How could she have been so loose-tongued?Her heart couldn't take it? How was that any of his concern? She couldn't reveal her feelings yet! Not until she was absolutely sure that Steven wasn't going to shut her down without giving them a chance. She had barely given him a chance to say anything before she walked out. What if he had fell over again? What if he needed something? Now was not the time to obsess over her embarrassment. Without saying a word, she made her way back to their suite. When she got into the suite, she dialed room service and ordered lunch. She laid out on the sofa and picked up the book she had been reading earlier. He turned to face her but said nothing. Marie hoped he wasn't in pain. He was looking very pale, so pale that she became worried. After the doctor had left, she had thought color was returning to his face but now he looked ready to pass out again. Scared, she put down the bed and came to stand beside him. Instead of scowling at her like he normall
The next day, Steven was shocked to find that Marie was asleep beside him on the bed. He tried to remember if anything had happened after he had made her run to the bathroom no doubt to cry. But he was sure nothing had. The meds he had been given had knocked him out flat. He glanced over to where she lay. After she had come out of the bathroom yesterday, she hadn't said a word to him but he knew she had been crying. Why had she been crying? Was it because she had been embarrassed by what he said? She had neither confirmed nor denied her affections so he had just decided to go along with his gut and warn her. Nothing could ever go on between them. Except he fired her or she quit and Steven had no idea where he was going to get an Executive Assistant like her. He kicked off the covers and headed to the shower. He had a nice, long soak and just laid in the tub, recovering his strength. It wasn't until a loud knock jarred him from his peace and quiet that he realized he had been hogging
Steven’s hand shot up in the air as the moderator of the couple's contest asked the next question. “Cardigans. That's the one thing my wife CANNOT live without.” Steven said as he chuckled at the answer he had written on the sheet he now held over his head.“Wow! Mr. King. Let's find out what Mrs. King has penned down. Would you look at that? Mr. King does know his wife after all. Thirty points for the Kings.”Steven beamed in pleasure. So far, Marie hadn't missed a single question either. She knew everything about him, down to his favorite color of socks.“And now for the last question for the husbands… What is your wife's one true scent?”Steven watched Marie's eyes widen. This was the very question they had skipped that day at his house. It was also the winning question to set him above the tie with an elderly couple. He had nothing against them but he really wanted to win this and have that dinner with Mr. Kaito.With a flourish, he wrote down “Lavender” and waited for Marie to
The next couple of days passed in a blur which suited Steven just fine. The dinner with Mr.Kaito had been quite uneventful and he had seemed so taken with Marie. This hadn't surprised Steven because everyone who met Marie was taken with her.The only eventful thing that had happened after the contest was on the same night when he had heard Marie crying in her sleep. At first, he had thought she was awake and decided to ignore her until she had started whimpering and kicking the covers. He had tried to shake her awake but nothing he did had worked. Desperate, he had done the only thing that made sense at the time, placed her between his laps, stroked her back, and talked to her in soft whispers. At last, she had heard his voice and clung to his shirt while she wept. Shaken by what he had just witnessed, Steven had held her in his arms till she calmed down. At last, she had looked up at him through tears and pleaded,“Steven, please promise me you’ll never make me get on a plane ever a
“What about my father?” Steven said, not bothering to control the fury in his voice. Alden had a lot of gut showing up here after refusing to help his father. If anything happened to him…Was Alden here because something had happened?“Look Son, I’ll just cut to the chase. Don't give him any money. Not even one red cent.” Alden saidSteven waited for Alden to explain what he meant but the silence filled the air.“Alden, I hope you didn't come all the way to tell me what to do with my money?”“Steven…”“No, Alden. You don't want to help your son. It's alright, it's okay. But you cannot come in here and tell me what to do or not do with my money. Sir.” “Boy, I'm trying to help you…”“I’d rather you do not, Sir! I'd rather you take your help and shove it down …”He broke off at that point, rubbing a hand over his face as he lowered his gaze. Steven leaned forward and spoke in a quiet voice, hoping it betrayed how furious he actually felt.“I think that it was your choice not to help him
After Alden had left, Steven had tried his utmost best to reach his father so he could hear his side of the story but his calls had gone straight to voicemail and Desiree, who was his father's secretary hadn't taken any of his calls. Waving the issue out of his mind, Steven decided to concentrate on his work. He went over notes from the Cheggo Foodsmeeting and did a routine status report check on other accounts before he taught about getting lunch.He glanced wistfully at the corner where Marie would have been sittes if she had come to work. He wasn't going to admit to missing her even though his office felt like it had been stripped of color. How could one person elevate a space so much with her presence?By the time he had concluded three meetings and reviewed works that had been sent to him for approval in the past weeks, Steven glanced outside and realized it was dark. Shutting his laptop, he beeped his driver to ready his car and headed to the parking lot. At least Marie would
“What? What do you think I should know?” Steven asked, as Marie looked at him with solemnity in her eyes.“I…I think Alden is telling the truth. The circumstances under which he showed up at the Cottage seemed, well, suspect.”“Marie… I don't…”“Let me finish, Steven, please. I know this is a tough pill to swallow but I don't think your dad was in such danger. I think maybe he couldn't bear asking you for the money for his new business directly. Maybe there's some truth to what he said, but I doubt Alden made it up.”“Marie, you don't know my father. He’s a serial entrepreneur who has launched several successful businesses,”“Yes, City Boy. We hear you. But are any of them up and running today that you know of?”“Well, no.”“There you go, City Boy. Even you gotta see the truth at some point. Maybe it's for the best if you take Alden’s advice this time.”“That's hardly fair, James. You’ve never even liked my father.”“Woah, back up, City Boy. You and I know the only reason I haven't be
“Great! Hit me again, City Boy! Do it if it means you're going to actually confront all these… If it means you’ll stop being a BLOODY COWARD!”“James, I'm warning you. Shut up! You don't know everything!”“No, City Boy, I don't. But I do have eyes and I thank God they work. You think she's going to wait around forever for you to choose her?”Steven felt muscles pulling in his cheek even as he struggled to rein in his anger. He knew that James was right and that was what frustrated him the most. But James wasn't the one who had to deal with the falling out of his relationship with Yolanda. It was thanks to Alden's involvement that she hadn't wrecked him. It had been shocking to see someone whom he had seen as a lover transit into such a schemer. To date, he had no idea what Alden said to her to get her to drop the charges against him. After the nightmare he had ensured navigating both a broken heart and hushed criminal charges, he had decided never to get entangled with someone from
“What?” Steven asked in a voice so phony that everyone turned to stare at him.“Is that blood, uncle Steve? It is. There's blood on your shirt.”“Shhhhh, buddy. Don't make a big deal about it. I cut myself.”“You did? Cool! Let me see.” Rick exclaimed, as though he was being given front row tickets to a fun show.“Richard! Get back to class!”“But granny…”“Now!” Amelia boomed as a disgruntled Rick turned in his heel and headed towards the stairs, waving to Steven as he went.“You may want to get that cleaned up before leaving.” Alden said to him as he wheeled himself into his room.“Hand it to me.” Amelia said.“Oh? I didn't actually cut myself.”“I know. I’m not stupid. Alden keeps sneaking off in his wheelchair and I've seen some funny looking characters hanging around. I don't want to know what all this is about but I hope you're both not being stupid. And he's finally getting the exercise ”“Ah.” Steven replied as he took off his shirt and handed it to Amelia. He walked with Stev
Maybe it was the fact that the guy was a psychopath who had put his wife in a coma or the fact that he had such a punchable face but Steven didn't stop until Smith stopped laughing and started to cough.“Oh, I could go on for hours. I'm only just getting started.”“Kill me, please. I’d love to see how you get the answers you want.” Smith saidSteven snarled as he shook his knuckles.“Oh, make no mistake, Smith. You are going to die. You're going to pay for what you did to Cadence. I’ll make sure about that even if it's the last thing I do.”“I keep telling your stupid old man. I didn't kill Cadence Steele.”“The same way you didn't run my wife over?”“Exactly. I mean I know about it, make no mistake. But I neither authorized nor did it.”“You know what Smith, you're full of crap and I'm tired of doing this with you, so start talking. There's no use stalling too because you're not getting out of this till I'm satisfied.”“Look, I know you think I'm the one you’re looking for but I'm no
“What do you mean?”“I mean I've never seen you so affected by anything, Alden. Not even when your own son got into an accident.”Alden’s eyes hardened as he grunted.“That wasn't an accident. It was a stupid decision made by someone who should have known better.”Steven fought the urge to roll his eyes. Of course Alden would say that about his father. Alden had never cut him any slack.“Right, but you're deflecting the question. Why do you act like she means so much to you? What's this about?”“The only person that can give you the answers you want us is your wife, Steven.”What did that mean? Was there something about Alden and Marie he didn't know?“I don't understand what you mean, Alden.”“Are you ready to leave now?” Alden asked, pushing his chair backwards as he averted his eyes from Steven. Steven sighed and walked ahead of his grandfather. It was funny that Alden would rather die than let Steven touch his wheelchair while he allowed Amelia to help him all the time. He also kn
“Where are you?”“Hello to you too, Alden.” Steven said as he honked at the driver in front of him. Did people drive with their brains turned off these days?“I'm at your house and Dr. Terence tells me you’re not here.” The accusation in his tone spoke volumes but Steven chose to ignore it.“If you’d let me know you were coming over, perhaps I may have been ready to receive you.” Steven answered in a cool tone.“When you asked for this leave, you did say it was so you could remain at your wife's side, not gallivant around town.”“What do you want, Alden?”“No, listen to me young man. You're the one who’ll get down here fast if you want to hear what I have to say.” He answered before hanging up the phone. Steven exhaled as he massaged his temple. The last thing he wanted was Alden sticking his nose into how he was caring for Marie. Twenty minutes later, he pulled into the house and headed to the room where Marie was. Alden was in conversation with Dr. Terrence and didn't notice at firs
Dr. Terrence met him outside Marie's room and was about to say something but Steven held up his hand to forestall any comment.“I need everyone to leave for a few moments.”“Okay, Mr.King but if I may…”“Now, please.” Steven repeated as frazzled nurses began filing out of the room. He wasn't sure if he could stomach any more bad news so whatever Dr. Terrence had to say would have to wait.Dr. Terrence nodded and exited the room. Steven looked down at Marie and smiled at her. Even in a coma, her beauty took his breath away.He let out a long sigh and sat beside her bed before taking her hand in his.“You know, for the past few weeks, Marie. I’ve been mad at myself. Thinking about where I went wrong and how I could have failed you so much.”He squeezed her hand and checked to see if there was any reaction on her face. Her eyes remained blank and unfocused as they had been.“I’ve been mad at myself for letting you go through so much pain. For the fact that you're stuck somewhere between
Steven's mind whirled with thoughts as he heard the sound of Zed Norton's car backing out of his driveway.He ran a hand through his hair as he thought about what had transpired between Sandra and him. How on earth was he going to explain this to Marie when she came out of the coma? He could just imagine the look on his face.“You know when you were stuck in a coma fighting for your life? Yeah well, I slept with your best friend. And I don't even remember doing it.”He let out another curse and Sarah tossed him a concerned glance. He let out a sigh and plunked into the chair.“Any special orders for lunch, Sir? The chef wants to know…” She askedThe thought of having any food right now made him want to puke. Whenever he closed his eyes, all he could see was Cadence lying in a pool of her own blood.“I'm not hungry, Sarah. I’ll head out and probably eat something.”“Okay, Sir. Do I make any provisions for Ms.Rakes?”“No, Ms. Rakes wouldn't be returning anymore.” Steven replied as she
“What are you doing?” Steven whispered as he jerked away from Sandra. His head was reeling from pain. Had she really kissed him?“Sorry. I don't know what happened…You looked so sad and I wasn't thinking.” She said as she abruptly got on her feet and cleared her plate. She grabbed the glass and was about to take the bottle of wine with her when Steven dragged it from her.“You can't drink the whole bottle, Steven.” She said in a quiet voice.“Get out.” He said, in a voice harsher than he intended. She glared at him for some seconds before wilting and walking out of the room.He took a swig of the bottle and sighed. Did she deserve such hostility from him for a mistake? She had only been trying to help him after all. It seemed all he was capable of these days was messing up on a grand scale. His actions kept hurting the people he called friends and family even when he didn't intend for them too. Tomorrow, he'd apologize for being bitchy to her. For now, he had only one thing on his min
“Thank you for calling me. I’ll drive him home. The last couple of weeks have been very hard with his wife being in a coma, you know.”Steven could hear Sandra talking to someone. He tried to remember calling her. Had he done that himself or had Tony called her? What time was it? She was looking at him now with something akin to disappointment on her face. Well, he didn't bloody care.“Come on, let's get you home.” She said, as she tried to help him to his feet. Steven chuckled as the both fell back on the leather seat. What was she thinking? That her tiny body could support his weight?“Is something funny, Steven King? You should be ashamed of yourself. You’re drunk. No one's been able to reach you all afternoon. James and Joanna left after breakfast and have been trying to get across to you. Your cell was switched off. And then I get a call that you're wasted in a bar!”“Arghhh. Stop talking in my face.” He mumbled. Her voice was beginning to give him a headache. He wasn't that drun
After Steven got off the call with the 911 operator, he thought about what to do next. He couldn't go home to Marie in this state, knowing that her suffering was caused by him. Nor was he in the mood to face either James or Joanna. He couldn't go to Alden's as that meant endless lectures he wasn't ready for. He knew the only thing likely to get him through the next couple of hours. He turned off his cell phone and drove off. Thirty minutes later, he parked outside Ziggler’s. The tiny, nondescript bar was exactly as he remembered it. He hesitated for a minute before heading in. He had promised James that he wasn't ever coming back here and for over ten years he had kept that promise. But there was no turning back now. A woman was dead because of him, another was in a coma fighting for her life. He needed this, if only for a few minutes. He opened the door, alighted and walked in before he could lose courage. Inside the tiny bar was exactly as he remembered it. How long since he had sat