Blake never told me why he left his father's house with boiling anger that afternoon on Christmas day, but I knew it wasn't the right time to pester him with questions. Keeping my mouth shut, we drove back to my apartment but he didn't want to go in.

"I want to be alone at the moment," he said. "I'm going to drive around a bit but I'll be back for dinner."

I forced a smile and replied, "Okay. Blake, are you alright?"

He frowned, seeming to think through the answer he was going to give me. "No, not really. But I will, I promise. I just need to clear my head and I don't want to be around your parents in this mood."

"I know." I nodded, fixing my eyes on him, searching for any signs that might help me understand what the hell was going on. His clenched jaw matched the fury glint in his eyes, and for some reason, Blake felt so far away. He was in a place I couldn't reach out and it made me feel unsettled. I shook my head to rid of the negative thoughts. I shouldn't have made it all about me. "I will find a believable excuse for your absence."

"Thank you," he said, tentatively leaning in and kissing me gently.

I held his face when we kissed, trying hard to feel him but he was all guarded. "Drive safe." With that, I picked up my bag from the car floor and opened the driver's door.

The rest of the afternoon went in slow motion. Mom and Dad were bantering over what gender was Uncle Dylan's baby, while I compulsively checked my phone in case Blake replied to my texts, but I got nothing from him. I'd never seen him this angry before and I had no idea how to deal with it. I knew he liked to have his space when he needed to cool down, but there was some nagging feeling inside me because I didn't like to be shut out like this.

"Angela's belly is high and wide. I'm sure it's a baby girl," Mom said, clapping her hands happily. She had a bit too much white wine it seemed.

"That's her posture. If she was taller, you would see that the baby was sitting on the lower side of her belly."

"What kind of sense is that?" Mom cackled as she threw her head backward.

"There have been mostly boys in my family. And Dylan's wife has four siblings, and they are all boys," said Dad. "We are having another boy." It was funny the way my dad said we, as if he was still married to Mom, as if Mom was still a part of Adrian's family.

"I feel so excluded," I interjected. "I'm the only girl in our family, aren't I?"

"That's because of my genes. Strong genes." Mom grinned smugly before gulping the rest of her wine and waving her hands over her head. "Women rule!"

Dad and I exchanged glances, sending unspoken messages. He stood up and gently took the wine glass from my mom's grip, ignoring her complaint.

"Enough wine for now. Let's stay with lemonade until dinner time."

"But this is Christmas. The first Christmas in our daughter's apartment. So much to celebrate!"

"We can celebrate with something else."

My mom leaned deeper on my couch, her cheeks turning pinkish. "Like what?"

"Let's take a walk," Dad suggested. "I want to know what the city looks like on Christmas day. Everyone is with their family, and we are with our family." Dad smiled, his eyes twinkling. "Let's go. Chop chop. This is going to be an unforgettable Christmas for me, with one drunk woman and a moping daughter."

"I'm not moping." Well, that was a straight lie.

After weighing all the possible reasons why I got back so fast without Blake early that afternoon, I decided to tell them the truth, partly. I made it as if Blake had to stay back to deal with his unexpected family situation, and I chose to go home because I didn't think it was my place to be there given it was my first time meeting them. But Blake not responding to my text was killing me. Maybe Dad was right. Maybe taking a walk with my parents would make me feel better.

Blake came back a little before dinner time, looking less distraught and behaving quite normally. He kissed me long and hard once I opened the door for him, but from the look in his eyes, I knew he still didn't want to talk about it.

"I texted you a few times," I murmured on his lips.

"I'm sorry, I didn't check my phone."

"Please don't do that again. I was worried sick." I sigh while assessing his face. "Feeling better?"

"Yes." He kissed me again before walking to the dining table to join Dad and my now-sober mom.

The holiday season was over and real life began to sting us like a bitch. After three months of in-depth preparation, I was finally ready to be thrown into the assigned division. I would need to observe, learn, take some notes for something that needed improvement, and once the six months had passed, I needed to give a presentation to the executive team. From there, they would decide if I went ahead to the next division, or got sacked.

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to months, and before I knew it, spring had almost come to an end. My life was nothing else but work. I got lonely sometimes when I got home or on weekends, but I slowly got accustomed to the situation. When Blake didn't come to see me, I spent my weekend being useless on my couch with the remote control in my hand. Some days Bim texted me and asked if I wanted to join him and the boys at the arcade, or just chill driving around in the skirt of the city.

Blake still didn't tell me about what happened, or about what his dad said to him that day. He might be straightforward if something bothered him, but this time was different. His problem wasn't with me, and it felt like he wanted to process it alone for some time. What did it leave me? A panic state, of course.

"Do you want to talk about it now?" I asked him for the hundredth time when our conversation mentioned our unforgettable Christmas. "I mean about what happened at your dad's house?"

His playful smile disappeared but unlike the first few weeks after Christmas, he didn't look tense immediately. "What to talk about? I told you my dad wanted me to give up my business, go home, and take over the family business. And I said no."

I stared at him on my computer screen, admiring his handsome face, his strong jaw which now had a slight stubble on them, his straight nose, and his deep dark eyes. I wish he wasn't miles apart. "Okay. So, have you talked to them again ever since?"

"Nope."

"Why not?"

"Don't see the need for it."

"Blake, they're your family."

"Yeah, and?"

"Now matter how ugly the situation is, don't you think you should try to talk it out? Or try to see their point of view maybe?"

"You don't know them, Jennifer. If you did, you wouldn't want to have anything to do with them."

"I get that, but they're not my family, they're your-"

"Drop it."

And that was what it took to silence me, but the frustration in me grew even stronger every time he stopped me from digging further into his issues with his dad. It was not my problem to solve because I knew that he had been having this situation with his dad way before we met. Still, I would love to be at least updated, especially when it affected his mood for some time.

It triggered the old feelings when my parents hid their marriage problem from me two years back. I felt shut out and helpless. Plus, the gap between us didn't help.

We talked a little before bed but sometimes we were both already too tired, or one of us wasn't home. On weekends, we could talk for hours but having him around, touching him, cuddling with him, and feeling him was something that could not be replaced with any amount of video calls. The screen felt more like a barrier to our relationship more and more.

"Are we okay?" That was the question I shot when we were on the phone on Saturday morning.

"Why would you think that we're not okay?"

I sighed and rolled on my bed. "I don't know. I just feel alone, I guess."

"I'm sorry I can't make it this week. But the one for the next two weeks is confirmed."

"Yeah, that sucks. Maybe I should fly home and see you there."

"That's such a waste of money, don't you think?"

"Yeah." I sighed again, thinking about just hopping on the plane and calling in sick on Monday. "I think it's my stupid period thing. Too emotional for my liking."

"Ah," he said. "Then you will be nice and fertile when we meet. Yummy."

I laughed at his remarks. "Well, you're not going to talk about plowing my womb until we are settled with our careers. But first, get your ass over here."

"Yes, ma'am."

"How is the expansion plan going by the way? You haven't talked about it for a while?"

"It's...going," he said. "We hit more problems than we had anticipated. And money is getting tight because of that."

"Oh no."

"Daphne is working on it. I think we can tweak the plans a bit to avoid asking for loans."

My heart leaped when he mentioned his ex who was now working with him. Even though he assured me that they were over, and I trusted him when he said that, I didn't trust that woman. He hung up on Blake for years after they broke up and this was supposed to be her best moment to steal him from me. Blake needed to speed up the expansion plan.

"I hope the plans work."

"Me too, Jennifer."

In all honesty, I trusted him but deep down, something was nagging me, telling me that the universe couldn't be that kind to us. Blake was always ambitious and confident about his plans, but he wasn't an invincible man either. Given how often his plans to meet clients in the city were postponed or canceled, it made the distance feel wider, mostly because I was afraid we wouldn't be able to make it.