“How about we grab a coffee and a donut on our way to the office?” Noah asked her with a slight tilt of his head during the drive.He could feel Elara’s excitement. Last night she called him to tell the good news that she had signed the contract with Aiden’s company and Noah couldn’t ask her why she didn’t take suggestions or any kind of input from him or anyone else.He felt hurt. He always thought, at least they were friends. He parked the car in front of a small café for breakfast. The moment they entered, Elara took a long whiff in bliss. The tantalizing aroma of freshly brewed coffee was wafting through the air.They made their way to a corner table.“Sitting here makes me wonder what kind of seating arrangement they will have.” She was talking about her soon to be café. The only thing on her mind was her café.“And what about Morgana and Barbara? Have you given them the tour of that place?” He was desperately looking for ways to convince her to reconsider her decision. “Yes. I
“You told him that?” Thalia asked her while taking her shoes off and plopping back on the couch, “Gosh! My feet hurt. Sometimes these long duty hours kill me.” Elara was quick to sit near her feet and started massaging them.“No, Elara. Oooh. That’s awesome.” Thalia’s eyes rolled back, and she hummed in satisfaction, “So you told him about your date plans with other men. That’s very bold of you. How did he take it?” Thalia asked her, keeping her eyelids closed in bliss.“He did not take it well, I guess. He didn’t say anything but…”“But?”“But his eyes said it all,” she whispered and resumed massaging her feet. Thalia blinked her eyes before responding to her,“You still like him. Don’t you?” Thalia's question made her smile.“He is my kids’ father and my first love.” She moved her feet to a side and stood up pointing a finger at herself, “It’s not possible for me to keep hating him and let him take over his fatherly duties. It would be a wrong impact on my kids but… he has this cert
“Elara stirred and tried to stretch her arms. But both her arms were firmly held at her side by someone. “Umm,” she moaned in complaint, half sleeping, and tried to open her eyes, “Leave my arms,” she tried to spit her hair strand that was going inside her mouth.She heard a deep chuckle, and someone helped her in moving away the strand from her mouth. She frowned and opened her eyes only to find a hand moving before her eyes that didn’t belong to her.It was caressing her cheek. With wide eyes, she raised her head and found herself staring into the jet-black eyes of Aiden Lockwood, “Holy cow!” she tried to get up from his body and stumbled only to fall back on him, “help me.” She glared when she saw him looking at her all amused.She could hear giggling sounds nearby and found her kids grinning ear to ear seeing their parents act all childish.“Aiden!” she whispered.“Yes, cupcake.”“Don’t call me that!” she murmured and placed her palms on him, which resulted in a loud groan escap
Aiden looked down at her swollen red lips, “I won’t be able to go home if you keep doing that, Elara.” He pinched her chin between his thumb and forefinger. In the heat of the moment, he had lifted her and made her sit on the counter. Her shapely legs were crossed around his hips, and he was conscious of his hardness. He didn’t want to give her the impression that he was making it all hasty. “Then don’t go!” Aiden looked at her face and bent his head to brush his lips against hers. He wished, he could take her right then and there on the counter. “It's not only about the stay, Elara. It’s also about my self-control. I seem to lose it quite fast when I am around you.” His voice felt like a caress to her, “Just like you lost your self-control around Vicky?” Aiden who was planning to crush her lips again went still after this casual remark, There was a challenging glint in her green eyes, “Or is it because I have lost all my body weight? And now nobody can call me fat?” She was expe
Thalia opened the door and was shocked to see the girls crying in their parents' arms. Aiden and Elara brought them in. There was so much fatigue, evident on their faces. “Holy F…” Thalia couldn’t finish it when she got a warning glare from Elara, “I am sorry. But why are they crying?” No one could hear her because of the loud wailing of the girls. “Hey, Sweethearts, “Aiden took Zoe from Elara’s arms who was uncontrollably crying and screaming. He was already holding Lily. “Hey, my munchkins. Listen,” Aiden was speaking to them so softly. Lily was hiccupping now, but Zoe wasn’t ready to be quiet. She was still throwing tantrums. Aiden cradled the tear-streaked face against his chest. “You said I can have all the candies, Daddy,” she said with a sob, “Those were my favorite. I … I always lo…loved the strawberry flavor.” She was being interrupted by her own helpless sobs. Thalia found it strange because there was amusement in Aiden’s eyes when he pulled the girls to his chest and
The kids were still sleeping, and Elara tiptoed to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee. She had already prepared the base for her baked stuff and now Morgana and Barbara were completing the baking part.She was thinking of increasing their salaries along with bonuses. They both deserved it after putting in so much hard work along with her.“Did you even bat an eye, or you stayed awake all night, like an owl in excitement?” Elara rolled her eyes when she heard her friend's hoarse voice behind her.She poured more water into the coffee machine, and quietly added coffee to it. She smiled when Thalia’s loud, unlady-like yawn echoed in the kitchen. She switched on the coffee machine.“I won’t be able to meet my kids before going to work. That will be too early,” Amid the buzzing of the coffee machine, Elara’s voice had a tinge of sadness.“It’s just for a few days, Elara. They are understanding and mature-headed like their mama. They will understand. Trust me,” Thalia took out two mugs from
“Vicky is back! And you are telling me today?” Thalia asked her when she was getting ready for office.“Yes, she is back. But there is something odd going on.” She said while brushing her fingers through the thick mane.“And that is?”“After that first meeting, she is no longer there to bully me. She seems so busy that …”“Yeah. That is strange. But what is Aiden’s reaction to all this?” Elara almost choked on her friend’s query and got up from the couch after taking the last sip of her coffee.“I think the office car is here.” Ever since she told Aiden for less communication, he was sending his personal car for her pick and drop. He never visited her café.And he was seeing kids in the afternoon during lunch break when Elara used to be at the café.She hadn’t seen him since that Monday morning, and this was killing her from inside. She had been cursing herself for what she told him.She had hurt him.From the moment he was back in her life, he had been nothing but respectable to her.
“Are you alright,” she just shook her head with a quivering smile when the Barista boy asked her after taking a careful look at her face. Elara didn’t want to talk to anyone. She didn’t want anyone to show her even an ounce of concern.She wanted to run far, far away from there. Or maybe wanted to leave the world. She wanted to die.Aiden would easily take care of the kids behind her. Right?Unlike other days, today she couldn’t show the customers her usual chirpy self. After lunchtime, fortunately, there were not many customers left so she went to the pantry and slid down to the floor.Taking out her phone, she punched the numbers on it, “Hello, mom.” She closed her eyes when she heard Sebastian’s voice. “Baby!” she smiled through the tears running down her face, “what are you doing?”“We were playing puzzles, Mom. How is the work? Are they liking your treats?” He asked her and she had to clutch her lips tightly before answering him,“Umm hmm. I think so.” She pursed her lips into