The light flicked on mid scream. My voice stopped short at the sight."Mr Drey?" There was a scared and distressed look on his face. Most likely from my fright."Why did you scream?" He left the door post and walked forward."You scared me. I was supposed to be the only one on this floor." I placed my hand on my racing heart."Why are you still here? And in the dark at..." He looked at his wrist"...9pm?""There was so much to do and I didn't want to leave without completing the icons." He sighed a long sigh. He motioned to the laptop."Let me see what you've done so far."My heart jumped to my throat as I swallowed nervously."Uhm... how about I show you tomorrow?" He was confused"Why tomorrow? You're here now." He made total sense but as he moved closer, all I could think about was how he smelled and the fact that only two of us were probably left in the building asides security.He had ditched his suit for
"Please come up to the first floor." The secretary had said. The ride to the first floor had me thinking about every life choice that had led me up to this point. I scrambled my brain trying to look for what I might've done wrong and if it was related to the commotion happening on apparently, every floor.I didn't have to wonder for much longer. I had reached the first floor.I walked up to the secretary and she asked me to hold on till Mr Drey was ready.Five minutes later I was called into his office."Miss Victoria, you're here. Please have a seat." Josh was nowhere to be found this time as I looked around.Mr Drey seemed to be in a chipper mood, only confusing me further.Without wasting time, he dropped the exact shoe I was dreading."You'll be taking over the design team as the team leader.""Wh..what?" I stuttered, my brain finding it difficult to catch up."What do you mean team leader? What about Jeni?" When I came to think a
I froze. I hadn't heard from him in at least 6 months so, there was absolutely no reason for him to call me. The phone stopped ringing. Maybe it was a mistake. I walked into my room and slumped on the bed. My phone rang again and this thing, I answered the call. I didn't mutter a word and waited for him to speak."Hey!" Michael had always had a hold on me. I had loved his soft voice. The gentle way with which he spoke. I had fallen for him almost immediately but then I remembered what he did. Who he did. He had no right to sound so chipper over the phone."Yes?" "You okay?""Yes." He was only going to get one worded answers from me.He chuckled as if nothing affected him. As if he wasn't in the wrong. As if my feelings never mattered."You're moody as usual." I could hear him smile over the phone and tongue cut loose."What do you want?" Anger apparent in my tone."Chill!" He chuckled again. I was seconds away from smashing my phone."I just wanted to check up on you and invite you t
The MOD app had taken the world by storm and we were recording numbers we never imagined. It was a huge success."Damn girl! I knew you could do it" Thea yelled over the noise in the club. She'd thought it was something worth celebrating and so, we found ourselves at the club, on a typical friday night.I peered around trying to be subtle as possible. Thea gasped beside me, a sly smile on her face."You're looking for him, aren't you?" "What? Pfft. No!" I said a little too quickly."You are. Oh my God. You like him!" I shushed her."No, I don't. I was just looking around.""Yeah, for him." I rolled my eyes and asked her to drop it. There was a one in a million chance that he was actually going to come around.He didn't and I didn't want to admit to myself that I was actually disappointed. I had to distance myself from him. I had to forget every brush of his skin on my skin. Every smile he had given me because he didn't like me. He was only appreciative of my work. I groaned as I drag
“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
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