Listen to August by Taylor Swift.

I sipped the bottle of water in my hand wishing the bottle won't go empty.
It felt so awkward sitting here and not knowing anything Adrian and Tristan were talking about.

Morris walked into the living room; he looked a bit nervous. I wanted to give him a hug, he's been busy taking care of the paintings and the mess Tristan made in his room.

"The CCTV was tampered with, there's no recording of last night or this morning."
He said calmly like someone would hit him if he rushed his words.

"Whoever put those paintings in my room has to be familiar with this house," Tristan said.

"Or you have a stalker."
Adrian said, leaning back on his seat.

"For Christ's sake, it's been six years."
Tristan groaned, running one hand through his hair. He was clearly agitated and I wished they could fill me in on what was happening. I hated when people kept me guessing, my curious mind just wanted to be satisfied.

"Don't tell my mom about this."
Tristan warned Morris before dismissing him.

I waited for them to explain to me but they just took a glance at me and carried on with their conversation.

"I think you should increase the security around here."
Adrian suggested.

"The last thing I need right now is to return to rehab."
Tristan mumbled sounding scared.

Adrian's phone vibrated on the table, he took a glance at his screen and smiled.

"Sorry, I have to leave. Call me if anything comes up, bye Chloe." He stood up and headed for the front door.

"Bye"
I waved.

I took a glance at Tristan, he had his head in his palms. I stood up from my seat and walked to where he was, I placed my hands on his shoulders.

He flinched and turned to look at me. His eyes looked haunted and tired.

"It's me."
I said with a soft smile, he's been jumpy since this morning.

He stood up and pulled me into his arms, he was quiet and the hug lasted more than a minute.

"I promise to explain everything to you soon."
He whispered.

I smiled and hugged him back.

☆
It was Thursday and I was home alone. I dropped my phone on the counter and searched for a snack in the kitchen cabinet, my hand fiddled for the bag of Cheetos as my short legs pushed up to increase my height.

My ringtone stopped me from grabbing the bag of Cheetos, I groaned and picked the phone.

It was Adrian, Tristan was too busy to call anyway, he told me he had a board meeting today with important people.

"Hey, Adrian."

"Are you busy?"

"No."
I replied and jumped, grabbing the bag of Cheetos.

"Meet me outside the Chinese restaurant, it's just a few minutes drive from where you are."

"Is everything ok?"

"Yeah."

"Ok, I will be there."

I ate the Cheetos as I drove to Mr. Chow. I wiped my mouth and combed my hair with my fingers.

Adrian waved at me when I entered, the place looked very inviting. I took the seat in front of him with a smile.

"Did something happen?" I asked a bit worried, it's been long since we hung out.

"No?"
He said and laughed.

"Just wanted to hang out."
He said when the waiter arrived.

"So, how has it been going with Tristan?"
He asked after the waiter left with our order.

"Good, he finally told me about Nadia," I lied, hoping to get something out of him.

"Really? It's not something he likes talking about." He said looking too surprised.

"There's nothing to hide, it's nothing big anyway." I scoffed.

"He would have been a good father."

"A what?"

"A good father to his daughter, Nadia."
He said like he expected me to know.

"Daughter?" I mumbled.

"Tristan has a daughter?"
I sat up in my seat still trying to digest what he just said.

"I thought he told...Ohh, he never did." He muttered in realization and looked outside the window.

"Nadia is his daughter?"
I asked like I needed more convincing. I didn't expect it to be this? I expected a crazy ex.

"I'm sure he is not ready to talk about it," Adrian said.

"What happened to her?"

"I'm sorry I can't tell you anything. You have to wait for Tristan to tell you himself."

This whole waiting thing was starting to get more annoying.

"Okay, " I said and stood up to leave. I grabbed my small bag and hung it over my shoulder.

"You're leaving already?"

"I'm really sorry but I need some time alone. This is too much to take in."

"He cares about you, Chloe."

I ignored him and reached for the front door.

"Chloe, wait."
Adrian trailed behind, I stopped and turned around.

"Thank you for inviting me out Adrian but I need to go."

"You should know this is a painful topic for him. You're only gonna push him away if you keep trying to force it out of him."
He said not coming after him.

I entered the car and drove off not looking back.

"Nadia is his daughter, he has a daughter?"
I wished I never asked. Maybe it was better staying in the dark, now I couldn't stop thinking about it. Was he still seeing his daughter or the mother of his child? Oh, shit! this was too much to take in.

I decided to call Vina, I didn't want to be close to Tristan with the different emotions I was feeling right now.

I grabbed my phone and called her, she picked on the first ring.

"Holà!"

"Are you home?" I asked.

"Si, are you coming? Please say yes."

"Yes."

"Really?"

"Yes, Vina."
I said and she screamed in excitement.

"Wait, you don't sound excited. Is everything okay?"

"Not really, I will tell you everything when I get there."
I mumbled and ended the call.

It was twenty minutes drive from where I was. I parked the car and put some Cheetos in my mouth before coming out of the car. I adjusted the green floral dress I wore, the warm breeze was not doing me any good. I dragged the dress down and walked to the large doors.

Belvina hugged me immediately she opened the door. I hugged her back and refused to pull away, I really needed the hug.

"Are your parents home?"
I asked as I wrapped my arms around her small frame.

"No."
She whispered.

She smiled at me when we separated, she dragged me into the house and shut the door.

"I think I messed up. I feel so awful but at the same time I feel so angry."
I said as we both slumped on the sofa.

"I really suck at this."
I groaned, placing my head on her lap.

" So, I'm going to be your therapist today," Vina said.

"And my best friend, " I told her. We always shared everything with each other especially when you needed the other's person's help. I needed a little pep talk right now from her, as much as the topic felt too personal, I could trust her with anything---even my passwords.

"Okay, so tell me what happened."

"I tricked Adrian into telling me about Nadia," I confessed.

"Oh shit, let me guess, you didn't like what you discovered?"

"Yes, I wished I never asked."

"Who is she?"

"His daughter?"

"Damn, " she whispered.

"Is she dead?"

"I don't even know, and now I just feel like I invaded his personal space," I said and groaned.

"He's going to be so mad when he finds out you went behind his back and did some digging."

"Wow, what a therapist you are."
I said and she shrugged.

"I only wanna help."

"By reminding him of Nadia, great idea."
Vina said sarcastically.

"He won't talk to me, it makes me angry. I really want him to open up to me, to let me in and stop making me feel like a stranger."
I whispered.

"Girl, it's not that easy. We all have different ways of coping with stuff. Maybe he went through shit and thinks it's better to keep it to himself, he'll open up eventually if you stop being a detective."

"Tristan is going to be so mad, " I said and groaned again as if I could feel his wrath already.

"It's gonna be fine."
She whispered stroking my hair, it made me sleepy.

"It's all about patience."
She said sounding like the therapist I wanted.

"Too bad I wasn't born with that."
I mumbled.

"You love him and he loves you, wait for him."

"Let's not make conclusions here."

"You sounded so happy when you were telling me about that night of wild sex."

"Stop," I grumbled hitting her. My phone started ringing.

"Who is it?"
Vina asked when she saw the look on my face.

"Tristan," I mumbled.

"Do you think Adrian told him?"

"He won't, he's better than that."
Vina defended him with a smile.

"I can't."
I dropped the phone on the couch, watching it ring.

Vina picked the phone and answered the call. I groaned and buried my face in my palms.

"Hey, Tristan."

"Where is Cassie?"

"How rude, you can't even say hello."

"Is Cassie okay?"

"She is sleeping, she is not feeling too well."

"I will send Morris to come over and take her to the hospital."

"It's just a headache, she is just lying here snoring. Don't worry about her."

"I don't snore."
I said in a low tone.

"I have never heard her snore, " I smiled when I heard him say that.

"You still owe me a 'hello'."

"Hello, Belvina."

"Better, Bye Tristan."
She smiled and ended the call.

"Cassie?" She laughed.

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"He's so sweet."
She said, throwing my phone at me.

"Did he sound angry?" I asked picking up my phone.

"No, " she said walking to the kitchen.

I closed my eyes and allowed the sleep to take me. I woke up later on the sofa, I looked around for Vina but didn't find her.

"Vina?"
I called standing up.

"Yeah, in the kitchen!"
I shuffled to the kitchen yawning.

"I heard you snore, I'm not lying."
She said as I took a seat at the Island, I grabbed two cookies from the jar in the middle and ate noisily.

"Tristan called, like multiple times."

"Did you answer it?"

"No."

"Good."
I said and took more cookies.

"Hungry?" she asked placing a bowl of salsa sauce in front of me. She brought out a bag of tortilla Paquin chips.

"Yes." I moaned, get yourself a Hispanic friend that pampered you like mine.

"What time is it?" I asked.

"Almost 7 pm."

"Do you think Tristan is still seeing the mother of his child? I wonder what happened between them. I didn't even know he was married before." I rambled.

"Give me your phone," Vina demanded. I pushed it toward her and she picked it up.

"What are you doing?"

"A google search on Tristan Sanchester," she replied tapping swiftly on my phone.

"It doesn't say anything about his previous relationships or daughter," she said looking at me.

"You think Adrian lied?" I asked.

"I don't know," she shrugged.

"No way," she gasped after looking at the phone again.

"What?" I asked standing up.

"Did you know today is your Novio's birthday?"

"No, no one said anything about it. "

"Well, it's today and you're 17hrs late."

"Are you sure is today? Adrian would have said something or his family," I said and she showed gave me the phone.

"It could be wrong, you know what they say; don't believe everything you see on the internet."

"Should I call him and ask?"

"No dumbass, surprise him. After going behind his back for information about his pasts, you owe him a great night. It might even ease the suspicion."

"So what kind of surprise should I give him? You know I'm a disaster in the kitchen," I asked and she smirked.

"Birthday sex hits different you know," she said with a sly smile. I laughed and shook my head at her suggestion.

"Okay, I will just go with the flow," I said taking the bag of chips and the salsa sauce.

"Call me tomorrow and give me all the details," she said as we walked to the front door.

"Pray, I don't mess this up," I said.

The ride back to the house was just me arguing with myself. I looked beside me at the red velvet cake I bought. I smiled at the bodyguards outside, they have been lingering around since someone broke into the house and hung those paintings in Tristan's room. I didn't see Morris when I entered the house, maybe he went to visit his family.

I went upstairs to check if Tristan was home. I opened the door and found the room empty. I went back downstairs and got a bottle of red wine and two champagne flutes. I got everything set and sat on the bed waiting. My heart skipped when I heard the front door open. Why was I nervous like I was about to give a speech in front of a large crowd?

I was scared I might not do it right or he might not like it. Maybe it was too cliché. What if he hates red velvet cake? What if he was allergic to the scent of the candles? All thoughts flew out of my head when the door to his room opened.

"Happy Birthday!!!"
I screamed as soon as I saw Tristan.

He looked surprised at first, it changed to anger when I started singing. Must be my voice, he won't be the first to hate it. I picked up the cake and continued singing as I walked to where he stood like a statue. Why wasn't he smiling?

"Stop."
He said with a tight jaw.

"Who told you? My mom?"

"No."

"Adrian?"

"No, I did some research."

"Go to bed, Chloe. It's late."
He said and walked away.

Chloe? Okay.

"Come on, it's your birthday."

"What about the cake? It cost me 60 dollars," I said with a frown. His eyebrows creased in anger.

"What a waste," I said and walked out of the room. I went downstairs and got a bottle of brandy from the wine cellar. I dawned one glass of the alcohol and poured more. Ciara once called me an alcoholic, maybe I was one.

I felt like I was dating a stranger. There was more to Tristan's story.

The doorbell echoed in the building, I was feeling too angry to face anyone. I took one more gulp and walked to the front door.

I opened the door without checking the door camera.

"Grey?"

"I know it's all a lie, I know you are not pregnant."
He said breathlessly like he ran a marathon to get here.