SOPHIE'S POVIt was about 4 in the morning; I had woken up about three hours earlier to work on the last phase of my ongoing research. I was having a hard time concentrating; my mind kept going back to days ago and my surprise encounters with Adam. But I had promised myself not to grant him much space in my heart ever again.I slept late yesterday on the same office project, dozing on and off, fighting off the urge to think and the urge to sleep all at once. Even when I later succumbed to sleep, I had only been able to sleep for about four hours.Now in my office, I was back to the same research, which had to do with discrepancies I noticed in the financial data for the month of March. My trace led me back to the same marketing department alongside another department this time around, which was the sales department. Apparently, these new yet-to-be identified culprits of mine have also been selling Harrington's customer data records, among others, to external agents, making the company
ELLIOT'S POV"We are in the building now, sir." Joseph's cheerful voice was announced through the phone."Alright, good...good. Are they all with you?" I asked, getting up."Yes, all three of them," Joseph responded."What about their mom?"Joseph took a pause before he said,"Their mum? Erm, yeah, we are going to see her first at her office now.""Good, do that and get back to me; I will be waiting in my office.""Alright, sir."I hung up and went back to take a seat, taking a few calming breaths in while counting to ten slowly in my mind. Sophie wasn’t aware that I had asked Joseph to bring me the kids from school, nor was Joseph aware that I had not informed Sophie beforehand. I wouldn’t say it was really a noble way to go about it, but it was something I felt I had to do if I was serious about making Sophie my date for tomorrow’s party. This was me literally grasping at stra
ELLIOT'S POVI looked up from where I was sitting with a stupefied expression plastered on my face. Gerald was still standing by my desk. After he made the announcement about Sophie and her new date, Carter, my shoulders suddenly shrank."The kids really mentioned that there was someone like that. But I thought they had said he was only an old friend."I thought to myself, taking on a demeanor that screamed of defeat."Sir, are you still waiting for the other members of staff like you said?" Gerald asked when he noticed I had become silent for too long.I looked up at him tiredly. "Just go; I'll join you," I ordered, swinging my hands flimsily.“Alright, sir.”He curtsied and breezed out.I supported my jaw with one of my hands, thinking about what I was supposed to do next. This coming Sunday, Father had fixed a meeting between just the both of us. He was certainly going to ask questions about the date I informed him about the last time he came, and when he did, I wondered what in th
GENERAL POV"Your mummy is going to take a little bit longer at the office; you guys know they're holding an event at work today, right?" Joseph asked cheerily. He was with the kids in the car, driving them home after picking them up from school."Yeah, we know. Is that where we are going now?" Isabella asked with hopeful eyes."No, I'm taking you guys home, but don't worry, she won't take long; it's just a quick party." He reassured them.The kids exchanged glances with themselves, speaking with their eyes. Although their mom had casually made reference to a little event that would take her time at work earlier in the day when they were going to school, she had not emphasized that it would be a party.It was now, after Mr. Joseph’s announcement, that they remembered Mr. Elliot’s last statement to them the last time they saw him, about a party he was going to be organizing, and that they should wish him luck.Nathan raised his head to speak, playing along and proceeding to feign ignor
SOPHIE'S POVI stood near the fridge, pouring myself a glass of orange juice. It was quite late into the night—about some minutes past 11 p.m.—and my kids were already fast asleep in their room. Tomorrow was a work day, yet I still couldn't bring myself to fall asleep. My laptop lay half shut on the sitting room center table, flashing a glimpse of my Polar Bear screensaver.I have been working for about four hours since Carter left and have even made considerable progress on the project I started some days ago, particularly the aspect relating to unveiling those behind the illegal sale of company data records to competitors.I had taken a break to get some juice, and immediately I noticed I was beginning to lose concentration. For some reason, I had been really trying hard not to reminisce too much about the very dramatic day that had just passed. But even now, after I had gotten the drink, the suspended memories still had not gone away, especially with the kids asleep and the whole h
GENERAL POVNathan woke up the next day sitting up on his bed; the room was still covered in darkness. Yesterday night wasn't really a comfortable one for him. He had spent the night laying half asleep and half awake, closing and opening his eyes, swaying from side to side on his bunk bed.He had been preoccupied with thoughts about Candidate 1 and how to meet up with him again. Nathan felt Mr. Elliot needed to know that their mother had not told his siblings and himself anything about going with Carter to his party; he hoped the man had not started to feel betrayed.He leaped down from the bed, and from a corner of the room, he heard a rustle.He froze halfway.“Who’s there?” He asked, looking a bit frightened.“It’s me, Owen.”"Gosh, you scared me,” Nathan said, looking relieved, placing one of his slender hands on his chest.“You mean you’ve been awake all this time?" Nathan asked further, squinting at Owen’s crouched figure in the corner. "Yeah," Owen said again.Nathan tottered o
L"We are almost there." I said from where I was sitting next to the taxi driver in the Uber we had booked for the trip. We had been on the road for the past one hour and 30 minutes, and we were finally arriving at the affluent scenery of Montgomery County—the same county where I was told my mother was born and had grown up. I took in deep breaths as I tried to re-invoke little clips of childhood memories I had of the place. Though I never got to see my mother in real life, the little time I spent here during the first three years of my life, was enough to convince me of the kind of person my mother must have been, a gentle person. This county was a place for the gentle. Then, I guess at that time my father was not so much of a zealot, he would bring me here accompanied by Vivian who was still my nanny at the time, I still remember myself being tied to her back bouncing back and forth whenever she strolled through the gullies, and some other memories of me running with some of my pla
SOPHIE'S POV "Good to see you, Mr. Elliot; my siblings and I have been dying to see you again." Isabella cheered, still wrapped up in Elliot's arms and clinging to him. I continued to watch from a corner, like an uninvited guest."Same here, my angel; I've been losing sleep, wishing to see my friends again," Elliot responded just as charitably, beaming with smiles from ear to ear.“Did you just say you were losing sleep?” Nathan asked."Yeah," Elliot affirmed cheerily.“Oh my God, that literally was my past 24 hours,” Nathan interjected, and I furrowed my brows, wondering what he meant by that.“Mine too.” Owen chirped in, also smiling.“It's obvious we have all really missed each other’s company,” Elliot said, laughing loudly in a way that was so unlike him.Then he glanced in my direction and seemed to remember only at that moment that I was still there. "Oh." He exclaimed before turning to the kids and saying.“One minute, guys.” He walked over to me with his palms together and