"Good morning" Olivia greeted Patrick when she arrived at work to see him there pretty early... "Good morning" He responded and smiled slightly... She swallowed as she sat down beside him... they had been so busy with work that they barely had time for interacting... even after a few weeks had passed she couldn't stop thinking about the interaction they had that one time and days after that her feelings for him seemed to increase... "You are pretty early today, Mr Graham won't be coming in for a few hours" She started up a conversation... Patrick who was trying his best to control his racing heart finally turned to look at her and their gazes locked... Patrick broke the gaze and cleared his throat... he had no idea her eyes were this mesmerising and her slight smile tugged at iheartstringsngs... maybe he shouldn't have come to work early... "I had some work that I needed to finish up this morning" He lied... the only reason he had come early was to see her before their day became t
"What! What do you mean they are staying together at his apartment!" Michelle yelled out her eyes filled with anger and shock because of what she had just found out... She stood up and started to pace around her living room... "What if she gets pregnant and tries to trap my son? what happens then... what is happening to Alex... what is she doing to him..." Michelle said to herself in a low voice... she had decided not to intervene thinking things would naturally dry out between the both of them, but now Alex moved her into his Penthouse... what would be next? The estate? Then, he would introduce her as his fiance... she felt a headache starting to rise in her head... "I'm going out get the car ready," She instructed... her P. A immediately left to do as she was told and Gwen came into the living room to see her boss looking mad... "Are you alright ma'am?" Gwen asked, and Michelle shook her head and sighed deeply... "No, I'm not Gwen... Alex might try to get married to that...thin
An hour later when Alex arrived at the apartment, Juliet was still seated in the same spot Michelle had left her... she didn't notice him until she felt a presence close to her... she raised her head to look at him and he had a smile on his face... "What are you thinking so intently about that you didn't even notice me coming in" Alex asked, he had brought lunch for the both of them but Juliet had completely lost her appetite... she had waited for him to come so she could ask him about what his mother had told her, but now that he was standing in front of her she felt like a cat had caught her tongue... "Are you alright?" Alex said, becoming a little worried... "I'm fine, I'm just..." Juliet trailed off and swallowed... she stood up and walked away towards the kitchen Alex following behind her... she poured herself a glass of water and drank it in one go to calm herself... Juliet took a deep breath before turning to look at Alex who was standing behind her, his eyes filled with co
"Aren't you going to go back to work?" Juliet said to Alex about an hour after they had had lunch... Everything felt less tense now between them thankfully and Alex was seated in the living room with a cup of coffee in his hand, feeling more than hesitant to go back to work even though he had a meeting soon... He wanted to stay home with her so they could spend the rest of the day together... "Do you want me to go back?" Alex asked her when she sat a bit close to him with her cup of coffee... Juliet didn't know what to say to him, so she simply sighed deeply.. "Just a second," Alex said and picked up his phone from the table... Juliet's curious eyes were on him as he called up someone... "Cancel all my schedule for the rest of the day, I'm not coming back" Alex instructed as soon as the call was answered and he ended the call when he was done with what he had to say... A slight smile appeared on Juliet's face, and Alex didn't miss it... "Are you glad?" He said in a teasing voice,
"How long has he been here" CJ asked his coworkers as they prepared for their shift in the locker room of Charles Bar... They both had cornered looks on as they talked... "It's been almost two days now... I think something is going on with him... he hasn't come out of his room since the day he came back after looking all excited, I wonder what happened to him" Frank responded and shook his head... Two days before Charles had been in such an excited mood on his way out, but when he had returned a few hours later he was the complete contrast of the boss they knew... He looked beyond dampened and absent-minded... Before they could ask him what was going in with him, he had disappeared into his private room and locked himself in.. They had tried to speak to him, but he had instructed them that he didn't want to be disturbed, leaving everyone worried because they knew the Type of person he was and how rarely that ever happened... "I don't think I've ever seen him mad before..." CY sighed
"I will handle it Dad you don't have to worry, I will talk to you later," Gina said to her father over the phone before ending the call... she ran her hand through her hair and stood up from her seat... She thought it was Charles who was calling but only became more dampened when she saw that it was called from her father... she had hesitantly picked up the call and he had only ended up adding more pressure when she was already beyond pressurised... if it was possible Gina wished she could just disappear to another planet, but first, she would take Charlie with her so they could be together freely and ignore all of their problems...She looked completely stressed, and eye bags had formed around her eyes... she picked up her phone and checked the message Caroline had sent to her once again... it was a message that continued the time and date for her meeting with Caroline's son... she dropped her phone on her desk and face palmed herself... It was the day already and she had to meet h
"Why are you here!" Gina said in disbelief, her eyes wide in shock as She stared at the man that had plagued her mind for days... and then everything slowly started to fall into place not only for her but for Charles also... Charles couldn't believe what was happening... He should have known, her name was Gina, but she wasn't the only one who had that name he was sure a lot of people also had such a name so he didn't even think that they could be the same person... She was the same Gina which his aunt wanted Alex to marry, the same person his mother had been pressurising him to go on a date with. From the shocked look on her face, he could tell she had no idea about who she was meeting... She looked completely shocked and her face was flushed... Gina was still too stunned to speak a word... she felt beyond embarrassed and was finding it hard to process what was happening... while Charles got mad with each passing second... she had told him she was getting engaged, she had left him for
"I'm here to speak to you, and I'm not leaving till you hear me out," Gina responded firmly... in her mind, she was determined not to lose him... "Then I'm leaving," Charles said, but Gina quickly leaned closer and took his car keys that she had sighted a few seconds ago away from him... "You can't leave now," She said, and Charles scoffed... "You do know I can take a taxi right, you can keep the keys." He was about to leave when Gina stopped him and held his hand... "Please just hear me out, and if you still want me to go, then I will." Charles finally turned to look at her and saw the sincerity in her eyes... how could he say no to her when she was looking at him like this... He sighed deeply and slowly nodded. "Just a few minutes," He said and walked into his bar... a smile appeared on Gina's face as she followed after him... The dampened mood that she had been in for over a week started to dissipate. It seemed to be so when she was around him... The bar was empty when they walk
"Do you think Alex would ever forgive me?" Michelle said to her sister as they sat in Caroline's courtyard for some tea... "What are you talking about? Are you worried now that he might marry that girl? I heard she moved into his penthouse. Do you think she is taking your son away from you? The two of you were never close in the first place, " Caroline said, her mind trailing to Charles and Gina... He had finally moved out of her house, and though they had spoken on the phone a few times. She barely saw him anymore. It broke her heart to know that her son, who she was always close to was slowly starting to drift away. She didn't want her and Charles's relationship to end up like Alex and Michelle. They were like an estranged mother and son, and if she hadn't been there and seen when Michelle was pregnant, one would have mistaken Michelle for an evil stepmother who disliked her stepchild. But she had been at the hospital when Alex was born, and Michelle had been elated... It made Carol
Alex held Juliet's hand as they sat in the private visitation room of the detention centre, waiting for Gerald to be brought into the room... Gerald stopped in his tracks when he walked in, and his eyes fell on Alex, and then the young lady that was sitting beside him... his heart immediately dropped, and even though he hadn't seen her in a year, he immediately recognised her... it was Juliet, his little girl. His heart felt heavy as he continued walking and then he took a seat, his hand still in cuffs... he hated that she had to see him this way... Juliet's eyes were on the man who walked in. Though he looked a lot older now, she could tell he was the one she had seen in the pictures that Gladys had shown her. he was her father, the man that she had vague memories of and couldn't even remember his face.... her grip on Alex's hand tightened A bit as they both stared at each other in silence. No one knew what to say to the other till Alex broke the silence... "How have you been"
"I have something important to tell you", Alex said as they both lay in bed. Juliet tilted her head to look at her. Her eyes filled with curiosity, and her heart raced. Did he finally find her father? A part of her feared to hear what he had to say... Alex turned so he could face Juliet. "I found your father", he said, and Juliet's heart dropped; for a moment, she stared at him, completely frozen, unsure of how to react or what to say, even though she had dozens of questions she wanted to ask... where had he been all these years? Did he even try looking for her? Or didn't he want anything to do with her? She had so many questions to ask him. "Where has he been all these years?" Juliet asked in a low voice, and Alex took her hand in his. "He has been in jail", He answered, and Juliet felt her heart drop even further. Was that why he couldn't see her? Alex went on to tell Juliet everything about where he had gone and what her father had told him about his relationship with Her mother
Juliet got back home from Gladys house late at night and walked into the dark and empty house... she turned on the light switch and sat in the living room, her eyes staring into nothingness... she missed Alex's presence... everything felt odd without him... juliet brought out her phone and called him up, but his phone was switched off... it made her even more sad that she couldn't hear his voice. Her stomach growled and reminded her she hadn't had anything to eat throughout the entire day. She sighed deeply and hesitantly stood up and walked to the kitchen to make herself some dinner. When she was done, she ate in silence... the whole house was quiet, and she wished Alex would just walk in through the front door or something or perhaps call her. She wanted to hear his voice. She called him once again, but this time his phone wasn't switched off... the phone rang and rang but she didn't get an answer. It made Juliet a little worried, so she called him once again, and the same thing hap
"your mother has been searching for you also", Alex said, so Gerald could feel a bit of guilt for not reaching out to his mother for so long. his intentions might not have been to make her worried, but not seeing or hearing from him for so long made her even more worried. She had no idea if her son was dead or Alive... it was heart-wrenching... "She must be old now..." Gerald had a sad smile appearing on his face as he thought about his mother and the last time he had spoken to her...they had had a huge fight and he had left without looking back and when he had ended up back in jail, he felt like he had failed her once again... he felt like he would only bring her pain by trying to meet her... Alex stood up, ready to leave, and Patrick stood up also "Who are you?" Gerald asked the first question he had when he saw Alex and Patrick... "I'm your daughter's fiance, I'm Alex Graham" Alex stretched out his hand and shook Gerald's hand that was handcuffed... Gerald was a bit stunned to kn
" What happened to her?" Gerald asked when he finally calmed down, the pain still in his eyes as he stared at her picture... "She was ill," Alex answered and sighed deeply, thinking of a good way to approach what he had come to say... "What about Juliet... how is she," he asked,,and Patrick and Alex immediately exchanged looks. "I should have called sooner. I should have called even though she told me she didn't want to speak to me any longer. I should have known something was up," Gerald said and face palmed himself... "Do you mind explaining to us what happened, " Patrick chimed in, and Gerald sighed deeply. He still had no idea who the men who came to see him were, but he didn't care about that any longer... his heart felt like a spear had been run through it over and over again, and he felt like breaking out of prison to see his daughter. "Juliet.i Ineed to see jJuliet," He said,,and Alex saw this as an opportunity. "Juliet is fine, but she has no idea you are in here. She has no
Patrick parked the car in the parking lot of a detention centre that was on the outskirts of another city. Alex had told him that they had to go on a short business trip, and he was surprised when they landed in another city that had nothing affiliated with Alex's business. He too was curious to meet Juliet's father... he wanted to know what he did and why he was in such a high-security prison, but Alex had not told him... he came out of the car and opened the door for Alex... the place gave Patrick and eerie vibe that made a cold shiver run down his spine... two men who were dressed in a type of uniform which Patrick assumed belong to prison guards were waiting and approached them when Alex came out of his car. "Mr Graham," one of the men said, with a welcoming smile on his face. "This way sir," he said and gestured to Alex to follow. Alex nodded and followed the man, Patrick behind him, as they walked into the prison... Patrick wished he could be anywhere else but there, but curiosi
"Have you found him?" Alex asked, and his P.I. nodded. "I found him, sir, but there is a problem," Collins said and handed Alex a document. Alex's eyes trailed from him to the document he was holding out. Alex took it from him and sighed deeply as he read through it, which contained a full background check on Gerald. "How long has this been?" He asked. "About ten years now, sir.. he had been in and out jail for the past twenty years, " Collins explained, and Alex dropped the document on his table and ran his hand through his hair. That explains why Gladys couldn't find him easily. he had not for once even tried to reach out to his mother or anyone while he was in jail. "When will he be out?" "In a few months, sir," Collins answered, and Alex nodded. "Can you arrange for me to meet him?" Alex wanted to know the kind of person he was before he met Juliet. He didn't want to upset her more than she already... "I will try to do that, sir," "Thank you," Alex said, and Collins left;
"Charles," Gina called out to Charles in a low voice when a few minutes had passed, and he still hadn't spoken to her. Even if she was afraid of what he was going to say and his reactions, she still wanted to hear it... Charles stood up and turned to look at her. His eyes filled with emotions that he couldn't explain. He opened his mouth to say something, but no words came out. Gina tried to hold his hand, but she was afraid he would let go of her hand... never in her life had she been so scared of losing someone. She didn't want to lose him. She stood up also, her eyes watering up as she stared at him, and the tears she tried her best to hold back fell freely... Charles felt his heart break as soon as he saw the tears in her eyes. Yes, he was angry, but seeing her looking genuinely heartbroken and remorseful about what she had done made his anger slowly start to dissipate. He had no idea what had occurred back then because he had not met her, but he knew that the Gina that was standi