Her Right Mistake

(42) Vren

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 clicked his tongue and dialed the number. "Do you want to get drunk?"

Making the call wasn't entirely a bad idea. At least he was no longer in his cold and dreary penthouse and out at the bar, drinking shots after shots of whiskey. "I don't understand. I have no clue. I've been wallowing and what do I do about it? I do some more wallowing."

Christian took another shot of his drink, miles away.

"Hey. Can we focus on the miserable man in the room?" He snapped his fingers in his ear, earning his attention.

His brother had that all too familiar look on his face – a blend of puppy eyes and pouty face. It was obvious Vren wasn't the only one needing to get drunk tonight. "Holy shit. What happened to you?"

His brother shot him a withering look. "I should be asking you that, too."

"I take it Kylie is not falling for the flowers," he mused.

Christian took another swig. "And I take it Audrey hasn't either."

Her name weighed heavily on his shoulders that he tensed.

His brother raises his drink and tipped it slightly to his glass until there was a clink. "Let's get wasted to that."

He shakes his head. "Audrey and I are still going to see each other."

"Elaborate." He stared down to his glass, his face stoic.

"We're having a baby."

Christian put down his glass down with a clang. "A what now?"

"You heard it right. Audrey and I are going to co-parent a baby. Nothing more, nothing less." The bitterness snuck to his smile.

He chuckles. "That's still a good thing."

Vren glared at him. "How is that a good thing?"

"Babies pull people closer." He shrugged.

His brows flicked up. "And how do you know that?"

"We have lived under the same roof. How do you not know that? Should we call our mother? Just because she's letting you off for forgetting to visit – thanks to Audrey – doesn't mean she won't lecture you about starting a family. I haven't been missing a single visit and I've been enduring the most unsubtle demands for grandchildren. And prior to that, is a relentless inquisition about women I encountered within the week."

Yikes. "I've been there."

"Well, you're out the hook now. I just hope it's worse for Matthew and Andrei."