The bed felt cold, way too cold.
Thinking that his wife had probably rolled away from his arms, with his eyes still closed he reached out to pat around the bed for that sneaky little thing. But his hands only found emptiness.
No Sofi!
His brows furrowed and eyelids clinched in confusion before snapping wide open. Springing up to a sitting position he looked at Sofi's side, and it was truly empty.
And that was when memories came back to him of last night as the haze of sleep eventually cleared off of his mind. Sighing, he rubbed a palm across his eyes and chuckled to himself.
Of course, he had dropped Sofi off at the Haydens' after that urgent phone call from Skyler.
Who knew what trouble his dear sister in-law was in?
Sighing, Max got up and headed towards the washroom.
The temptation to make a phone call to Sofi was strong – to inquire if he was needed, to make sure that she was coming back home today. But the most necessary purpose was to hear her voice. He knew he probably was sounding like a freaking sissy, but damn..., he missed her already. She was away since what... a couple hours perhaps, and this was how he had become.
However, he guessed Sofi was probably still asleep considering it was still very early and he didn't wish to disrupt her from taking a good rest for his selfish reasons. Some sisterly heart-to-heart counseling might have kept her up till late last night. Therefore, he restrained himself from grabbing the phone and dialing her number, or the Haydens' landline number – and demand they let him talk to his wife.
Instead, he decided he would transport himself over there at lunchtime.
He came downstairs with his laptop bag, some files that he would take to office and one of his law-books that he kept close most of the time for any quick and necessary surveys.
Debbie, who'd just completed scrubbing the floor of the dining hall, said that it would just take her ten minutes max to prepare breakfast for him.
Nodding with a thankful smile, Max pulled his chair back, and after putting everything from his hands onto the table, he sat himself down. Without wasting a moment, he dragged that heavy law-book of his closer to him. Flipping through pages, he stopped at a certain part.
There...
He smiled.
There was his Sofi, cradling a toddler into her arms. A soft smile playing on her enticing lips while one of her lustrous strands of hair carefully caressed the corner of her mouth. Her eyes had this dreamy look while she was just about to nuzzle her nose on the toddler's cute little head, as if she was trying to savor the milky scent that was usually possessed by kids of such tender age.
For the millionth time probably, Max stared at the picture with absolute awe and adoration.
One fine morning in his office, Max's secretary had showed him a tabloid that had exclusive photos from the Halloween tea party his complicated case of an aunt, Katherine, had thrown a day ago. Someone had clicked the photos and posted them on Insta, they'd gone viral soon after and inevitably found their way onto the tabloid. Max had found this picture of Sofia there, cradling the child of one of their major client. The caption under the image said - 'New wife of the Wilder heir, lost in an endearing moment. Dreaming of having their own?'
Max had fallen in love with the photo the moment he laid his eyes on it. His secretary had awed at the sight of his doofus grin.
With a scissor, he had then proceeded to cut out the photo and tucked it inside the law-book he kept close-by the most. Since then, it became his sacred routine to stare at the photo every once in a while every day.
Sofia called it "ogling laws".
She would even make minimal noises around him during those ogling sessions of his, thinking he was revising laws, when in reality he just gawked at his wife's photo holding a toddler, and wonder how it would look like when she would, one day, hold their own.
Debbie arrived with his breakfast then. Hurriedly, he closed the book and put it aside with a smile. When Debbie left, absentmindedly he ran his fingers on the hard cover of the book.
Their first night together as truly man and wife, it would be an understatement to describe it as overwhelming. Way beyond control was his hunger; his passion; his madness to love her like a man loves a woman - in the most intimate way, in the most primal way. Heavens knew since how long he'd been holding himself at bay while loving her and longing for her love in secrecy. It had felt like he was cutting his own limbs apart, each day, bit by bit and ever so slowly, and all that while keeping a smile of utter patience and calm in front of her – well, most of the time.
Therefore, when that moment had finally come, when he could take her and in return give himself to her as well while having the chance to, at last, show, to what extent he had always loved her, it was unsurprising that he had forgotten about protection.
He was scared when he realized.
Not because he didn't want a child, it was because he was wary of what Sofi's reaction about the prospect of being with a child would be.
And his fear was proven logical seeing Sofi freaking out and counting the days to her impending woman's time of the month. He was grateful then for mastering the skill of putting on a blank face. For if he had let loose the excitement on his face, Sofi would have probably felt pressured and that was the last thing he ever wanted.
Sure, he wished to have a child, a little someone he and Sofi would be able to call their own. Starting a family, a future with the woman he loved was what he craved to experince in reality, and not just in his dreams. But all that he wished for could never exceed the wish to see his Sofi in the utmost happiness.
Sofia Hayden was like a free bird with her own pair of independent wings, he would rather die than ever witness her ripped off of those feathery freedom of hers and imprisoned within the name and demands of Wilder and marriage.
He would remain happy as long as she returned home to him after her daily ventures across the sky. It was because he wanted to be her nest and never her cage.
Surely he would also be hounding after her to see if she was safe, surely he would stress and scream and frustrate her to no end along the way.
For love is not just sweet words, mind-blowing kisses and sleeping together for an eternity, love is also sour differences, mindless conflicts and making up.
--
Max pulled over his car at the parking of the Wilders. Striding up the stairs to the entrance, he returned the greeting of the guard on duty and walked in.
The receptionist, a skinny girl with a sullen face, dramatically did a double take and beamed at the sight of him, her eyes checking out the entirety of his physic in the meanwhile.
Max politely smiled back.
Did they not know that he was a married man?
He inwardly sighed, but then his eyes trailed off towards the right and fell on their common room. There were a TV, some games and a coffee vending machine in the common room where employees took little recreational breaks every once in a while.
Max frowned, seeing Neil sitting there at one of the round tables with a face that depicted the most stressed out man of the entire world. He was sipping from a tea cup morosely, seeming oblivious to a group of loud men playing billiard just ten feet away.
Curiosity got the better of Max and he went to check on what was going on with his cousin. Because while Neil had had his moments of bad moods every once in a while, it seemed to be something far more serious this time.
Purposefully, Max put down the files in his hands loudly on the table and felt content seeing Neil jolt in return. Unaware that a bit of tea from his cup had splattered out, Neil scowled up at Max.
Wait.
That didn't look like tea.
Before Neil could recover and cover up his sorry ass, Max bent down to take a sniff from the cup. And he was right in his suspicion by the scent that hit his nostrils.
Max rose up to his full height and crossed his arms. "Why the hell are you guzzling up whiskey at office hours?" He lifted a brow incredulously. "That too from a freaking tea cup!"
"So that I don't get located as an office time drunkard," Neil sighed heavily, deflating back to his morose mood. "You see..., Uncle Robert has retired but I've information that he has left back some slithering spies among us."
"Sounds like dad," Max knew his father was capable of such an antic, but that was clearly not the greater issue here. "Anyway, back to the matter in concern here - what's got your panties up in a twist now?"
"Can't a man in this office even celebrate a disaster peacefully?" Neil threw up his hands in exasperation. "Please, leave me alone, brother! Go away."
Now, that was quite dramatic.
Max was about to retort, presenting the fact that he was not just a brother to Neil now but basically his boss as well and they had some rules in the office. Especially about boozing.
But right then, Neil, who was facing the common room's door which overlooked the main entryway of the building, suddenly sat up straight with all emotions scrubbed off of his face to be replaced with a look of pure shock and terror.
"Oh my God! Sofi's here!" Neil croaked.
Max was more confused on Neil's reaction than the fact that Sofi had come to the office. Perhaps she had wanted to give him a surprise - with a lunchbox filled with the dishes of food that he so loved. She'd done it before once in the past week and Max couldn't be happier. He had thanked her by one of the most intense kisses while she sat on his desk. The employees had grinned behind his back the whole day whenever he passed by them. Bloody fools took not of her coming with a lunchbox. He didn't give a damn, for he was a husband well-loved and he bloody hell loved the fact.
So, expecting to see perhaps a lunch box in her hand and a brilliant smile on her face, Max turned around. But he was shocked to find instead that it was a freaking hammer she was clutching in a death grip and there was murder written all over her pretty face.
"What the...," Before Max could even complete the curse, his elbow was being yanked away by Neil who had stood up and dragged him out the common room.
The men playing billiard in the background had long stopped and gawked at the escalating commotion.
"Run, bro, we need to f*cking run!" Neil bellowed. "Damn, she's here! I knew this was going to happen. Bloody run...!"
The first thought that came to Max's mind was that - he might have done something wrong.
And before Max could even comprehend what he was doing, along with Neil, he was too sprinting down the corridor and upstairs towards their cabins. Flabbergasted people on their way parted like the Red Sea. Clearly, it was, after all, not an everyday occurrence that they saw the boss brothers running for their lives while one of the boss's wife chased them shaking a hammer in her hand.
"Stop, you two!" Sofia's voice hollered, the noise of her pounding footsteps hounding after them. "Bloody basket!"
Never stopping, they ran for their lives and they ran like hell.
They'd reached Max's office was when Max hauled himself to a stop. Neil who still had an iron grip on his elbow as a result came to a halting stop too.
"Hold on," Max panted. "What did I do? It must be you, definitely you," he accused.
Neil groaned in desperation. "It's not the f*cking time to discuss it! Look, just save me right now and I'll tell you everything. Holy hell, she's here." He took a brief glance at the side and groaned again, then pushed a still very confused Max forcefully into the cabin.
Sofia's thundering footsteps were quickly approaching.
"Close the door," Neil yelled and staggered away. "Close the damn door!"
Shaking head in exasperation, Max slammed the door right before Sofia reached it.
"Lock it. Lock it!"
Max gnarled but locked the door anyway as demanded by Neil.
"Come out you two!" Sofia was on the door right away, pounding her fists at the door violently. "I know you two are in there. Max, submit your scoundrel of a brother in my hands right this instant! Come out, Neil! You cannot hide from me forever, you filthy pig...," And it went on until a gaping Max cleared his throat and finally found his voice again.
Glaring at Neil, Max wondered what shit he had done for Sofi to be so pissed at him. After all, as much as he could remember Neil was in far more better terms with Sofia than with him.
"Honey, calm down," Max tried handling the situation, just like a sane man would while stuck between a wife transformed into a cheetah and a younger brother transformed into a peeled potato.
"Or what!" Sofia roared from the outside.
Neil flinched.
A few voices could be heard from the outside. Max guessed there were people gathering to watch the gripping drama. He heard Sofia mumble something like - "Alright then."
Having had just enough of it, Max went to open the door only to flinch at Neil's indignant protest.
"Now," Max grabbed Neil by the collar when Sofia's diminishing, stomping footsteps indicated that she had left. "Tell me. Why's my wife out for your blood?" Max's voice was indignant.
Neil gulped, his face was already pale and got even paler in the face of Max's interrogation.
At last, after a long sigh, he blurted out, "I'm having a baby."
Did Max hear it right?
Letting loose the collar from his grip, Max staggered back, and stared at Neil's stomach with a horror stricken face.
But he had thought that Neil was a brother?
Or, was it a miracle?
Damn it, what the bloody hell was he thinking!
It must be the whiskey he had sniffed earlier.
Neil followed Max's eyes and when he realized where those eyes were stuck at, he stumbled back in equal horror. "No! No, not like that. I mean I knocked a girl up and now she's having my baby," his voice shook at the end.
Oh, no.
Max had a bad feeling about this. A very bad feeling.
For some reason he felt like the supposed baby-mamma was from the Hayden family.
Neil slowly walked near the window and looked outside. "It's Skyler."
Holy shit!
His moron of a cousin had not just developed a secret romance with his sister in-law but had also managed to activate his baby making bugs.
"Why do I feel like there's more to the horror story?" Max's lips were pressed into a thin line.
Neil seemed like was about to explode with frustration. "I freaked out when she told me about it, okay! And I might have blamed that it was her fault that she got pregnant and stormed off and didn't answer her phone calls afterwards. When I got back my freaking senses later, she became the one now not picking up my calls." Neil sighed pathetically. "The truth is, brother, I f*cked up."
Max snorted in positive. Neil really did f*ck up.
So, this was what last night's urgent phone call was all about.
Shit had hit the fan, and there was no easy way of transferring it all into the toilet now.
"You f*cked up the moment you messed with none other than the Sofi's little sister," Max dragged a hand down his face. It was too much of a shocking revelation after one hell of a chase-down session by one savage wife. "No wonder she's running around with a hammer now. My poor baby," he mumbled the last bit to himself.
Neil was stood before the window with a morose face, but then he was suddenly gaping at the sight of something outside.
Max was walking forward to see what the matter was now, but Neil suddenly scrambled backwards looking hellish alert. "What...?"
Neil cut him off. "Duck. Duck!"
Max ducked behind the desk in time as Neil leaped and fell right next to him shrieking.
The very next moment, the unholy hammer came flying in.
Noise of glass breaking filled Max's office, making the two cringe.
That damned woman was trying to break down his entire office!
A minute later, Max straightened up along with Neil. They stared at the hammer that lied on the floor in the midst of all the glass shards.
There was a paper tied to the hammer.
Such a destructively bad-ass way to send a message. She could have texted instead, couldn't she?
Neil retrieved it, after hobbling over the glass shards and carefully peeking out the now naked window to check if Sofi had truly left this time. His long sigh of relief said – she did.
"One would think Thor is her idol," Neil commented putting away the hammer on Max's desk before giving it an amused look.
"What's in it?" Max inquired, seeing Neil's eyes moving over what helluva was written on the paper.
"An ultimatum," Neil grumbled. "It's either I face Sofi or I face another hammer, they've apparently a lot more of them in the Hayden household. Hey..., man, why are you rolling up your sleeves?"
"To show my gratitude to the angels for gracing me with the chance to settle the score." Max smiled casually, not pausing with the sleeves. Now that the initial shock had worn off, a certain memory kicked in.
"What score?"
"This—"
Max's fist connected to Neil's eye with a resounding thud.
--
After a very crucial of a talk with Neil, Max sent off his brother to his own cabin.
He couldn't help but smirk as Neil's face -now decorating a black eye on it- disappeared out the door.
The shards of glass were cleaned, and now, fresh wind from the outside was bustling in through the gaping window every few seconds. It was as if the wind had its own kind of rhythm, dancing around to their own private tunes – never staying, yet never leaving as well.
Leaning back into his leather chair, Max glanced out the broken window and at that moment he understood why Sofi was always so adamant on keeping windows open.
No matter how much human beings are now skilled in constructing the most commodious sky-scrapers, nature is and will always be the one to bring the actual peace.
His secretary walked in then, presenting him with the file of their newest client. An heiress who'd filed a divorce case on her husband with the accusations of cheating and mental harassment.
Max closed his eyes briefly after directing the secretary to summon Brian, one of their best divorce lawyers.
The accusations written in details in the file made his Stomach churn with unsettling flashbacks, of memories that were his own. He never dared replay them even in his own mind ever – until instances like this, until rare involuntary moments like now came forth.
It was hypocritical, really, the way he had demanded all of her but still was guarding his own secret. A secret that he feared would bring down the very ground he and Sofi now stood upon. For that ground was still not as mighty as it looked like, and the clean slate he had put up so that their love could grow – had also his darkest face hidden behind it.
Because, Max Wilder was one of the smartest lawyers, an ardent lover, and the most vindictive nemesis one could ever cross their path with.
~
This specific track of Bitterly Sweetly from this chapter onward just breaks my heart.
But even the saddest bits are needed too. It will, in the end, make them stronger... or not ;)
Don't forget to please vote, comment, fan/follow! I'll be waiting to read your thoughts. If you find any mistakes feel free to correct them. Constructive criticisms are always welcome, I've always learnt from them.
Also, I can't wait to finish the editing of the story (that is what I'm doing at the moment as I'm updating), so that I can finally introduce a bonus track! So stay tuned folks!
Lots of love,
Lara.