Amy

"What? What do you mean?" I asked sitting up.

Aaron switched on the light from his bedside table and sat up straight too.

"I mean someone deliberately wanted to cause harm", Aaron said.

"But, why? Who would want to do that?" I asked.

"Don't know for sure. Cops are trying to look", Aaron told me.

"Do you have any gut feeling about it?" I asked frowning.

"I have an inkling but, I don't want to put the blame on anyone until I know for sure", Aaron said looking at me. I was frowning and staring at the floor as I tried to think.

"Don't rack your head. I just told you because I know how much our parents mean to you and just thought you have a right to know as much as Dan and I", Aaron told me.

"They will be safe here and in Tennessee, right?" I asked him lying back down. I tossed and turned a little until I found a comfortable position. I am not very tall but, the couch is not long enough either.

"I have increased the security so they should be good. Really, this is not needed, you know. You can just sleep on the bed", Aaron told me.

"No, I am okay", I told him.

"Fine, sleep on the couch for tonight. You will get back to your senses by tomorrow morning and want to sleep on the bed", Aaron said switching the light off.

"I will not sleep on the bed", I said.

"You wanna bet on it? You will be sleeping on the bed tomorrow night", he said as he lied down too.

"It's a bet", I murmured as I succumbed to sleep.

Next morning...

"What's wrong with your neck, Amy?" mom asked me as I massaged it for the hundredth time since morning. Sleeping on the couch was not good for my neck. It is aching really bad as the muscles are all cramped up. But, it is not like I have a choice. I am definitely not sleeping on the bed and also, it is just few more nights. It won't be that bad.

"Nothing. I just have a small cramp that's all", I told her.

"Why don't you go and rest then? You can take a leave from office today", she said as we all sat down to eat breakfast.

"I don't need rest. It will be alright soon", I told her honestly.

"Okay, as you say, Josh, when are you going to Kingston House today?" mom asked dad.

"I'll go in the afternoon. I think the cleaning should be done by then", dad told mom.

Just then the bell rang.

"I can see that. It must be Peter", Aaron said getting up.

"Peter?" I asked surprised. Hadn't he forced Peter to go on a leave?

"Yes, I have some urgent work for him", Aaron looked at me and went to open the door.

He came back after a few minutes with Peter tailing behind him.

"Hey, Peter", mom said to him.

"Hey, everyone", he said hugging mom.

"I am taking my breakfast in the room. Peter and I have something to discuss in private", Aaron said as he picked up his plate and both of them disappeared to the bedroom.

When I was done eating, I told bye to everyone and left for office. Aaron was still inside discussing something with Peter.

My day at the office passed by pretty much uneventful. Aaron was working from home and things were pretty platonic for me. With him not being around, there was no work for me as a secretary and I was just simply completing my left over designing work. Even Luke had called in sick. I literally had the most boring day in four months since the marriage. To top all that, my mind was constantly going back to the conversation I had with Aaron last night. Why would someone want to harm mom and dad?

At about five o' clock, I decided to call it a day. I drove back home and reached at about six. I rang the bell and mom opened it.

"Ah! Welcome back, Amy. Perfect timing", mom said.

"Perfect timing?" I asked as I went in.

"Yes. Josh got these boxes containing some things from the house that were not burnt in the fire. We were about to open them and look at the items. Good you are here. Now I can have someone to share my stories with. These two are just useless", mom said pointing at dad making I laughed.

"Let the girl breathe, Diana. We can open the box after a while. She just came home", Dad said rolling his eyes.

"You are not tired, Amy, are you?" mom said and I just shook my head. Just looking at her so excited made me loose all the tiredness that I had.

"Perfect! I'll get something for you to eat though. You must be starved", mom said disappearing into the kitchen.

"Where's Aaron?" I asked no one specifically. He wasn't in the living room right now.

"He has gone into his study. He just got home and had some files to put in the cupboard", dad answered.

"Just got home?" I asked surprised. He was working from home today, wasn't he? He even made me cancel all his appointments today morning.

"Yeah, he got a call from his friend, Ashley in the afternoon. She needed some help. So, he went to help her", mom said as she handed over the plate to me.

"Ashley? Ashley Jones?" I asked raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, our old neighbor from back in Nashville. Have you met her?", mom asked gesturing dad to get up and at the same time Aaron opened the door to the study and walked out. I turned to look at him.

"Yes, I have met her a couple of times", I answered turning back to see that they were gone. Just the name of Ashley Jones left a sour taste in my mouth. Gone was my happy mood.

"You are home? How was your day?" Aaron asked sitting next to me.

Great! Now he wants to play the perfect husband.

"Good. Great actually, since my crazy ass boss wasn't around", I whispered to him making sure mom and dad didn't hear.

Aaron chuckled, "So, you missed him, huh?"

"No, not at all. We both had a fun afternoon away from each other. I enjoyed working while he was helping his friend. He was supposed to be home with his parents for which he had initially decided to take a leave. But, who am I to say anything", I shrugged looking at nothing in particular.

Aaron raised an eyebrow at me and was about to open his mouth but, mom and dad walked in with a box and we stopped talking. Aaron got up to help them get it to the couch area.

We all settled down and mom opened the box. She picked out random stuff and talked about them, throwing somethings away. Finally, she picked out a small box from inside and opened it.

"Oh! Oh my god! Josh, do you remember this?" mom asked smiling at dad holding a small ring. It looked like it was a cheap one and old as it had lost it's polish.

"Of course, I do, sweetheart. How can I forget this?" dad said kissing her.

I just stared at them with question.

"That is the ring that dad had bought for mom from his first paycheck when they were in college. He had proposed to her with it for the first time", Aaron told me.

"First time?" I asked with surprise.

"Yes, I had to propose to her twice", dad told me.

"Totally his fault", mom said placing the box aside.

"And whose fault is this?" dad said holding a broken heel.

"I don't remember what you are talking about", mom said avoiding our eyes and searching in the box.

"Of course, you don't remember it. Nobody ever wants to remember that day. Especially, Katherine", dad said rolling his eyes.

"What happened?" I asked curiously.

"When we were in college, there was this girl Katherine. She liked me too. So, even when I was already dating your mother, she was trying to hit on me. So, one day she cornered me in the halway and was trying to kiss me. Your mother saw us from across the hall and threw this heel at Katherine. That is not it. She had thrown it with such force that the heel broke when it hit Katherine's face and her jaw was fractured", dad said making my jaw fall. Aaron was chuckling beside me.

"Remind me to never be on your bad side. Ever", I told mom laughing.

"Don't blame me. I had warned her almost ten times before that. She had it coming", mom just shrugged it off.

"You were lucky that no one else was there. You could have been in jail for abuse or expelled for good. I had to go out on a date with her to stop her from going to the dean, woman!" dad told her raising his voice a little.

"Well, all's well that ends well", mom shrugged making me laugh harder.

"Oh my god! Look at this. Aaron!" mom said holding a cute little white onesie.

"Mom.." Aaon groaned blushing a little. I understood that it is his.

"That is so cute", I said stressing on so.

"It is Aaron's. He always looked so cute in it. I had saved it since then. I am so glad it didn't get destroyed. When you have kids, you can make him or her wear this. There should be one of Daniel's too", mom said and went back to gushing over it with dad.

Kids? Our kids? Aaron and I? Don't know if that can ever happen.

I looked at Aaron and he looked back at me. I was trying to guess his thoughts. What was he thinking? We had never talked about it. Does he even want kids? Maybe, he will have kids with his wife in future. The one he marries after we are divorced. He may say right now that he will not divorce me but, I will get him to do it someday. If not, he might eventually find his one true love and want to marry and have kids with her. Guess, it will be exactly the life mom wants for him, just without me and with someone else in it.

I looked away and somehow, my imagination created a picture on it's own. One where a certain blond, clingy woman with the most irritating voice had replaced me. I don't know why but, that made my blood boil. The thought of Ashley Jones replacing me made me want to throw that broken heel on Aaron's face and break his jaw.

"Aaron, do you remember this necklace?" mom asked pulling me back to reality.

"Isn't that the one for which you were always after Dad? Since like two years ago? When did you manage to make him buy it for you?" Aaron asked.

"He lost a bet", mom smirked at dad.

"Thanks to you, son", dad shook his head.

"Me? What did I do?" Aaron asked frowning.

"Remember the first time you got Amy home for our anniversary dinner? During that dinner, we had noticed how smitten you were with Amy the whole time. You could hardly keep your eyes off her. You were smiling and laughing like you never did before. That day we both knew that Amy is our future daughter-in-law", mom said smiling at us.

I was shocked. If our relation was a normal relation, I would have probably blushed thinking that it was cute and romantic. But, in this case, I didn't understand it at all. We were not even dating at that time. We had known each other for four months and were still just friends. Why would Aaron do that? Was he planning to fool his parents too? Or did he not want to drop his act even for a minute?

Then, I recalled the times in office when Aaron did the same. The time with my heels and that stupid secretary. Does Aaron really look at me so much?

Aaron shifted uncomfortably and said, "So?"

Dad laughed and continued, "So, son, after all of you left, your mother and I were discussing it. Your mother was adamant that you will propose to Amy within a year and half. But, I thought that it couldn't be that soon. I thought you will at least want to go out with Amy for two years before you even think about marriage. So, we made a bet. And you proposed to Amy exactly fourteen months later, making me lose the bet."

"You betted on us?" Aaron scoffed.

"Well, semantically speaking, we just betted on you but, yeah", mom shrugged.

"I can't believe it", Aaron laughed raising his hands in the air.

"Anyways, what's next in the box?" mom asked dad.

"Later. Look at the time. I think we should have dinner", dad said.

"I think it is too late to cook. Why don't I go pick up some pizza from the store nearby?" Aaron asked and everyone nodded. Aaron grabbed his keys from the table and left.

"I'll go freshen up", I told them and they nodded.

I went to my room and straight into the closet. I grabbed my night dress and walked towards the bathroom. I looked at the room. Something is different.

I just shook my head and turned to go. Just then I stopped dead in my track. I turned around and looked in horror as I realised what was different.

The couch is gone.

"What the fuck?!" I exclaimed and went out of the room.

I saw mom sitting on the sofa.

"What happened to the couch in that room?" I asked almost yelled.

"Oh yes, Aaron said he had spilled some juice on the couch today morning. So, he asked some people to take it away. Maybe he forgot to inform you about it", mom said and I nodded as I walked back to the room.

Spilled juice on the couch? How? Where will I sleep?

'You wanna bet?' I recalled him words from last night.

What the fuck? He took that stupid bet thing so seriously? Aaron! Now I know why he wanted to have his breakfast in the bedroom today.

I was in a mix of confusion, stress and anger. What the fuck is wrong with him? He got the couch removed for a stupid bet? I can't believe this man.

Aaron Kingston is dead meat.

I just took a few deep breaths to control my anger and went in the bathroom to take a shower.

By the time, I was done, Aaron and dad had returned. I wanted to go and confront him about it right away but, I kept my anger at the bay for now. We all sat down on the dining table to eat. I glared at Aaron when no one was looking. He just looked at me with a straight face.

Everyone else was talking and laughing as I had the dinner silently without uttering a word. I knew that it is disastrous for me to open my mouth right now. I was just so fucking angry.

After the dinner was done, everyone said good night to each other and left to their respective rooms.

As soon as Aaron shut the door, I yelled at him, "What the fucking hell is your damned problem?"

"What?" Aaron looked taken aback.

"What the hell did you do? Where the fuck is my couch?" I asked him.

He tilted his head slightly to look behind me and started to say, "Oh that. Actually, I-"

"You spilled juice on it. Do you expect me to believe that? I know you did it for that stupid bet you made last night. Was that bet so fucking necessary for you? I can't believe you can stoop this low, Aaron", I yelled at him with my blood boiling right now.

"Mel, -"

"Stop it. I do not want to hear any more lies from you. How do you suppose I will sleep tonight?" I asked him with rage in my eyes.

"You can sleep on the-"

"Bed. That's it, right? So that you can win your fucking bet. Let me tell you, Aaron. I will not sleep on that bed. You can save that bed for Jasmine, Ruby or Ashley", I told him.

"Ashley? Where did she come from?" Aaron asked me.

"Why? It hurts you even if I compare her to the other sluts you slept with?" I asked gritting my teeth.

"I can't believe that you are still jealous of Ashley. How many times do I have to tell you that I do not like her that way? She is just a friend", Aaron ran a hand through his hair and walked to his bed.

"I don't care about you or Ashley. Tell me, where do I sleep?" I asked him folding my hands.

"I told you. You can-"

"I will not sleep on that bed!"

"Sleep on the bloody floor then!" Aaron yelled frustrated.

Aaron started reading his book. I stood there weighing my options. The bed or the floor. The thought that Aaron cared about winning a stupid bet, that we made while we were half asleep, more than the fact that I would be uncomfortable was infuriating.

Forget it, Amy. He doesn't give a damn about you. It is hopeless to even think like that.

Finally, I made my decision. I took the blanket out of the closet and walked to the other side of the room.

"What are you doing?" Aaron asked looking up from his book as I opened the blanket and spread it on the floor.

"Like you said, I am sleeping on the floor", I shrugged.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?" Aaron yelled.

"No, I haven't. I will use this blanket like a makeshift bed", I shrugged pointing to the blanket on the floor.

"Are you insane? Do you realize how cold it is outside? You will get a bloody fever, woman", Aaron said getting up from the bed and walking near me.

"It is just two nights. Tonight and Tomorrow. Nothing will happen", I said as I lied down covering myself with the other blanket.

"Just stop this nonsense, okay", he said grabbing the blanket but, I grabbed it from the other end before he could take it away.

Mr. Aaron Kingston, if you can do anything to win a bet then so can I.

"Fine, do as you please", Aaron grunted throwing the blanket at me and stomped back to the bed.

"Switch off the lights when you are done", I told him closing my eyes.

I tossed and turned for sometime even after Aaron switched off the lights. But soon, sleep took over.

Aaron

This woman is mad. Totally mad.

I was tossing and turning on my bed since last one hour. I heard the clouds thunder for the fifth time in last ten minutes. It started raining about thirty minutes ago. I sat up straight and looked at her small figure sleeping on the floor. She was curled up into a ball, obviously feeling cold. I could tell from her light snoring that she was fast asleep.

Who the fuck sleeps on the floor in the middle of September in a city like New York? There was thunderstorm warning and the temperatures are going to drop further. Obviously, she would know if only she would have bothered to check the news. Why the hell is she so stubborn? We both could have slept on the bed without a problem. But, no. She had to just be difficult about it. I can't believe she has so much ego in her. She'd rather die on the floor then sleep next to me.

Maybe because you have just hurt her that bad. My conscience reminded me.

I lied down on my bed again. Do hell with her. She can sleep on the floor if she wants. Why should I care? I offered the bed. She didn't take it. Her wish. I should just go to sleep without thinking about her. I closed my eyes and opened them again after a second.

I can't believe she thinks I can stoop so low for a stupid bet. Does she not trust me at all? Additionally, she dragged Ashley in this. Ashley? I mean seriously, how many times do I have to say this? I do not like her. Never have, never will. In fact, I think Ashley likes Dan. For me, Ashley is just a good friend like she has her long lost friend.

First of all, why should I even explain myself to her every time? If she thinks that I like Ashley, she can think so. That was the plan, right? To harass her and to make her hate me. Then, why is it backfiring on me? Why do I hate it that with each passing day she is going farther and farther away from me? First, she stopped loving me, then she stopped trusting me, then she stopped considering me her friend, then she became indifferent towards me and now, she has started to think the worse of me. I should be glad that she hates me. It means that my plan is working. Then, why does it hurt me everytime she accuses me of something I didn't do? Why do I not like the constant reminder about Ruby or Jasmine? Why do I feel this desperate need to make her forget everything I did? I shouldn't be affected. I should be happy that I am this far in my revenge. Then, somewhere deep down, why do I not want her to think the worse of me? Why do I explain myself to her at every turn? Why am I attracted towards her? Why do I hate to see her cry? Why does my heart say that she is really this innocent and sweet?