon dioxide she emitted seemed to burn her nostrils as it felt like smoke coming from steam inside her system.
“What are you doing?” She said every word with emphasis. She glared at Shane who immediately wiped his lips with the back of his hand while looking away. Audrey had finally convinced herself that giving up on their marriage was always the right thing to do.
“Who are you?”
Audrey raised a brow and looked at the lady whose makeup was all over her face. “No, who are you?” she asked her back without batting an eye. She was pissed, extremely pissed to the point she imagined throwing her out of her house and dragging her by the foot to the gate.
“I’m Shane’s girlfriend. Other than that, you should have seen me in TVs,” she gave her a funny look from head to toe. “…unless you haven’t seen a TV before since you don’t look like you could afford to even refurbish one. Well, I’m Stephanie Solis. Remember that name,” Stephanie said in a way Audrey found displeasing.
‘Oh, so this is what you actually looked like in person. You only have your singing voice and layered makeup,’ Audrey dissed her inside her mind.
She promised herself not to be looked down upon anymore. She tried her best to change. But she just got insulted by a stranger who knew nothing about her inside her own house. “Oh, you must think that you’re so famous and expect everyone to recognize you in one glance.” Audrey tilted her head to the side with a pity look in her eyes.
“Tell you what, I could buy a dozen of television anytime but if it means giving you a chance to appear on the screen right before my face, I rather buy a truck of tissue for you to wipe those thick, uneven, and dull-colored makeup you wear,” she straightly said like it was a speech she memorized for a long time. “It seriously made you look ugly. Do you usually cake up your face like that? I guess you should stop it,” Audrey continued.
“Pfft!” She drifted her gaze on the man who was trying not to laugh. ‘He still had time to laugh after what he had done? Shameless.’
“Shane, you heard what she said right? She’s insulting me!” Stephanie stomped her feet while pulling Shane’s sleeve. Audrey just watched. She managed to calm down after talking back. Running her mouth like that once in a while became her stress therapy.
“Stephanie, just leave. About the kiss, forget it. I was trying to confirm something and I think I got the answers I’m looking for,” Shane muttered. He held Stephanie’s arm and guided her to the door.
‘Right, kick her out already, so we could talk about ourselves.’ Audrey silently watched by the side as Shane forced the lady outside.
“Shane!”
They were both surprised when Stephanie yelled. ‘Perks of having good looks,’ Audrey shook her head and walked to the living room.
“Stop right there, you bitch!” Stephanie’s words echoed through her ears. That was the cue, Audrey could no longer keep her cool. She was trying to be nice and let her off easily, but she dug her own grave.
“Who are you calling a bitch?” her voice suddenly became low. “Get out,” she ordered, pointing to the door ahead. “I said, GET OUT!”
“Stephanie, just go,” Shane pulled the lady, but she was stubborn. Stephanie got off from his grip and ran towards her. It was something that Audrey expected, and so she dodged, letting the angry singer kiss the floor.
“Ah!” Stephanie wailed like a maniac. She looked pitiful in her state. Audrey understood her, maybe she didn’t know the whole story but in her opinion, the lady was trying to get someone she wanted and failed. She decided to always remember Stephanie’s helpless face in case she’d forget how she would look if she kept loving the man who would never love her back.
“Why Shane? Is she the reason why you don't want me back? Why aren’t you protecting me?”
Audrey rolled her eyes when Stephanie began portraying the protagonist role of her very own dramatic love story. Of course, in Stephanie’s eyes, she’s the villain. “Are you just going to stand there? You brought this mess into my house so you should clean it up,” she said, staring at Shane’s eyes. “If you want to practice some scenes in your soap opera, don’t get me involved. Just get her out of MY HOUSE.”
“W-What is she talking about?” Stephanie asked Shane, confused.
“Stephacake, this is my house. So if you don’t want me to call the police station and report you for trespassing private property, get on your feet and leave. But you don’t care about being called a celebrity who barges in someone else’s house then you can choose to stay hugging the floor until the cops arrive,” Audrey smiled at both of them. “What do you guys think?”
Folding her arms on her chest while crossing her legs, Audrey patiently waited for Shane to return after dragging Stephanie outside. “Gosh! What’s taking him so long?” she murmured when he still didn’t come back after several minutes. “Did he decide to drive her home or something?” “I didn’t,” Shane said, walking towards her. “Take a seat then. Stop wasting my time,” she retorted. She watched him settle on the couch in front of her. Between them was a small, round, glass table with envelopes on top. Audrey saw how Shane’s face turned pale after noticing the brown envelopes. “Check it out,” she started, ignoring the sudden tension in the atmosphere. “What is this all about, Audrey?” Shane’s question made her laugh, a sarcastic one. “Annulment papers, what else? I know, divorce sounds better but it's not legal in the country yet. Since annulment also means legal separation then we might as well sign the papers, so we could get over with this,” Audrey said, hitting the point instantly
“I’m so stupid!” Audrey kicked a stone out of frustration. She was already far from the house but hadn't left the estate yet. “Why did I run away? For Pete’s sake, that was my house. Ah!” She pulled her hair after realizing what she did. “Aw!” she flinched when she felt the stinging pain from her brims. Since she didn’t want to go back until three days when she expected him to sign the annulment papers, Audrey took her time sitting on the rock while thinking about what she should do next. She planned to stay at Nathan’s place, so she called him to pick her up. Besides, she would need to try out some new recipes with him. It would be more convenient for both of them if they’re together. Convenient as in, someone would clean up after her mess in the kitchen. She waited for less than fifteen minutes before her phone rang. She answered it without looking at the caller ID. “Nate, that was fast. I’m heading to the gate n
‘Is it because of him?’ Shane couldn’t help but think about the reason why Audrey wanted to get an annulment. He could give her what she wanted but something was bugging him since he got to meet Nathan. There were so many questions he wanted to ask her. So many events in her life for years she needed to fill him in with. He was sure that Audrey would have stayed with him if that blonde guy didn’t come to pick her up. Seeing how she could smile when she’s with him, he chose to let them be. As for her request, he was afraid he couldn’t sign the annulment papers she was talking about. At least not yet. He needed to find a way to talk it out with her and as long as the problem he caused wasn’t settled yet, he didn’t have any plan to give in to her demands. Shane went back to his car and fumbled his phone. He checked his contacts to find someone to talk to. A heave of a sigh escaped his mouth when he remembered having no friends who’re not ce
Audrey’s eyes lit up when she stepped inside the door. She was in the same place a few hours ago, and she honestly thought it was a different room. Nathan did a good job of matching the white, black, and gray furniture and ornaments in his living room. The place looked bigger though she was certain it wasn’t that spacious before.“Whoa! I like it here,” she mumbled, striking an elegant pose on the couch. “How do I look?” she asked when Nathan passed by.“Like an idiot,” he answered without any doubt.“Ah! How could you say that to your boss? 50% salary deducted, amp!” Audrey snorted, flipping her head to the side. A clear glass vase caught her attention. There were no flowers in it, just red liquid. “What is this?”
That feeling when you were taking your time while enjoying the fantastic ride of endless good things in your sleep and then suddenly a loud noise banged your eardrums leaving you with no choice but to open your eyes and see what was the cause of such disturbance. Anyone would definitely feel bad, not to mention when it happened early in the morning.Audrey felt exactly the same when she was in the middle of munching a giant chocolate wall in her dream. Her mood drastically dropped from 100 to -1. Without opening her eyes, she roamed her hands on the side where her ringtone could be heard. She had no idea of who was calling her that early and she was ready to pull the trigger of her very own mouthchine gun."Good morning, chef Audrey. This is Secretary Lim of Gourmet Gold Enterprise," a man's voice greeted her from the other line."Good morning, how can I help you?" she responded.'Gourm
The gentle breeze and the sweet scent of budding flowers in the garden mixed in the air pulled a wide smile on Shane's face when he opened the window of the room after turning off the Aircon. The melody that the birds tweeted on the tree branches made the morning jolly and full of life.He woke up early to buy some groceries and fill his fridge. He had been living along in Audrey's villa ever since she left. He hired two or more cleaners in the agency to come and clean the house regularly. As for his meals, he learned to cook in the past few years.The food he cooked wasn't as excellent as those he usually had in restaurants but was enough to fill his empty stomach when he's home and starving. Although Shane still preferred to eat homemade dishes, he was unlucky to have no one to ask. And sometimes, Lucy would drop by, bringing him some warm soup."Let's take more of this, Nate." Shane halted from pushing his grocery cart when he heard Audrey's voice. With what
The furrow on Audrey’s face wouldn’t disappear even after they came back to Nathan’s flat. The latter noticed it and couldn’t help but ask, “What’s the matter, Auddie?”. She shrugged and gave him a small smile while saying, “Nothing,” as a response.“Are you still worried about that guy in the supermarket?” Nathan blurted out.Audrey squinted her eyes, putting down a bag of potatoes on the kitchen counter. “I bet I saw that guy somewhere though I couldn’t exactly tell where. He looks so familiar,” she murmured and went back to unpacking the groceries they bought.“Don’t you think it’s your husband?” Her mouth hanged opened on what Nathan said. ‘No way!’
Audrey was never been really confident when it comes to wearing dresses. She was more comfortable wearing her chef’s uniform. She felt like tripping every time she wore high-heeled shoes and long gowns. The first time she challenged herself was when she thought she’s going to have the greatest wedding in the century for she’s the bride of the groom she always loved. And after what happened on that day, she never got the courage to keep trying.Nathan would always tell her how she’s beautiful, and she remembered how she laughed it off. Having him by her side gave her courage to walked outside the closet with a giant ‘I AM PRETTY’ banner on her forehead. He made her wore dresses, not just the likes but expensive gowns personally tailored by famous designers using high-quality materials. Audrey never asked how Nathan managed to do that all f