“I don’t think you did it” My hands froze over the door handle.“You don’t?” I sniffled. Darn it! I promised myself I wasn’t going to cry. I turned back and looked at him and I could swear his eyes softened a bit. I wiped my face quickly.“The hell is wrong with you man? Here.” Josh handed me a tissue. I muttered a thank you and sat down. “I’m not sure who did it but I’ll find out.” His jaw locked.I tried to think hard on who could’ve done it but I came up short. Josh rubbed my shoulder and whispered in my ears.“Don’t mind him. He’s been irritable lately because he hasn’t had a woman in years.” My nose scrunched up in disgust.“Ew!” I smacked his arm. I didn’t need to know that. Mr Drey’s eyes locked on Josh’s arm across my shoulders and I felt the urge to move it away. I didn’t. I stared at him instead. He was acting like a girl on her period. One minute he was fine, the next, he was angry. Josh didn’t notice him glaring daggers at him. As usual, he was always oblivious to his sur
“Dara, would you mind if I put you in charge of the team of the team today?” I spared a glance at her as I hurriedly stuffed my bag with work materials and everything I couldn’t take from home for an impromptu trip with Kol. Dara had been the most supportive and she had mad skills in design. She was capable of handling the team. All she needed was to be bolder and this task was supposed to help her do that. Her eyes bulged behind her glasses making her look funny. Those lenses were quite thick. “I’m sorry to spring this up on you last minutes but I believe in you. You can do it.” I cheered her on as I picked up my bag. To ease her stress, I asked for the team to cooperate with her and that if she had any issues with any of them or any at all, she shouldn’t hesitate to reach out to me. I had no idea where we were going. Only that we were going somewhere far. Kol’s call had woken me up so early in the morning. “Be ready by 10, we’ll be leaving for the airport. There is a global tech
I tried to pull my hand back but he didn’t let me go. The action forced us closer instead. My heart palpitated dangerously in my chest at the dark look on his face. My eyes fell to his lips as his tongue darted out to lick them. Goosebumps erupted all over my flesh and my face subconsciously moved closer to his till there was only a hair’s breadth separating us. I could feel his warm breath over my face. My lips parted in anticipation. All I wanted in that moment was for him to close the distance between us and seal my lips with his. I wanted to know if I was the only one with those emotions raging inside me, stirring my heart in his direction. He leaned forward and I closed my eyes in anticipation. A groan from Josh forced my eyes open and I realised what I was doing. What could’ve happened. What I could’ve let happen. I took advantage of the momentary distraction and pulled my hand from his, stumbling backwards. His face hardened as we moved away from each other. Was he realising
He laughed. His laugh was so loud that I worried about him. For the first time I ever, I saw dimples in his cheeks. I had no idea he had them. I hated that he had more hidden features that made him more attractive than he already was. Dimples or not, I was still pissed at him."What exactly is funny Mr Drey?" My brows rose in defiance. I folded my hands over my chest, unconsciously lifting my b**bs higher. It didn't go unnoticed by him. I swallowed as he forced me into the door, the handle digging into my back."I thought I told you to call me Kol." "It's my mouth. I can call you whatever I want." I replied acidly. I expected him to draw back and leave in annoyance. He didn't. "and your mouth will put you in trouble." He said, placing his index finger on my lower lip. I inhaled sharply. I could hear my heart pounding so loudly in my chest. He moved his gaze from my lips and looked down into my eyes. My breath stopped short. His pupils were dilated and he leaned forward. I had no id
I didn't have to wonder long. The lips that had found mine pressed together firmly in a thin line.When I woke up, I hadn't found him. I had walked to his door to knock when Josh found me."He already left." I turned to Josh, my mouth open to question him."He had to be there earlier than us to meet certain people. We'll just join him there." He shrugged.My face fell in disappointment. I was hoping we could see, so we could talk about what transpired between I us last night. My fingers found my lips and I blushed at the thought."Are you okay?" "What? Of course I am.""Well, you look flushed." I reached up to my face and felt my cheeks. They felt hot."I am." I reassured him, smiling. We got to the venue which was only 10 minutes away from our hotel. The conference centre was so huge in comparison to most buildings I'd been in. Josh had left to go find Kol and asked me not to move too far so he could locate me easily.I looked around with my mouth ajar in awe. The lights looked like
"Wha..what?" My eyes bulged wide, not believing my ears. I waited for him to explain himself."I shouldn't have kissed you." My heart shattered into thousands of fragments. My eyes welled up but I let him continue."I'm sorry I did. I wasn't thinking straight. After seeing you and you pissing me off..." He pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes like he was in pain. He wasn't. I was. As if reminding himself he was veering off track, he said."I can't break my own rules. I didn't want to get involved with anyone who has had something to do with Jason or a co-worker." And I was both.I nodded my head in solemn realisation."I understand." He looked shocked. Like he hadn't expected me to be chill about it. "Tori..." I hated how lovely the moniker had sounded from his lips. I hated that I loved it."Victoria to you. Only Josh gets to call me that." His face hardened at that. He had no right to be upset. I was the one who let him kiss me. I was the fool. I walked to the door
'What on earth was he doing here? Of all the places to be on a Friday night' I wondered. Mr Clueless got the idea and left. Kol sat down where he'd vacated. I didn't turn to look at him. I couldn't. I had deluded myself into thinking I didn't like him that much and could handle seeing him but today felt different. We were outside the confines of a work-related environment. Both of us said nothing as he ordered a bottle of scotch, neat. I picked up my phone just to fill time. I continued to scroll through it when a notification came in. I'd forgotten I still followed Michael on I*******m. He'd updated his account with a post. It was a digital wedding invitation card alongside a few photos of the couple. I thought I would feel the pain. That I'd be livid but I felt numb instead. I ran over my screen with my thumb. He hadn't wanted me the same way Kol hadn't. I smiled bitterly. Maybe there was something wrong with me. "Hey." He said. I didn't look up at him and I didn't repl
"What?"I cleaned my ears to make sure I wasn't just hearing things. He rolled his eyes."I said I need your help." He gritted his teeth. I was tempted to smile but I played it cool. Sure, I had risen to the role of assistant team manager in quite a short time but, I never thought the day would come where he'd outrightly ask for my help."What do you need help with?" "I've selected a handful of people who I've decided to work with. We're about to launch a new device, a tablet with a different feature than the ones we have created and we're trying to keep it hush till the launch day." Because of Jason. He didn't need to say it.Jason was just a big bully and a scoundrel. I could see the pain on his face when he said it no matter how quickly he tried to mask it. It was hard for me to admit it to myself but I'd begun to notice the small details about him. The subtle way he scratched his chin when he was confused or the way his eyebrows rose subtly when he was shocked."So, do you agree
EPILOGUE“Kol, this doesn’t look right.” Kol pulled the Christmas tree to the left again. I could see his veins about to pop as I shook my head. We’d been at it for almost 30 minutes straight and Kol was getting tired.“A little…” He groaned as he moved the tree a little to the right. There!“Perfect.” I huffed like I was the one doing all the work. Kol collapsed on the rug for a few minutes, probably thinking of new ways to most like strangle me and then stood up.“Baby, I’m sorry.” I kneaded his shoulders, his body relaxing under my touch.“It’s fine.” I placed a kiss on his back hoping to relieve his muscles but he turned rigid instead. I didn’t stop kissing his back though.“I think you should stop. Your dad will be coming over in a few hours and I would prefer the house smelling like hot chocolate and cookies.” He spun around to face me, grabbing my jaw.“Not wild s*x.” He always had a way of leaving me w*t and speechless every d*mn time.Now I wanted the whole place to smell like
“I cannot believe you woke up late. We should’ve left hours ago.” I smacked my forehead in exasperation.“You mean 30 minutes ago.”“You’re late. It’s all that matters.”Dimitri had an amused smile on his face as he watched Charlie and I bicker in the plane. They were all late, except for Kol and me. That was pretty much a given but Charlie was the latest of them all.“Can you too stop fighting so I can enjoy my champagne?” Josh was pouring a glass for Thea who had her sunglasses on, even in the plane, seemingly unbothered about everything.Both of them had been pissing me off.“What the f*ck is going on between both of you?”“They shagged.” Charlie pipped up beside me.“Ew! I cannot believe this.” My nose wrinkled in grossness.“Pay up.” Kol stretched out his hands. I now owed him a couple hundred dollars. Thea’s brows pinched together in confusion and sudden realisation.“They bet on us.” She pointed accusingly.“Why am I not surprised?” Josh glared at us, mainly at Kol.“How much?”
“Imagine having time to take care of your family because your app helps you work out your day effectively from just keeping track of what you do per time.”“We are in the age of health and lifestyle. An app that could sync up your life with routines that have been mastered by our app would make life so easier.” Everyone was paying rapt attention as I continued to speak.“For example, Miss Tina doesn’t usually work out but she syncs her app to her health. On Monday, she works out by 9, on Tuesday, she does the same. On Wednesday, she doesn’t work out at all. Maybe something else has her preoccupied at that moment.Our app notices these routines you have skipped throughout the day and reminds you at 9 that you haven’t worked out. You’re not forgetting anything and you’re not storing unnecessary data in you brain.”“It doesn’t just work with health, it works for anything that has a routine. Something you do every time. You don’t have any activity you’re forgetting because something is re
“How?” I couldn’t process my words. It was like I had entered a new realm where the sun had been replaced with fairy lights. Concrete had been replaced with soft grass that tickled my feet. I pried open strings of steams and walked into the space before me.“Was that…” Julia Michael’s song played in the background but this song felt different than when I first heard it. It felt like a lifeline, my lifeline. The song that had pulled me out of a wandering abyss at the hospital.I’d been so caught up in the beauty of the environment that I hadn’t noticed Kol in the centre of everything, standing right there. My eyes welled up with tears and my mouth felt very dry.I walked slowly to him and stopped where he stood.“Kol, what is all this?” I gestured to everything he’d set up. His hands found mine and squeezed.I looked up at him and my heart raced within its cage. There was a new emotion in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. Contentment. He seemed content with everything, his life. Gosh, I w
“Thea, meet Charlie. Charlie, meet Thea.” I motioned to both of them as we converged outside Thea’s new place. She’d moved into Charlie’s neighbourhood and thought we should all just meet at her place since she hadn’t been properly introduced to Charlie.Both of them smiled at each other and Thea being Thea just ran off her mouth.“You’re so pretty. D*mn. If I were into girls, I would lick you up.” I threw her a disgusted look. Some thoughts were better left as thoughts. Charlie didn’t mind though as her cheeks turned rosy.“Can we please go inside?” I rolled my eyes at both of them.We joked around for a few hours and I could tell that they would be fast friends. They were so similar in nature, both beautiful, fashionable and resilient, tough nuts to crack, but would defend what they thought was right with all they had.Thea looked at her phone surreptitiously and turned it off. She’d been acting edgy all day. Was she expecting a call from someone?“What is it?” I whispered beside he
We sat inside David's study. A room with wood that looked richer than my bank account. It probably was richer. The shelf behind him held so many books that had been considered priceless or just lost to most of the world.His house looked just as elegant as it did outside on the inside. The couches smelled of expensive leather and one could smell a citrus-cinnamon scent everywhere else.We all sat in the living room just staring at one another until Gerald came in to ask for what we'd eat, his stare at me unwavering. I shifted uncomfortably in my seat.We'd all echoed the same thing."No, thank you. I'm fine."When he saw no need for his services, he calmly left the room, sparing me a final glance before exiting the door.I didn't know where to start or how to David's face wasn't welcoming. He looked angry but he hadn't thrown me out yet. So, that counted for something.Instead of leading with a 'why the f*ck did you help me?', I asked something entirely different. "How long have you
I went up to the room and lay in bed, looking up at the ceiling but not noticing it.First I was shocked, then I was mad. Shortly after I was confused. Why?Kol walked on eggshells around me all night, not knowing how to handle the situation for once. I understood that there was no choice and he was the only option in that moment but why had he done it?I was under the impression that he hated me and that I should’ve died in place of his wife. He’d made that abundantly clear. If you asked me, I thought that was a very obvious opportunity for his wishes to be fulfilled.While I continued staring at the ceiling, Kol glanced at me surreptiously.“I’m sorry.” I turned my face to fully look at him.“I’m not mad at you. I would’ve done the same thing.” I would’ve. His life over any other thing. That would’ve been my choice too.“I’m just… honestly, I don’t really know how to feel.” I moved a lock of hair from his forehead and left my hand on his face, cupping his cheek.“That’s fine. If you
FIVE WEEKS LATERTori’s POV.“I swear, I’ll kill him if he tries to bring a spoon near me to feed me.” I hissed through my teeth.Thea chuckled beside me as she got the bath ready for me. I’d come back from the hospital and Kol had been treating me like I was made of glass, carrying me everywhere, spoon-feeding me, tucking me in bed.I was tired and he was slowly getting on my nerves. I’d thrown a fit when he’d demanded that I let him feed me. My arms were f*cking fine. I was fine. I still needed bed rest but I could do a few activities without groaning so loudly.“It is so weird to see Kol like this. I think it’s best if you just let him baby you. We don’t know when he’d go back to cold - no emotions Kol.” She was right but it was getting overbearing.I rolled my eyes at her.“I am serious about killing him though. He won’t go beyond holding my hands though.”“What else do you want him to do? He’s scared he might break you.” Her eyes glinted mischievously at me. I scrunched up my nos
Tori was awake. I couldn’t believe my eyes. The doctors couldn’t either.They were all shocked at her miraculous recovery. She could barely speak or move much. She still needed weeks of rest and medical care but she was awake. It was all that mattered.I watched her sleep and wake up, drink water when she was parched, cleaned her myself and then watched her some more for long hours.My phone rang, disrupting my new position as the room hawk and mother hen according to Thea who was asleep in a very uncomfortable position by the way.“How’s she?” Josh had also rushed over, dropping every other thing when he had heard she was awake but returned back to work shortly after.“She’s asleep.” He sighed deeply and then continued to talk some more about work. We were doing fine, thanks to Josh. The short period when Tori was almost lifeless, there were moments of reflection where I realised that not a lot actually mattered to me in the grand scheme of things. The grand scheme of things being sp