Like two birds busy on building their nests, Fredrick and Alex ran around the house preparing hurriedly.“How did we sleep through all of these notifications?!” “Maybe if you had spent less time yelling at me, you would have slept early enough to wake up in time for whatever you have planned for your wife.” Gary interjected, he was cautiously seated on the couch, sipping his cup of coffee and watching them run helter-shelkter.Fredrick had no time to respond to his comments, Alex’s words would not stop resounding in his head, he had promised Margaret that he would not miss her day but half the day was gone and he wasn’t nearly on the way to Paris.The two hours flight from Greenville to Paris was spent on endless pictures with Margaret.She must have made her change up to six times, trying different poses every thirty minutes.Avery’s heart sank nervously at the thought that her husband must have bailed on her after planning out such a nice day. She wanted nothing else but to spend

Margaret looked around nervously, gradually turning red at the man’s gesture.Of course, Fredrick and Alex were well to do men but calling Alex a Billionaire CEO in Greenville felt like an exaggeration and she was becoming uncomfortable.“I’m sure whatever you’re celebrating tonight has a need for it.” The strange man smiled, leaving an iced bucket of a fine bottle of Courton Clos du Roy on their reserved table.Margaret glanced at Alex, he had an expression of agitation on his features.She didn’t know much about red wines but this one looked extensively rich and exotic.“How expensive is this wine?” She asked, worrying that the man might be making them spend outside their budget.“The wine is a classic, it has been preserved for quite an age.”Avery glanced at her husband, his smile was a sign that she couldn’t resist Doug de Grateau’s offer.“This is Burgundy’s finest wines, quite rare. I’ll take two, it’s my wife’s birthday after all.”Doug beamed with joy at Fredrick’s offer, wit

No matter how he thought about it, Fredrick couldn’t stop thinking about Avery’s words. If her life had no happy memories, how then was she so happy, so optimistic, so brave. All his life, his grandmother had made sure that he lacked nothing, not even happiness, she did everything right- never yelled at him, never raised her hand, never gave a mean look, nor ever let him near anyone that could hurt him. Maybe it was because Nei-nei wanted happiness to be his daily life whilst ignoring his broken heart. He couldn’t really count those days as happy days, only as his day by day life. Whatever other children called happiness were to him another routine of life that he had to endure.Breakfasts as a family, family trips, nice meals, expensive places, experiences- these were his normal life as a kid, too normal he overlooked each one of them, counting them as a burden that had to be endured.Breakfast had long ended and their departure flight back home was in less than three hours, yet

Maybe it was something in his reassuring smile, maybe it was his words or maybe it was just her confidence in Fredrick that he would handle whatever happened, she on the other hand had her affairs to care for.As if on cue, Mr Sinh’s call came through just as she was leaving the mansion.She had contemplated on what to wear for a while- to appear as a Hughson or to be the Avery everyone knew at the Mainland. Finally, her loyalty to Fredrick won the argument. If he was going through a tough time, she didn’t want to add anymore weight to his troubles, hence she threw on a flowery gown with lacy adornments and complimented it with the silver necklace Fredrick had gifted her.She hadn’t worn the accessory since her birthday, because Margaret had no idea about it, else she would’ve made certain to carry it along with her.Avery made a quick bend into the garage at Mr Sinh’s cafe, it looked the same as before, he had made no difference in the small building except by repainting.She walked

Avery couldn’t help the small laugh that escaped her as well, “What was he thinking? A date?” She scoffed.“Without wasting your time, I will be direct with my reason for the sudden call for attention.The conference room fell silent, the only sounds emanating from the speakers were the shutters and clicks of camera men.In a more serious tone and an authoritative voice, he continued“I have come to clear the air about any rumor you must have heard… or not heard about the structural art of the first Cultural Museum in Greenville.”“As you all know, the Hughson’s Constructions Company was in charge of erecting the structure and we want to boldly claim that we built Greenville’s Cultural Museum with our own designs, this is a blueprint of the final structure that was submitted and approved by the Government under Mayor Arthur Smith’s administration.Also present here is the complete team of Architects who handled the project, under my supervision. Please, we invite the audience to ask