Original Love

Episode 1

    Pull yourself together. 

    Daisy could feel all her nerves betraying her thoughts as she felt the tingling all the way from her head down to her soles when Elliot's face moved over hers once more and she could feel the slight brush of his lips against her cheek. Stop. She forced herself to never get affected. She had to remain indifferent. It had already been three months, she should learn by now how to control herself around him. But even when he could clearly feel her tensing nervously under his touch, he still did not stop and went on to leave a hot burning trail of his soft breath as he grazed the tip of his nose against hers, moving further down to her neck. 

    This is bad. And Daisy almost sighed from the way he did it again, subconsciously tilting her neck backward to give him better access, the very same subconscious reaction she would always do in the past every time he did that to her. And as soon as she realized what just happened, she immediately regretted how the old habit returned once again. This has to stop. And Daisy immediately came to her senses, cursing herself for being too weak.

    But for Elliot, when he felt her slightly softening under his touch, it was already enough for him to take an initiative and pull her much closer to his warmth as he tucked his head between the nook of her neck and her shoulder and rested there.

    Pull yourself together.

    Daisy chanted those words inside her head, trying to force herself to move away. But her body seemed to have its own mind, moving on its own as it melted instantly when she heard Elliot muttering her name out loud again. Somehow, the way he had said it with such fervent need in his voice hit her deep. This was risky and she tried so hard not to be swayed despite the heavily intoxicating feeling that all of his touches gave her.

    Daisy closed her eyes. Tight. It was really impossible. This was why she had decided to disappear in the first place. She had been trying so hard to forget about him and move on in the past few months. And just when she thought she already erased every inch of want for him, he suddenly shows like this and immediately tears down the huge wall of defense she had built around herself against him. 

    It was totally impossible. She still could not resist Elliot no matter how much she had forced herself not to love him again. It was getting harder to stay numb the longer this hug went on and she hated herself for being too feeble and powerless. Pull yourself together. 

    Daisy now screamed that inside her head. She felt Elliot's hand moved on her back, his fingers grazing through the fabric of her sweater, and she could feel it going up to her shoulders. She was slowly turning soft but she had to control herself. It was about time she had to take over her emotions and be more defiant. Don't surrender.

    "Come back to me, Daisy."

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    "Lio..." It took every inch of her remaining strength to finally utter his name as she pleaded, "Please."

    But despite voicing that out loud, Daisy was not really sure what she was asking for him to do. She was now completely lost as she tried to figure out how to withstand this dilemma. Just a little more... Just a little bit more and she might really forget the reason why she had left him. Get a grip of yourself, Daisy. Damn it.

    But all that effort of talking herself out of it completely went in vain the instant Elliot shifted his head and faced her, dropping the briefest touch of his lips over hers. She felt him trembling against her touch and that's when she realized he was never going to let go anymore.

    "Daisy..?"

    Elliot froze. His arms loosened around Daisy at the sound of another voice cutting the moment short between the two of them. His off-guard reaction gave her the chance to pull away from him. That was not a voice he could recognize and it quickly made his entire demeanor go cold, realizing that it was of a man's. Daisy let out a quick sigh of relief at the sound of her boss's voice, calling for her. As soon as it cut the moment short between her and Elliot, Daisy immediately took the chance to pull away from the embrace, rushing to the side of her boss. Elliot momentarily froze from where he was.

    He looked quite taken aback by the appearance of another man who seemed to be acquainted with his wife. 

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    "So... is he the daddy?"

    Denver intentionally dropped the million-dollar question to Daisy, ignoring the glare she sent his way after hearing him, as he tried to understand the situation. When he caught them locked in a really tight embrace, Denver immediately assumed that he was Daisy's ex-lover and they were finally getting back together. But he was wrong, at least on one of his assumptions. 

    The guy who had introduced himself as Elliot Morrison was definitely the ex-lover... but the hug was not a sign of their reconciliation yet... Unfortunately. And when Denver inconveniently cut the moment short between the two of them, he felt guilty inside. He saw the way Elliot regarded him with skeptical eyes, almost as if trying to see through his skin, sizing him up with a threatening stance. Denver almost wanted to laugh and tell Elliot outright that he was not playing on that field.

    As he observed the flash of emotions in Daisy's eyes after asking her that question, he could immediately tell the answer that was obviously written on her face and he did not need any verbal confirmation. She was really trying to avoid this kind of confrontation but she knew she had to tell that guy just to be fair as well. After all, the man had made immeasurable efforts just to search for her for god-knows how long it took him. Denver really felt sorry for that guy.

    "Are you going to tell him?"

    Even though he had already chosen to side with Daisy since she's a friend of his, Denver still could not ignore the fact that the father of her child deserves the truth from her. And nothing but the truth. But something else was still keeping Daisy from telling the guy about their baby.

    When he first caught them locked together in a tight embrace, Denver quickly suspected that there was something more between them than just being each other's past lovers. There was no way that hug had meant nothing after seeing the way the guy had gazed at his friend.

    That alone was already solid proof without Denver confirming it anymore and he was definitely curious to hear that coming from Daisy. But instead of seriously giving him an answer, Daisy just sniffed back, shooting daggers at him, and refused to admit the truth. But it was already written all over her face. Elliot is the father of her baby.

    It was not even more than two months ago when she revealed to him that she was pregnant. Denver had been really surprised and skeptical about letting her work for him at the store. But when she told him about her situation and how she was desperate to accept any job that she can have to save up for her baby, he and took her as his employee. That was how they got close and became friends. 

    Denver eventually realized the gravity of this entire situation, a sad smile appeared on his face. He had already suspected this as soon as he witnessed the way the guy embraced her like there was no tomorrow. He still loves her, but she seemed not to want that anymore. How sad.