“She was so close to hitting me with a bottle the other day.”“I wish she did.”“You want me to get hurt too?”“It was really a tough time for Rita and me. It was what we wanted at that point.”“What about now?” He stared at her intently.“Rita doesn’t forgive easily so I would advise you to stay away from her.”“What about you?”“I think this is my 20th time telling you how much of an asshole you are. But the truth is that I don’t know what I’m going to do with you.”Daniel smiled at her shyness.The duo conversed for a while after which Beatrice made it known that she would like to leave.She texted Rita that she was leaving, and Daniel said his goodbye to his friends after which they both exited the club.The drive to Beatrice’s home was a quiet one. She kept herself busy by looking into the streets through the window while Daniel’s attention was on the road and soon enough, he pulled up in front of her house.Before she could help herself down, he was already by her side, helping
Rita smiled, “Of course.”“No.”“You don’t intend to get him a gift?”“I want to but I don’t know what to buy.”“I mean, he’s got everything I could ever think of.”“That’s true. But I’m sure he won’t really care if it’s something he has before or how small it is.”“Regardless, he’s going to be thrilled to have you give him something.”“What do you think I can give him?”Rita shrugged.“You’ve hung out with him for a while to know what he would like.”“I wouldn’t be asking you if I had an idea of what to do.”“You don’t need to stress your thoughts, Bea. I’m sure Dan would appreciate anything you gift him. What time is coming to pick you up?”“He will be here by 6.”Rita nodded, taking a glance at the time on her wristwatch. “There’s still time to treat you to lunch and after that, we go to the store to see what you can get.”“We are probably both exaggerating. I don’t think Daniel would be sad if I didn’t give him anything.”Rita glared at her best friend............................
“How come a bed on the jet feels so comfortable.”“Stop exaggerating. This is just like every normal bed.”She frowned. “My bed is good but not this comfy.”“But thank you for being kind to me.”“You need to stop saying that. I’m doing all of this because I want to.”Beatrice nodded. It felt good to have the opposite gender take good care of her but she didn’t want to voice it out to him.“You should always let me know when you are tired. You’ve got someone who looks up to you for strength and growth.” He stared at her intently.“I can take care of myself. I promise. Just that, it’s not every day that I travel and I don’t want to miss anything.”“You’re not going to miss anything. We still have a couple of hours to go until we arrive so there’s no harm in resting to get your strength back” Dan brought his hand to her cheek, caressing it.“What about you?’Dan grinned, “You want me to sleep with you.”“There’s no way I’m going to share this comfy bed with you,” Bea mumbled, snuggling d
Bea shrugged herself off from him and they both came face to face with Nora Debock. She was almost in her mid-seventies but still looked agile with very flawless skin.“Good to see you, Granny.” Daniel approached her and they both shared a long hug.He chuckled, returning the hug. “You still saw me at the wedding.”“That’s a lie. You were avoiding me.”“I wanted to see you again but I was told you left even before the reception was over.” Nora accused, pulling away from the hug.“Oh really?”“Yeah,“I think I had an emergency to attend to. So I left.”“Okay, enough of the past, Nana. I want you to meet the woman I love so much, even though she dislikes me more than you can ever imagine. Her name is Beatrice but you can call her Bea.” Daniel introduced the two most important women in his life to each other. “Oh my, you are even more beautiful than I imagined. So good to meet you, my dear.” Before Bea could say anything, the old woman pulled her into a warm hug, which oddly made her fe
“I just want to cuddle you.”“I don’t want you to.” Bea was saying when he placed her head on his chest and she was surprised at the warmth she felt due to the closeness of their bodies. They were in a spooning position and for the first time she felt really protected.“You win because I’m tired and I don’t have the strength to argue with you.”“Anything that makes you sleep at night.” Daniel smiled, kissing the side of her forehead.Beatrice felt her eyes start getting itchy but she tried her best to push back the tears. It was evident that she and Daniel started on a very terrible path but if she was being sincere, no man had ever made her feel loved; not even Frank.“Are you an early riser?” He asked, caressing her hair.“It depends. Why do you ask?”“I need to be up early. Grandma and I have a meeting with someone. It’s business related but we will be done before noon."“Then we have the rest of the day to explore this city before we head back home.”“It’s fine. You don’t need to
Daniel seemed to have slept for a very short time but he didn’t mind because he woke up the happiest man in the world to a very wonderful woman by his side. He smiled seeing that she still had her head buried in his chest as she slept peacefully.Daniel removed some of the hair that fell across her cheek and placed a soft kiss on it after which he gently tore himself away from her and got out of bed. He proceeded to the bathroom to get ready for his meeting with Nora and one of their business partners.“Jeez, did you even sleep at all?” He smiled, sighting his Grandmother on the couch.“Thank goodness you are here. I was contemplating if I should come bang on the door but I wouldn’t want to ruin anything that was happening between you both.”Daniel laughed out loud. “Good morning, Grandma.”“Oh, Good Morning, and Happy Birthday to you my lovely Grandson.” She rose to her feet, pulling him into a warm hug. “May this new age bring you abundant happiness. I love you so much, Daniel, and
She glared at him, “Really? That’s what you could take out from everything that I said?”“I understand all that you said but that was what stood out for me the most. I know you’ve been through so much, Bea, but I promised you that it hasn’t been easier for me too. The times that you weren’t happy, I wasn’t happy too. I may have indirectly inflicted pain on you but I promise you that I felt pain too.”“I don’t know what you want in the man of your dreams but I promise you that I can be that man and I will live up to your expectations.”“I like you so much, Bea. So much that I know I would go insane if you are not mine and seeing you so sad or mad at me makes me feel terrible.”“Knowing you definitely birthed a new personality for me. I would do whatever it takes to make you happy.”“There you go again. Knowing what to say to me.”“I don’t want to lose you.”She sighed. “You make things so hard for me.”“So does that mean that I’m forgiven?”Beatrice said nothing, looking away from him.
“You have experience working in cafes and restaurants. What if you own your own business.”Beatrice said nothing so he continued speaking.“It’s okay if you want to start really small with a cafe or wanna dive straight into the restaurant idea. I will support you with whatever you choose.”“I will fund the whole project. We will get you a good space, furnish it, employ the necessary staff and you just need to deal with managing the place.”“I can help you out with the business plan or if you don’t want me to be too involved, I can connect you with Amarie to help you out.”“You can also enroll in some online classes on management if you think you are not confident enough in running your own place but I’m sure you will do just fine.”“Should in case you don’t want a cafe or a restaurant, there’s always a boutique business, owning your own fashion brand and all.”“You need not worry about customers. I’ve got sisters with huge social media presence who I know would be happy to help and I
"Dan! What the hell? I've been on my feet trying to explain this to you. Are you even listening to what I'm saying?" Henry slammed the piece of paper against the table and slumped into the visitor's chair that was opposite Daniel's desk. "Sorry, my thoughts are elsewhere." He mumbled, massaging his temple. "What's going on? This is so unlike you!" Henry asked, concerned. "Beatrice is mad at me and it's really messing with my head." "What did you do?" Daniel could swear that he could almost see Henry glaring at him."Why are you assuming I'm the one at fault?" "Well, we all know that Bea can do no wrong. It's gotta be you who has ruined things. Now open up to me. Tell me, what did you do to upset the Queen?" "I got home last night with a lipstick stain on my shirt." "Holy shit, Dan. Don't tell me you are cheating. I swear I'm going to kill you with my bare hands right now.""Of course not. I'm not the one at fault. After all that I've endured and suffered to build, you think I'
FIVE YEARS LATER“Mommy!!!!” Ryan Lee Debock shrugged out of his nanny’s arms and ran as fast as his legs could carry him when he saw his mom walk in through the door.Beatrice smiled as this was the best part of her daily routine that she looked up to: getting all loved up in her baby boy’s embrace.She placed her handbag on the floor, crouched down to her knees, and stretched out her arms, just in time for her son to run into her. Bea showered his face with kisses the moment she had Ryan in her arms.He giggled “I miss you, mommy.”“I missed you too, my love.” She placed a deep kiss on his forehead, wondering how it was so possible for her to love a tiny human this much.“How was school today? Did you take your food and vitamins?”The little boy nodded, smiling, that Bea couldn’t resist kissing his cheek again. Her Son was so adorable and needless to say, he looked so much like Daniel.“Good evening ma’am.” Aliyah, the nanny greeted. She was a young lady in her early twenties.“Hi d
EPILOGUEFOUR MONTHS LATER“Babe.” Bea heard that very familiar voice, followed by a soft kiss on her neck.“Hmmmm.” She whispered with her eyes closed.“I really don’t want to wake you but we have thirty minutes till our appointment.”“Already? But we literally just slept.” She said with a drowsy voice.“You want us to postpone?”“No. I really wanna know today.”“Me too. How about we take a joint bath?”She nodded against the pillow.Daniel chuckled, “I knew you wouldn’t be able to refuse that.”He helped Beatrice down from the bed after which they made their way to the bathroom. They ended up having a quickie and then rinsed their bodies.Beatrice was styling her hair when Daniel walked out of the closet. He came to a halt in front of her, holding a jewelry box.Bea sighed. “Babe, we agreed that we were done with gifts.”“No.” Daniel shook his head. “You should have figured out that I was lying.”“You promised no more gifts."Dan feigned innocence. “Well, I don’t remember that.”Bea
Debbie nodded shyly.“Okay, what else don’t I know?”“Debock has met you and he literally didn’t say anything to me?”“I’m sorry if you feel furious about this but Frank said a lot of nasty things that I can’t even begin to mention now. My heart wasn’t at peace. I had to make sure I knew Daniel’s intention.”“How did you meet him? He’s so busy.”“Rita said he usually comes over to her workplace.”“Good, You all are making plans behind me.”“That’s not it, my love. I promise you that we all had your interest at heart. I just had to make sure the billionaire dude wasn’t messing with my daughter. He came over and we discussed.”“He gave me his word about wanting you genuinely. And he also promised that he was going to take care of you. That was after he apologized about the cafe scene.”“Your siblings were here when he came over. They recognized him and he was kind enough to take them to the mall for a treat. They got clothes, shoes, new phones and laptops, as well as groceries for the h
THE NEXT DAY“Here comes the heartbeat.” The Doctor said and almost immediately, the room was filled with the most beautiful sound Beatrice and Daniel had ever heard.With their eyes glued to the monitor, the duo had tears in their eyes.As they got familiar with the baby’s heartbeat, the doctor went ahead to print out some ultrasound pictures for them.“Congratulations to you both for raising a healthy baby so far. Everything is fine and in a couple of weeks, we would be able to find out the gender; of course, that’s if you don’t want to wait till its birth.”Dan and Beatrice stared at each other, smiling.“I commend you both for the good work done so far. I believe if you continue to abide by the instructions given, the birth of your baby will be a smooth one.” She said, then turned her attention to Daniel. “Your woman needs you now more than ever. This is the best time to shower her with so much love and support.”“There’s nothing to worry about, Doc. You can count on me.” Dan sai
“You have experience working in cafes and restaurants. What if you own your own business.”Beatrice said nothing so he continued speaking.“It’s okay if you want to start really small with a cafe or wanna dive straight into the restaurant idea. I will support you with whatever you choose.”“I will fund the whole project. We will get you a good space, furnish it, employ the necessary staff and you just need to deal with managing the place.”“I can help you out with the business plan or if you don’t want me to be too involved, I can connect you with Amarie to help you out.”“You can also enroll in some online classes on management if you think you are not confident enough in running your own place but I’m sure you will do just fine.”“Should in case you don’t want a cafe or a restaurant, there’s always a boutique business, owning your own fashion brand and all.”“You need not worry about customers. I’ve got sisters with huge social media presence who I know would be happy to help and I
She glared at him, “Really? That’s what you could take out from everything that I said?”“I understand all that you said but that was what stood out for me the most. I know you’ve been through so much, Bea, but I promised you that it hasn’t been easier for me too. The times that you weren’t happy, I wasn’t happy too. I may have indirectly inflicted pain on you but I promise you that I felt pain too.”“I don’t know what you want in the man of your dreams but I promise you that I can be that man and I will live up to your expectations.”“I like you so much, Bea. So much that I know I would go insane if you are not mine and seeing you so sad or mad at me makes me feel terrible.”“Knowing you definitely birthed a new personality for me. I would do whatever it takes to make you happy.”“There you go again. Knowing what to say to me.”“I don’t want to lose you.”She sighed. “You make things so hard for me.”“So does that mean that I’m forgiven?”Beatrice said nothing, looking away from him.
Daniel seemed to have slept for a very short time but he didn’t mind because he woke up the happiest man in the world to a very wonderful woman by his side. He smiled seeing that she still had her head buried in his chest as she slept peacefully.Daniel removed some of the hair that fell across her cheek and placed a soft kiss on it after which he gently tore himself away from her and got out of bed. He proceeded to the bathroom to get ready for his meeting with Nora and one of their business partners.“Jeez, did you even sleep at all?” He smiled, sighting his Grandmother on the couch.“Thank goodness you are here. I was contemplating if I should come bang on the door but I wouldn’t want to ruin anything that was happening between you both.”Daniel laughed out loud. “Good morning, Grandma.”“Oh, Good Morning, and Happy Birthday to you my lovely Grandson.” She rose to her feet, pulling him into a warm hug. “May this new age bring you abundant happiness. I love you so much, Daniel, and
“I just want to cuddle you.”“I don’t want you to.” Bea was saying when he placed her head on his chest and she was surprised at the warmth she felt due to the closeness of their bodies. They were in a spooning position and for the first time she felt really protected.“You win because I’m tired and I don’t have the strength to argue with you.”“Anything that makes you sleep at night.” Daniel smiled, kissing the side of her forehead.Beatrice felt her eyes start getting itchy but she tried her best to push back the tears. It was evident that she and Daniel started on a very terrible path but if she was being sincere, no man had ever made her feel loved; not even Frank.“Are you an early riser?” He asked, caressing her hair.“It depends. Why do you ask?”“I need to be up early. Grandma and I have a meeting with someone. It’s business related but we will be done before noon."“Then we have the rest of the day to explore this city before we head back home.”“It’s fine. You don’t need to