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Love's POVOne month later..."Close your eyes," Mira says, startling me as she opens our apartment door while I am sitting on the couch studying Brail."What!" I ask my hand over my chest. "What is happening?""Just close your eyes." She insists so I put the book aside and cover my eyes with my palms. "Now keep them close until I tell you." I can hear him moving, closing the door. Footsteps creak over our old floors. Ever since I started helping Sebastian I feel like I have heightened my senses as well. To even out the field as much as I could sometimes I would close my eyes to be blind with him."Ok..." Mira says as she sits down on the couch and an unusual smell hits my nose. "Open them." She says and I open my eyes to the most adorable puppy I have ever seen, all scared, wet, looking up at me with big brown eyes. His fur is matted and damp from the rain, and his fur is a mix of golden brown."Mira, what did you do? You know our landlord forbids us to have pets. Just because we paid
Christian's POVI sat in my office yet I wasn't going through documents, rewieveing contracts, supervising the new collection... What would even be the point of reading all that when I can't focus on a single word... my mind is occupied with her... Love.How the hell did she do this to me?I’ve built this empire that my father left us on precision, on structure, on keeping everything in its place. I made it into something even bigger than he ever imagined it could be. Dad might have started the idea with the money from our other companies but I polished it to have the shine it has today. But with her, it feels like all my carefully constructed walls are crumbling...like I’m standing on the edge of something I can’t predict, can’t control, and it terrifies me.And yet… I don't want to fight it.I clenched my jaw and stood up abruptly, pushing the chair back with a groan of frustration. I walked over to the window, eyes scanning the skyline, though I didn’t really see it. My life now had
…I shot him a look, irritated. "I’m not stumped," I said. "I’m... overwhelmed. She’s unlike anyone I’ve ever met." Aiden raised an eyebrow, clearly interested. "Okay, okay. I’m intrigued. Go on. Where did you meet her?" Perhaps I saw her in a dream and pulled her out into this world just for me... but no I had a street robber to thank for that. "I helped her when she got mugged... after that, I offered her a job. She is somewhat of a guide for Sebastian. Working with him, in my own house. Everyday." My own personal torture device. "Wait, she works with Sebastian? Like he actually agreed to have her stay. She must be something special to get through to him." Clearly, he is already impressed, after all, he knows Sebastian. We three were inseparable even tho Seb was older than us, he was always there to get us out of trouble... out of danger. Until I pushed the bar too far and he paid the price. "Well the circumstances were different with her, she helps him in her own special way sinc
Love's POV"Now you stay here, ok Charlie?" I said as I pointed to a pillow on the floor while Charlie looked at me with his confused puppy eyes. "I left you with enough water and food so please no barking... otherwise we will all be homeless in no time.""I dont think he can understand you Love," Mira says as she picks up her bag and walks over to the couch to put on her shoes."You were the one who brought him here Mira, maybe you should explain the rules to him," I say joking and Mira smiles as Charlie runs to her feet."Now do you see how much love he has brought to this place, it feels so much warmer with him here." She says as she plays with him. "It's not for nothing people often go for support animals, they read us better than humans. Dont you, Charlie? Dont you?" I watch as Mira crouches down, Charlie wagging his tail furiously as she scratches behind his ears. His eyes gleam up at her, full of adoration, his small body practically vibrating with happiness.Support animals? No
Mira’s words echo in my head...“You’re already in love with him, Love.” I try to push them away, but they cling to me, impossible to ignore. If there was ever a good time to stop being a dreamer it's now, because Christian is a dream I can allow myself to fall under. Maybe I could be one of those lovers who love from afar, from the safe distance where they hear it the strongest. "Miss Bennett, " the driver called out to me as he held the car door wide open while I was lost in my thoughts. To him, I was a blind person, so he must not have thought much about my slow reaction. "Yes, sorry. I got a bit stuck inside my head." I say as I bend my cane and get into the car, the hum of the engine the only sound accompanying my thoughts. I go back to the idea of a service dog for Sebastian. He needs friends who better than someone who would always be there, always loyal, always present. A wagging tail, and that comforting, grounding presence. It might be exactly what he needs. Someone who can
“What are you doing here?” I ask as I take off my sunglasses, my voice a bit harsher than I intended. I can't possibly understand what kind of police emergency would have her in a support dog training facility. Do they train police dogs here also? Tamara raises an eyebrow at my sharp tone, but she doesn't flinch. Instead, she crosses her arms and looks me over, her police uniform tightening against her shoulders while trying to gauge what’s going on behind my sudden outburst. “I could ask you the same thing,” she replies, a teasing glint in her eyes that doesn’t quite reach the concern buried underneath. “But, since you’re so curious, my TO is teaching me a lesson on..." Her eyes slid down to the cane in my hands. The confusion on her face is evident. She tilts her head slightly, studying me, and then her gaze shifts back up to meet mine, more focused now. "Why are you walking around with a cane for blind people?" She asks and I glance back to make sure that the driver is far enough
"I think we made the right choice," Christian says as we exit the facility with a Golden Retriever on a lease. Marley was the first dog that ran up to my legs the second we entered the room. I can't believe I even lied to the dogs when all I wanted was to drop on the floor and start playing with them. And pretending to be blind in a place filled with people associated with real blind people made me nervous, afraid they would be able to see through me. Perhaps I was just still under the impression after Tamara found out about my lies. "Hey," Christian says, his voice gentle as he falls in step beside me."You okay?" I force a smile but I dont look at him, trying to push the panic away. "Yeahh." I bite my tongue at the informal tone I took. "Yes, Mr.Callahan. I just got a little lost in my thoughts... wondering how your brother will react to Marley... I'm excited." Lie. I lie to you again. Even if it's a small thing now, it adds to the pile that one day will outgrow me. "Sebastian will
Suddenly the air in the car feels thick, suffocating. I glance out the window, trying to find something to focus on, anything to distract me from the tension building between us. But there's nothing that can help me escape this. "Mr.Callahan..." "Christian. Call me Christian, please." He says. His request somehow makes everything feel more personal, more real. Christian. The name hangs in the air, a soft plea in the midst of all the chaos swirling in my mind. "I dont think I can do that," I say, the words leaving my mouth before I can stop them. They feel harsh in the quiet of the car, cutting through the air like a sudden gust of wind. Christian's expression doesn’t change, but I can feel the shift in the atmosphere. He doesn’t push me, but his eyes flicker briefly to me before returning to the road, his jaw tightening just slightly. "It's how I want you to see me. Not just as Mr. Callahan, not just as your boss. I don’t want that distance between us." But I do. It's the only thin
Bridget smiled wider now, clearly enjoying the reveal. “Oh good, he still talks about me. How sweet.”Grace took a sharp step forward. “You don’t belong here, Bridget. You never did.”Bridget’s gaze didn’t flinch. “Funny. That’s not what your husband used to say.”Christian’s voice cut through the tension like a blade. “That’s enough.”"Grace is right," I say. "You have no business here." Showing her face here after all this time, after all the harm she did to Sebastian really showed she had no shame."You dont get a say in this." She directs herself at me. "Who are you to tell me what to do." Grace stepped closer again, now standing fully at my side. “She's is a Callahan, a part of our family something you will never be. So unless you want security to escort you out, I suggest you remember your place, Bridget.”“I am in my place,” Bridget said, her voice suddenly cooler, more calculating. “You all just forgot that this empire wasn’t built by Callahans alone. My father was one of the
A white sheet of paper and an artist's pen were somehow all I needed to feel free in the world. A dream I once had of making something beautiful that others would want, admire, and desire, was finally happening. Even if Christian may think this is a punishment for me, it was the opposite. I was designing jewelry again, I was telling a story, and this time, the story was mine. Each line I drew on the paper shimmered in my mind like gold catching sunlight. I sketched the delicate curve of a pendant, the kind that rests right over the heart, something soft, but powerful. The design was bold and unapologetic. Perhaps because I was starting to feel like there wasn't much I needed to apologize for. Maybe it is the Mira part in me, the one that tells me that my lie wasn't all that bad, that my lie in fact did a lot of good to a person who was at one point lost.I looked back down at the pendant. It had wings now, faint outlines spreading from the heart of the design. I didn’t remember adding
"Are you nervous?" Bash asked me as he sat down next to me. "I'm excited," I say. It was the truth, I couldn't be more excited to take these damn bandages off my eyes and finally be free. Well, as free as Christian allows it. "How are you feeling, the surgery is tomorrow?" I ask.I could feel him shrug beside me, but the sound of his fingers tapping restlessly on his knee told me more than his words ever could."I'm good," he said finally, eyes fixed straight ahead. "I mean, it's weird, right? We've talked about this for so long, and now it's actually happening.""Yeah," I murmured, tilting my head toward him, even though I couldn’t see him yet. "It feels like we’ve been dreaming about this forever. And now it's real.""This condition made me lose so much of my future, my position, the woman who I at the time thought was the love of my life... it took a big piece of my soul, yet now I can't stop thinking about all the things I got. It gave me a new perspective of life and myself... it
He didn’t respond. Then, footsteps. Slow, deliberate. He moved closer, and my breath hitched in my throat even though I tried not to let it show. I turned my face slightly toward where I thought he was standing, listening for the soft rustle of his suit, the shift in the air. I didn't need my eyes to feel the gravity of him near me. "You wore a mask, every single day. Lied, to our faces... and you say it was for our own good. You are no better than the bastard I had for a father." His voice was closer now, a whisper laced with venom. "But I am not him." "Perhaps you are even worse. He at least didn't pretend to love us, at least not in the end." Christian says, anger blooming inside of him. "I love you, Christian. More than I ever thought was possible." I say trying to reach him but he pushes back at me, my back against the wall. "Shut up, you lie so well I might believe you for a second." “If I wanted to keep lying, I wouldn’t have told you the truth, I wouldn't still be here
Four weeks later...The last night in the dark...I am on the edge.I can't take this darkness anymore. I keep telling myself it's soon going to be over, that at least I will be able to act freely, even walk into the world alone free of pretenses. I want my parents to see that the lie is over, and I want Bash to get over everything soon, even if that means that whatever this is I have with Christian comes to an end.We have been living in this penthouse for three weeks now, and every second for me has been hell. His indifference at times is worse than his hate, at least hating me meant he still had me somewhere in his soul, in silence alongside this darkness that was eating at me.If it weren't for Mira I would be completely alone, she is the only good thing here. She told me to take off the bandages while Christian was at work but I just couldn't. He was far too unpredictable, popping in and out at different times as if trying to surprise me by doing something wrong and I didn't feel
Hearing the voices of people I love around me made me feel peace, so much so that I never wanted them to leave. In front of them, Christian was the man, the husband I always thought he would be. He was loving, kind, and caring. I never wanted it to end.But all that is good has its end, so did this.My friends were about to leave, at least Grace and Bash would be around. At least not until Christian makes us move again.Tamara and Bash were aside, talking. It is nice to hear that the friendship between them is blooming, hopefully into something bigger and better. Grace pulled Christian away to the office for a moment leaving me alone with Mira."Love, call me crazy but something here doesn't feel right. Are you sure you are as happy as you say you are?" I knew she would sense something, and despite promising Christian I would say anything I needed to let go with someone, and who better than Mira? I need someone on my side, someone to stand in my corner... make me feel less alone."Mira
"People are still talking about the wedding. It's the talk of every event since." Grace says as we sit at the table. Christian is right next to me, holding my hand, his thumb tracing the side of my knuckle. It feels nice. Too nice. "And no one thinks you are pregnant anymore, so now they believe it's true love." Bash comments. "Good, because it is. As true as it gets," Christian says as he kisses my cheek. I smile. It is so hard to be in this darkness. The voices around me keep surprising me. Every movement strikes a nerve within me, and I have to pretend to be relaxed. "Why didn't you tell us about doing the surgery?" Bash asks. "We wanted you to see firsthand that the surgery you will go under would work because she will be taking off the bandages just before you go under. That will give you all the training you need to go there without a doubt in your mind that this will work." Christian’s words are calm like he’s presenting a plan instead of revealing something deeply personal.
Love's POVI think I understand Bash now better than ever. Being trapped in the dark was horrible. No wonder he felt the way he did. Even when I knew well that this would last only four weeks, walking around with my eyes bandaged up was hard. even harder than I imagined it would be.But one thing was good... as long as I couldn't see I wouldn't have to look at the hatred that grew inside Christian's eyes. This situation goes from bad to worse. The silence between us felt like it was splitting me in two. I could feel Christian beside me, his presence so tense, so tightly wound. I couldn’t see his face, but I didn’t need to. I could feel the sharp edge of his anger cutting through the air between us. The hatred I’d seen in his eyes before, that dark, simmering look, now felt like a constant companion. He didn’t even have to say anything. I could feel it in the way he handled me, the way he spoke, the way he didn’t speak.But I liked the fact we were back home. Perhaps that way I won't fe
"How long is this going to take? We have a plane to catch." That's not true. It's not like my private plane would go somewhere without me, but I wanted out of this doctor's office as soon as possible."I thought you were returning in a month. If it's supposed we just did the surgery she wouldn't be recovered by now. The world won't believe it." The good doctor says as Love glances up at me."Plans change. Tell her what to do to fake it, she's good at that." I was on edge. Playing nice was so hard and I needed all the willpower I had to do this charade infront of my family, not him."We would need to bandage her eyes... keep her like that for about three to four weeks. And even after that she would need to use sunglasses outside for a period of time... pretend to adjust." Somehow that sounded perfect in my head. She would, even for a short four weeks be forced to walk around blind. She would get to taste her lie on her own skin. "She can do it," I say as I glance at her. "In fact, wrap