There was a cloud of seriousness that seeped into the atmosphere of the boardroom. With his legs crossed unto each other and a fist that held firm his chin, Oscar darted his eyes around until they fell on Aaron’s. For the sake of their father’s company was the only ever interaction that they had and Henry, being the financial manager stood before them.“Over the last few months, we’ve progressed to about a forty percent increase in profit in both our products and stocks. Ten of our affiliate companies have proved to be a very successful investment” He narrated with a whole powerpoint slideshow on the projector in front of the room.There were a score of people in the cold, dark room. Many of whom had been set by Ronald to run the company in his absence. But the only eyes Oscar met with was his brother’s. “I thought they were eleven companies as of last month?” He piped forward, uncrossing his legs and when he spoke, no one dared to interrupt him. Henry cleared his throat with his han
Her head leaned against the foggy windows and Sofia was drenched in a loud chuckle. She took a sip of the beer in her hands, a little tipsy before darting her eyes to where Theodore sat in the drivers seat. “The Cure?” Came an exclamation that rang in his ears.“I didn’t know you listen to the Cure. Growing up, they were my favorite band and watching you cover my best song has to be the highlight of my year, Theodore” There was a smile that made its way to her lips and a questioning gaze which he lent.“I’m surprised”“You don’t strike me as a rock genre typa gal” He downed the last of his beer and shoved it over the dashboard. Sofia rolled her eyes and the winds that gushed in from the windows went swiftly through her hair before her brittle fingers.“You don’t strike me as a rockstar either”“And that has to be the biggest lie i’ve been told. Right after me being a terrible person” He said so seriously that she burst out in a laughter. Her eyes glinted in the moonlight that had fal
“This is ridiculous, Oscar”Closing the door behind her, Sofia gritted her teeth in a way that her voice was not so loud for Benedict to hear. She had dragged Oscar by his hands and only after she shut the door did she let go of him. The arch between her brows showed how furious she was.“What happened?” She was met with a casual shrug of his shoulder as she ripped off her apron. “What happened! Oscar?” She blew raspberry, echoing his words and when Sof turned around, her hands swept through her hair, letting them fall to her shoulders.“I had no idea you were working here” Oscar’s voice crept up behind her and she darted him a gaze. “That is ridiculous, Oscar and you know it” He had a smug smile across his lips.“Look, i saw a potential business investment and i went with it. Benedict was thrilled with the idea and i think it’s his place and his place to have turned me down, not yours.” He scoffed, watching her tighten her jaw.“I can’t stress how alarming this is right now” Sofia sa
Our minds make the most of themselves when we want to be with someone but for whatever reason, cannot. It can torturous, having your mind poisoned by this one person or one thing that doesn’t seem to want to leave.Perhaps, you might not even want it to leave.Constantly thinking about someone can often be a comforting escape, but it can also be a call to a building infatuation—giving rise to an instant gravitation towards someone. And for reasons known to ourselves, that someone is often always beyond our reach. Our thoughts can’t help themselves and in the case of Theo, it didn’t. He just sat there, the majority of the night, delving deep into Sofia’s history—an act that not only fueled whatever he felt, but also a distraction to the night they last spoke. He heaved a deep breath and slouched back into his bed.In his clean amber eyes reflected a particular photo he had stumbled on from her profile, take into note the fact that he still needed to find out what happened with her fa
“Have you ever just wandered about the world?” Sofia’s voice was calm and she’d rode the boat away from the chaotic shores of the lake and further across the waters where they’d lost everyone else. The whistling noises of washing waves serenading the vehicle and other than that, there was a silence.A silence that called her into her thoughts.“What is it?” Oscar then was a few inches away from her, clinging unto the right side of the boat whilst she was at the far left. “What is about the world?” She brought her eyes to gaze into his before Sofia smirked.“Eight billion of us” She whispered.“Eight billion of us with different complex lives. With stories that are unique to us and yet the one thing that binds us is the universe. How can we be so different and some of us, so alike?” Sofia asked sand she gave up rowing for a while and the boat went still, only rocking to each side by the winds. “I believe there’s a term for that” Oscar was relaxed beneath the setting sun and he folded
The strobing lights of the restaurant were of a variety of colors and they bounced back and forth the corner of her eyes. For most of the night, Sofia had her eyes buried into her plate. Her hands struggled to hold unto the knife that then sliced into her piece of turkey.But she could still feel Damien's gaze burn into the back of her head.Besides the cutlery clinches, the table was an eerily quiet one. That was before the same old whiny voice of Emma pierced through her ears, a reminder that she was still very much present. "So tell me, how have you been?" She had a lot courage to ask that but that question was so Emma and it only made it hard to believe that there was once a time they were inseparable best friends.She lifted her eyes then but was met with Damien's.He was the one who cupped his chin now in an emotion close to embarrassment. "Can you not—" His hands reached to Emma's, holding them to the table and Oscar cleared his throat, counting the minutes till he left this aw
“I want you” Oscar let his husky voice slither through her ears and across her neck until his lips parted hers again. Sofia felt the hairs across her skin arise, blown ferociously by winds that gushed in from windows. The flickering crimson bulb created the perfect hue and ambience.The atmosphere was gentle, enclasping and warm—fueling their raving tensions and desire for one another. Oscar flicked his tongue over her lower lip, tasting her before fully pressing his mouth against Sofia’s. He was just as gentle as he was reckless, allowing his brittle fingers cage her hips to the bed.Her stomach tied in more knots as she felt his hands trail lower and lower and Sofia closed her eyes with her arms around his neck. “I want you” That same voice towered over her yet again. And he wasn’t seeking permission to take off her clothes, he was merely declaring his intentions.That he wanted her.And like the man he always was, Oscar was used to getting what he wanted. Sofia, by his burning touc
“Absolutely not!”Oscar dared to hold Mr Winters back and Ferdinand was faced with a glare as cold as his. He didn’t let go until he left Sofia and a chuckle left his lips—a jeering one.“Who are you?” Ferdinand asked.“That doesn’t matter but that is my wife and this is a caution not to treat her anyhow” Oscar gritted through his terth and a wave of shock went through the whole room, impaling both Damien and Emma’s face who had come across yesterday.“Wife?” Emma faced Theresa, who in that moment didn’t think of anything better to do than to embrace her daughter. The tears streamed down her face as she cried into Sofia’s arms. “Oh my daughter!” She exclaimed to the sights of both Oscar and Ferdinand.“You see what you’ve done!” Her father lashed out at her.“Your mother has been a wreck for the past few week. How selfish could you have been to not return one single phone call—to leave us worrying about where you were and even if you were still alive!” Ferdinand said and it was then S
FIVE YEARS LATER.“Aunt Annie!” A child’s scream reverberated through the halls before a little girl of about five years scurried into the room in a bright yellow dress and the first thing she did was embrace Ann who was waiting with her usual open arms.“How are you, Mia?!” She lifted the girl into her arms, adorning her flustered face with kisses. “Where is your mommy?” And just as she asked that question, Sofia scurried right after, Oscar by her right hand. “Have you got the keys?” She asked, panting from her lips and looking around the room perhaps for anything they might’ve been forgetting. But just for a brisk moment, Oscar reached out to her hands.“You look beautiful.” He didn’t fail to compliment her whenever she did, in the last five years at that. Oh how time flies, truly. And to say a lot had changed would be a massive understatement but then again, not so much, I mean Oscar and Sofia were still so madly in love with each other.“Mommy, aren’t we running late?” Mia called
SIX MONTHS LATER.The sun was out on this chill Saturday evening and the winds filled the trees around the magnificent canopies. There were flowers of every kind and colors and balloons scattered across the garden fields. Everyone was seated with their eyes turned to the couple, the main reason they were here in the first place.“Theodore Baron and Victoria Freya Winters” The officiator called both their names and it was hard for a tear not to well in Sofia’s eyes in that moment. Her sister looked beautiful in that flowing white dress and it was exactly how they’d both envisioned everything since they were kids.Including her as her maid of honor and the same could be said about Theo who by his right hand side had Oscar beside him as well. In that moment, his eyes met Sofia ever beaming with a smile. Six months had passed since his very first surgery and all the events that came after. So did the second and the third, and now that the trial was over, there was only one final test left
Sofia was the never one to believe in miracles.Well that was until today. Three hours had passed since everything that happened, Dimitri’s arrest as the everything in context. And as she sat there, she kept replaying it all behind her eyes. She was wrapped with a blanket and Theo and Damien were right beside her.Of course they knew now of what had happened to Oscar and how Annie had dived in front of a bullet to save Sofia, falling off the building in the process. They were just as shocked as the person who unfortunately had to witness it all. It was no wonder she stayed quiet for those three hours, reeling in the aftershock and post trauma. However, the silence had to come to an end as the doctor came out of the room just then. She stood with aching feet, feeling like she’d always spent weeks in these particular hallway. Her lips parted but her eyes said the most words as the doctor heaved a sigh.“It was a success. You can go in now” The doctor broke the news and in that moment,
“We can’t let her leave” Dimitri muttered to David, whose name Sofia had only just come to know. The two of them were at a safe distance but she could hear the murmurs from their lips. They stood at the foot of the door so her only likely escape was jumping down down the five foot building and she couldn’t dare to scream because Dimitri had already assured her his non reluctance to shoot if she tried anything funny.And so she stood there, with her fingers intertwined with each other, playing it off as though she wasn’t genuinely scared for her life. Her skin was pale and her face was flushed off every color. A million thoughts ravaged her head, most especially the ones about how she could escape.She wondered how unfortunate it was that she’d walked into yet another predicament but in that moment, half the thoughts that roamed behind her eyes were about Oscar. And each time she stared at Dimitri, she was so full of vengeance that she wanted to pay him back for what he’d done.Howeve
As Sofia stood there, she couldn’t even utter a single word. Her whole mind raced with a thousand thoughts as the chaos behind the curtains echoed back to her. Her eyes were flooded with tears and there was a shooting pain that pierced up her spine.In a moment, her eyes fell to her open hands and he was all she saw. It was as though she had drifted back to the moment that she held unto him, begging him to open his eyes…to wake up. But the hardest part was she wasn’t even certain that he could hear her. She wasn’t certain that he would ever actually open those eyes again. And hers, well they darted to the piece of sandwich that laid capriciously on the hospital floor and before she could even start blaming herself for leaving, something she would have never done if she knew things would turn out this way. And for what, for food.Before she could blame herself or further immense herself into the guilt, an arm drew her back. “Hey hey” That shrill rang into her ears and Sofia had to ac
There was always something so terrifying about nightmares. Especially for Oscar and so that was why when he plunged his eyes open, only to find out that he was surrounded by an impaling darkness, the first thing he did was scream at the top of his lungs.The atmosphere was cold, sending a chill up his spine so much that he shivered. The hollow halls returned an echo of his voice as well and he was too afraid to move even an inch forward. He hated the darkness, he wasn’t scared or, although there was something quite eerie in the air.He just hated being lost and in that moment, he was.But that was until a shrill whisper crept up behind him and Oscar sharply turned around. He could swear that someone was here, was close to him but alas, when he threw his head over his shoulders, there was no one. Maybe now was the right time to get scared.His hands fell to his side, feeling the crisp texture of his scrubs and as he moved forward, the noises were all he heard. It was hard to move with
“It’s been four hours” A voice echoed from behind Sofia and it wasn’t until she turned around that her eyes fell upon Damien. His hands slipped into his pocket with an elongated gaze right next to her. She threw a look over her shoulders though she still clung to the stairwell.“It’s you” She happened to mutter plainly before he raised his hands into the air. “Well I’m no doctor,” Damien teased. “But I brought you a sandwich and a cup of coffee” He stretched out his hands and while her eyes to it, there was the ghost of a smile that made it across her lips.“I’m not hungry” Sofia heaved but by the look in Damien’s eyes, she didn’t have much of an option but to cave in, taking the food from his hands. Though she sipped the coffee, she kept the sandwich aside and for a brief moment, there were comforted by the shrouded silence between them. That was before Sofia suddenly piped up after a few minutes.“Thank you by the way” She said.Damien folded his arms with a shrill nod. “For this as
For the longest time, Ferdinand wanted to say those words to Theresa. It had even a really long time since we last saw him, rock bottom and fresh out of jail all while being handed divorce papers from his long term partner but just like everyone else, a lot had changed for him.And even more had come into perspective, like realizing how bad he’d been through the years, to Theresa, to Freya and then to Sofia. And now that he was all alone, he wanted nothing more than to finally tender his apology to those who he had hurt.But the fear that it might have been too late plagued Ferdinand, causing a few sleepless nights. There was no way he would have survived without Damien, who had come to the house to pick up some things and Ferdinand had told him everything that had happened.Damien didn’t have to do all of that including showing up at least twice a week but he did. He did because for him as well, everything had changed. Luckily, even as things weren’t as bad as they once was, he didn
The chilly rush of air breezed into Sofia’s face and through her hair, swaying it left and right across her shoulders. In case she drifted so far, the distinct scent of pharmaceuticals and the rapid beeping of the heart monitors both far and near were enough to remind her of where she was.She stood with her arms crossed in front of her, reminding herself by taking deep heavy breaths to calm down. Today was the day of Oscar’s first surgery which was a bypass graft procedure undoubtedly the most important and complex of the three he was recommended.The doctor might’ve said a million words to Sofia about how this was to repair the damaged blood vessels around his heart, both narrowed and clogged to improve his blood flow so it betters the chances of the trial working but it didn’t stomp her anxiety. It could be good but then again, she was well aware of the risks to know that it could also be terrible.So she stood still and even her deep breaths didn’t work so much. No one knew the am