NATASHA'S POV I was standing in front of the mirror in my bedroom, the shimmering green dinner gown I am wearing was specifically designed by Beckham's Fashion house for me in particular. "What do you think, mom? " "You look great. All eyes will be on you" "As it should be" I had a cynical smile while I said that. My mother looked at the clock and gasped. "Oh my God, you are more than late already! This is no longer being fashionably late, you might miss the event at this point" "I don't mind " I muttered calmly as I sprayed perfume around my neck and behind my ears. "I'd rather miss the Award night than to show up early and find out that Raymond lost to Daniel or someone else " "Ohhh ... I see" I spun to face my mother, then took her hand. "Mother, I'll never allow myself get shamed again, at least not in front of the whole world" My mother only stared at me. I bet she was wondering why I was suddenly like this. "And I want you to do same" She nodded like a child in res
POLLEN'S POV "...that they observed a defiant smile on Morlock’s face just before the lethal charge was routed through his body.” I read the last lines of of ‘The Accused’ with tears seeping down my eyes like a river. "Why did he have to die?" I dumped the book by the side and rested my back on the couch of my living room to cry even more. A knock on the door interrupted my mourning for Morlock. I quickly wiped my tears before heading to get the door. I opened it and Lily was standing with tray that had supplements and water. " I just figured out you haven't had your supplements today" " I totally forgot too" I searched my head in embarrassment. " You'll be going to the hospital with me tomorrow" She walked into my room with the tray as she spoke. "Why? The last time the doctor was here, he said we are good" " I know. This time is to check the baby through scanning. We'll get to know the sex too" Lily smiled like she was the mother,and for some reason it irritated me. " But
POLLEN'S POV Having stayed indoors for more than three hours after letting him know his food was served, I thought he should have finished by now so I went out to get the plate. When I lifted the first stainless steel food flask I knew he hasn't touched it, just like other days. I went to the room and called Pamela. " It's been three days of working my ass off in the kitchen to make something nice for him" I started immediately Pamela answers her phone, "He neither comes down let alone touch the food" " Please don't stop because he didn't eat any of the meals you've cooked so far. You never know when he'll give in. " Give in" I scoffed in amusement, " Did you just say ‘give in’? I never asked to be his cook so why are you sounding like he'll be doing me a favor if he eats my food?" " That's not what I mean, Miss Pollen" " Whatever. Tomorrow will be the last day I go inside that kitchen to make anything for him" I fired and ended the call before she could say anything else. "
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