Todd took Amber back home with him and she was settled in the guest room, the next morning they rode to the office together but Amber asked to drop two blocks away from the office.“Why should I drop you here" Todd askedAmber touched his head, feeling his temperature “what" he asked“I was just checking to be sure you’re okay, have you forgotten to said we should keep this relationship a secret, going to the office together would make things too obvious" Amber explained.Todd frown but stopped the car and allowed her get down.“After work, wait for me here okay" Todd said as she got down“okay" Amber said not looking backTodd’s frown deepened as he watched her go“No goodbye kiss, she didn’t even look back" he muttered to himself before driving off.At closing Amber was waiting for Todd at the place they agreed but she felt uncomfortable like someone was watching her, she decided to move further away but suddenly, a hand grabbed her, covering her mouth, she bite the hand and let ou
“I need you to be discreet” Todd said facing the lady called Alice, “She must not know that someone is following her cause if she knows that will put her on edge and I don’t want that” Todd said, his right brow slightly raised higher than the other“I understand" Alice said nodding her head Todd gave her a brief run down of the past events, he told her about his suspicions and showed her Amber’s picture. Alice was satisfied with the information she got and left Todd’s office.Tired and exhausted from constant worry, Todd knew he needed to let out steam so he called Carl.“hey man, you up for a Hangout tonight" He said straight away not bothering about exchanging pleasantries.“Oh hello Todd, how are you and how’s my little munchkin” Carl said, traces of laughter evident in his voice “She is fine" Todd said gruffly, when Carl didn’t answer right away he prompted him by saying.“so”“You know you’ve got to take our friendship more serious, you can’t just ignore me for sometime and ju
“she’s been sulking around since then and I don’t even know what I did wrong" Todd explained to Carl at the bar that night“Was there any sign of anger before then" Carl asked“no, at least none that I could see" Todd said“hmm" Carl said placing his hand under his chin like he was in deep thought.“so whatever caused her anger must have happened between the last time you saw her and the time you left the office” Carl said reasoning things out“the last time I saw her was when she came to drop a file for me just before my appointment with Alice" Todd said“wait, who is Alice" Carl asked, raising his hand to stop Todd“emm, she is just someone I needed to see, wait you think she is jealous of Alice"Todd said“well,, that might be but it depends, how does Alice look, did Amber know what the meeting was about and how long did the meeting take"Carl asked trying to analyse everything“I don’t know how she looked, I didn’t pay attention to her looks”Todd said and Carl raised his hand to
Todd couldn’t bring himself to announce his relationship with Amber, nit because he didn’t love her enough to let the whole world know but because he was scared, announcing publicly will put her in more danger, he decided his best tactic would be to coax her.The next morning on their way to work, he said“let’s go out tonight, we can go watch a movie or something” “No thanks, I’ll like to play with Carrie and sleep in tonight" Amber said not bothering to look at Todd, her head was full with so much imagination.“Okay" Todd said nodding.He didn’t pursue the topic any further, he just kept quiet and was thinking 9f other ways he can use to coax her.During lunch, Amber went out for lunch with Jen and when they got back, she went to use the toilet, on her way back she heard two ladies discussing“She came back not quite long, guess we will be seeing her face here regularly” a lady said and the other lady agreed saying“they’ll definitely look good together, aww after all these years o
Stanley kept starring across the street, hoping to see anyone that looks like his target, he sat in his white Peugeot car with tinted glass, no one saw who was in the car but he could see anyone outside, the area was rugged, broken glass shattered almost at all corners, different type of girls walked past him, a girl even knocked on the window of his car asking if he needed her services, Stanley felt disgusted but played along to get any information he can from her.“do you stay around here" He asked and the girl scrunch her nose slightly and said.“my house is a bit far, how about, we go to the guest house down by this corner" she pointed to the path on the right“emm, okay but do you think my car is safe here, how about I give you a ride and we go somewhere fancy”Stanley asked baiting her, the girl smiled and said“am at your service, whatever you need"She hopped into the car and Stanley drove off.“Am White by the way"Stanley said introducing himself.“oh, am Tina" she said gigg
“Hi Amber, it’s been a while" Jake Morris said over the phone.“Hi Jake, how have you been"Amber said strolling over to her bed to sit.“have been away on business, just got back few days ago, can I have the honour of taking you out for dinner today" Jake askedAmber pursed her lip thinking about what Jake asked, she shrugged her shoulder and said“why not” “Great" Jake said “I’ll pick you up by 7pm"“okay" Amber said and hung up, she strolled over to her wardrobe to look for a dress to wear.She checked her time and noticed it was 5:30pm, she had an hour and thirty minutes to get ready, her stomach growl and she pat her belly saying“Behave, we’re eating out tonight"By 6:30pm Amber stepped out of her room wearing velvet brown short gown, she checked the time and realised there was thirty minutes more, looking down and her tummy she tsk her teeth and sat down abruptly on the chair.“Ahhhh, am hungrryy” she growl, she heard the door bell and rush there.“Oh thank God, I thought I w
A man rushed into the restaurant looking around frantically, he bumped into waiter carrying the tray of food for the couple by the right side of Amber, knocking the tray out and unto the man reading a newspaper in front of his partner, the hot food made him jump to his feet, he bent his head to examine the damage to his clothe and his cap fell off, the waiter was apologising profusely.“Am so sorry sir, am sorry please"“it’s okay, the stain is not too much"The man said Amber looked up to see the drama unfolding and was shocked to see Todd Anderson, her mouth open and she stood up without even realising it, her feet seems to have a mind of their own as they moved of their own accord to where Todd stood, Jake followed her quietly, Amber stopped in front of Todd looking at him straight in the eyes, she turned to see the woman with him and it was Alice.“Oh, I see" Amber said throwing her hands in the air.“Good thing I left huh, now you can make your relationship public but with me it
Todd looked at the clock ticking every second and his brow furrowed, the time is 9:00am and Amber wasn’t at the office yet, she should have at least called in sick or something, he thought. He tapped his leg on the ground, he became really agitated when by 9:30am she was still not around, he picked up the land line in his office and dialled a number.“come to my office" he said into the phone, few minutes later there was a knock on the door and Jen stepped in.“why is your friend not at work" Todd asked not in the mood for any exchange of pleasantries.“huh" Jen said looking confused.“I’ll find out right away" She said and stepped out of Todd’s office.She dialled Amber’s number on her phone and it rang, after the third ringing. She picked up.“Hi" she slurred into the phoneJen looked at the screen to be sure she dialled the right number.“Amb, is that you” she asked.“yeess" Amber said, her words sounding slurring once again“Are you drunk, at this time, what’s wrong, why are you n
Todd walked out as soon as the presentations were over, the winner would be contacted via a mail so there was nothing more to wait for, Rick ran up to him just as he was about to enter his car.“Todd Anderson”He said and Todd paused, he knows that voice, he can never forget the voice of someone he once considered a friend “Rick”Todd said as he turned back to face Rick Warren“you were going to leave without saying hello”Rick said flashing a fake smile,Todd didn’t smile instead he clenched his jaw as he said“i see you haven’t gotten rid of your dirty tricks and games so why would I say hello, we have nothing to talk about”“Oh but I think we do”Rick said“no we don’t”Todd said turning towards his car“don’t you want to know how I got your design, ain’t you tempted to know who the mole is in your company”Todd turned back to Rick and saw his satisfactory smile.Sensing it was one of Rick’s dirty tricks Todd smile and said.“NO”Then he turned and entered his car
Few days later.“I can’t believe my wedding was ruined, just like that”Amber said, as she sat beside Ann in her hospital ward.“am sorry things turned out this way”“Ann, I should be thanking you for pushing me out of harm’s way”Amber said, then she propped her chin with one hand and said.“Honestly I had a feeling something was going to happen, I had a bad dream the night before that’s why I had that anxiety attack at the door”Amber confessed to Ann who raised her head slightly and said.“Wow, it’s so weird though I could’ve sworn someone tampered with it cause when I checked the venue yesterday, it looked fine and why did it drop at the moment you were passing”“ I think you’re right Ann, someone must have done something to the iron”Amber said, her eyes wide from her discovery.“Hold on, I’ll call Todd”The phone rang but there was no response “Oh I forgot, he’s probably at the bid”Amber said, her shoulders slummed and her eyes dulled.“what’s wrong Amber”Ann
“is your friend okay”Ann whispered to Amber.“Who”Amber asked not knowing who Ann was referring to amonge all the ladies present for the bachelorette party.“Jen, she seems to be put of it”Ann said pointing at Jen who was currently at the balcony making a call.“yeah, I noticed she seems off but I can’t quite place my finger on it, maybe I’ll just ask her”Amber said getting up.Ann shrugged and walked away to get herself a drink.Jen was rounding up with her call when Amber got to her.“Okay, let me know what you think, later”She said and hung up the call.“Are you okay Jen”Amber asked, her eyes filled with concern.“Am okay, why do you ask”Jen asked seeing the concern on Amber’s face.“You seem to be out of it lately, you seem jumpy and anxious, I think”Amber said scrunching her nose.“ Thanks for your concern but am okay, just a little stressed out, you know with the upcoming bid and all, documents keep moving here and there but am good and I promise to be
It took Amber a few weeks to get back into the wedding planning mood but when she thought she was over it she decided to pay her father a visit along with Ann who seem to coming around more.She has been so worried about Amber and has since lost the thirst for gambling.“Ann come on, let’s go”Amber said for the fifth time, she has been waiting for Ann for the past fifteen minutes.“am ready”Ann said coming out of Amber’s room where she had been retouching her make up.“finally”Amber said rolling her eyes.Stepping out of the house the twin stepped into the Benz waiting Outside, Todd had arranger for a car and a driver for Amber since the incident.“hi Greg”Amber and Ann chorused at the same time and the two laughed at themselves for talking in sync it happens often when they were little but as they grew older and drifted apart they seem to lose their bond.Smiling they settled in while Greg drove them downtown to their old house.When the car finally stopped, Amber and
“Am really sorry for putting you in harm’s way"Ann said, sitting on the chair opposite Amber.“you’ve apologised severally and I have something to say as well"Amber said coming to sit beside Ann.“A week ago before the incident, we were talking about Dad and I said some things I wish I didn’t”Ann raised her hand to stop Amber and said.“you didn’t say anything wrong, you were right, my lifestyle is toxic and I need to change, I got you into trouble, I can’t forgive myself if something had happened to you all because I couldn’t discipline myself"“it’s okay Ann and I appreciate you but I also know your gambling addiction started because you were looking for means to raise money for us back then, I shouldn’t have been so harsh and am sorry, Please come for my wedding, I’ll invite Dad as well"Amber said tears brimming in her eyes.Ann couldn’t help crying as well as she said.“I don’t have an excuse Amb, you’re the most important person to me and I don’t know what I would have done if
The next day, Todd was waiting for Jack Ray by the old creek as agreed, he had a black bag with him, he had been standing for sometime with no word from Jack Ray, turning around to see if anyone was around, he spotted a black figure from an abandoned building, starring at it, the figure moved closer and soon he could see the man's features.Jack Ray was not hunk, he wasn’t what Todd had expected at all, he was smallish in stature with bright eyes, no one would have suspected he was a criminal.“nice of you to show up"Jack Ray said in an unbothered tone.“where is she"Todd said unable to contain his anxiousness.“not so soon, the money first"Jack Ray said signalling for him to bring the bag.Todd’s eyes were slightly red from anger but there wasn’t much he could do, all he could do now was to follow the plan and hope all works out as planned, they had to involve the police when Ann told them who they were dealing with, Jack Ray is a top criminal who has never been caught due to his
“I don’t think Jen as anything to do with this, Alice as been watching her all this while and she said Jen didn’t make any plan to kidnap Amber"Stanley explained to Todd who couldn’t sit in a spot, he had been pacing up and down his office, at first when he didn’t see Amber yesterday he had thought she was having a good time with her sister and didn’t want to disturb their bonding time but when it was night time and he still didn’t hear from her, he became really worried, he had called her line severally but it was switched off, he tried calling Ann as well but she wasn’t reachable.“here, call Ann again"Todd said dropping a paper containing Ann's number in front of Stanley, just then the door opened to Carl came in.“have you found anything"He asked the moment he was in the office.“no and I can’t stand this anymore"Todd said, his eyes red from exhaustion and fury, he punched the wall with his fist, Carl rushed to him and said.“easy man, we’ll find her”“She picked"Stanley shou
When Amber came to, she was sitting on the floor in a dimly lit room, she could barely make out anything in the room, but she knew the room wasn’t empty, she could vaguely make out shapes that looked like a chair and a bed, her hands were tied to her back and her legs tied together, she could feel the hardness of the rope against her skin, not knowing what to do she yelled.“hello"Not hearing any sound she shouted again“Is anyone here"She was about shouting again when the door suddenly open.The hefty man she had walked into at the store was standing by the door, he pressed a switch and lights came on.Looking at the man, Amber felt her throat was dry, she liked her lower lip with her tongue and said“Please can I get water"Taken aback by her request the hefty man grunt.He had expected her to be scared and shiver at the sight of him.He turned back and went out, coming back few seconds later with a bottle of water.“here"He said in a husky voice, stretching the bottle water to
“wait, not now" Jen said into her phone, she had stepped aside to pick a call, leaving Amber with Todd, the engagement party had been a success, the media there had capture every breath taking moment of it and this prompted Rick to give Jen a call telling her how they should strike now but Jen had a better idea, now is not the time to strike, she had everything planned out, a sly smile appeared on her face but she quickly wiped it off when Amber touched her arm and said“Hey maiden of honour"Turning back swiftly Jen quickly said into the phone“I’ll call you later”she said into the phone, not waiting for a response before cutting the callShe smiled at Amber and said.“really! am your maid of honour"“of course, who else would it be, you are my best friend and meeting Todd was also all because of you" Amber said, smiling genuinely at Jen as she hugged her.“That’s true I did help you guys meet" she muttered through gritted teeth and smiled as she hugged Amber.“Daddy said you’ll be