(Lydia)It felt like things just kept piling over for me.I was worried about Mama, but then Thomas came to the rescue without even knowing and helped me spend a calming day together. By the end of which, I had gotten a call from Nathan.The call was so surprising because I had almost forgotten what we talked about during the dinner. Only when Nathan asked if I had made a decision did it come back to me.To be honest, I wasn’t so sure about this whole thing. If I pretended to flirt or be close to Nathan, that would just put me in more of a spotlight. Did I really want that? Because then it would mean that my family would also be under heavy scrutiny and I did not want that at all.My head hurt just thinking about how I was going to handle the management team and how my reply would affect them.I looked at the time and realized Mama and Ruby must have gotten home by now. I had asked Ruby to accompany Mama to the hospital so that she could have some support.Ruby had been very quiet for
(Ruby)I wasn’t able to breathe easier.Not until I knew how Mama was.We had just gotten back from the hospital and I had settled her down and handed her a cup of tea to drink.I had only left her for a couple of minutes and the next thing I knew, Lydia was screaming for me to come for help.It was good that Thomas had been present. He had stayed behind with the kids and Lydia and I had accompanied Mama to the hospital. The entire way, I could not stop the tears from my eyes.It was all my fault. I should have been there with her. She had probably gotten up to get something instead of calling out to me and now we were at the Emergency waiting room of the hospital, waiting for anyone to come and tell us what was going on.“She’ll be okay,” Lydia whispered beside me but it felt like she was trying to convince herself more than me.We waited for another five minutes before the door to the emergency room snapped open. The doctor on rounds walked towards us and informed us, “There is noth
(Jack)I didn’t feel like going home again.I had taken to staying over at the apartment for the past couple of days, wanting to avoid everyone else.I didn’t care about that part much because the only person I didn’t want to ignore was Ruby, but for the past week, I have ignored her calls and only replied to her through messages, citing a heavy workload and whatnot.I know she could tell it was probably an excuse.I jogged around the park right opposite my apartment complex. It was a weekend and I had already been to the gym but I still felt anxious for some reason.As I rounded another corner, I saw someone crouching down in the middle of the walking track with a leash in their hands.I narrowed my eyes at the blonde hair and narrow shoulders that somehow felt familiar.“Amanda?” I asked hesitatingly.The woman whipped her head towards me and her green eyes widened.“It is you!” I said in surprise.“Jack?” she said my name, a wide smile on her face, although there was still some ten
(Lydia)The doctors discharged Mama the next morning.We were careful in transferring her into the house even though she was pretty adamant about not receiving any help.I told her the most important thing in the world now is for her to rest, and after that, she could moan all about how she still wanted to do things on her own.“You fret too much,” she told me when I came to sit beside her. The kids had just met their grandma and were now downstairs, making breakfast in the kitchen with Thomas while Ruby was resting.It had taken a lot of pleading on my part to make Ruby leave Mama’s side and take care of her own health for a while. There were dark circles around her eyes and a general expression of fatigue.I knew it was more than just Mama’s health but in the crucial time, I was having trouble focusing on most things.My phone rang once again, a source of annoyance in a tough time.“It’s been doing that since yesterday,” Mama pointed out, “Is it a work call? If so, you need to pick
(Adeline)I woke up to realize that I had been sleeping for the better part of the morning and even the afternoon.The exhaustion and fatigue that I had been feeling ever since I started the new chemotherapy felt like it had vanished, but I knew it was only a matter of time before it returned.Still, I would enjoy this time because it has been hard to do most things these days. I was not able to keep everything in because of nausea and I didn’t want anyone to worry which was why I kept it all to myself.I sat up in bed to realize there was someone already lying beside me.“Ruby?” I croaked out before clearing my throat, “What are you doing?”Ruby looked up from the piece of cloth she had been holding like she was pulled out of a very deep thought. “Hm?” she said, still looking like she was somewhere else entirely.I give her shoulder a comforting squeeze, “You’ve been much too distracted these days.” I had been noticing how quieter she had gotten.I wanted to ask her about it, but dea
(Ruby)I cannot believe I was about to do this.In all my life, I had never gone behind a guy. I didn’t care how much of a crush I had on someone, you would never see me pursuing them.However, now it was imperative that I do a bit of chasing.I don’t know what happened with Jack that he pulled away from me so suddenly, but I will get to the end of it by today.I guess I needed Mama to get some sense into me. Only when she mentioned Thomas did I realize how stupid I was.Of course, he would know Jack’s whereabouts. Thomas had given me a smirk and made me note down the name of an apartment complex.It was far from our home but not too far away from the mansion, although the area was completely different.During the drive, I realized that I have seen many times how life is unpredictable, hence, wasting time by ignoring each other and not sharing things with each other did nothing but waste the time we did have with each other.No one can say for certain what the future holds for them so
(Lydia)I cannot believe I was actually going.Fortunately, all the demands I made to the marketing team were taken in stride.I cannot believe they thought they would force me to do something I didn’t want to do just because I was not at the same level as their star Nathan Andrews.This was no hate to Nathan of course, because I knew he must be in a tough spot as well. The more you climb up the fame ladder, the harder it is to do the things that you want to do.I’m sure Nathan had been roped to do something like this previously as well, which was why he became receptive to the idea. Otherwise, it is all stupidity of course.Yes, some people might be swayed by dating rumors, but most fans these days could tell a marketing strategy from a mile away and if I was setting foot into Hollywood, I didn’t want to do it in this way.If I am talented enough, then I will be getting more roles. The directors and the producers won’t care about my rumors with the sweetheart of Hollywood, what they
(Thomas)Somehow, the way to the airport did not feel very long. Before I knew it, I was already putting the car into park and turning to look at Lydia.“All set?” I asked with a slight smile.Lydia chuckled, “Don’t look so pained.”“Or what? You’re going to stay behind?” I asked, raising a brow.I was jesting because I knew how important this was for her but Lydia looked at me thoughtfully, “Do you really want that?”I blinked at her in surprise, “Of course not. I know how much this means to you. I would never want you to not pursue whatever your heart desires.”Lydia looked down with a smile and nodded, “That’s good. You always encouraged me to follow my passions and I didn’t get to do that for the longest time. Now, it feels like I’m finally where I want to be and I really don’t want to miss it.”“I know and I understand you wholly. You know, I’ve been thinking recently that the work that I do, continuing my father’s legacy, is mainly just work for me. There is no passion for it. I