"TAKE care, Bianca," Kelly said when my shift ended that afternoon. "Tell your husband we're thankful for the food!" I smiled at him. "Yeah. I'll tell him." We didn't even manage to finish all the food for lunch so we even had it for snacks. Instead of riding a taxi, I decided to just walk on my way home. The store was just five blocks away from Gideon's house. The house was alone when I got home. Hanna only visits the house now during weekends. "I just wanted to check on you," Helen said on the other line. I had just finished changing when she called. "I just got off from work," I said as I settled myself on the couch. Helen said that she was alone in her shop. She recently opened a bakeshop in Houston. "And Gideon?""He's still at work. His condition has been improving day by day. He only goes to therapy now during weekends.""How about his memory?"I sighed. "Still nothing. Aside from random headaches, there was nothing.""What about your relationship? Was he still pursuing
"WHAT'S this?" My eyes widened in surprise that morning I got to work. Kelly and Jeff both greeted me with a small cake. Kelly grinned at me. "Well, it's your first month at work, Bianca!" "Come on, Bianca. Blow the candle.""Oh!" I blinked. I hadn't realized I was already working for a month. "Thank you for this." I didn't expect that they'd remember this day. I smiled at Jeff and Kelly before I blew the candle on the cake. "Well, since it's your first month here, we expect you to treat us to drinks later." Kelly wiggled her eyebrows at me. I chuckled. "Sure." "Yes." Kelly clapped excitedly. "Rory already agreed to close the shop earlier." She winked at me. "We have a cool boss.""Bianca! Your husband sent you something!" Kelly announced hours later. I looked at the food Jeff had received. Ever since that day Gideon sent us food from Il Fornaio, he had already been sending us lunch at work regularly. This time, the food came from an Asian restaurant. "Wow, I've been craving
KELLY was right about Martin. The man was handsome, in a rugged way. He was wearing a plain white v-neck shirt, faded jeans, and black boots. There was a thin gold chain hanging on his neck. His hair was wavy and slightly long. I also noticed the tattoo on his left biceps. Yeah. He was ruggedly handsome. "Congrats on your first month," Martin said as he handed me my drink. We just had a light dinner before Kelly ordered some drinks. We occupied one of the VIP couches of the bar. I looked at him and smiled. "Thanks, Martin.""How's work so far?" he smiled. I found out that Martin was funny and a nice person. He was easy to talk to. "I enjoyed it, Kelly and Jeff are great." I glanced at the two who were bickering in front of us. Martin chuckled. "Well, I hope you're not annoyed with their everyday bickering."I chuckled. "No. I enjoyed watching them bicker over simple things, in fact. They were obviously into each other." I sipped on my drink. "How about you? How's school?" Kelly
"THAT'S Martin," I said, clearing my throat. I heard something weird in his tone. Was he mad?"Martin? I thought you're only with Jeff and Kelly?" "Martin's the nephew of the store owner. He's also a part-timer at the shop." I explained. "He also came with us.""Oh."I pursed my lips. I suddenly wanted to ask him what he ate for dinner but I stopped myself. "I have to go now, Gideon. It's loud here.""Alright," he breathed. "Take care.""Thanks.""Is that your husband? The one who called?" Martin asked after getting back from the restroom. "Yeah. Just checking on me." Another hour passed before Kelly finally asked to go home. "Is Gideon going to fetch you, Bianca?" Kelly asked as she ran her fingers through her hair. We were already heading to the exit of the bar. She already looked drunk. I couldn't count the margarita she had earlier. Beside her was Jeff who was subtly supporting her. In contrast to her, I felt fine. I only had five glasses of mojito the entire time. "I'm ju
"I'M so sorry, Bianca." That was the first thing that Kelly said when I got to work on Monday. "Jeff had told me what I said that night." Kelly bit her lower lip. "I'm sorry for my loud mouth. Damn, I swear I'll never get drunk again." I smiled at her. "No worries, Kelly. It's fine." Her eyes widened. "Really? You're not mad at me?" She suddenly looked relieved. I shook my head. "Nah. It's okay. Anyway, what happened to you and Jeff?" I noticed earlier that those two were avoiding each other since this morning. I wondered what's up? Kelly slightly looked away. "Uh, nothing, Bianca. I'm not just in the mood to talk to him." "Really?" I probed. "I mean… did you two fight?" Kelly chuckled nervously. "No. We're fine, Bianca. Don't mind us." I frowned a bit. I noticed she was nervous about something. "Well, you can talk to me anytime." Kelly smiled. "Thanks, Bianca." Lunchtime came and like usual, Gideon sent us food. 'Enjoy your lunch, wife. I'm still in the middle of a m
"What does he mean by that?" Gideon asked me the moment we left the store. I bit my lower lip. I didn't expect that Martin would say that to Gideon. "Uh… he accidentally found out that we're going to divorce." Gideon's expression had been grim since he saw Martin a while ago. His face... reminded me of him before he lost his amnesia. But still, a subtler version. "Accidentally?" I cleared my throat. "Kelly blurted it out to Martin the other night. She was drunk so..." "You told your coworkers that you're going to divorce me?" I frowned and decided to meet his stares. "Well, it's true, anyway. We're going to divorce soon." His face remained grim. "That won't happen, Bianca." I cocked my brow. "Well, I'm confident when I say that I won't fall in love with you. And you only have one month left, Gideon. I'm sure as hell won't fall in love with you by the end of our agreement." He sighed, his thick brows still in a deep furrow. It looked like he was about to say something, b
"ARE you free on the twenty-four, Bianca?" Kelly asked me that morning. "That's already next Saturday." "Uh, what's with it?" Kelly put back a book on the shelf and turned to me. "Well, it's Rory's birthday and we wanted to surprise her for dinner. Martin asked for our help." "Oh…" I whispered when I realized what date Rory's birthday was. It was the same date as the anniversary party of the Henry Corporation. "I'm sorry, Kelly. I don't think I could go that day…" I bit my lower lip. "I'd be attending a party with Gideon that day." "It's okay, Bianca." Kelly smiled at me. "We understand. Of course, Rory, too. Don't worry about it." "I'll just hand you my gift to her." "Sure. She likes anything vintage, for your reference." She pursed her lips. "By the way, Martin asked me for your number the other day." "Oh." I blinked. "Yup. He said he's going to text you about Rory's birthday." She smirked at me. "But I didn't give him. I said he should ask you himself." "There's no prob
"BIANCA…" I heard Gideon say followed by a knock on the door. "Denver was already here. But, take your time, okay?" "Alright," I shouted back. "I'll be out in a moment." I took another scan of my reflection in the mirror before leaving the walk-in closet. I was wearing a long black dress with a sweetheart neckline. I paired it with silver stilettos. I only applied light make-up on my face before leaving the room. I found Gideon on the couch. He stood up when he saw me. I noticed how his blue eyes glinted in admiration as he scanned my look. "You looked extra beautiful tonight, wife," he said, licking his lips. This was the first time Gideon complimented me like this. I knew he wasn't faking it. Those eyes were looking at me as if sucking me in. He had never once looked at me that way before. I felt my cheeks heat up. I cleared my throat. "T-thanks, Gideon. You also clean up nicely tonight." I looked at Gideon. He was wearing a black suit and bowtie. His hair was perfectl