LOGINRaffy was restless. It was already midnight, and by that time, he was supposed to be deep in sleep already. But because of a certain someone, because of a certain situation that had happened in his bookshop that morning, sleep had become unachievable for him again.
Since the day Andrew showed up and barged into his life unannounced, sleep, which used to be easily attainable for him, became something he had to work so hard for.
With a grunt of frustration, he got out of his bed a
"Can I speak with you as your friend? Not as your secretary?" Navid halted what he was doing to look at Sally with a bored expression on his face. "You only thought about asking permission now?" Sally shrugged. "So, may I?" Navid sighed deeply. "Go on. Tell me what kind of nosy thoughts you are having again this time." "Most CEOs don't relocate themselves for a project." Navid groaned. So that's what she had been itching to tell him this morning. He should have known. Andrew put on a straight face while leaning his back on the backrest of his swivel chair. "Most redevelopment projects don't require this much negotiation," he said. But then Sally quickly retorted, "Or maybe most projects don't involve a certain bookstore owner." Andrew glared at her. But Sally, being brave that she was, just raised her brows. "I'm right, aren't I?" "No, you're not," Andrew responded, then went back to reviewing construction plans that were handed to him. "Oh, come on. I'm not—" "You shoul
The weather was fantastic, perfect even, with the sun being bright and warm. It was the kind of weather that should make people happy with huge smiles on their faces.But that was not what was happening. Instead of a huge smile, a frown was on Lance's face. The young boy looked pissed, worried, and confused, all at the same time. And of course, Raffy immediately took notice of it.Raffy stopped what he was doing to face his son beside him. "What's with that face? Did something happen at school?""Nothing happened," Lance timidly answered."Nothing happened and yet you look like the world is about to collapse. You've been like that since yesterday. So tell me. What is going on?"Lance shook his head, still not looking at him as his eyes remained on the table while absentmindedly flipping the pages of his book. "There's really nothing, Dad.""Lance," Raffy made his voice sound firm, wanting to let his son know that he was not buying his lie and that he wouldn't stop asking until he got
A stalker. That was what Andrew came across at that moment, hiding from the side, trying to make his presence not be known.It was already three in the afternoon, and he was supposed to still be in his office by that time. And yet here he was, doing everything he could to not get people's attention, such as not using his usual car and driving himself instead of calling his driver and wearing casual clothes.Don't get him wrong. He had not come back because he wanted to see Raffy. He only came because he needed to check the entire area again.How he dreamed about the days when Raffy would help him during his ruts had nothing to do with him coming back to Maplewood the day after what happened at Raffy's bookshop. Like he told Sally when amusement filled her face when he told her he was going back to Maplewood: he was only there for business and nothing more.Since everyone in Maplewood had already referred to Raffy as their representative, it was only right for him to know what the beta
Raffy was restless. It was already midnight, and by that time, he was supposed to be deep in sleep already. But because of a certain someone, because of a certain situation that had happened in his bookshop that morning, sleep had become unachievable for him again.Since the day Andrew showed up and barged into his life unannounced, sleep, which used to be easily attainable for him, became something he had to work so hard for.With a grunt of frustration, he got out of his bed and did what he always does whenever he couldn't fall asleep. He tried to read, watch some boring movies, exercised for more than twenty minutes, drank a glass of milk, and made his brain busy and tired by computing his expenses. But despite doing all that, sleep still evaded him like a fucking plague."Fuck!" he exclaimed, almost throwing away the documents he was reading.He huffed, then stood, and headed towards the shower that was connected to both his and his son's room.
"You didn't have to come here. I could have handled this myself."Andrew withdrew his gaze from Raffy's bookshop to look at Sally as he answered her, "Obviously, you weren't able to handle it yourself, since many of them still didn't want to leave this place."Sally turned speechless, then hurt and shame filled her face.Andrew knew he was being harsh. But he was also speaking nothing but facts. Sally tried to resolve this all by herself, but nothing happened. Nothing had improved, and no problem had been resolved. And the investors were getting impatient. They wanted to see results, or even just an improvement, and yet they couldn't show anything.That was why he finally decided to show up and do it himself. If Sally couldn't do anything about the landowners' stubbornness, then maybe he could. After all, pursuing was one of his greatest talents.He already had a plan. Executing it was the only thing left for him to do.But meeting Raf
"Do you have everything you need? Your books? Is your phone with you? Is it fully charged? What about your snacks? Lunch? What else do you—""Dad," Lance said, making Raffy stop and look at him. "I’m just going on a field trip, not to war or something. Can you please relax?"Raffy took a deep breath, then he pulled his son along with him. They sat on the couch, side by side.He faced Lance again. And his son could already tell that he was about to fuss once again, so before that happened, Lance had already beaten him to it."I'll be fine, Dad. Our teachers will be with us. They won't let anything bad happen to us...to me."Raffy knew that. But he still couldn't help himself to worry.It wouldn't be Lance's first time going on a field trip. But it'll be the first time that Lance will go without him.And he, being the worrywart that he had become since Lance came into his life, couldn't stop overthinking.What if something happens to his son? Yes, the teachers will be with the class, bu
Despite telling himself so many times that he needed to stop thinking too much about Raffy and instead think of what he should be doing for his project to finally start, Andrew couldn't take his mind off of Raffy. Even after busying himself, the moment he wasn't occupied, even if it was only for
“I will be back, Raffy. And I hope that by the time we see each other again, you will have already made the smartest and best decision. And you already know what that is.”Raffy's hold on his fork had tightened as he kept remembering those words Andrew had said before he left.'Who does he think he
Andrew felt like his world had stopped spinning. It's like time has been paused. He was lost for words, and his gaze zeroed in on the man in front of him—the one he had so many memories about and had tried to bury.“Andrew…” he heard Raffy, looking equally shocked, utter.It had been so long since
Ten years ago...Raffy didn't know how long he had been just staring at his reflection in the mirror. What he knew was that it had been too long, that he had to stop now, or else he was going to be late for his flight.He glanced at his wristwatch. His flight was at three p.m., and it was already t







