They haven’t been speaking. Her mother doesn’t come out of their bedroom anymore. Her aunts were the only ones she permits to come in and out – but just because they insist she eats something. It was a torture on Audrey’s part. Her own mother is avoiding her like she couldn’t bear the sight of her. It was pang in her chest – hardly tolerable.“You and your mother fought?”Audrey raised in one elbow and sat on the sofa.Her aunt Gemma stands on the foot of the stairs and walks over to her. “She’s just in pain, that’s all.”“I know.” She tucked her legs beneath her, the throw pillow secured on her lap.“People say a lot of things they don’t mean when they’re mad.” She sinks herself beside her and patted her knee. “She’ll be fine.”Audrey sighed. “She still doesn’t want to talk to me, does she?”She nods slightly. “If it’s any consolation, she’s not talking to me either. She just ate what I gave her and that was it.”Ah, the silent treatment. One of

Audrey sink to the rug, her gaze going over the opened door of the bathroom where she just spent the entire morning after having a round of morning sickness and some other stuff she doesn’t want to think about. A small sob slipped out, followed by another.She began crying in the quiet of the guest room. Her chest heaved from huge, racking sobs that doesn’t seem to end. She pulled her legs close, tucking her knees to her chest. She buried her face on the comfort of her thighs. Hoping it will muffle the sound.She was fine yesterday. She was doing well in keeping her mind off the soft spot. But waking up today with a terrible morning sickness felt like stepping right onto a landmine. Amidst the distressing process of cleaning her stomach clean, she thought about how bearable it once was when Vren was right on her side, holding her hair back, rubbing her back and his voice so soft on her ears.“Damn it!” She hissed as the memory flood in fresh new tears to her already

Vren pursed his lips irritably as he reaches the end of his contacts. Yet again. In emotional conflicts, he would resort to calling a past fling. But, surprising himself, he was deleting each single one from his contacts.What the hell was he supposed to do?For a great portion of his life, he had women as proven distraction from the noise of business ordeals. However, he haven’t met Audrey then. He didn’t have a deep emotional conflict that could only be relieved by one particular woman.His life is way off course. The only solution to put it back on track is to have his Audrey back. Whatever it might cost him. He had long lists of grand gestures he’s taken a mental note of. If that doesn’t give away how much he hasn’t been sleeping, maybe the dark circles might.He was on the verge of smashing his phone for having no one else to call. He takes out a heavy sigh and pressed that one phone number he has considered to call.Damn it. What the hell?Vren cli

Audrey paces in her bedroom. The pink interior slowly transitioned into an irritating shade because her room looked happy in contrary to the dread dwelling in the pit of her stomach. Her mother came over to her Aunt Gemma’s house—the first time she went out of the house since she has been discharged from the hospital.A revving car from outside snapped her out of her thoughts, reorienting her to the task at hand. The engine groaned loudly into a stop but she couldn’t care less about it. She leaned her back against the wall, looked out the window where the sun was streaming in several hours ago. There wasn’t any trace of it anymore which means she’s spent the day fruitlessly.The wall felt cold against her back. She gathered a calming breath in through her nose and scrolled through her contacts one more time. Swallowing the bile in her throat, she rings him. The soles of her feet were freezing as her palms. She hoped it will go to voicemail and save her from the embarras

“Berry, nude or matte blue?”Audrey squinted closer to her computer screen where Jessica was holding three nail polishes and Kathie was shifting in her enormous couch. “Nude.”Since two out of three has had hassles going to places, they resorted to video calls.“Yeah, nude.” Kathie nods, pausing to fluff a throw pillow.“Boring. I think I’ll choose matte blue.” She glances briefly at them, then snort laughed.Audrey shot her a glare. “What?”“Nothing. My screen is ninety-five percent round bellies. Five percent faces of my best friends.” She shakes the bottle, grinning at the screen.“I’ll kill you if you take a screenshot right now.”Jessica bellowed a laugh. “I’d like to see you try with that belly.”“Just wait until you get one of these bellies too,” Kathie chimes in a sing song voice. She adjusted her phone, angling it to her face.Their friend merely snorted and started painting her toenails.Audrey would’ve given a skeptical eye