Mr. Maxwell Blackwood and Anna headed back to the ladies room, walking side by side. Megan was beaming with smiles under the dim hallway lights; she couldn’t believe that this was really happening.Mr. Blackwood had taken her to a very expensive hotel that evening and ordered the best of their menu. Knowing fully well that Anna was stalking his social media handles, he made sure to take pictures of the dinner and put it online, the CEO’s main goal was to make Anna jealous.Megan on the other hand could not understand why he set up such a beautiful dinner but yet he barely spoke to her, he happened to be on his phone for most of the dinner. Maybe he had important work, she had thought to herself. Only if she knew that she was just being delusional, believing something that wasn’t there.As a matter of fact, Maxwell wasn’t accompanying her back to the room because he was sweet and romantic, or because he wanted to make sure that she was safe, the only r
After watching Megan fall asleep, I quietly left the room to get some air. It felt hot inside, even with the AC on and so I just had to step out. As I came out to the balcony, I took a deep breath in and let it out, just then I perceived the scent of cigar. I sniffed in again to be sure before looking down to the floor.There was someone seated downstairs by a dim-lit lamppost and it didn’t take me long to recognize him- Mr. Blackwood! I guess I wasn't the only one feeling this heat. Good thing he was outside, I could give him a piece of my heart while the heat within me was yet to die down.I hurried downstairs, taking the stairs as I feared using the elevator by this time; what if something went wrong? I might just be stuck there for the whole night.I got downstairs and quietly walked towards him, he had his back to me but he didn’t seem fazed by the sound of my foot as I approached, he remained still.“Do you have a heart? Are you even human?” I blurted the moment I was close to h
I woke up in the morning to find Megan sleeping very close to me, her arm was on my body. I gently raised her arm and got off the bed, letting it rest on the bed. Staring at her for a few seconds, I turned around and headed for the bathroom to brush my teeth.My first day in Botswana was not that bad, aside from the stress of the day and the drama of the evening, everything went smoothly. I had met this African lady who worked at one of the bars, she was nice to me. I had learnt that she was of both Nigeria and South African descent, and I think she inherited the best of both sides.Her name was Ugochi and even after several attempts at pronouncing it correctly, I still suck. She wouldn’t stop laughing each time I pronounced it, perhaps something to do with my accent. With them, the pronunciations were just deeper.For some reason, I was glad that MB had left me behind, else I would have never gone down to that bar nor met my new friend. I caused quite a stare last night, I had at lea
** ** Anna’s POV ** **“Aside from the fact that I have a little headache, the church service was one of the best things I have experienced in life.” Megan confessed the moment we stepped into the lodge.“Haha! I second that, it was a blast. Who knew African churches were such a vibe, I might just become religious if I stay here a few more weeks.” I laughed.“Wouldn’t even blame you,” Megan said and giggled. “And your friend is really cool, you sure are the best judge of characters.” She praised me, and I blushed.“You mean our friend, you seemed closer to her today than myself.” I joked.“Chill, we can share.” She said in a pleading tone and I laughed. This new found friendship between Megan and I seemed to change the game, we were bonding like we have been pals since forever.“Anyways, any update from Mr. Blackwood?” Megan queried.I pressed my lips together and waved my head. “Unfortunately no, I tried reaching him while we were in the Uber this morning but he didn’t take my call a
“Hi,” the man said with a smile as he turned to face me. “Oh, so sorry. I thought you were someone else,” I apologized immediately. “It is alright, you mistook me for Mr. Blackwood, so I guess you work with him, right?” I squinted my eyes before nodding. “Not quite, it is more like work for him,” I huffed. “Wait, so you know Mr. Blackwood?” I asked curiously. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am part of the reason why he is here. You see I am the GM of the mining site for which he had come to Botswana.” “You mean the gate man?” I asked in genuine confusion He burst into laughter immediately. “No, I am the general manager, my name is Darky.” He introduced himself and offered a handshake. “Oh, I didn’t know there were two General managers,” I smiled and shook his hand. “I had only met the other one on Saturday, which is why I was confused when you said you were the GM.” He huffed and shook his head. “Yeah
I pulled back in shock, staring at her in disbelief with jaws slacked. She smiled at me with a questioning glare. “Relax, I don’t bite.” Her tipsy voice whispered. And with that, she went back to kissing me. If I thought Jimmy was a good kisser, Megan just made him feel like a learner. I was tempted to let it happen for a few seconds and then I stopped her, gently pushing her up to break the kiss. “Wait… please stop,” I said in a calm voice, trying not to hurt her feelings while struggling to catch my breath. “Why not?” she asked in a whisper, staring at me lovingly “You are drunk, Megan.” I muttered, looking at her with shock still written on my face. “So? That makes it even more fun,” she chuckled. I sighed and waved my head in disapproval. “I am sorry, we can't. It is not you, I just don’t do females,” I said, trying to put it in the nicest way I could think of at that moment. “Oh,” she muttered and then s
** ** Omniscient narrator ** ** There was fear in Megan’s eyes as Mr. Blackwood slowly walked towards her, faced down with his hands dug into his pockets. Maybe she hadn’t thought this through, because what if he feels offended with her actions and chooses to fire her? “Mr. Blackwood, I….” she tried to speak immediately. “No, Megan…” He cut her short, with one finger up signaling her to hush. “I will go first,” he said calmly. Megan paused and swallowed hard. That is it! She was losing her job, she realized she had messed up, she should have been in better control of her emotions. “So… I just wanted to say that I acknowledge my mistakes that led to the unfortunate incident that occurred between us and I apologize for hurting your feelings in that manner, it was never intentional.” Megan’s eyes widened in disbelief. an apology from Mr. Blackwood? That was almost as difficult as putting a cow through a needle, how was th
** ** Omniscient narrator ** ** “Never mind,” he finally uttered, clearly hesitant to say what he had in mind. This was both to Anna’s relief and disappointment. She had been eager to hear what he wanted to say but for some reason, she was also scared of hearing it. “Alright then,” She said with a bit of hesitation and reluctantly walked towards the door. She could feel his eyes on the back of her head as she walked away, she had grabbed the door handle when something crossed her mind. Anna immediately turned around and like she expected, Mr. Blackwood was staring at her. “MB… Can I ask you a question?” He creased his eyebrow. “MB? What is that?” he queried, genuinely confused with what she had just called him. “Oh, short for Maxwell Blackwood.” Anna replied with an enthusiastic smile. She had been waiting since forever to call him that. “Well I don’t like it.” He groaned, immediately expressing his disapproval.
Maxwell Blackwood stood patiently at the Altar, his eyes zooming to the door every second. He couldn’t wait to see her, his parents had kept her away from him for over twelve hours because apparently it is bad luck to see the bride before the wedding. Not like he believed in that shit but he had to respect their customs.The small gathering of family and friends fell silent when the doors creaked open. Everyone turned towards Annabel Joseph who had just walked in with her father holding her hand. She was wearing a simple yet exquisite white gown and looked stunning in it. A transparent veil covered her face but anyone could tell that she was dazzling beneath it.Maxwell's breath hitched. In that instant, the world around him seemed to fade away. All that mattered was Anna, her beauty chasing away the anxiety that had enveloped him before now.As Anna reached the altar, her father, his eyes shining with pride, placed her hand gently in Maxwell's. A soft squeeze from her hand sent a jol
The white room felt like a tomb. Anna fidgeted in the hard plastic chair, her heart hammering against her ribs. Every nerve in her body screamed at her to turn and run, but she forced herself to stay. Today, she was facing her past, a past she'd hoped to bury forever, she had to do this in order to move on.A buzzer sounded, and a thick slab of reinforced glass slid down, revealing the face she'd dreaded seeing. Jimmy. Gone was the cocky swagger he used to carry. His once-bright eyes were dull, his hair matted, and his face gaunt. A pang of something akin to pity lanced through Anna, quickly replaced by a surge of anger; she shouldn’t be feeling bad for him, he brought this upon himself.He stared at her, a flicker of hope igniting in his eyes. "Anna," he rasped, his voice raw. "I knew you wouldn't abandon me for long. Not when we have a child on the way."Anna scoffed, the sound harsh in the silence. Abandonment. The word twisted like a knife in her gut. But she wasn't here for a fig
Anna and Maxwell split ways when they arrived at the airport; while Max headed for the Forbes mansion in the SUV that was waiting for him, Anna got into a car waiting to convey her down to Jennifer’s office.Anna left the noise and chaos of JFK Airport behind her as she walked out into the bright Nevada weather. With a happy smile on her face, Anna slid into the cool leather seat. As the car pulled away, she looked out the window and was fascinated by what she saw.It was Las Vegas, a place she had never been to before. The tall buildings and fast-paced life of New York City were gone. In this area, the scenery was mostly made up of huge casinos with crazy themes and lots of neon lights. She would see a huge copy of the Eiffel Tower one minute and a pirate ship with sails flapping the next. In the best way possible, it was too much to take in.In contrast to Manhattan's crowded, narrow streets, these roads were wide and smooth, making it easy for cars to move along. The warm breeze ma
Anna sat alone in the sitting room, wearing a simple but elegant dress that touched her knees. Sunlight streamed in through the tall windows and danced on the plush carpet, but Anna didn't pay much attention to her fancy surroundings.She was focused on her hand, where a single diamond ring sparkled on her thin finger, and she smiled as she remembered the beautiful moment of the previous night, when Maxwell got down on one knee and asked her to spend the rest of her life with him.Anna’s attention was called to the sound of footsteps climbing down the stairs and she quickly changed her position, hiding her smile."Ready to go, beautiful?" he asked, his voice laced with a sleepiness that only made him seem more endearing.Anna's heart did a little skip. "Yes," she replied, the single word holding a universe of emotions. She stood up immediately, hiding the ring she had been obsessively admiring behind her back.He crossed the room in three long strides, pulling her close. The warmth of
Maxwell wakes up feeling disoriented. He is confused as to why he was in that room, what happened? He could barely remember any of it. Most of all, why was he half-naked?He grabbed his phone on the blanket immediately and checked the time, it was midnight. He also noticed that he had missed over twenty phone calls, mostly from Annabel. As he tried to remember what happened, he felt a sharp piercing pain in his head.“Arrgh!” Max groaned and rubbed his temple.He got up from the bed and quickly, eager to find out what had transpired. Was the party over? He didn’t remember getting drunk so why does it feel like he had a hangover?Mr. Blackwood put on his shirt and rushed for the door, but as he dragged the handle, he ran into Annabel who looked like she was about to walk in, there was anger and rage in her eyes.“Annabel, what happened?” MB asked almost immediately.Annabel scoffed and walked past him into the room, she was fighting the tears in her eyes. She stared at the bed to confi
After over ten minutes of knocking, the door was finally opened and Anna walked out with a frown on her face. “Who locked me in there?” she yelled.“I am sorry, Ma’am. I was actually walking past when I heard you knocking, I have no idea who locked it.” The maid who had just opened the door replied.Anna sighed and waved her head, instantly regretting why she raised her voice. “It is alright, I am sorry for speaking to you like that. Thank you for opening the door.”The maid nodded. “It is no problem, Ma.”Annabel walked away, heading down for the party. She wondered who thought it was a good idea to lock her inside a bathroom on her birthday, perhaps they were playing a prank on her. It could be one of her silly friends, the Cruz twins in particular were capable of such mischief.As she climbed down the hall, the party was still steaming hot. She found the girls giggling at one end, they waved at her when they saw her and she smiled. Maybe it wasn’t them after all, she could recogniz
“Where did you get the dress, Ann? It is so nice.” Belle complimented as she touched the fabric.“Oh, Jennifer had it made for me.” Anna replied with a smile.“Uh Uh… It looks expensive,” Belle chirped in.“Oh, it sure is expensive.” Jennifer smacked proudly.The ladies were still chitchatting when Jenny’s phone began to ring, she checked the caller ID and blushed, quickly covering it with a smile.Jennifer quickly rejected the call as she looked up back to her friends, she caught them staring at her with suspicious eyes.“Ooommm…” Belle cooed. “What is the new guy’s name?” she asked teasingly“What guy? I don’t know what you are talking about.” Jennifer denied, her cheeks getting redder with each passing second.“Oh come on, since when are you shy about these things, spill it already.” The Cruz twins urged.“His name is Marshall and he is standing right at the door.” Anna suddenly announced.Jennifer’s jaws dropped. “It is a lie,” she muttered to herself as she quickly turned around
Anna hummed to herself gladly as she walked away, she didn’t know what plans Maxwell had but the moment she saw Linda, she knew it was now or never. If she ever wanted to get rid of Linda, this was her chance.It was not like she didn’t trust Maxwell to get the job done but this is someone he used to care for, someone he made love with for months, he clearly still had a soft spot for her or she wouldn’t be here today. She didn’t really blame him, knowing how exes can be manipulative; Jimmy for Example.“Hey! Anna!” A familiar voice called to her attention.Annabel turned to her left and her eyes met Megan. “Megan! You made it!” she said excitedly and they embraced each other.“Of course, sorry I am late, I had to go pick up Ugochi from the airport.” She announced.The name struck a bell but Anna couldn’t recollect where she had heard it before. “Ugochi?” she muttered and then she gasped. “Oh my God, you mean the bar lady from Botswana?”Megan immediately pointed to her where she was s
Maxwell Blackwood and his little sister, Abigail climbed down the staircase, his eyes scanning the room in search of his brother. He couldn’t have Simon causing mischief here tonight.The first familiar faces his eye met were those of his mother, Anna and her own mother. It seemed like Anna was introducing them to each other. Maxwell didn’t want to get involved in that right now, he walked past and up next was Jennifer giggling and pouring champagne with her friends.Then to the left, Maxwell caught sight of his brother speaking to a lady, although she had her back to him, she looked very familiar. He walked down to them immediately, a frown on his face.“You know you could have politely taken an excuse before walking out on us like that.” He growled softly, trying to hold back the anger. This was not supposed to be a big deal but for some reasons, it pissed him off.The lady didn’t flinch or turn around, she remained rooted with her back to him, her long hair rolling against her bac