The next came promising as usual. I left my bed early and joined Helen in the kitchen. Since it was Saturday, she said it was a clean-up day for them. As the head maid, she divided chores for other maids and workers, and I just sat back and watched her display her expertise. When she was done, all of them dispersed leaving me with her alone in the large kitchen.“Good morning ma'am,” She greeted, smiling and yawning at the same time.“Helen, you already greeted me this morning, and I responded,” I said, smiling in return.“Well, it's not a crime to greet twice. I mean, I and other maids literally greet Mr. Adrian all round the clock anytime we come by him, so I'm kind of used to it.” She explained heartily.“Poor thing,” I whispered. “They must have been through hell in Adrian's hand.”“Ma'am, did you say something?” She asked.“No I didn't,” I replied hesitantly. “How's today going to be like?” I chipped in trying to change the topic.“Hectic.” She breathed. “It's clean-up day so thi
I landed on Adrian, my hand on his chest. I let out a sharp gasp and pressed my hands on his left breast to gain balance. I couldn't help but comment to my subconscious mind on how soft his chest was; though they were muscular, it still felt so cozy. We were staring into each other's eyes as his warm breath showered on my face. Some strand of my hair fell on his face across his nose and it tried shoving it out. Then, all of a sudden he pushed me off and sneezed violently.“You have added clumsiness to the list of your flaws. Why exactly do you have to fall on me? He snapped, trying to recover from the sneeze, but his nasal cavity wasn't done yet because he sneezed two more times.I took a few steps back to keep a reasonable distance between us because I feared Adrian's temper. “It was a mistake,” I muttered looking down. “You pulled me too hard and I lost my balance.”“Why do you always have to apologize?” He asked, turning around with his hands on his waist. “First, you came home lat
CHAPTER 51He stood still, his expression unreadable and numb. He looked broken and sober about my tears but he didn't want to show it. How would he have his steeze reduced because of me? He braced his ego a lot and valued his pride like a treasure. I knew everything about it.I wrapped my palm around my shoulder as if to extract the pain from it but it only intensified. Hot tears flowed freely down my cheeks. I gritted my teeth and shut my eyes tightly, trying to breathe through it all. He started walking towards me and fell on his knees beside where I sat on the cold floor. He helped me to my feet and led me to the bed.“That wasn't intentional. I just forgot that you're female, soft, small, and fragile.” He muttered, his voice laced with remorse, but he tried to hide it. I could hear it loud and clear but I stayed put.He touched my shoulder, and I shrugged, frowning. He tried again but I maintained a stiff face. I wanted him to know that I was hurt; I felt abused and misused.“Com
“Just let me go,” I cried, my voice cracking.He wanted to reply but his phone beeped.“Pass me my phone,” he said pointing at his phone behind me. I stared at the phone and back at him, then gulped hard. I picked up the phone and held onto it.“Pass it already,” he snapped with furrowed brows.“No, I won't. You will give me the duvet first before getting it.” I replied feigning seriousness. I don't know what I was doing but I continued anyway.“Don't be silly.”He sighed and stretched his right hand to get the phone from me. Immediately I shoved my hands under my dress and hid the phone there.“What do you think you're doing,” he asked, his brows furrowed slightly.“Adrian, just give me the duvet to cover myself up and leave, then I'll hand over your phone to you. It is that simple.” I explained my voice gently but steadily.“Huh, where exactly did you put my phone?” He asked, his eyes narrowed down to my abdomen area.I tucked my hair behind my ear and sniffed. “Where I put the phon
I sat up instantly my heart pounding against my chest. Did Adrian come after me? I was silent maybe I could get a clue of who was at the door, but it was futile. I braced my chest and tried to allow the words to form in my throat. My vocal cords were against me; I inhaled and exhaled multiple times. Then I spoke.“Who's at the door?” I muttered my voice shaky. “Adrian, are you the one?”There was no quick reply and that somehow made me want to believe that it was Adrian because he was the only one in the house that fancied snubbing people.“Ma'am, it's me, Helen”, she replied, finally making me heave a sigh of relief.“Helen,” I called as if not convinced enough.“Yes, ma'am, it's me,” she replied, her voice speaking uncertainly.I furrowed my brows slightly studying the door as if it were see-through.“Are you there with anyone?” I asked in shutters.She hesitated before replying making me doubt her more. “No ma'am, I'm here alone.”I shut my eyes tightly and gritted my teeth; I was
I slept off a few minutes later and didn't even know when or how Helen left. When I woke up, I found myself carefully lying on the bed with my duvet well covered. My shoulder was well massaged and tied with a piece of clothing, and as if that wasn't enough, I wasn't dressed in the gown I went to sleep in. I sat up instantly blinking nervously, “what is going on?” I murmured.And then, to make matters worse, I felt weak, and I had pains all over my body. What could be the problem? I went to bed overwhelmed and hurt, hoping to wake up lighter and relieved, and then this?Soon, it was as if someone whispered into my ears, and instantly, I opened the dress I was wearing and found out that even my underwear had been changed. I let out a loud scream. I was sure about everything. I usually wore matching colored underwear but I saw myself in a different color of bra and panties. “Why on earth did my underwear get changed?” I murmured.When I took a glance at the wall clock I found out that it
“I'm sorry for whatever you're going through ma'am,” She whispered, her voice breaking. A tear ran down her left cheek and soon the other side did the same.“Helen, why are you crying?” I whispered.She shook her head and ran upstairs sobbing profusely with each step she took.It was plain. I didn't need a soothsayer to tell me what happened, it was clear, clear enough for any sensible person to understand. The earlier I accepted my reality the better for me. It was a bitter truth, indeed a difficult pill to swallow.Adrian had had his way with me.Why did Helen say what she said if it didn't happen? Why would she cry and feel sorry for me if Adrian didn't do it? She knows about it and couldn't even pretend about it till the end. My memory cast back to the evening in the garden, she told me about her rape story and how she lost her virginity. I couldn't relate to it by then because our challenges were different, but now I think we are on the same page. I should be more sorry for mysel
Accusingly, my hands were pointing at his chest, and in a surge of my emotions, the words just blurred out. "Well, it's your behavior that brings out the boldness in me," I replied in an authoritative tone with resolve, my eyes on fire with indignation.But Adrian sat there, as tranquil and composed as a body could get. Far from looking startled, a smile escaped his lips-a soft, gentle curling of his lips-and seemed to belittle my anger."I'm talking to you, and you're smiling right?" I exclaimed, voice incredulous at the behaviors while oozing disdain with every word."What's so funny, huh?" I demanded, my eyes narrowed to slits, my face hot with anger.Adrian's smile never wavered; his eyes were on mine with an unnerving intensity."I don't know you to be this kind of lousy person," he said in a low, even voice, the words subtly rebuking."And I think you need a sleep," he said, his eyes steady on mine, his face the picture of calm and collected.The anger rose within me at his word
Samuel looked at Julian with a mix of concern and confusion as he observed Fidelia's odd behavior. "Maybe she has taken some hard drugs; that's why she's behaving like that," he said in a low, thoughtful voice. Julian narrowed his eyes somewhat, his expression skeptical but then nodded in agreement.Her eyes glowed and her face twisted with a new terror. "Yes, I am mad," she said rather bitterly. Her voice dripped with sarcasm. "Due to the agony my mother went through. I shouted because she was in a state." Her words were poured forth in a flood, raw and unrefined. "No one was able to comprehend, not knowing her monster husband did it all, just so he could extort money.For a moment, Fidelia's eyes were fixed on Julian, boring into him with fierce intensity. "And you, Julian," she shouted at the top of her voice reverberating through the entire room. "You wanted me to have sex with you, right?" Her words hung in challenge and accusation in the air. In that instant, a longer ripple of
Standing there, dumbfounded, my eyes flew back and forth between those two people before me. What are you doing here, Dad?" I softly asked Samuel, turning my head towards him. Then to the other figure, a man whom I never have seen before, yet for all intensive purposes, he seemed familiar. "And you too, what are you doing here?" I added, narrowing my eyes while trying to place him.And then, like someone thrusting a sudden sunbeam into a cloudy day, it came to me and I recognized him, Julian. The name whispered through my mind, and I shivered. The pair exchanged a glance, Samuel and Julian, then both burst into laughter. A cold wind seemed to sweep the room.They laughed heartily and then, with a peal of laughter, fell silent, looking at each other with watery eyes. They turned towards me, then laughed again as they dug their faces in. That sound pierced through the fog of my confusion and terror and left me feeling naked and vulnerable.My throat mounted a steeplechase over my heart-
The darkness weighed on Adrian. Alone, he stared at the smartphone screen, and slowly the worries came and began overshadowing him. He tried calling Jenny for the final time. But this time it was even worse. "BEEP" the dial tone resonated inside his mind as a sad song, tying a heavy string to the future of uncertainty residing in front of him.He was losing within that desperation clutching his heart. His once sharp and focused mind began to wander off aimlessly and could not concentrate on anything apart from those haunting images of Jenny.The incessant maelstrom of questions swirling in his head formed different shapes, and all were more tortuous than the first. "Man, how am I getting through with this thing right now?" He held the phone in a grip that suggested it was the only rope that could hold him alive.His fingers raced across the screen with both urgency and desperation, and though the seconds trickled by in almost a freeze, every second seemed like an eternity as he stared
Minutes turned into hours as Mr. Zan stood by, waiting for Jenny to walk out of the ladies' room. His air conditioning motor started vibrating and soon it was beyond the threshold of audible perception but damps in harmony with the slow rhythm of his heart. For the hundredth time, he looked at the dial as the hands of time crawled across its face. It had been thirty minutes since he had been told to wait, but Jenny was still conspicuously missing.His gaze moved toward the security men, somewhat narrowed, as he put the question out to them- "Are you sure she's in there?" Confident nods came his way. "Yeah, look, she's coming," said one of them, somewhat softly, in a soothing tone. Mr. Zan immediately snapped his eyes toward the door of the ladies' room, with his heart now galloping in its euphoria. A woman walked out looking exactly like Jenny.Their gazes locked; he smiled warmly. "Mrs. Jenny!" he exclaimed, feeling relief. "We've been waiting for you for ages. Our company is next,"
Disgustedly, Adrian sighed; responsibilities lay heavy upon him as if to suffocate. His eyes moved through the room, over the sea of expectation on the faces, fluttering hands, whispering murmurs, crowding the air with tension thick with perfume, cologne, and the smell of freshly printed papers. "It's getting harder," he said softly enough that only he could hear it.With that, the next company was introduced- it sounded as if they were being announced in some long-forgotten imperial court: "A&Z Company Limited!" thundered the speaker from the microphone into the welcoming room. Clapping hands and cheering greeted the representatives of A&Z Company as they strode toward the stage. The applause sounded like relentless waves crashing against the shore, full of zeal.Adrian squinted as he calculated all his strategies and machinations while the watcher observed the present scene. The adrenaline in his system was pounding in his heart like an embargo drum. "Chevron Company, should get rea
The Dubai meeting was in full swing, and the atmosphere was charged. A male and female pair had organized the event and came on stage clad in bright red. The color itself appeared to embrace life with energy, beckoning to the audience. But Adrian's gaze was not on the speakers. He was staring at the door, almost through the gate, willing Jenny to return.Where had she gone? Adrian's mind was a storm of questions. Had she gone for air? Or was it to powder her nose? In Adrian's thoughts, of course, it crossed that she might have gone to relieve herself; however, with time slipping away and still no sign of her appearing, his worries began to build with concern over where she was.He continued watching the stage when the speakers announced the next one in line, and the words 'Diamond Company Limited" reached his ears. The Diamond Company Limited representative went to the podium, adjusting the microphone, commencing his speech. There were murmurs across the crowd, and all of a sudden, Ad
Frantically looking for the woman who just called me, I sat in the vehicle allowing my eyes to scour the space. Instead, however, I was surrounded by ominously faced men; their expressions were dark and foreboding. An unease overtook me, and I could feel an influx of adrenaline passing through my bloodstream."Where am I going?" I asked them, forcing my voice to stay even as terror began to rise inside me. The men did not seem to notice, though, lest be moved by such strident yelling and asking."Somebody talk to me!" I shouted, but before any reply could come, the whine of the engine roared into life, and the vehicle started to move, sending a jolt of panic through me that I was about to be taken somewhere against my will.The men were too strong for me again when I would have tried to open the door to escape. They kept me successfully on the ground, where one tied a black cloth around my mouth and rendered any outcry completely useless. Kicking and struggling did not help, for I had
With the passing hour, the air tension thickened into more palpably heavy forms. Two hours have almost delved in looking up to their finisher preparations, and now with just one hour before the dinner, they're pushing the thrust deeper into heightened sensation and laser-like focusing.They have been getting themselves through some sessions of question and answer, self-testing for knowledge and driving home each little detail spelled in The Blueprint. As such, sail forth, the ready-to-surf mouthing on any eventuality; sharpens them up for any toughest question thrown at them.As they went drunk on the session, the rusty sound of shuffling papers, murmurs of discussion with having the occasional bout of voiced laughter resonated through the room. The spirit was invigorated by a spirit of brotherhoodness, common destiny and sheer determination to emerge victorious.And as the hands of the clock pointed to the final hour, Adrian's voice cut the noisy din with his crisp, clear, and comman
Though I sat in the car with my heart racing in vain anticipation, I felt a little bit of trepidation wash over me. The towering meeting with the Dubai government was looming on my head. I had fears - fears about the unknown, failure, and not making a good impression.The car speeded past the road, speeding the scenery blurred on and above all to the fortuitous destiny. Finally, we reached the company, wherein the relief washed over me. We pulled up in front of the edifice building, and I took a deep breath, steeling myself for what was about to come.Adrian and I stepped out the car, walking on the pavement towards the office where all sounds echoed in our footsteps. Adrian closed his hand around the door handle, fingers clenched tightly, his push opening the door. Stepping inside, my eyes were caught at once by the tableaux before me.Dressed in corporate attire, with serious faces, everyone in Adrian's team was standing at perfect attention. They stood up as we entered, eyes fixed