Janelle.“Thank you,” I muttered to Adil as he took off his jacket and draped it around my shoulder, we were sitting side by side on the balcony, with our glass of drink staring into a distance.Silence filled the air, everyone preoccupied with their thoughts, I gently raised the cup to my lips and took a sip from it.“You know, Janelle,” Adil began, his voice calm and tentative,“Most times everyone thinks you’ve got your life all together, planned, figured out and going good, but in reality you’re almost just a mess,” he muttered, I slowly turned to look at him, he slightly bent his head backwards and took a sip from his glass.“Yeah,” I whispered“All the time,” He slowly turned to me, our gaze locked and it remained that way.“Just struggling, barely holding up but you still just have to show up every single day,” I continued in a whisper.“You barely have any time for yourself, It’s tiring but you literally have no choice!” He raised his glass to his lips and drowned all of his
Janelle.I sat back in Adil’s Limousine, my hands loosely wrapped around my chest, my head resting on the window, I was finally taking a step backwards to reflect on everything that has been happening with me in the past few weeks.It was an overwhelming period it is still an overwhelming time for me but I didn’t really think it was going to take such a huge toll on my health, depression?! I never thought I could ever be diagnosed with that.“Do you think that doctor has the right to diagnose me with depression?! I didn’t even say anything to him,” I finally said out loud turning to look at Adil.“I spoke with him,” he simply replied and my brows further creased in confusion,“And?!”“You fainted a whole lot of times, and ..” “I fainted just twice,” I muttered cutting him off, he sighed deeply before continuing what he had to say.“He wanted to know why it was so consecutive and I couldn’t convince you to see him, I just told him everything happening with you, coupled with tests fro
Author.Becky’s Office“Promoted to President?! Arghhh!” Becky growled as she threw the glass of wine she she holding against the wall, the wine glass shattered into pieces, spilling all of its contents on the floor and sending glass pieces flying everywhere.She hadn’t been herself ever since Adil was promoted, she tried to comport herself but she could only manage for so long in public.She stared at the mess she had just created and released a loud scream, thankfully her office was sound proof, it perfectly muffled her scream.She slowly unballed her fist as her feautures became unusually calm, the door slowly went open and her assistant - May walked in, her eyes slowly went wide as she gaze at the shattered glass on the floor and spilled drink.“Don’t just stand there! Get someone to clean this mess!” She yelled at her, she flinched with a small nod as she turned around and dashed out of her office.Shortly after the door opened and a Janitor walked in, she ignored his greeting a
JanelleMy eyes locked in on the person at the door, my grip involuntarily loosened from the knob as I stepped backwards slowly, with dropped jaws.Even if I was woken up suddenly from my sleep, I can never forget his face, it was the guy that sedated me, the one that escaped and we have been looking for, my lips went open and shut at loss of what to say, I gently reached for my back pocket took out my phone, dialed Bella’s number my gaze still on him and placed it on my ear, she picked up on the first ring, “Bella,..” I called and before I could complete my statement I saw Adil reach out from nowhere and grabbed the phone out of my hands, he ended the call and slowly looked up at me.“Let’s talk,” he whispered, I cleared my throat and raised my brows at him, “No, we don’t negotiate with criminals!” I retorted my voice swirling with defiance as I stared at him, he just held a straight face not breaking eye contact with me also, my phone began to ring and I just knew it was Bella, I
Next day, Wednesday Morning…“Good Morning,” I greeted Adil as I walked into the living room, he was having coffee scrolling on his phone at the same time, he was fully dressed and ready to leave, he turned his phone off and placed it in his pocket as he drowned his cup of coffee in one go.“Morning,” He replied as he walked up to me and placed a small peck on both of my lips, oh wow, okay, not only are we greeting we’re pecking cheeks too, interesting.“Dada!” Tehilla called as she ran down the staircase, I already had her dressed and prepared for school, Adil gently stepped away from me, he squatted to her height and she ran straight into his arms, she’s such a delight, and the relationship Adil had with her is so beautifu to watch.“You look beautiful this morning Sugarplum,” he complimented tickling her sides generating a loud chuckle from her.“Mama dressed me,” she replied and his smile widened,“And did you say thank you to mama?!”“I did,” she muttered, he did an high five
Adil.Meanwhile"We've been entrusted with a challenging yet exciting project. This is not just about business growth; it's also about making our mark on the global stage."The conference room hummed with anticipation as I spoke, it was my first meeting as President with all heads of department under me, and I wanted them to understand that we weren’t here to joke, even if they might be time for that, I wasn’t so interested in impressing grandfather, I have the company interest at heart more, and I would do everything needed to make sure the company was alright, even if it didn’t seat well with grandfather."First, we need to identify key markets for expansion, Havilah of Development department, I need each and everyone in your department to research potential locations, considering factors such as market demand, regulatory environment, and cultural fit.”“Collate it, you know what to do with it right?!” I asked and she nodded enthusiastically in reply.“Good, We'll reconvene next
Janelle.I pushed the main door open and walked in, I closed it shut behind me and bolted it twice before I made my way into the living room, I saw Adil walked down the staircase, he must have tucked Tehilla in.After he left, it took a little while to pay up the bills, because of queue and all, I had to ride separately in my own car home, as he didn’t bother waiting.“Hold on Adil, let’s talk about this” I said rushing up to him, “Look Janelle, it’s best we do not, just go ahead and have a good night rest,” he said and just as he was about to walk away, I grabbed his hands and walked to stand in his front.“It was just a suggestion, I just wanted to help you,”“What makes you think you can interfere in my privacy like that,” he bursted out, I gently let go of his hands and stepped backwards a little.“I-I’m sorry, I did not mean to annoy you,”“But what’s so wrong with taking help from your mother, you guys are family after all!”“What with all the negative energy between you two,
Janelle, I stared at the bouquet of red roses on my table with my hands folded across my chest, Serena had just come upstairs to drop it for me saying I got a delivery.There was a white card sticking out of it, I gently unfolded my hands and reached out for it, I grabbed it out of the flowers and opened the card. Janelle,I'm deeply sorry for the hurtful words I said yesterday, I know they were very uncalled for and caused you pain, and for that, I am truly remorseful.Please know that my actions were fueled by frustration and were in no way a reflection of how I truly feel about you, because I care about you.I understand if forgiveness is not immediate, but I hope you can find it in your heart to accept my apology. You mean everything to me, and I hate to see that I’m the cause of your hurt. I promise to work on controlling my emotions better in the future and to always treat you with the love and respect you deserve.I rolled my eyes to the back of my head and dropped the card
Janelle.Thirteen years later.12:00pm …“Do you really think that works?” I muttered and slowly turned to look at Adil beside me, he adjusted his glasses and his lips slowly stretched into a smile as he stared at me.“Come on now Adil, I’m being serious,” I grumbled as I slowly let go of the keypad, leaned against the chair and turned fully to face him.He reached out slowly and gently caressed my hair his eyes twinkling in admiration,“Thirteen years down the line and you’re even more beautiful than when we first met,” he muttered, I chuckled lightly and slowly arched closer to him.It’s actually being thirteen years down the line, I wouldn’t say those thirteen years have been bed of roses but it has been the most perfect years because I have my family around me.Tehilla is now nineteen years and ten years ago we birthed our second child- Hazel, she’s the cutest and sweetest and we love her so much, we love both our children so much, and I actually won’t prefer doing life without my
Adil.Next day…“Careful,” Janelle muttered for the umpteenth time as we walked into the house, I told her that I could walk myself but she insisted on holding me, my hands was around her neck and her hands around my waist as she assisted me inside.“Welcome home!” Everyone yelled excitedly as I walked into the living room, the living room was decorated with small welcome home posters and balloons, it wasn’t too much of a decoration but it was cute.“Welcome home dada,” Tehilla squealed as she ran towards me with a bouquet of flower.“She insisted on getting you flowers,” Janelle whispered to me as she gently let go of me and Anna Tehilla nanny came up to take the shoulder bag she was carrying from her.I looked around and all our intimate family and friends were present except Janelle’s parents, I turned to face her and just as I wanted to ask her, Laura walked up to us,“Big Man! You’re back!” She teased, I furrowed my brows at her and moved closer to her as if trying to examine so
One month Later.I sat by Adil’s bed with my hands folded across my chest, after all the bullets from Enzo he went into coma and it’s been four weeks.Four weeks of everyone of us praying and hoping that he would come awake, four weeks of me crying every night just because I could not bear to lose him just when everything is starting to look bright, I don’t know what I would do if he remains asleep for longer than this.I slowly reached out and placed my hands in his hair rubbing it slowly,“Adil please, it’s okay now, you’ve rested enough, come back to me please,” I whispered tears starting to fall off my eyes and I just let them fall freely.One month back, I got the shocker of my life, Diane was Enzo’s Sister?! I definitely did not see that one coming and then I just came to realize that what we just conquered is a carefully well thought about plan that took years, the positioning of everyone Enzo used was very strategic, No wonder all the investigators before me never got anywhere
Enzo.“Hello, you don’t have any other option,” I said and with that I removed the phone from my ear and ended the call.I exhaled deeply with a sigh as I turned to the corner where Tehilla sat playing with toys absolutely caught up in her own world, Too bad that she’s about to be caught up in the world her parent created.“Uncle Enzo,” she called and slowly turned to look at me, I dipped my phone in my pocket and turned to look at her with a small sneer at the corner of my lips.“What of Dada and Mama, when will they be here,” She asked, I rolled my eyes to the back of my head as I picked up my car keys, about to head out of the house, the door opened and Diane walked in, I paused in my tracks and slowly turned to look at her close the door behind her and walk in, after her outburst yesterday, I did not expect to see her here again so soon.She slowly walked in and looked around, her eyes went wide immediately she saw Tehilla in the room, she blinked rapidly and slowly turned to me.
Janelle.Next day, 2:00pm …I pushed the door into my parents house opened and walked in, I closed the door behind me and made my way inside the living room.“Ohh you’re here, we weren’t just about to have lunch,” Dad said to me immediately he saw me walk into the living room, he raised his head and flashed me a smile, shortly after mom stepped out of the kitchen, our eyes met and she wordlessly walked up to the dinning table and dropped the jar of water she was carrying on the dinning table. She gently turned around and walked up to me.“You finally came to see your father,” she muttered, ignoring her, I dipped my hands into my bag and took out the paper I found yesterday.“Actually I came to see you both,” I replied in a whisper, Adil’s voice begging me to calm down and listen to whatever explanation they had ringing in my ears. I just could not fathom why he is still being calm and nice after everything they have put us through, I slowly looked up at her locked gazes with her and
Janelle.I picked up my coat at the entrance and put it over my pyjamas, Adil rushed towards me immediately and grabbed my hands, he gently turned me around to face him and pulled me closer.“Relax, “ he whispered, “He has been bugging to see me all these days well I’m ready now,” I grunted, he slowly raised his hands to my hair and patted it gently, he caressed my hair slowly and gently cupped my cheeks in his hands, he stepped closer to me and stared down in my eyes.“You’re not honey, Don’t go there tonight and ruin your already bad relationship with your mother,”“I don’t plan to mending the relationship,” I replied stubbornly, his lips stretched into a small smile as he gently placed his palm protectively around the back of my head and pulled me into his chest in a hug.He patted my hair gently and I instinctively wrapped my hands around his waist.“Go to your parent tomorrow Morning instead, take tonight to collect your feelings, so you don’t end up saying things you don’t mean
Five days Later ….9:00pm Thursday….“I’ll stay with Tehilla,” I muttered as I walked towards the bed, picked up a pillow and duvet and headed out of the room, Adil stood up from where he sat immediately, grabbed my hands and pulled me back to face him, “Don’t worry, I’ll leave the room for you, Be comfortable,” he whispered and with that he let go of my hands and took the pillow and duvet from me,“Sleep well,” he whispered, I slowly turned to him as I watched his retreating figure walk out of the room, it’s been five days days since he came back home and I’ve always slept crouched beside Tehilla on her bed.Although I was still chairwoman on Paper, Adil had returned back to his office and has taken over his project once a again, it wasn’t difficult for him to get back because he was proven to be innocent, he was apologized to for Tarnished image and everything has returned to normal, except that we still weren’t on talking terms and I’ve managed to still ignore my parents, and I
Janelle.“Why?!”I slowly held my mouth close and turned back to face the policeman as soon as Adil got to us. He stood up straight immediately and bowed to Adil slightly,“I’m sorry sir, Miss Diane informed us this morning that she’s no longer in charge of the case,” He explain, I sighed rolling my eyes to the back of my head,“And so?!”“So I came to see my mother you won’t allow me in also?!” He said and I slowly turned to look up at him, he just called Becky his mother like it was nothing.“I’m sorry sir,” the policeman apologized bowing again, “Good, now let us in, My wife and I would be going to see my mother, don’t we have right to visit?!” He said and the police man nodded continuously.“You do, you do sir, this way,” He muttered.“I’ll just stay here,” Bella said and I turned to her, I winked at her desperate begging her to not leave me alone with Adil but she didn’t meet my gaze intentionally and she nodded with a small firm smile.“Please go ahead,” she muttered, Adil sl
Janelle.2:00pm …“After all the evidences presented by the court, the Marriage of Peter Castillo and Angela Williams has been therefore Annuled and dissolved by the high court of law,”“Mr Peter is expected to part with Fifty percent of every of his assets and these assets be bequeathed to Miss Angela for all the damages caused, Mr Peter as requested by Miss Angela has also lost Custody of the unborn child and right to visit,” The Judge ruled, he lifted up his gravel and slammed it softly against the table finalizing his judgment.I slowly turned to look at Peter in the prosecution box where he stood, his hands gripping the box tightly, I could see the veins pop out in his neck, even while we were still together he had always felt like because he had money he could get away with anything and I am happy that I’m finally able to prove to him that even with his money, he’s still a piece of trash that I could easily stomp on. I used all of the anger from Enzo and Adil to deal with him a