Chapter Eight

Annalise

The drive from our hotel room to Hal's family home is eerily calm. I look over to Hal and see the depth of resolve in his face. We left for California two days after Tasha and I spoke. We both called all the members of our family to gather at Jeff"s house for an important announcement. Tasha has been blowing up my phone for the past two days, but I don"t listen, nor do I care. I only hope today ends in a conflict resolution.

Hal parks the car in front of Jeff's mansion on St Anne"s Boulevard.

"Don't look so worried. It's going to be okay, Anna. I promise. Are you ready?"

"As ready as I"ll ever be." Hal takes my hand and kisses it. I take a deep breath and we get out of the car.

Hand in hand, we walk to the house and knock on the front door. Mr. Gilmore, the butler, opens the door with a bright smile on his face, obviously unaware that all hell is about to break loose.

"Hello Mr. Torres … Miss Wilson. Everyone is waiting for you inside."

"Thank you, Harry." Hal tightens his hold on my hand and we walk briskly inside.

The room goes quiet as soon as we appear. Everyone who matters is here. Tasha"s eyes darken and fixate immediately on Hal. Jeff looks at us both expectantly and says, "Welcome to you both. It's been a while!"

My parents are visibly confused. Only Olivia and her husband, Jesse, smile at us.

"Alright, now that Hal and Anna are here, perhaps we can get down to the reason for this meeting," Jeff says authoritatively and nods at us.

I squeeze Hal's hand and he turns to me and smiles. All my nerves dissolve away as I stand boldly beside my man.

"Anna and I are in love and are going to get married," Hal said with a strange quietness.

Tasha shakes her head while Jeff looks unfazed. My parents and sisters gaze at us in disbelief.

"What did you just say?" Tasha asked.

"Tasha, I"m in love with Anna."

"Tasha … Mom … Dad … I know this must be shocking for you, but Hal and I are in love. If you truly want me to be happy, you won"t object to this." I steel myself for what I'm about to say. "And even if you do, it won"t change anything. But I want all the petty squabbles and prejudices to end. It"s never done any of us any good."

Hal steps in front of Tasha, who was still shooting thunderbolts at us with her eyes.

"Tasha, I know that I hurt you deeply in the early years of your marriage to my dad. I am deeply sorry for that. Back then, I was hurt and thinking only of myself and my own pain without considering your happiness. I carried that hurt with me for years until it became a huge rock of bitterness between us. And I admit now that you"ve been a wonderful wife to him. You've brought him happiness. Can you find a place in your heart to forgive me? Can we please start over?"

Tasha went hot and cold before breaking down into tears. Hal pulls her close and they hold each other tight.

The look on Tasha's face; she's speechless for the first time ever. She looks at me and I can see the concern etched on her face.

"And you really love him?" she asks me.

"I do, Tasha. I really do. Hal is a good guy. I don't understand the issue here."

Tasha lets out a huge sigh.

"Hal, I appreciate your apology. Maybe if you'd offered one sooner, we could have avoided all of th …"

Jeff coughs and shoots Tasha a look. She immediately backs off, holding out her hands. There's an uncomfortable silence that fills the room as we wait in anticipation as to what Tasha may say next.

"Look, I"m sorry too, Hal," She begins looking down at her hands, then looks up at her husband. Jeff prompts her further with a nod of his head. "…For all the lies and evil things I said about you. If I'm being completely honest, I was angry and jealous. You're so like your Mum, Hal, which, in some ways, is partly why I've been terrible to you too. I'm sorry. Please forgive me." Tasha looks up at Hal.

Hal nods. "I forgive you."

The atmosphere in the room instantly changes and I feel a small weight get lifted.

Jeff was quiet for a while, then eventually says.

"I have waited so long for this day to come. Finally."

I go to my parents and they nod their approval with a smile.

Hal walks over to me and my dad.

"Mr. Wilson, I love your daughter with everything in me and I want to make her mine."

My dad stretches his hand with a smile and Hal takes it. Tears of relief pour down my face.

Hal turns to face me and wraps his large arms around my frame, keeping me safe. I finally release the deep breath I'd been holding on to all this time.

"I told you it would all be okay." Hal whispers into my ear. Then, he kisses me softly on my temple. "I can't wait to make you my wife." I look up at his face, excited to spend the rest of my life with this amazing man.

***

Seven Years Later

Hal

As I sit on the balcony of our new apartment, gazing at the current painting I'm working on, I reflect back over the last seven years. My life has changed so much. Anna and I have just celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary and have two beautiful kids, Noah, who's 5 and Amelia, aged 3.

Annalise has finished her PhD and is now a professor — Professor Annalise Wilson-Torres. My heart could almost burst open with pride. She's now teaching at Stanford and loves every bit of it.

And me? Annalise helped me realize that life is too short and to follow your passions in life. Tasha took over Torres-Holdings leaving me to become the artist I always knew I wanted to be. Deep down I believe Dad giving me the business all those years ago fueled her dislike towards me, thinking she could do a better job, even though she would never admit to it. That's all in the past now. Now, I'm selling art in galleries. Ironically, I paint the buildings I've been involved in building and can see from my balcony here in California. Turns out people actually like my work and pay a premium for my art.

Since that day in Connecticut, when we cleared the air, Tasha and I have developed a better relationship. Not perfect, but better. Pretty solid relationship and It means I can talk to both Tasha and Dad more regularly without fear of retribution every week. Tasha has even sometimes comes to me for advice or support, over the years, relating to the business, but she's found her feet now and is doing well.

"Hey handsome, how're you getting on?" I hear my darling wife purr behind me. She places her beautiful soft arms around my shoulders, holding me tight. It's a warm Saturday morning in the middle of July, and the kids are spending the weekend with my dad and Tasha. They have a great bond, and it means Annalise and I get some alone time.

"Yeah, I think I'm almost done."

Annalise walks in front of me and I can see she's wearing an emerald, green camisole and matching lace panties. Her nipples are erect and her eyes are dark as she looks down at me.

"Good."

She straddles my lap and kisses me gently on my lips, turning more passionate the deeper she goes. She nips at my bottom lip, and I feel the familiar twitch in my boxers. The sight and touch of her beautiful body still gives me a rock-hard erection. She smells so good.

She places her hands inside my robe and strokes my chest. Her dark hair spirals across my abs as she kisses and licks my body, slowly undoing the belt on the robe.

I feel my cock throbbing at the thought of pleasing her and fucking her hard.

"Baby, let's go inside," I say, but before I can say anything further, she's taken my cock out of my pants and placed it deep inside her mouth and she's sucking me hard whilst we're still on the balcony.

"Oh, fuck, Anna."

She continues sucking until I think I might explode, then she stops right on time and strokes my balls.

"I want you right now, Hal," she says and pulls her panties to one side and sits down the length of my penis. I sit up and push her hips right down on to me as we grind slowly, deeply together. I pull her camisole down to her waist to free her breasts. I love the way they move and feel in my mouth. She groans in response to my touch.

I pick her up like a feather, her legs wrapped around my waist, her hands in my hair and I fuck her against the glass window. Anyone can see us but I don't give a fuck. This woman drives me insane and I have to have her right here. Right now. Even after all these years she makes me so hard.

"Hal, don't stop." She grabs her hands around my ass and lets out a loud scream. I fuck her harder and my orgasm shoots out of me.

As I catch my breath, Anna kisses my face all over and grins at me. She starts to giggle and the reality of what we've just done kicks in.

"I want to do that again," she says, looking up at me with those deep brown eyes and red cheeks.

"Oh baby, you know I can't refuse when you look at me like that. Just name the time and day. I'm at your service."

I carry her over to the chair we were just sat on, and we look across the city, basking in the morning summer glow.

"Wait a minute," she says, looking at my painting. "Is that painting of the building we used to live in? South Bay Boulevard?"

"The very same."

We both know what that building represents. It holds so many precious memories for us. Our first proper meeting, our first time together, and where our babies were born.

"It's beautiful," she says and nuzzles into me.

I hold her in my arms, grateful for the last seven years. I couldn't imagine my life any other way.

~The End