“Bye, mommy. Bye Aunty Sophie.”“Bye baby,” I waved at Nolen for the third time and finally forced myself to stop adjusting his uniform and let him go join his friends.“Get in the car,” Sophie called out to me. “You will be late for work.”I waited until Nolen and his friends were in the custody of their teacher before joining her. She had left her car at home and chosen to be my chauffeur today since it was her day off. Also, Penelope had sent an email to prepare me for the tedious work of organizing and decorating awaiting me today so I knew that I may work late and leave with Penelope after work.To be honest, a bit of Sophie’s reckless driving is what I need to take my mind off my life’s complications right now. Nolan, Lurane, and Mom. If Mom was here I bet would take one long look at me and know something is bothering me. She always had that knack for knowing such things. The last thing I want is an interrogation from her.25 minutes later Sophie drifted into the parking lot of t
“Dude you are even more romantic than the rest of us. Lurane is not going to expect this.”I nodded to Paul’s words, my best friend and part business associate. He has a business of his own that he built from the ground up, so he’s not what you’ll call a born elite. But to be fair I envy his ease and lack of ‘inheritance’ burden. I wonder who he would have been married off to if he was among the elites. Luckily, he has been spared that unpleasantness by fate. We met in business school. Paul had an uncle who thought he was too smart for regular college and had used all the resources at his disposal to send him to one of the best schools.We attended a debate on Capitalism and Communism, had different views, and became close friends ever since. Even though he is treated as an outcast among the heirs and heiresses of old money, he doesn’t care and he attends whatever events he wants to without being encumbered with scheming mothers and fathers trying to leech off him in the name of marria
“I am proud of you, son,” Douglas was saying. He swallowed his fourth glass of champagne. “Lurane will be the happiest woman tonight.” He patted my shoulder.We were alone now after he successfully introduced me to a dozen of his business partners. One of them was Noel Greer who I am pretty sure Douglas is not fond of. The tension between them, while he introduced him, was high. Noel Greer is the rival of every elite businessman. He went head to head with the highest bidders and trumped them more often than not. Luckily, our paths have never crossed. He had the classic, handsome sharp Grecian features. He left almost as soon as the introductions were over.“Thank you,” I said. The wine in my hand bubbled. I have barely taken anything since I arrived, the thought of downing another wine was nauseating. Lurane was pissed enough time have smelled the alcohol on my breath, she will probably lose her mind if I lose any more of my senses to wine.“You have made the right choice, son.” Dougla
“What a pretentious bitch.” Penelope swallowed her fourth glass of champagne. Yes, she’s drunk and I am tipsy. Since I have such a great history with being drunk I decided to slow down and drank my third glass slowly.I gave her a critical look.Ever since she bumped into some dude who called her ‘Penny Luv” she has been testing her alcohol limit. However, strangely there was a very distinct red color in her cheek after her encounter with this person and if I know Penelope as much as I do, which I in fact do, she doesn’t blush for anyone. So who is this mysterious man with enough power to make the great Penelope blush?!Judging from his expensive outfit and natural titanium and diamond cufflinks, he must be an old flame or something.“I couldn’t agree more,” I said.Suddenly she clutched my hand and cursed. “Shit, don’t look now but she’s coming.”“Coming?” I couldn’t help but look in the direction she was discreetly pointing at. My heart fell. There was Lurane, tall and beautiful as e
“Wow that’s great,” I said for the 10th time, hoping Jack whatever his name is would take the cue and leave but he continued to talk. My ears rang but I kept my face still. Jack…whatever his last name is is a friend of Douglas which translates to a friend of mine. But every once in a while I looked over his shorter frame searching the crowd for Lurane. She appeared among a throng of rich heiresses wearing a smug smile that put me on edge. She pushed Jack aside and slipped her hands around my waist, leaning in for a kiss.“Oh, Lurane Grant,” Jack stuttered. “Congratulations,” he greeted.Lurane cast him a dazzling smile. “Thank you, Jack. Were you talking with Nolan? I would like to take him away now. I haven’t danced with my fiancé all night.”From the corner of my eyes, I saw Jack excuse himself. A slow music came on and I put my hands around her slim waist while hers did a slow climb to my shoulders and neck. She smiled coyly.“I feel so happy right now Nolan. I can’t wait to become
“This is wrong. This is a mis…we need to stop.” She dropped her leg and pushed firmly. When I finally budged her hands flew to her hair to arrange the loose strands. “Thanks for checking on me but can…can we pretend this never happened? Not because I didn’t…because you are engaged,” she said hurriedly.Fuck. That again!The thought of Lurane was enough to soften my cock. That she could even think of that at a time like this was incredible. For a moment nothing mattered but she in my arms here in this beautifully lit garden. And she just had to spoil this moment by remembering Lurane. Once again she would have called this a mistake but this time there was no lie about it, she enjoyed it, she sighed my name and rocked my fingers.“No,” I replied.She looked up at me, her soft brown eyes pleading. “What?”“I can’t forget this never happened and neither can you.” She opened her mouth to speak. “Neither can you Chantelle, not with the way you responded to my touch this time. It’s a far cry
BzzzzzzDazed, confused, and sleepy as heck I patted my bedside table looking for my phone. Found it about to fall off the edge and brought it close enough to my face so I could see what the commotion was all about. It was a call…from Penelope. Well, looks like the blue moon rises on this side of the city on a Monday morning. What does she want?The phone vibrated nonstop in my hand until I tapped on the green icon.“Where the hell are you, Chantelle Jones?!” She yelled, her tone hard and frosty.“Uhm…at my house in my bed, why?”“Why?!” She laughed mirthlessly. “The nerve of you. Get your ass down here right now, I need to know my schedule for the day and we have a meeting with…”What is she doing? I asked myself as I stared at the screen. Slightly irritated at the sound of her voice especially since I was rudely awakened by her call I interrupted. “You fired me, Penelope.”She paused in her rants. Did she forget? “I did? Oh, serves you right. Good luck finding a better job out there,
Great. Just fucking perfect, I thought to myself as I dug through the mess of brown and white folders.If I had fought Sophie hard enough and worn something sensible I wouldn’t be struggling this hard. But now thanks to looking classy here I am drenched in sweat looking for file records in alphabetical order with my blouse clung to my skin. So far I have been able to arrange a shelf and it was looking good, that small accomplishment alone cleared some space in the room. With all the papers, folders, and boxes gone from the ground, this room might just have enough space to serve as an office. Still on my knees deep in the mess, I dug through for yet another name. I have gotten the A’s B’s and C’s arranged so far with any luck I should be done by midnight. Sarcasm.And Nolan!Wow, the man has barely made a move to see how far I have gone in putting this room to order. I originally expected him to come around every 5 seconds to check that I hadn’t flown out of the window to tell Lurane ab
Epilogue.“3…2…1!”The rope was cut and the doors of Cocoland were thrown open. Cheers erupted from the guests gathered in front of the building.Sophie, Penny, Paul, Fiona and everyone else who was a friend was clapped and cheered. Nolen was running wildly between everyone’s legs and was the first to enter the building.Yolanda clapped and hugged me cheering.“We did it!” She shrieked and kissed my cheek.Mom was next. She nearly lifted me off the floor as she hugged me close to her enormous breasts. “I am so proud of you, baby!” She searched for Yolanda and hugged her close too. “And you too. Look at you. My girls have wrong into women,” she cried. “I am so proud of you. I know your dad is too.”I felt Yolanda’s eyes on me and I realized she was watching to see if I would break down again but I didn’t. Instead, I responded to Mom’s comment with a smile.“Yes, he is.”We made our way into the building and I almost swooned. I still can’t believe that this – this belongs to me.Cocolan
Coco’s POVBy the time we got to Nolan’s house Paul and Penny were throwing a little celebration for Nolen’s homecoming. I met Penny at the door and she was all smiles and tears when she hugged me.“Oh my God, Coco, I was so distraught to hear about what happened. I’m so glad you got your son back.”I basked in her hug but not for too long. Enough with my self-pity, time for a new change and I gladly accepted that change by detaching myself from Penny with a smile. Sophie was right behind me and as soon as I stepped back from Penny, Sophie invited herself in, doing anything to avoid the dragon lady.“Thank you.”She understood my haste and pointed toward the kitchen where Paul was coming out with a bottle of wine to share with her.He lit up when he saw me and hugged me briefly. “Nolan is in the kitchen. He hasn’t let Nolen out of his sight since.”I sure as well won’t be letting my son out of my sight ever again, either. My heart was racing in my chest as I left Paul and went into th
Coco’s POVSophie and I were barreling through the streets in her car heading toward Nolen’s school. We had taken 2 wrong exits twice in our haste but eventually, we found our way.Sophie was driving and she looked over at me to make sure I was alright. I smiled at her to assure her that I had my emotions under control. A look in the mirror told me that I may have my emotions under control but my physical appearance was anything but that. I looked like something a mouse dragged out of a hole. How possible is it to lose so much weight in only approximately 48 hours?I had forgotten to eat throughout those hours, only wine and some water from Sophie’s kitchen kept me alive. Sophie had forced a hot dog and a bottle of water into my hands, encouraging me to eat it since, in her own words I ‘won’t want to scare Nolen looking like the grim reaper.’ I was finally able to eat a few bites even though I could barely taste a thing.We were nearly there when my phone began to ring. And when I pul
I was packed just a few blocks down her house and Bob was strapping a button microphone on his shirt.Paul still had that doubtful look on his face and I bet if I wasn’t right there in the car he would have thrown himself at Bob and beaten him within an inch of his life. That’s just the kind of friend he is. My enemies are his and he will always have my back.“Are you sure about this?” He whispered.“I just have to,” I whispered back.Bob cleared his throat from the backseat and I looked up at him through the rearview mirror. He didn’t look too pleased but then again Bob is never pleased. He handed a small device to me and pointed to a button. “Once the red light begins to flash press that button and it will begin to record.” His stare turned direct. “I don’t care whether or not you trust me, Pierce and you know that. But for your sake and that of your son, I hope this plan works.”“I hope so too just…just play your part.”He nodded and with one last look at Paul he opened the door an
Coco’s POVI sat down with Sophie for a long time and honestly, I wanted to remain silent while crying my eyes out and looking very ugly. Sophie, ever supportive, remained by my wait and waited for me to gather myself together.I don’t know how long we stayed the way we were but at some point, my eyes were too dry to cry anymore and I snatched a tissue from the box in front of me and blew my nose. When I snuck a glance up at Sophie her face was drawn with concern.I threw the tissue aside, hugged myself, and moved back so that I was resting my shoulders against the couch.“I should have a master class in foolishness,” I said in a croaked voice.Sophie was brutal with her response. “Self-pity. Is that really your defense against your foolishness?”I looked up at her shocked at the hardness in her voice. She still looked concerned for me but there was a brutal honesty etched in her face, one that I am sure that she has held back from me until this day.“You let this man into your home k
Nolan’s POV. I glared at her with all the hatred I could muster. Behind this angelic face was a monster. “Nolan, come on, we are past this aren’t we?” I glared at her through blurred eyes. “Come on, Nolan,” Lurane said bending one hip so that she could rest one hand on it. “You don’t have to treat me like an enemy. We used to be…” “Whatever we were ended long ago. I want you to leave!” “You look like hell, Nolan,” she said nonchalantly even though I just made it clear that I didn’t want her around me. “You used to look a lot better when you were with me. Don’t you want to go back to the way we were?” I narrowed my eyes at her remaining at the door to block her entry into my house. “Lurane, you claim you have nothing to do with my son yet here you are just a day after, desperately trying to throw yourself at me.” “A woman has got to be resourceful. Life goes on, Nolan, with or without your son.” I fought the urge to reach out and grab her throat and she saw my struggle. She lo
Coco’s POV“What the hell are you doing here?!”Jason held up his hand. “I am not here to fight, Chantelle. Good morning.”“Keep your greeting some place hairy where the sun don't shine!”Jason’s eyes shone with humor. “I don’t know, you might want to take a look.”Groaning, I reached for the door, stepped back, and started to swing it shut when he held it open and held his other hand up. I pushed but he was much stronger and his eyes turned pleading.“Please, l-let me start over. This wasn’t how I wanted this to happen. Look, I know you don’t trust me and you would rather see me in hell –““Good, now fuck off!”“Chantelle!” his voice was forceful, then his voice dropped and he added softly, “You look like hell.”Against my better judgment, my shoulders slumped and my guards dropped as tears pooled in my eyes again. Jason saw this and walked in slowly, his hand reaching out from me. When I shied away from him, his hand dropped to the side and he sighed.“I heard about what happened. I
Nolan’s POVI sat in the bar nursing a glass of scotch, one of several that I had tossed down my throat in the darkness of the private lounge. I had a bottle in front of me and it was almost empty.At this time I was no longer just pleasantly tipsy, I was teetering off the edge of being very drunk to my eyeballs.Being in the private lounge gave me privacy but bits of music and noise seeped in from the main area. At least it was still quiet enough to leave me to my thoughts. And thoughts were back to those of a lanky teenager trying hard to accept that I was no longer a weird kid but the heir to an empire. That was not an easy pill to swallow but I still had to deal with the stigma of being the son of a murderer.But I am more than that and I continued to repeat it to myself. That’s probably why I have too much scotch to bury those memories deep enough so that they will never hunt me again.I know Chantelle is hurt but so am I and it’s unfair to…I struggled to suppress another sob. T
“That doesn’t sound like the Nolan I know, baby. He is a good man and always has been. He loves you…”“But this is going to affect him negatively,” I cried. “His public image is ruined because of me and…”“You don’t Nolan well if you think he cares about that kind of stuff over his family,” Mom argued heatedly and desperately wanted to believe her but right now it felt as though the whole world was crashing on my head and there was nothing I could do about it.Mom didn’t stop there, she continued to defend Nolan’s honor. “Nolen is his child too, remember? We are women and we are emotional and Nolan would be the same too if he were in your shoes, which he is. You have to call him, Coco, this is a hurdle you both need to cross together.”I sniffed. “Okay, mom.”And right as I was about to hang up the doorbell rang and my heart beat sped. I walked quietly to the door and opened it and Nolan immediately swept in and pulled me into a hug.I collapsed in his embrace, clinging tightly to him