Hello everyone, happy 2018! I know I'm so late and I have taken so long to update this story. I apologise, I literally suffered from a very grave writer's block. I've recovered from it, I had a lot of time to write for this book when I was Internetless on my new house haha. BUT I KNOW I HAD TO COMPENSATE YOU GUYS FOR WAITING SO LONG, SO HERE IS THE LONGEST CHAPTER I'VE WRITTEN TO DATE! HOPE YOU ENJOY! LOVE YOU ALL!
"Brian, what the hell?", Belle exclaimed to her friend over the phone. "How come you didn't know who she was?".
"I never knew she was married to Roger", he responded. "I never even knew she was married, Belle".
"I doubt she'd tell you", she mocked.
"Look, Belle. I first met her a year ago. She told me she was dating someone, but I wasn't attracted to her. Now that I know she has a newborn daughter, the fact I didn't hear from her for several months makes sense. A few days ago, we both attended the same party, which is admirable for someone who just had given birth. We talked again and arranged our first date, and then she told me to drop her at Taylor Enterprises because she had left her car parked there. I didn't think anything of it, I just thought she worked there".
"I love the fact that you live under a rock, Brian".
"Miss Bulsara", the household assistant called. "A man named Roger Taylor wants to see you".
Belle's cheeks turned bright red, surprised by Roger's decision to visit her. She smiled to herself, then proceeding to answer as nonchalantly as she could sound.
"Sure, let him come in", she said to the female employee.
"Brian, Roger just arrived to my house. I didn't know he'd visit me. I'll call you after he leaves".
"Alright. Good luck".
Roger Taylor ambled to the living room, leaving Belle quivering. He was dressed in his typical formal clothing, standing in front of her holding a bouquet of flowers, a faint smile showing on his face.
"R-Roger", Belle's voice trembled as a result of her excitement after seeing Roger had brought her flowers. "Oh, hi. You shouldn't have".
"Let me spoil you, Belle", Roger said as he handed the flowers to Belle and hugged her. "How has your day been going so far?".
"Good, I did some homework earlier today and then I called my best friend. Yours?".
And that's when she remembered it. Her best friend had kissed Roger's wife. That sounded like the perfect plot of a soap opera. God, this whole situation was out of control.
"I took my daughter to ballet class and then I visited my sister. There's a flower shop near her house, so that's why I thought it would be great to get some flowers for you".
"Roger, this was really sweet", she said as she leaned in to smell the flowers. "I feel really special, thank you".
"You are special".
Roger and Belle smiled, but she suddenly realised they were both still standing in the middle of the sitting room, causing her to snap back.
"Oh, Roger, please take a seat", Belle said, sounding embarrassed. "Do you want something to drink?".
"It's alright, Belle. Unfortunately, I can't stay too long. There's a new employee at the company and you know, I have to be there to welcome him", Roger whimpered. "But I can come to see you tonight if you'd like".
"I think it would be better to see us later in the week, since I still have so much homework left to do", Belle pouted. "But I still appreciate that you took the time to visit me today".
"I understand, no worries. Talk to you soon". Roger hugged Belle for the second time and waved goodbye.
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His legs were shaking and he felt pure tension squeezing his muscles. He had prayed and prayed to be the one to get the job. The salary was high and it was near to his apartment. Everything about this job fit so well, he was desperate to keep it for a long time.
And the building was so different to any of the places he had worked at before. Clean, big, just very fancy. He was admiring the view of the city through the windows as he walked, until he bumped into someone.
"Why don't you watch where you walk?", the black-haired man snapped furiously, his paperwork scattered all around the floor.
"I'm so sorry, Sir", he apologised and began picking the paperwork off the floor. "I'm new here and I was rushing to the restroom to take a final look before I meet the senior employees".
"What's your position?".
"Deputy Chief Financial Officer".
"Well, I'm Rami Malek, Chief Financial Director. You are very lucky to have obtained this position so quickly. I'm not sure if you can keep up with the pace, my pace".
The new employee looked down and grimaced at his new boss' arrogance.
"But don't worry, you'll do fine, I hope so'.
"Thank you", the blue-eyed man responded. "And I am so sorry you had this first impression of me", he said as she handed the paperwork back to his boss. "I'll make sure to be more careful next time".
"It's fine", he gave a dry response, getting ready to continue his way but stopping immediately.
"By the way, what's your name?".
"My name is Adam. Adam Lambert".
"Good, Mr. Lambert. See you in a few minutes".
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"Roger, how are the kids handling the situation?'".
"Roger, have you talked to your wife about the pictures that were released today?'".
"Roger, how are you feeling about the fact your wife cheated on you on the parking lot of your own company?'.
About two dozen of photographers were waiting for Roger as he arrived to the company, and he just wanted to disappear. It was getting very difficult to walk among all the people waiting, and his own security had to intervene. And he hated all the scrunity, not because he was heartbroken and wanted to be alone, it was because he just didn't care. How are the kids handling the situation? They're too young to even notice. Had he talked to his wife? No, but she worked with him and he would have to see her now. How did he felt about Catherine cheating on him? He felt nothing, he didn't feel betrayed or sad. Because it all was over now. He didn't love her in a romantical way anymore.
When he was finally inside the building, he began making his way to his office, and everyone kept looking at him. And he knew the reason why. Trying to find different things to fix his attention on, he saw Catherine talking to her assistant Daisy outside of one of the company's restrooms. He quickly turned away, remembering they both had probably something to do with what had happened with Belle yesterday.
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How come the CEO was way nicer than the CFO? It was weird. But then Adam remembered the exclusive upbringing Rami had, he remembered Rami could be jobless if he wanted to and there wouldn't be a problem. Adam was immersed in a company full of rich people, and he felt self-conscious about that.
"Are you okay?", a young woman knocked at the window of Adam's office, hoping not to bother him since he looked so thoughtful.
Adam looked up and instructed her to come in with his hand. His coworker opened the door and smiled.
"I am okay, thank you for asking", he said. "I just feel a bit overwhelmed between all of these fancy people".
"Welcome to the company. I felt exactly the same way when I started working here. But you'll get used to it, I guess".
"Thank you, Miss...?".
"Daisy Newton. And you're Adam Lambert, I can see", she pointed out at the nametag on his new desk.
"Yes, you're right. I'm glad it came early".
"Oh, by the way... I know I'm not the one who should be apologising for this, but I am sorry for Rami's egocentric behavior. I promise you he's not always like that, it's just that-".
"What are you saying about me, Daisy? Remember this office in front of mine", Rami warned, peeking through the window and then proceeding to enter the office.
"I was telling our new coworker that you are not always the entitled uncouth you appear to be", she smirked.
"Don't worry about that, Daisy, I can show him myself", Rami answered. "Actually, yeah, I'll admit I have not shown you my best side in the thirty minutes we've known each other, Adam. But, you know, I'll even be unprofessional and invite you to a party that I have been planning with my fellow senior coworkers tonight. So you can see I'm not that much of an entitled uncouth".
Adam felt honoured. He had not gone out in a while, especially because he was busy looking for a job. But now things were better, so why not go out and relax for a while?
"Well, If this is an official invitation, then I'll be glad to go", he said with a smile.
"Give him all the information, Daisy. See you both tonight", Rami said as he closed the door.
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It felt weird to admit it, but just thinking about having to sleep only one night more next to her felt incredibly uncomfortable.
He was standing right outside of his newborn's daughter's room, tears starting to stream down his face. His four-month-old daughter didn't deserve to grow up with divorced parents, actually none of his children did. He started reminiscing about his life as a newlywed, back when he swore with his life that he and Catherine would be together, until death do them part. It was scary to see the contrast between both feelings, the profound happiness he felt when he married Kate, how deeply in love he was with her, to see the way things were now, everything was so unbelievable.
The divorce of Roger's own parents had a great impact on him, and he started feeling guilty and scared about his kids' reaction. Would it be better to probably try to fix the whole situation with Catherine, and act as if nothing had happened, for the sake of their own children? All type of questions started to pop inside his head, but he had only one clear answer:
That he couldn't do it. He would not only be lying to himself If he stayed with Kate, but to his children as well. The tension would probably still be there, and it was probably better for his kids to see their parents happy with someone new rather than witnessing their fights every single night.
"You're already home. I didn't think you'd get here so early. I assumed you'd probably be with your lover Belle right now", Kate derided, dropping her bag on the floor.
"I don't have a lover, I know you can't relate to that".
"Roger, I'm not that stupid", Kate snapped. "Even if you are not officially dating Belle, I know you still like here and would do anything to be with her".
"Well, at least I'm not in the cover of all newspapers kissing her".
Kate stared at him with anger.
"And I don't want you to think that I'm holding this against to you", Roger said. "I'm actually very happy you have found someone you feel comfortable kissing".
"Look, Roger", Kate raised her voice. "Let's face it. I know we're both fed up of each other. But I won't sign a divorce unless a year and a half has passed".
"Why do you want to wait so goddamn long?", Roger startled.
"Because believe it or not, we're both public figures and we both have a reputation to keep", she fumed. "Also, Matilda is four-months-old, for pity's sake, Roger. Think about how she will feel when she grows up".
"Alright, alright", Roger walked out, trying not to lose his cool since their children were sleeping. "I think I've heard everything I had to hear from you tonight, Catherine Scarborough", Roger emphasized her surname since he was calling him by her maiden name. "Good night, I'll go to sleep to one of the freaking guest rooms".
"But you own one of the biggest hotel chains in the world, Roger. You could go to sleep to a Presidential suite If you'd like".
"I don't want to, thanks for the concern".
Catherine rolled her eyes but she didn't want to lose any more time. She had to go to a very important place.