Too Busy

Aurora just got out of an abusive relationship and walked out with an inferiority complex, low self-esteem, and zero self-confidence plus depression. A few weeks later, she's jumping right back in but this time, with the hottest guy on campus. Ex on one side trying to get back her attention, Aurora on the other side, leaving her best life with her newly found knight in shining armor. What she didn't know was that her college prince charming wasn't exactly who she thought he was and she, on the other hand, was busy living in her imagination of a perfect gentleman while there was none. She discovered soon enough only to be left with two options; Stay just friends with her prince charming who had been secretly having an affair with the same girl that has been broke her previous relationship or walk out on the duo and leave behind a beautiful friendship she just started experiencing for the first time in 22 years. What she didn't know, however, was that her Prince Charming was already head over heels in love with her but was scared to admit it.

The day after the new year, during a family gathering, my aunt sneered at me as I worked overtime, reviewing a proposal. "Why are you pretending to be so busy? It’s not like we don’t know you only make three thousand a month. Real money-makers are people like my daughter, a designer so successful she doesn’t even have time to come home!" I ignored her, but she directed her spoiled son to delete all my files while I was in the bathroom. My hands trembled with rage. "This proposal is due in ten minutes—if I don’t submit it, everything is ruined!" She scoffed dismissively. "He’s just a kid. What could he possibly know? Besides, your job isn’t even worth much. If you lose the files, you lose them. Worst case, you get fired." I chuckled coldly but said nothing. She had no idea it was the proposal her daughter had spent an entire month working on. And I was the client who held her daughter’s fate in my hands.

When I went to buy a new house, all I found was crumpled newspaper where my savings should've been. I almost called the cops—until I found out Tony Jarrett, my own husband, had blown seven years of my hard-earned cash on a shiny new motorcycle. For Pauline Schmidt. His ex. I asked why. He just shrugged. "She's a single mom. Life's tough. This way, she won't have to walk so much." I wanted to scream, but I swallowed it down. Made him at least get an IOU from her. While I was busy sourcing stuff for the factory, a flood warning hit our town. And Tony? Out buying toy cars with Pauline and her kid. Our son was home alone, trying to stay above water. I was back. Like life hit rewind and dropped me into that exact day. The day he gave her the motorcycle. I saw them—laughing, tight, like their own little picture-perfect family. But I didn't cry this time. Didn't beg. Just turned and walked off.

“I didn’t force myself on you, you make it sound like…” “Yes, you did Eric. My body might have been willing, but you know my mind wasn’t, yet you still took me.” She accused. Cat short for Katherine has been Eric's lover! Because honestly she didn't see herself as more and she had finally had enough, she wants more! Eric has been so busy with work and is forever traveling, it's got so bad lately. Cat really feels like she is losing him. She hardly sees him .... Making Cat believe he is getting bored with her. Had she gone past her used by date. So to protect herself from heartache Cat decides to rip the bandaid off first. She tries to end things with him. Eric being the man he is doesn't see the need to end anything. Wants the easy sex she was sure. Even though their encounter had been the longest he had had with any woman.

Tantalizing crimson eyes and jet black hair were all Lily could remember in the features of the enigmatic young man who saved her ten years ago when she was kidnapped. One day, she accidentally saw him again after ten years in the middle of a busy street in an unexplainable situation. Time froze for few seconds, people around her stopped moving, and in his snap of finger defreezes time, as the car in front of him lose control and crashed with the nearby truck. She was left dazed by what had just happened in front of her. The scene shocked her and triggered her memory of him. "The guy who saved me was no human," she murmured staring blankly, remembering their uncanny encounter a decade ago. "Grim Reaper?" Confusion was written on her face. He shook his head. "Non, I am Doom, and I bring death to people." After the street incident, she couldn't forget his face and his lines kept replaying in her dreams like a broken tape which made her wonder if this was part of the after-effects of her trauma or if it was destiny that aligned their stars to collide.

My boyfriend and his godsister were caught by the vice squad at a scandalous party. When I went to the police station to bail him out, he was disheveled, his exposed skin marked with dried candle wax and whiplash scars. His godsister, Sonia, clung to him, sobbing into his arms. “The light in Sonia’s house was broken. It was too dark, so I went to accompany her,” he said. I couldn’t help but wonder, Did he accompany her all the way to the police station too? In the past, I would’ve demanded an explanation, but I was too tired now—too drained to argue. Without a word, I signed the papers. The vice squad officer looked at me and asked, “Are you Anthony Leeman’s family?” I shook my head. “No, I’m not familiar with him. Just a colleague.” Lowering my gaze, I typed out a message to my father: [I agree to get married. Give me three days, and I’ll marry him.]

"You want me gone that bad fine,I'll leave,its not like I enjoyed your company too" "Shut up human" "Dont you dare raise your voice at me dog" Ok that went too far. He balled up his fists and bit his inner cheek hard. "I dont tolerate disrespect" "Likewise"

The cold breeze blew past me and I shivered as goosebumps began to grow on my skin. I didn't know what time it was, but I knew it was too late. Too late to turn back, too late to go back to the hospital... Too late to go back to him...... ***************** Come here!" I jerked up abruptly at the sound of my fathers voice. With a shaking body, I made my way slowly to him, praying to God to save me. "D-daddy, please, I'm weak, see my body is shaking. I'm very tired, please daddy..." A loud slap landed on my face making me fall to the ground. "Did I ask you to talk? Worthless child, just like your mother. I should have thrown you out or killed you a long time ago." He shouted at my almost unconscious body on the floor. .............. Elizabeth has been molested times without number by her own father at a young age. And when it's time to get married, she finds it hard to trust men.

On my husband's birthday, I poured my heart into preparing a feast and selecting the perfect gift. Yet, he didn't come home. Instead, I received a picture message—a snapshot of him at the hospital, standing outside the OB-GYN ward, his hand resting tenderly on his childhood crush's belly. Beneath the photo, a message read: [The best birthday gift and a symbol of our decade-long bond.] Furious, I called her. "Don't you know he's married?" Before I could say more, my husband snatched the phone and lashed out at me. "Yvonne just wanted to share the joy of becoming a mother. Why are you overreacting? "Yvonne and I have been best friends for over a decade. Your petty jealousy is disgusting!" I once believed his busyness was for our future, but now I knew—he had been busy supporting the girl of his dreams through her pregnancy. Clutching my own stomach, I bit my lip to stop the tears from falling. Ten years of love had drained away. It was time to let go.

Sixteen-year-old Rithanya can’t wait to go to boarding school and follow her dream of entering the Armed Forces Medical College. A far cry from the busy city life in her hometown of Bangalore, the strict, rural boarding school has strange rules and a stringent way of life for the students. Rithanya quickly settles in, making friends and enjoying her new life away from her sometimes overbearing family. But it isn’t all fun and games. The hostel food is intolerable and Rithanya starts to feel the pressure of her intense studies. She has terrible nightmares of failing her exams and disgracing her family, and her poor diet isn’t helping. The drudgery of capsuled academic studies, stringent rules, unpalatable food and the rat race for perfection triggers depression and an attack of psychosis of unimaginable magnitude in her mind. Once a bright and carefree girl, she falls into a terrible mental state of overwork and anxiety. Her deteriorating condition is of great concern to her family. Can Rithanya get better and continue her studies, or will the overwhelming pressure and her deteriorating mental health threaten to spoil her future plans?