Chapter 31: Chapter 31

"She did what?" asked Sophie, appearing so surprised.

"Came to my house uninvited," Helena repeated the information she had just conveyed.

As usual, Helena and Sophie's long-distance friendship was in contact with each other via video calls at least once a week. Whenever. It depended on the free time each of them had. And since Helena was a freelancer, her free time was unlimited. Plus, Sophie, who was taking her leave to prepare for the birth of Blue, their first daughter, the time they spent together became more frequent. Practically, on weekdays when Helena was alone at home, just like Sophie, they would take the time to talk, whether it was by telephone or face-to-face using video calls.

"How dare she!" cried Sophie, feeling annoyed. Just hearing her best friend's story already made her angry. How about she experiencing it firsthand? She could only hope that such an incident did not happen in her marriage life. "Then how did you react?" she asked enthusiastically.

"I just said that Aaron and I had an appointment and have to leave immediately. Oh, I also said that she didn't have to come to the house if no one told her to come." Helena summarized her own words to an unexpected guest the day before.

"Good," said Sophie curtly. "Women like her really need to be treated like that," she added.

"Of course. I don't want my time alone with Aaron to be disturbed by her." Helena agreed with her friend's words.

"What about your husband's reaction? Have you told him about her motives?"

Helena nodded her head. "He has known for a long time. It turns out that all this time, she has shown her intentions so clearly that Aaron realized that," she answered. Then she wondered how often Beatrice took the chance as Aaron's secretary. And since when?

"Then, what was his answer?" Sophie was getting impatient. The fact that Helena's husband had learned of his secretary's special feelings for him was definitely new.

"He said that he never responded to her. He even said that he wasn't interested in having a relationship more than work matter with her."

"And Beatrice still didn't stop?" replied Sophie quickly.

Helena nodded. "If that woman had stopped, there would be no drama like this," she grumbled.

"You're right."

"To what extent do you think Beatrice dares to act?"

Sophie shook her head. "I don't know. But, seeing that woman's courage, I'm afraid this is just the beginning." She expressed her opinion. Her eyes turned serious when she looked at Helena. "You have to be careful," she warned her best friend not to be playful in responding to Beatrice's behavior.

"Definitely," replied Helena firmly. Without even being reminded, she would definitely take her steps carefully. Their marriage was at stake. She didn't want her sacred bond with Aaron, who had only been a few months, to be broken, whatever the reason.

A wide smile spread across Sophie's lips when she saw the optimism in Helena's voice. Unlike the last time they discussed Beatrice's behavior, her best friend no longer looked confused and upset. She already said that Helena only needed a little time to digest everything and make up her mind, right? Look how ready Helena was to face the battle against Beatrice. "By the way, you didn't go to your husband's office? Usually, you guys have lunch together, don't you?" she asked, changing the subject.

The usual what Sophie meant was only a few times. Since getting married, Helena had only visited Aaron's office twice. And worst of all, she had to face his secretary on all her visits. Meanwhile, before marriage, Helena never saw Aaron on his working days. At that time, she was afraid that her presence would disturb him. But now, she was sure that he would like it.

"He's busy. He pushed back his lunch hour because he had a meeting with a prospective client, whose meeting documents were brought by Beatrice to the house yesterday." Helena's answer actually returned their conversation to Aaron's secretary.

Sophie laughed awkwardly. She did not expect her efforts to find a new object of discussion in vain. Beatrice and Beatrice again. However, it was fortunate that Helena did not visit his office. Her friends did not need to meet face to face with Beatrice. It meant that Helena's mood was keeping good because there was no need to curse the intruder's behavior inwardly. Ah, the title seemed to be worthy of being pinned on Beatrice. What else was she called, other than an intruder who broke into other people's lives that were initially fine?

"But earlier, I had prepared a sandwich and fruit to fill as a snack." Apparently, Helena's sentence was still continuing.

Sophie nodded, agreeing with what Helena did. She also did it quite often. She meant to make lunch. For her and her husband, of course. "Then, what are your plans for today?" She asked as she noticed Helena and the casual clothes the woman was still wearing in supposedly past noon. For that reason, she also asked about lunch.

Helena tilted her head slightly, trying to remember if she had an appointment she had to fulfill. Again, just like last night or this morning, she was sure that she had promised no one today. "Nothing. I think I can relax all day."

"Have you had lunch?"

Helena's brows knitted together. "Why asking that?"

Sophie sneered. "It's lunchtime over there, isn't it? Skipping meals isn't good," she advised.

Helena smiled jokingly. It had been a long time since they had discussed such a trivial but essential matter. Well, the absence of face-to-face meetings might cause their interactions to change. They only shared important events in their lives. "I have, Mrs. Garrett. I was trying a new recipe I planned to post on my blog. So that was automatically my lunch menu. How about you?"

The time difference between Helena and Sophie also affected their meal hours. If it was time for lunch in Jakarta, then now in Switzerland, it hadn't been an hour since Sophie finished her breakfast, and it hadn't been long since she sent her husband off to work. "Surely, Mrs. Houston. Nick cooked for our breakfast. You know it's hard for me to move around with my big belly," she chuckled at the end of her sentence.

Helena giggled, too. She was glad that her best friend was taking care of her health. Oh, of course. There were two lives that Sophie must protect, herself and the baby in her womb. And she remembered something. "How are your preparation for Blue's birth?"

Sophie seemed to think for a moment, then replied, "We have prepared a large suitcase containing the necessities for the delivery. So, if we need it at any time, we can take it immediately."

Helena nodded in understanding. Indeed, from what she heard, in the third trimester of pregnancy, prospective parents should start preparing the items needed for the delivery process. The goal was to avoid panic when the D-day approached or when the D-day suddenly arrived.

"Luckily, Blue will be born at the end of summer. So it's not too much of a hassle to prepare a lot of things to bring later." Sophie said again.

Helena agreed. Living in a four seasons country, Sophie had to manage her activities according to the weather and the seasons. Unlike Indonesia, where there was no significant difference throughout the year, the temperature changes every season were sometimes too extreme, especially for people from tropical countries, like her.

"That means it's likely that I'll visit you around winter." Instantly, the thought crossed Helena's mind. No way she flew straight to Switzerland as soon as she got the news of Blue's birth. Sophie and Nick needed time to adapt to the presence of their baby. So, visiting two or three months later was the right decision.

Sophie laughed loud. "Just in case, you can spend the end of the year here," she suggested. "You guys will come together, won't you?" she asked for sure.

Helena shrugged, not knowing the answer. "I don't know. I haven't told Aaron yet. But does he want to go on vacation that long?"

"Just persuade him. If necessary, seduce him. Both of you haven't gone for a honeymoon yet, have you? Take this opportunity. Say you will wear lingerie every night while you are here. Surely, he will agree," said Sophie excitedly.

Helena almost choked on her own spit. She was between annoyed and embarrassed when Sophie explicitly talked about lingerie. The memory of her last incident in that transparent dress still left a tremendous shame in her. "No kidding!" she shouted.

"Well, instead of you secretly trying it, then you get caught red-handed?" Sophie chuckled, remembering Helena's story when she tried a gift from her. Honestly, she applauded Aaron for restraining himself, though the situation was favorable for their first night. "It's better you just show it off in front of Aaron. I'm sure he won't be able to turn away from you anymore," she said in a slightly contrived tone. Then, she raised her eyebrows and looked at Helena defiantly.

And all Helena could do was let out a forced laugh from her lips.