ELENA "And here's a strawberry milkshake for the sweet girl!" Little giggles followed as I put the glass down. The diner was a little less crowded compared to other Friday evenings. "Thank you, Elena." I bent down to her height and she placed her lips on my cheek. This was our usual. Almost a few months ago she had walked in with Stacey, her babysitter. She was kind of bummed because apparently some kids at her school had been mean to her. Some kids can be really cruel. The other night I was serving this table and a little boy after a brief observation had stated that I was dumb because all blondes are supposedly dumb. I had kept my mouth shut and walked away, knowing very well that nothing decent would have come out of it. Well as I was saying, back then I had cheered her up with a milkshake on the house and at the end of the day she had officiated that we were best friends. Making friends can be so easy for children! "You're welcome, sweetheart." I kissed

RYLAN I discarded the coat and leaned back against the couch. There had been a lot of work pressure since the last few days and topping that was Granddad's will that had me stressed. I had been pushing it for some months now. "Daddy?" I opened my eyes to look at my daughter who stood there with a cup of coffee, Stacey close behind her. "Yes, sweetie." I smiled at her. "I brought you coffee." She carefully brought the cup forward, her eyes trained on them like splitting a moment of attention would spill the drink. "You did? That's so sweet!" Taking the cup from her hand I placed it on the table beside me. "Come here." I picked her up and sat her on my lap. "I'll put her to sleep." I told Stacey. "No, it's okay, son. I'll wait." Ava put her head on my chest and played with the shirt button. Stacey had been staying with our family for as long as I could remember. She had always been there for me, treated me like her own. If I trusted any person with Ava m

ELENA "Mom!" I called after closing the door behind me. I had moved back in the day Dad was back from the hospital. I wanted to be there for him. Well the other half of the reason was that it actually helped with minimizing the expenses. "In here." I followed her voice to the kitchen. She stood behind the counter making dinner for Dad. I went straight for a hug. She patted my shoulder, returning the hug. "Well, you are happy! What is it?" I loosened my hold around her. "I got the job at the Knight's." Her face broke in a grin once the news settled in. "You got the job! Well done, honey!" She gushed. "I never doubted my daughter for a second! I knew you would get it." Dad's eyes shone with pride and that one sight alone could compensate for all of my hard work. "I know, Dad. You always believe in me." I sat down beside him. Putting my head on his shoulder, I heaved a sigh of relief. Dad placed his hand on mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I need

ELENA "You're late." Rylan declared as soon as I got into the passenger seat of his shiny black Maserati. The inside of the car smelled of musk and rich leather. I tsked, annoyed at him and it had been only a couple of seconds in his vicinity. It was what, five minutes past the stipulated time? "Can you shut up? I don't wanna hear your voice right now." He did shut up but sat there staring ahead. Weren't we getting late like a minute ago? Being in such a closed space with him was enough of a punishment. "Can you drive already?" I watched Rylan cock his head to the side and assess me with one silent gaze before he leaned towards me till he was completely in my space. I squeaked, the spice and musk in his cologne making me feel a little dazed. The coffee and hazel eyes turned into something relatively darker, an indecipherable look passing through them. His overwhelming proximity had screwed with my head because my gaze dropped to his lips for a quick second.

ELENA "Girl, I still can't believe you bagged that God-like man." Liv's eyes sparkled with excitement as she loudly whispered to me. I chuckled. Me neither! "Such a cliché! The hotshot billionaire falls in love with the beautiful little waitress." I resisted the urge to scoff at her dreamy expression. Love! Right! She couldn't have been farther away from the truth! A week back, Liv wasn't this ecstatic about the whole affair when I first broke it to her. First on the list was suspicion. Can't blame her! You just don't one day out of a sudden announce your boyfriend to your best friend. They know from the very first eye contact. So this abrupt relationship was a bit much for her to stomach. It took a whole lot of convincing and when we were finally past that phase, she felt betrayed. She said that I had curbed her rights as my best friend and it was an absolute breach of best friend policy. Yep, she could be a bit dramatic. It made me feel even worse about lyi