RAYMOND’S POV “Have you reached out to her yet?” By ‘her’ I was referring to the the alleged owner of the designs my company was accused of plagiarizing. “No. She seemed to have disappeared” “But have you gotten any pictures of her?” “Not yet” “This doesn’t even make any sense. How do we track her if we don’t even know what she looks like?” “Find a picture of her or submit her voice recording to a forensic linguist. If we can’t get to her through her pictures we might as well resort to using her voice” “ Okay, sir” The call with the private investigator I hired to look into the mess my company has found itself, and its been five working days without any result. A subtle movement from behind me caused me to turn. Pollen has woken up. She looks worn out and dehydrated. After puking all over the place the previous night, she delved into long hours of sleep. Af first, I thought she was pretending just to avoid the embarrassment of puking the room, but when it got late into the
POLLEN’S POV “Not again” Raymond said as I turned to leave the moment I found him in the kitchen. “Who is after you?” “No one” I whispered and started towards him with uncertainty. “Then why were you trying to run?” “I wasn’t” He stretched a small bowl towards me, “Get me some water, will you?” He stirred whatever he was cooking with those muscles and abs all bare. “Sure” I got water from the tap and took it to him. “The water” I had to call his attention as he was too busy stirring what I found out to be spaghetti. Why was he cooking in such a deep pot when he could use a frying pan? “Thank you” He was about to pour some water into the pot of spaghetti when I blurted, “Isn’t that spaghetti stir fry?” “It is” He turned to face me and my face flushed. It was too embarrassing that I had to do something, just anything to distract him from making any remark on it. I took the bowl of water from him. “What are you doing?” He gawked at my small self standing right beside h
POLLEN’S POV When Raymond said we were going shopping for the baby, I didn’t expect him to make a detour at the female’s sector for adults.My countenance changed immediately he asked one of the salesgirl to show us their best collections. “Aren’t we here to shop for the baby?” I asked after he was done talking to the salesgirl. “Yes, but we need to get a couple of nice things for Mama bear first” He said without batting an eyelid. His gaze rummaged the store for more clothes, while my poor heart pounded in a mix of shock and excitement. Mama bear? The words echoed in my head and I gave in to the surging feeling of glee. To ensure I don’t get caught, I turned to the opposite direction to smile. I was flustered when his raspy voice asked, “what is funny?” “Nothing” I responded in a firm dismissive tone. “I just saw you smile” “It’s nothing” I mumbled and walked away from him. That darn mirror. I strolled to the back of where he was, we were only demarcated by a high stack of
RAYMOND I rested my back in my chair as Amy wrapped up the zoom meeting that was aimed at solving the plagiarism case involving Vivi Banlop and Beckham’s Fashion Hub. They all waited for me to have a final word before we called it a day. “Jasmine, ensure you are constantly in touch with the investigators. Only call me when you’ve found something tangible” I muttered. “Okay Sir” Jasmine responded in a low tone. Jasmine hasn’t been his bubbly and dramatic self ever since the incident happened. Somehow, he felt he was at fault since he was the one in charge of designs. “Enjoy the rest of your day” I said to them and the meeting concluded. I reached for my phone, which was just beside the system. I haven’t spoken to Natasha for days now and she hasn’t contacted me either. Her mother’s health must be stressing her out. I called her number and it started to ring immediately. It rang until it stopped. That is how it has been for days now. So Instead of bugging her with calls that wou
POLLEN’S POV “Hey” Raymond leaned in to whisper to me, his warm minty breath fanning my face. “Don’t push me away. I just want to make life easier for you. Don’t you think you’ve suffered enough?” He asked in a low soothing tone. “I know, I just don’t…” “Let me help you, Pollen, at least until you are good enough to stand on your own. Until you don’t need me or anyone else. What do you think?” He paused the question at me, so did his eyes. He was so close and staring at me so intently that my heart skipped a few beats. I parted my lips to say something, but the words wouldn’t come.Why was it suddenly so cold? “Raymond…” I was about to bring another excuse when he shut me up with his lips. Yes, he bridged the gap between us and our lips were locked in a kiss that seemed too impossible to be real. But it was happening. My hands were about to run all over him when he abruptly pulled away and left me hanging. “I’m sorry, Pollen. I shouldn’t be doing this. Natasha, she…” His wo
RAYMOND My Secretary, Amy, was already waiting for me alongside Jazz when I pulled into the company. “Good morning, Sir” Amy greeted first and Jazz followed. “Good morning, Mr. Raymond” Jazz mumbled. Mumbling and speaking in a low remorseful tone has been his new way of speaking ever since the incident happened. “Morning” I mumbled under my breath. Ken, who had carried my briefcase from the car, handed it to Amy before leaving the building. “What is it I hear about Vivi Banlop?” I asked. I paid no heed to all the workers who greeted me as we walked through the grand reception hall to the hallway that led to my elevator. Jazz pressed a button and we all went in. “She was gone by the time our investigators arrived at her place this morning” “How did they manage to lose her? Weren’t they paid handsomely?” “They were” “So why were they unable to do their job?” I fumed. The small space that contained the three of us went dead. “What about the guy who is meant to examine the
NATASHA I strode out of my room with my iPad in hand. I’ve been inside since the day dawned, scrutinizing my designs for the last time before forwarding them to PrimRose, a fashion company that I will be working with for a period of two months. I found my mother sprawled on the couch watching TV as usual. That has been her routine since we came to Paris, but I didn’t complain. Not like she had anywhere to go, besides it was better than seeing her with a glass of wine every damn minute. “I booked us flights for tomorrow” I told her as my eyes strained on the iPad screen. “Are we going somewhere?” “Yes. Back to the US” She sat up abruptly, “Why? Didn’t we agree to stay until the scandal dies down?” “Yes. That was my initial plan. But don’t you think it’s lame and stupid? Shouldn’t I be beside the man I claim to love when he needs me the most? I’m surprised you didn’t talk me out of running away” I rolled my eyes at her. “Now it’s my fault?” “Isn’t it obvious? You are my mother,
POLLEN “Don’t push me away. I just want to make life easier for you. Don’t you think you’ve suffered enough?” Raymond’s words re-echoed in my head for the millionth time that day. I curled and hugged myself when I reminisced on how tender and gentle his lips felt on mine after he said those words to me. “Pollen, you need help. You should feel remorse for what you did, but here you are replaying the scene over and over again in your head” I said to myself and rolled in the bed. “You are a bad person. You are helping a man to cheat on his fiancé. That’s not you, Pollen” I tried to refrain from thinking of Raymond. Everything I did to get the scene out of my head was all futile. So I resorted to staying away from him for the time. Even my anger towards him turned out to be frustration, I was frustrated that he had never taken me seriously which is partly my fault. The doorbell rang, cutting my moment of introspection short. “Did Raymond forget anything?” I checked the time and it w