happier than ever.

Her eyes flickered over to the counter teeming with toppings, it took her a few moments to decide, debating on what she wanted. "Hmmm... I'll just get some toasted coconut flakes on the strawberry white chocolate, and for the kid's cup..." For once, she was stumped. "Do you have any recommendations? It's for my 5 year old granddaughter and truthfully, I have no clue what to get her."

Closed starter for @anitakho

Where : at the Courthouse When : March 12th, around 10 am

Ever since that night at the charity gala, Anita couldn’t get her mind off Kingston Shepherd. Of course, that was a common occurrence in her life, or it had been when they were together. These days she tried her hardest to keep him out of her mind, in a bid to keep the remainder of her heart intact. Their break up destroyed her, despite the heart-wrenching fact it was all her own doing. She regretted what she did with every fiber of her being. If only she could change the past, because she would in an instant. He was all she wanted, he was the man she loved. But she’d already fucked everything up. She doubted he wanted anything to do with her now, not when he had that lanky, stunning Italian woman on his arm. She was divine, like a young Monica Bellucci. She assumed she satisfied him in ways she never could, considering the rumours around town about the couple being engaged. Why else would he still be with the younger woman? It killed her... the thought of him being with someone else. None of his other girlfriends in the past had ever made her nervous, but there was something about Daniela.

The fact that she had to face her ex lover at work on this particular morning, she was quaking inside. But there was a part of her that was aching to see him again, to gaze at that handsome face once again and look into those eyes that she always got lost in.

Walking into the conference room, she strut with the kind of confidence she’d perfected over the years, but this time it was completely feigned. Although, it dissipated the moment she laid eyes on Kingston, her heart fluttering at the sight. “It’s good to see you, Mr. Shepherd. I wouldn’t mind at all. We’ve got a job to do, so let’s get it done, shall we?” She replied jovially, plastering her signature smile on her face. The moniker Mr. Shepherd was something she used to call him playfully, in the heat of the moment... it’d become an inside joke of sorts.

As they sat working, the silence was awkward, the tension could be cut with a knife, but she could feel when he had his eyes on her, as if his blue hues were boring a hole into her flesh. She chose to ignore it reluctantly, it killed her that she couldn’t flirt with him the way she used to. Back when they were lovers and on the rare occasion they happened to be at court together, they would steal looks at each other, sneak into an empty conference room for a quick kiss and practically eye-fuck each other from across the room. Today it was different. Painfully so.

Once their clients arrived, she let out the breath she had caught in her throat, immediately standing up to greet them. “Good morning.” She greeted with a false kindness, offering them a tight-lipped smile.

It was time to get to work, and despite her passionate history with the opposing lawyer, that didn’t mean she was going to play nice. “I appreciate all of you being here today despite the circumstances.” At that, she promptly sat back down in her seat. She had to get her thoughts together, but the distraction in the form of Kingston was proving to be difficult.

"Listen, manning the ice cream station takes more work than one would think” Malakai jested, sipping a beer, he had grabbed from the cooler under the table. "There really is an art to scooping ice cream, and getting it all prepared for you" he said scooping another flavor into the cup, filling it with all the toppings. "Besides, if I didn't do it, who would?"

Gabi wasn't the biggest fan of baseball, but her father had been so she'd frequented many a game with him. It was a way to get away from the insistence that her mother teach her how to cook and clean like a 'good woman' was meant to. Then again, maybe if she'd listened more to her mother about what a good woman was, she wouldn't be in the position she was currently in with her soon-to-be-ex husband.

She grabbed a lemonade from a stand run by children and shook her head when offered the chance from the $20 note she'd handed them before blowing a loud breath out through her pursed lips. Making her way back into the stand, she asked someone close by as she sat, "Have they started yet?"

Looking like a fish out of water, clearly not in her element, as was obvious by her designer suit that adorned her body, Anita stuck out like a sore thumb in her dressier attire among people who were far more sensibly dressed. But in her defense, she’d just come from work.

The sound of the buzzing, excited crowd was zoned out by her sheer focus on her phone screen, her dark eyes scanning through various emails to bide the time while her other half mingled with some friends until an unfamiliar voice captured her attention. “Sorry?” She replied a few seconds later before she’d fully registered the brunette’s words. “Oh, no, not yet. I think there’s some sort of... delay? At least that’s what I heard in passing a few minutes ago.” A shrug. “I’ll admit... I’m not much of a baseball fan. I never know what’s going on.” Chuckling lightly, she brought her cup of beer to her lips briefly. “Are you a regular to these things?”

You had been sitting around this dinner table for what felt like hours. Charity events were always so boring to Kingston, who thought the ambient fake kindness of people’s hearts was sickening. He was still playing the part. In a little under three hours, he had donated the equivalent of a mayor’s yearly salary to whatever cause you were all gathered for tonight. He smiled, introduced Daniela, the italian beauty he’d met back in November, and raised his glass each time another person wanted to give a toast to tonight’s amazing proof of solidarity. If you looked at him, you’d only see a charming man, enjoying his night.

It wasn’t often that Anita Kho was rattled, she oozed the utmost confidence and sophistication in every aspect of her life at all times. but tonight, tonight she felt as though someone was playing a some cruel, twisted joke on her… the kind everyone else was in on but her. The presence of Kingston had never shaken her confidence in the past, it was once a thing she thanked god for, he was her slice of heaven that distracted her from a marriage she felt trapped in. Oh, how things had changed so drastically in the past three months, even if she had been the cause of the demise of their entanglement. It wasn’t what she wanted, she regretted breaking up with him with every fibre of her being, but she got spooked the moment the words ‘I love you’ left his lips. If she could turn back time, she would without a second thought, she’d jump into his warm embrace and declare how madly in love she was, how he was all she wanted. Sadly, it wasn’t quite that simple. The damage had already been done.

An additional kick to the gut was Daniela. That tall, gorgeous Italian who looked as if she’d been plucked straight from the cover of Vogue, Anita loathed the woman despite having spoken no more than 5 words to her. She could barely look at her without feeling the searing burn of jealousy in the pit of her stomach, only managing to contribute to the conversation with an occasional nod until Kingston’s voice pulled her out of her fog, her dark eyes flickering up to meet with his. Tonight was the most contact they’d had in months, she had to savour it, even if she had already caught onto what he was doing. Well, two can play at that game.

Resting a hand on her husband’s shoulder as she leaned into his side, her movement provoked the man to slide a hand down to her lower back. “It’s quite alright. But I apologise, I have to excuse myself to touch up my makeup, I won’t be long.“ Without missing a beat, she turned her head to capture Henry’s lips into a kiss. It was like she could feel Kingston’s eyes on her, it gave her some fleeting satisfaction to give him a taste of his own medicine, but it wore off because she knew deep down that all she wanted was him. Not Henry… Never Henry. “Don’t miss me too much, darling.” The brunette quipped to the man before unraveling herself from her spouse’s arms to find a spare moment to regain composure in private.

Dinner felt agonisingly long, the tension between the two ex lovers could be cut with a knife, yet they were the only ones who knew about it. Sitting directly opposite Kingston felt both a blessing and a curse — a blessing because it allowed her to sneak gazes at his dashingly handsome face. A curse, because she couldn’t be the one to shower him in kisses. It left her mind to wander to happier times, the memories of their secret rendezvous. The nights when she’d be wrapped up in his embrace as they drank wine and talked for hours on end, just relishing in each other’s company, when they made love on every inch of that apartment or lay in bed together without a single care in the world.

Completely zoned out from whatever ridiculous tangent her husband was on with a colleague, her gaze followed Kingston as he left the table… the temptation to discreetly follow him onto the balcony became too much to bare until she bit the bullet and gave into her desire.

The sting of the ice cold air hitting her skin once she ventured onto the balcony was surprisingly more bearable than her nervousness rearing its ugly head. But she couldn’t stay away.

Your confidence was one of the things Kingston adored about you. He thought falling for your beauty was the easiest thing to do, that every man would succumb to your beauty if they were given the chance to lay eyes on you. Kingston wasn’t one to choose the easy path. A fool could see your beauty, a man could meet you again and again, and appreciate the way you viewed the world, your wits, and your humor. Your ex lover admired everything about you, and that certainly was why he admitted to love you just this one time. You were a wonder, you fascinated him. No woman had ever fascinated him, and yet you managed to do just that. It was hard, to admit that you were in love with someone who could never live with you the life you wanted for you both. But how could he live with such a big untold secret ? He couldn’t, so he shared it, to his great demise.

The awkwardness that lingered in the air was prominent, an annoying little itch that aggravated her as she stared at Kingston hopelessly, trying to maintain whatever cool she had left in her. Anita didn’t want to look as though she was quaking inside, she didn’t want to show weakness, especially to one of the few people on this earth that she wholeheartedly adored.

You had been sitting around this dinner table for what felt like hours. Charity events were always so boring to Kingston, who thought the ambient fake kindness of people’s hearts was sickening. He was still playing the part. In a little under three hours, he had donated the equivalent of a mayor’s yearly salary to whatever cause you were all gathered for tonight. He smiled, introduced Daniela, the italian beauty he’d met back in November, and raised his glass each time another person wanted to give a toast to tonight’s amazing proof of solidarity. If you looked at him, you’d only see a charming man, enjoying his night.

It wasn’t often that Anita Kho was rattled, she oozed the utmost confidence and sophistication in every aspect of her life at all times. but tonight, tonight she felt as though someone was playing a some cruel, twisted joke on her… the kind everyone else was in on but her. The presence of Kingston had never shaken her confidence in the past, it was once a thing she thanked god for, he was her slice of heaven that distracted her from a marriage she felt trapped in. Oh, how things had changed so drastically in the past three months, even if she had been the cause of the demise of their entanglement. It wasn’t what she wanted, she regretted breaking up with him with every fibre of her being, but she got spooked the moment the words ‘I love you’ left his lips. If she could turn back time, she would without a second thought, she’d jump into his warm embrace and declare how madly in love she was, how he was all she wanted. Sadly, it wasn’t quite that simple. The damage had already been done.

An additional kick to the gut was Daniela. That tall, gorgeous Italian who looked as if she’d been plucked straight from the cover of Vogue, Anita loathed the woman despite having spoken no more than 5 words to her. She could barely look at her without feeling the searing burn of jealousy in the pit of her stomach, only managing to contribute to the conversation with an occasional nod until Kingston’s voice pulled her out of her fog, her dark eyes flickering up to meet with his. Tonight was the most contact they’d had in months, she had to savour it, even if she had already caught onto what he was doing. Well, two can play at that game.

Resting a hand on her husband’s shoulder as she leaned into his side, her movement provoked the man to slide a hand down to her lower back. “It’s quite alright. But I apologise, I have to excuse myself to touch up my makeup, I won’t be long.“ Without missing a beat, she turned her head to capture Henry’s lips into a kiss. It was like she could feel Kingston’s eyes on her, it gave her some fleeting satisfaction to give him a taste of his own medicine, but it wore off because she knew deep down that all she wanted was him. Not Henry… Never Henry. “Don’t miss me too much, darling.” The brunette quipped to the man before unraveling herself from her spouse’s arms to find a spare moment to regain composure in private.

Dinner felt agonisingly long, the tension between the two ex lovers could be cut with a knife, yet they were the only ones who knew about it. Sitting directly opposite Kingston felt both a blessing and a curse — a blessing because it allowed her to sneak gazes at his dashingly handsome face. A curse, because she couldn’t be the one to shower him in kisses. It left her mind to wander to happier times, the memories of their secret rendezvous. The nights when she’d be wrapped up in his embrace as they drank wine and talked for hours on end, just relishing in each other’s company, when they made love on every inch of that apartment or lay in bed together without a single care in the world.

Completely zoned out from whatever ridiculous tangent her husband was on with a colleague, her gaze followed Kingston as he left the table… the temptation to discreetly follow him onto the balcony became too much to bare until she bit the bullet and gave into her desire.

The sting of the ice cold air hitting her skin once she ventured onto the balcony was surprisingly more bearable than her nervousness rearing its ugly head. But she couldn’t stay away.