I glued my eyes to my laptop, stared at it ardently, yet I wasn't able to pay attention to what I was doing. I needed to do this work as soon as possible. To worsen all this, Rachel had gone on a vacation, Erin was busy doing her work, which meant there was no one to help me out.
Frustrated, I slammed the laptop shut, ran my fingers through my hair. Why was I this distracted? Was it because of—
"You're okay?" Erin asked.
I glimpsed at her, nodded. Goodness knew why she had been staring at me since God-knew-when. I hoped she wasn't going to talk about something unimportant. Yeah, about my feelings.
"So, about what we spoke about. Um, are you gonna tell him how you feel?" She asked. I knew it.
"I thought we already talked about that. I said not to say anything about it." I threw my arms up.
She giggled. "Fine, fine. But well,
I ensured the tears wouldn't leave my eyes. I was confused, shaken, hurt. To aggravate my fear, Becca and Jan came in as well. Becca was smirking, her stupid mom walking in like a pompous idiot.I sighed to hide my fear. Standing up, I stood in front of my so-called dad, and swallowed hard. "What're you doing here?" I questioned him.He sniggered. Seeing how his face wrinkled, I realized that the man I used to know was quite different. He looked older. But how in the world did he not get smarter, though he was this old already?"Louella." He took a step close. Also, his cracky voice was proof he was getting so old. "Don't try to play smart. You remember the contract, don't you? Did you think you'll be able to escape my haunt?"I gulped in. The only contract I knew about, was the one I had signed with him years ago. And, as far as I knew, that contract had been clarified. What debt was he
Like a frozen pig, I sat on the bench which was in the empty park, thinking of the next step to take. I was really trembling in fear. What if dad was going to take thirty percent of my business? But, the thing was, if that document was real, why had he just begun to claim he owned that percentage? Why hadn't he come to me since all these years?"Fire everyone on that floor! You all are stupid!" Seth yelled over the phone. He was probably scolding his workers for allowing dad, Becca and Jan to come into his office.I tugged my hand to the bench, deep in thoughts. My cheek no longer hurt, but there was an after pain crawling around me. Seth had suggested we came here to enjoy the cool breeze, but that didn't stop me from being so tense."Alright, bye," Seth added before turning to me. He was glaring, but only sighed when our eyes met. He sat on the bench, cleared his throat. "Um, so you're okay?"
"And it's…" Jerome began explaining all that had happened between Jamie and him, but I literally trailed off, though I was still staring at him. He was seated on the couch opposite me, the small, love-shaped glass table separating us.All that ran in my head was the thought of why Louella had pecked me. I understood that she had been emotional at the time, but the Louella I knew, wouldn't just kiss anyone. She was too mean to do that. Wait, did she like me?"Oh my gosh," that involuntarily slipped from my lips in a whisper."You're okay?" Jerome snapped me off my thoughts.I blinked about five. "O-Oh yeah. I'm good. So, did you tell Erin about it?""Tell Erin?" He dropped his jaw. After staring blankly at me for a while, he lowered his eyebrows. "Wait, have you been listening to me? I was talking about Jamie, not Erin. Erin's got nothing to do with all th
I had gotten a text from the police officer I usually spoke with, while helping Erin to pack her last set of boxes into the trunk of her car. The officer had said he needed to see me, but because of my, I would say, date with Seth, I wasn't going to be able to see the officer. He had told me that the police had found a clearer footage of the parking lot, from the night I had had an accident.Also, I didn't want to see the officer because, if I got to find out that it was Becca and Jan who had planned the accident, I would be quite sad. I didn't want my night to get ruined. I just wanted to have a nice dinner with Seth.I sighed, and pushed the last big box into the trunk of Erin's car. Done with that, I slammed the door of the trunk, turned to her. She was smiling, which was quite weird."Why didn't you ask your men to do it? It's weird to see you do something like this," she said.
My reputation, or my feelings?My reputation, or my feelings?That question rang in my head like a jingling bell. I knew I had made a conclusion to tell him about my feelings, but seriously, I was still Louella. What if I told him about it, and he said he didn't like me? Wouldn't that ruin my reputation?Sonya raised a brow at me. "A reason for that? Babe, this man's not even yours.""We're engaged." I lingered my hand in the air, showing her the ring from our fake proposal.She threw her head back, burst out laughing, her laugh sounding like some kind of infected rabbit which was crying. "Gosh, you're silly. Do you think I'm not aware of that shit? I know it's a fake proposal."I turned to Seth. So he had told her that? I had thought we had made a deal to not tell anyone that our engagement was fake. The reason we had made the deal was because the fake
I looked away first. Keeping my hands in the pocket of my jacket, I sauntered towards her, and sat in the space beside her. I knew she still had her eyes on me, so I didn't attempt to look at her. I only looked up at the sky."When will these rainy days end?" I started a conversation with her."Hey, don't divert from the topic. I asked you why you're here," she blurted out.I turned to her. "You think I'm joking? I said to make you mine."She scoffed. "Pi-lease, just shut up. If you know you don't have anything to say, leave.""Okay. But first, I need us to emphasize on why you pecked me that night." I leaned into my seat, crossed my legs over each other, glued my eyes to her.Suddenly, she spotted something on her shirt, and paid attention to that. "Cause, I was… being emotional.""Really? Is that the reaso
One thing I didn't know how to do was to swim. And here was Louella, probably drowning already. What would I do now? Just as Louella was trying to save herself from the water, I was also trying to save myself. Or save us."Someone help!" She cried, her voice shaky as she gasped for air.I tried grasping her arm, but was scared I would make us drown. How would I help her now? I also needed help.Okay. This was it. I was also going to scream. Maybe if our voices were loud enough, someone would come and help us out.Helpless, I screamed too, "Help! Somebody help!"Was keeping my ego better than risking my life? Surely not. But this was extremely embarrassing.Louella••••••••••I really hated being in water. I was good at
I wasn't comfortable with Harold having to stalk me this much, but well, he had a point. He had said he had done that because he really needed my and Seth's relationship to grow with so much love. He had said he wanted us to spend some time with each other. He had a point, but if I went to London, what would happen to my work?Seth glared at himself, obviously flustered. I rolled my eyes at his childish behavior, and sighed. There was no point in him being angry at his dad. The old man only wanted to help us grow.But, there was one thing that had been creeping in my head since Harold had spoken. He had said that he knew his son could hardly be committed to one woman, which was why he wanted Seth to get used to me. To be honest, that statement had been bothering me. It was kind of giving me some doubts. Like, what if Seth was doing all this to get something from me? I knew I should trust him, but those who I had trusted in the pa
The entire hall was silent. There was no doubt that everyone present in the great crowd in front of me, was in awe, feeling the intensity of the words I was speaking. I smiled a little, pacing around the stage. I stood behind the podium, and cleared my throat. "Now, this goes to the younger women in here." My hands settled on the podium, my shoulders raised proudly. "You see, people still tend to underestimate the power you have. But, I have good news for you. You're capable. What a man can do, you can also do. It's only about the mindset. Anyone can become successful. Don’t let anyone intimidate you." "Yeah," someone from the crowd agreed. I just smiled. They concentrated so much, as if their lives depended on my words. I continued, "Many ladies have lost
Seth laughed at me as I groaned and acted like a child. That was pretty annoying, but well, how could an adult be so scared to take an injection? I hated that thing so, so much.The doctor finally got rid of the syringe, and took care of the injected part of my skin. As soon as he was done with that, he arranged his box, and stood up. I kept squeezing my face like a crying child.He cleared his throat, and started, "Mrs. Lee, you're good to go for your trip. After all the tests we've done, I can confidently tell you that your body system is back to normal. The effects of the poison are completely diminished."I finally smiled. "That's good news. Thanks."Seth held my hand as he sat beside me. "Thanks, do
I sobbed. The pain I was feeling obviously wasn't as crazy as hers, but it felt like mine was worse. She gaped, groans leaving her mouth. Her lips quivered, quite obvious that she wanted to say something. Blood kept gushing out from the left side of her chest, as well as her mouth. Tears left her eyes, the gun dropping from her hand. Her body shook, seeming as if she'd lose her stability soon.I was shocked. Being shocked was an understatement.She was battling to live; battling to save herself.Alarmed, I cried, "Celina!" The moment I attempted to grip her arm, her body impelled backwards. Her legs tripped over each other, and like a weak mango tree, she fell off the cliff.Seeing that, my heart s
The beam of the rising sun shone against my eyes, making me blink slowly. I yawned, the sore pain in my head becoming quite worse. Trying to sit up, I noticed how uncomfortable I was, my hands and legs feeling stuck to something. It took a while for me to open my eyes, and to even notice all that was going on around me. The moment I realized where I was and what was happening, I gasped. I tried sitting straight on this old, dusty floor, and also tried moving away from the ray of the sun which was attacking my eyes. I looked down at my legs which were tied, struggling to help myself out of this bandage. This was already a new day, yet I was still not seen by the police. Were Becca and Celina stronger than them or what? But, I could not remain here, right? If they weren't going to come and get me, it seemed like I would have
I knew I was supposed to run over to him, and cuddled him crazily. Instead, all I was doing was to stare at him. I was really happy. To be honest, in the past few days, I had missed him a lot. There was really no point in denying that."Seth." Gently, I walked over to him, giving him a small smile. He was also smiling, but wasn't saying anything.He cupped my jaw when I reached him. "Sweetie, where have you been?" And pecked my cheek."Gosh, I've missed you." A tear left my eye. What was making me emotional? In such a terrifying situation?He leaned close, hugged me, pecked my forehead. "Oh yes, I've missed you too.""This is really hard for us." I returned his hug, weeping on his chest. "Becca and Celina are doing all this. They really want to have me killed. They're taking it too far.""I know it all. And, most of all, I'm glad you have no
Louella••••••••••I packed the last set of files into my backpack, ready to head out. Spotting a red file on my table, I narrowed my eyes at it, and grabbed it. The moment I skimmed through it, I couldn't help but gape. How in the world had I almost forgotten such an important file? This was the most needed file of all the files I had taken from here.I kept the file in my backpack, slung the backpack over my shoulder. I took a glance at my wrist watch, feeling a bit disturbed and puzzled. I had to leave here soon, before anyone would see me. If Seth had to come now, there was no doubt that he wouldn't want me to leave.First, I had to ensure that I was set to leave here. Once I got back to the beach house, since my phone was already turned on, I would book a flight online, and leave the country for a few months. In the meantime, I would ensure that I
Celina••••••••Becca's complaint was getting too annoying. Why was it so hard for her to understand that we only needed to be as patient as possible? It wasn't as if I wasn't trying my best. Here she was, complaining about her father's betrayal, while I was here, thinking of how to get Seth attracted to me.Days had passed, yet Seth wasn't willing to be close to me. I had gone to his office, and had apologized to me. Yes, he had said he forgave me, but how was I supposed to believe that if he hadn't even called or texted me? It just seemed like my effort to get him was nothing but a waste."Where the heck is Rita?!" Becca barked, smashed her phone against the floor, breathing hard like an insane dog.I rolled my eyes. "Girl, chill. She'll be back soon. I only asked her to grab some files from Louella's office. If we find Louella before
Seth••••••I wasn't feeling so well. Before Louella had come into my life, all I had been doing was to work. But, now that she had gone, it was really hard to work without her. This was so upsetting.Indeed, you only missed your lover when you let her go. To worsen all this, no one knew where she was. I had called her, had texted her, hard searched for her, but it was all to no avail. Maybe I had to file a missing report at the police station. This was too frustrating for me.Dayla walked into my office, a couple of files tugged to her chest. When she dropped the files on my table, she stood in front of the table like a mango tree, looking down.I wiggled a brow at her. "Hey, you need something? Why stand there?""Oh, sorry. I was a bit lost." She laughed weirdly. "Um, someone's here to see you. She says her name is Rita."
Louella••••••••••Staring up at the hazy sky of the evening, seated on the small stool on the porch of this old beach house, I sighed hard. I felt a heavy pain in my chest, feeling the need to cough hard. I knew I was supposed to begin my treatments, but how would I do that when I wasn't willing to go back home?It had been days since I saw anyone. After I had left Seth, I had decided to come to this beach house. This was a place Dad, mom and I used to have a vacation, just before Jan and Becca had come into our lives. Though the place gave me bad memories, I really still liked coming here. It was always filled with serenity.I stared down at my shaky fingers, felt really bad for myself. I didn't know the decision to make. Was I really going to let myself die?In a few days, I would run out of food. I had had some money in my