ARTHUR
When I woke up, the first thing I saw was Thea's sleeping figure in front of me. Her eyes were closed, she was still fast asleep beside me. At first, I was confused as to why she was here, or why why we were in the same bed but when I looked around I realized that I was actually in her room. I fell asleep after our talk last night.
Looking at her in front of me, I couldn't help admiring her beautiful features. My wife had always been beautiful, I had always found her beautiful from the very first day we met. I traced my finger onto her delicate skin. She stirred a little from the contact but it didn't wake her up. I continued until my finger reached her lips.
Those lips.
I became addicted with those lips. We had kissed several times, but it was just not enough. I was aware that I no longer just 'like' her. It was more than that. She had become an important person in my life, and I felt the need to make her happy. To protect her. To claim her. She was mine to have, even before she realized it.
I never thought there would be the day when I finally replaced Jessy in my life.
Jessy
It had been almost 4 years since I last saw her. 4 years since she took my heart with her. We would have been married if only she didn't run away. I was angry, furious, lost, confused, as she left me alone at the altar without explanations. Even after 4 years I still had a little of hatred in me towards her. She was the reason why I hated being in a relationship after her. She was the reason why I didn't believe in love anymore.
But I now understood why my parents made the arranged marriage between me and Thea, I now understood why they insisted I should marry Thea. It was not only for their own good but mine too. It was not only to honor Thea's parents, but to give me a chance to learn to love again after Jessy. To heal my once broken heart. They knew that I would find happiness again, and it was with Thea.
It took me 8 months to finally realize it, but I was glad that my parents made that decision to marry us.
"You have 5 seconds to explain why you are in my bed right now."
I shifted my eyes towards her to find hers widen in shock, even after Santorini, she was still shy when we were in the same bed.
"I fell asleep last night, I guess."
She yawned and rubbed her eyes. "And you couldn't leave once you were awake?"
I smirked. "Nah, I'm comfy here. Besides, you wouldn't let me go."
It was a lie. It was my decision to stay here for a while, I wanted to be close to her. I had wanted to ask her to move into my bedroom ever since we came back from Santorini. I just didn't want to freak her out.
"Did I really?" she didn't look convinced as she squinted her eyes at me.
"You totally did."
"Whatever you said." she shrugged as checked her phone.
It was now or never. I was not going to waste another night being away from her, we were married. We were supposed to sleep in the same bed.
"Thea?"
"Yeah?"
"Move in with me."
She was still on her phone, her eyes focused on the screen. "What are you talking about? We are already living under the same roof."
Oh how oblivious she was.
"No, move in with me.. in my bedroom."
Her fingers stopped moving as I said that, she slowly shifted her gaze to me. "In your bedroom? Why?"
"'Cause that's what married people do?"
She blinked and put her phone aside. "What's with the sudden change?"
"Well, if you must know, I grew to like having you beside me when I sleep. I sleep well."
She raised an eyebrow. "So you want me to move in with you just because you sleep well beside me?"
"Well, that, yeah. And also, I want to be close to you. I want to see you when I wake up."
Her cheeks slightly redden. "You really want me to move into your room?"
"Didn't I just ask you to?"
She looked away like she was embarrassed. "Well, erm.. if you say so."
I smirked. "I take that as a yes?"
She looked around but me. "Yes, but you must know that I'm a light sleeper so if you snore loud I will hit your face with a pillow."
"I don't snore loud." I defended myself.
"Oh you did, you are lucky I didn't hit your face with a pillow back in Santorini."
I chuckled. "I can't promise you I won't snore loud, I can't control it. But when I do, I hope you sleep so well you don't hear it."
"Deal."
Well, that wasn't so hard.
"Good. You will sleep in my bed from now, no more sleeping in your bedroom. I will help move your things into mine."
"So bossy," she rolled her eyes and rested her chin onto my chest. "You like having me around you, huh?"
"I do, darling. I do."
And that was also true.
*
THEA
I never thought there would be the day when Arthur finally asked me to move into his bedroom. I had been waiting for him to ask me that question ever since we came back from Santorini.
And just like he told me, I too, like having him around me. I wanted to be close to him too. I wanted to hold him when I sleep and see him the first thing in the morning when I wake up.
It was the first day since I had moved into his room. Arthur used the bathroom while I got dressed for work. I was nervous as hell to go to work.
A few days ago Matthew and I met Lionel to discuss about our new project and he wanted me to present it to the whole team. I always got nervous to speak in front of a lot of people. I had a bad memory when it comes to speak in front of audience. It was not nice at all. Needless to say, I was shitting myself.
"Okay, Thea, don't panic." I tried to calm myself.
"What are you doing?" A gentle voice asked behind me. I looked around to find Arthur coming out from the shower, looking dangerously hot with the towel hang around his waist.
"Can you put some cloths on, please!" I closed my eyes and looked the other way. I was still not used to seeing him half naked like that. And moving in with him in his bedroom made it worse because I would often see him comes out of the bathroom like this.
Not that I mind, but my dirty minds couldn't handle it.
He smirked as he put his shirt on. I glared at him from the mirror then focused on my project for today.
"Dammit, I can't do this!" I groaned to myself. The more I thought about it, the more I got nervous.
"Are you still thinking about the presentation?" He asked, buttoning his shirt.
As if he didn't distract me.
"Yes, and I'm so fricking nervous!" I threw my hands in the air in exasperation. "What if the whole team doesn't like it? What if I screw up? What if I mess up and the company loses the contract? I can't do that to the company, to my boss." I walked back and forth.
I had never been this nervous before, it had been a while since I last faced this situation. I felt like an idiot to moan around about being nervous and stuff. Arthur must think that I overreacted. And crazy.
Suddenly a pair of gentle hands stopped me from moving. Arthur locked both my hands with his and pulled me closer to him.
"Hey, don't panic. You can do it. You will do great. Just talk like no one is in the room. Ignore their stares. Just focus on your material," he locked his eyes with mine, our faces was just a few inches closer. "It's okay to be nervous. Just take a deep breath before you start. You will be okay, Thea."
I took a deep breath and nodded my head in response. "Okay, I'll try. I'm sorry I panicked."
"Don't be sorry, it's totally normal to be nervous. Just don't work yourself out too much."
I just nodded once again. After we got ready for work, Arthur drove me to my office. He told some funny jokes, which was unusual of him, but I knew he did that to distract me from being nervous.
One thing that I liked about him.
"Call me when you are done, okay?" he stopped at the lobby of my office.
I unbuckled my seatbelt and opened the passenger door. "Okay. I'll see you at home, bye."
I closed the door and walked into lobby when I heard Arthur called my name. I turned around to find him walking towards me.
"What? Did I forget something?" I asked as I double-checked my things.
Instead of answering me, he pulled my waist and kissed me. My eyes widen in surprised with his sudden act, and I froze on my spot.
He pulled away and grinned. "You forgot that."
I was still in my shock state. "I-you- why-"
He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear. "Good luck, darling. You can do it."
Still couldn't find my words, he winked at me then left to his car, leaving me with my tingling lips. He rolled the window down and drove away, not before he waved at me.
It was when his car was no longer on my sight that I finally found my sense back, and I smiled at what just happened.
*
MATTHEW
I watched him kissing her and made her blushed. She looked surprised, probably not used of PDA. Then she smiled and touched her lips as he drove away.
"How lucky you are, Mr. Williams." I mumbled to myself.
I envied that man, to have a woman beside him who looks out and cares for him. I envied that man, to have a supporter beside him, to have something you are looking forward to wake up to.
I closed the curtain and took a seat on my chair. I let out an audible sigh as I closed my eyes.
Althea Evans
She had been on my mind ever since she joined the company. She was inexperienced, based on her resume. She was only a high school graduate, something that I didn't consider accepting in my company. But as soon as she talked on the interview, how good she was when she explained the whole thing as if she was experienced, no matter what her resume was, I knew I had to give her a chance. She had a potential, it proved when I read her illustration about our next project. Even our director loved it too.
She was a kind-hearted, generous woman that made everyone around her happy. Just like her.
She portrayed her so much that I thought I was going crazy. Not only that her face looked a lot like her, Thea also made me feel like she was here with me every time I saw her. It was crazy how much she looked like her.
My eyes shifted to the frame on my desk. I took the frame and stared at the photo. At the 2 young lovers, holding each other hands and smiled at the camera. I smiled as I remembered the memory of when this photo was taken.
"She looks so much like you, sweetheart. It's frustrating," I sighed whilst caressing the photo with my thumb. "I've missed you so much, it's been a while since I last visited you, huh?"
It was crazy how fast time had passed, it had been 2 years since I last saw her.
"I still love you so much, Olivia Heidi Wilson."
*****