“Oh, I have an idea!” then, Daniella suddenly takes her phone out and opens the camera, “Since we are both so cute, and for we are finally on a trip away from the hustle and bustle, which I bet we won’t do this often, let’s take a selfie! This will be the best souvenir of this vacation.”
Finally, a topic that I am allowed to put a smile on my face, “Of course it will.” of course.
Seeing Daniella raising her phone up high, I move my face closer to hers, but not too close. I put up a big bright smile at the camera and freeze, until Daniella takes the photograph.
However, unexpectedly, just as Daniella takes a look at the photo we took, anxiously she gasps, “Oh no! Marie is gone!”
During the first half day of our vacation in Coney Island, Daniella, Marie and I went to a lot of places today. We had lunch, we had a bunch of fun... It was almost evening when we returned to the hotel.It is mid April, and people have started to travel around the world. Hotels in places known with tourist attractions are fully reserved and occupied by people, especially here in Coney Island.This is the only hotel we could get due to our last minute reservation just a day before our vacation.Fortunately, we managed to get ourselves rooms during this peak season; yet unfortunately, we couldn’t get a double room and sleep in the same room like girl friends do; while then again, fortunately, we were unable to use the same room, because you see, I am quite a man of cons
Manhattan——the City, the urban core of the New York metropolitan area, the cultural, financial, media, and entertainment capital of the world.The time is three quarter past four when I finally arrive here, at the headquarters of the Peyton Group.With 99 floors in the building, the Peyton Tower is over 1,299 ft, taller than the Empire State Building, taking the forth place in New York’s tallest building.Standing in the middle of the open park in front of the skyscraper, I raise my head up high and squint into the skylight——so this is the home base of my family’s enemy.And so, as planned, I am here tod
The encounter between Jamie and Henry Nosrevi, and… action.I turn to my right when I hear Jamie’s calling. Even through these sunglasses, I can see his face turn brighter when he sees me.He puts a smile on his surprised face, “What are you doing here?”Trying to pretend to be as astonished as he is, I take down my sunglasses and stand up from the bench as soon as I see him.“Hey!” I slightly raise my tone when I greet him, “What a coincidence! What are you doing here?”“I came here to visit my father.” said Jamie. He points at the building behind him with his thumb and introduces, “Well, t
“Henry?”Finding me pausing my feet in front of a gazebo staring at it, Jamie turns to me in a slightly concerned face.“What are you looking at?” he asked.Repentantly, I put up a smile. I look at the gazebo and mention, “I think I’ve seen this gazebo when I was little.”There, Jamie explains, “My mother liked gazebos, my father decided to build a gazebo like this on every property that we own. There’s one at my place too.”Grace Garcia, Elbert Peyton’s first wife, Andrew and Jamie’s birth mother. I haven’t heard of her on the news for quite some time.
The hands of the clock struck half past six when I successfully returned to the hotel.There’s still half an hour to go, it seems like I have a little spare time to bathe and change before setting off for the amusement park with Daniella.Recalling how I’ve smoothly accomplished the scene of the encounter between Jamie and Henry Nosrevi at the park in front of Peyton Towel, a smile appears on my face. I whistle in a brisky tune as I walk out of the elevator in a skippy toe.Now, now, the heir of the Peyton Group, the owner, the head of board, and the CEO of Minerva, Jamie Lee Peyton, you are just like the girls I know——you can’t resist my hotness and handsomeness.End out, Jamie is not
“Ah! Please don’t hurt me!”The lady holds the broom tightly in her hands as she screams at me with a frightened look on her face.I give her uniform a quick glance and discover that she must be one of the cleaning crew around the hotel.The fact that her seeing a man barging in and locking himself up with a weak lady alone in the room might have startled her.Figuring that her scream might be going to attract Daniella’s attention, I quickly put both my index fingers up before my lips trying to stop her from continuing to carry on her hilarious behavior.“Shh! No! Madam! Please keep quiet!” I yell whispering at her as I e
The night came fast, the sky turned indigo before we knew it.Most of the people have returned home and are ready to settle down for a relaxing alone time, but not the people in Coney Island.Our night has just begun when we arrive.The neon lights stain the clouds in vivid colors, layers of carnival music blast across the borderless sky.There are crowds here and there on a weekend night like this——children, teenagers, adults, family, couples, friends.Some are queuing up for rides, some just got off of them trying to take photographs at the side; some getting hot dogs, popcorns, cotton candies from vendors, some trying to get the major prizes
Sweat trickles from my forehead down to my neck, my eyes turn dry when I open them so widely as I watch the horrifying figure walk towards us.I grab Daniella’s arm and pull her close, nervously I whisper in her ear——expressionless skeletal face, long hooded cloak, gigantic scythe, “I-isn’t that the Grim Reaper!?”“Um-hmm.” calmly Daniella nods, it seems like she has some ideas about this figure too.Everybody knows who a Grim Reaper is, if someone doesn’t know about him, he collects souls! He is a personified force of death!I take a gulp as I take half a step backwards, hiding a little part of myself behind Daniella, “W-what is a Grim Reaper doing here?&r
After a few minutes travelling in my red Lexus LS 500, Jamie and I finally arrived at our destination. After Jamie gets out of the car, I pick up a red velvet box from the glove box and put it in my coat. I then catch her up from behind. It is a big house built next to the beach. The house is fully furnished and renovated. It is ready for people to move in and live in it. I am the architect who designed and built the house, however I haven’t decided what to name it yet. Well, anyway… I first bring Jamie through the garden on the beach, I open the door with the key and we enter the house.
The time is five in the evening. I am back in the office building, sitting on the couch, waiting for the interview session to start in approximately half to one and hour.I grab my phone out and check my messages again.I had made a few calls to Jamie through various ways, she never answered the phone, and now, there is still no sign of Jamie.Weimar is seven hours ahead of Chicago, which means it is twelve at midnight at where Jamie is.It is already the next day in Weimar, and that makes this the second day I lost the sign of Jamie.Weird… This is weird.Jamie never leaves me hanging for m
April 2023. Two years later. It is spring in Chicago again, a time when the florals come back to life again, well so do the people. The warm breeze brings the voile curtains up, allowing the morning sunlight to shower on my white bed through the French windows. That is when I am woken up by the sound of this hectic city. I stand on my balcony in my robe, yawning and stretching my body at the same time. “Good morning, Chicago.” I take a glance at the scenery of the city from the top of this building, I see people and vehicles all over the streets, everyone is ready for work and vac
June, 2021.It had been almost one month since the accidents happened.I was discharged from the hospital, rested at home for a few days, took some medicine, did some simple rehabilitation practice… I am almost fully recovered.The news reported that Melonie Myers was brought into custody by the local police. The police told me that I no longer need to worry about stepping out of my house.Also, it is Wednesday morning, a regular working day for me.And so, I am now back to work at Minerva, no longer as the CEO’s secretary, but as the CEO and the owner of Minerva; no longer in skirt and lipstick, but in suit and tie.
Air flow, machines, birds chirping, and a woman sobbing… Those are the first things that come into my ear when I gradually return to my consciousness.They sound really vague at first, but turn louder after as I slowly open my eyes too.There, I find myself in a ward bed. My face is covered with an oxygen mask. My arms are surrounded by tubes and wires.And, I see someone burying her head in the bed, holding my hand tightly in hers.“I’ve lost our baby… I can’t lose you too, Henry… Please wake up...” she sobbed.Slowly, I raise my other hand, and lay it on her head. I caress her gently, stroking her hair th
Assuming that it must be Mr. Hurlock behind the door, I unlock the door and open it without peeking through the cateye.I ask as soon as I open the door, “Yes, Mr. Hurlock? Did you forget someth-”However, just when the door is fully opened, the face of the person standing in front of the door is revealed in front of me.It is a lady in black attire, with a bike helmet on her head, her black hair draped over her shoulder, and she holds a knife in her hand.It isn’t Mr. Hurlock, it is...“Hi there, Henry.”“Melonie Myers…”
It is almost midnight when I sit in my living room alone, waiting for Jamie’s butler to show up. It is always a quiet night like this that makes people feel lonely, isn’t it? Tears ooze out of my eyes abruptly, they trickle down my face one after another. No matter how many times I wipe them off, no matter how hard I try to stop myself from crying, my tears just won’t stop. I cover my face with my palms to cover my sound, I sob as quietly as I can, not hoping to wake Jamie up. I try to stop myself by clearing my head, yet every quiet moment like this keeps reminding me of the fact that we’ve just lost our child. Our dear child… If you can hear us,
The accident and our loss hasn’t been too kind on us, especially for Jamie. The impact of losing our child hits her heart and mental condition so badly. She had been crying for days, she didn’t eat much. She fainted a few times. She became so tired and weak, that the doctor kept her in the hospital for another few days.Tonight, Jamie is just sitting on the bed, sometimes leaning on my shoulder, imagining how different our life would be if everything never happened, how our life would be if we hadn’t lost our child.What gender will it be? Will it be a little princess? How heavy will she weigh when she is born? Will she look more like Jamie or me? What name will we name her? How will we celebrate her first birthday? How excited will we be when she says her first word or takes her first step? Will she first say mommy
“Jamie…”Not knowing how much time has passed, I gradually woke up when I heard myself mumbling.I first feel my senses are unblocked, just like when one who sinks in the ocean for a long time gets back up from the water.The next thing I feel... is my body covered in pain, especially my head.“Umm…”Holding the pain back, slowly, I try to open my eyes.It is the moment when I open my eyes again, bright light seeps into my eyes. I squint into the light, my eyes take quite a while to adapt to the light.