“I had a feeling that was something to do with it all,” said Kiefer. “He kept talking about a birth certificate and some other forgeries. But I never put two and two together.”“Well, she told me to go, as a matter of fact. Told me that I was no good, that it was all my fault.”“And you believed her, you left her?” Asked Kiefer.My phone began to ring, I bring out the phone and I check them, when I check the screen , my grandparents were calling, I didn’t want to speak with them but then I thought of their safety.I picked the call.“ Hello? My Grandmom began to scold me over the phone.“Riley, How could you abandon your wife?! Listen and listen carefully, I want my granddaughter in law and my grand kids back home, bring them back home” she said firmly.I hanged the call and look towards Kiefer.“ You can’t just sit here because she pushed you away?I scowled, then looked away. “I don’t have to justify myself to a man who walked out on his own family,” I said. “I did my best to help. B
Not until I know they are safe.Inside the tower, it was musty and damp, and water dripped from the tall places and plashed on the floor beside me as I climbed the metal staircase around the sides of the structure. It seemed to take forever, and more than once, I had to stop to catch my breath, which I was drawing in and out of my lungs in painful gasps. I tried to be quiet. What if Lena heard me and decided to act?What if she and Amanda and their men are there?Eventually, I saw a doorway to my right, and entered through it. But I almost fainted when I looked down.I was high-up now, on a gantry, some fifty or sixty feet above the ground. It ran around the whole length of the warehouse, and two platforms ran across its center, connecting the pair of them. I stepped gingerly back, trying not to look at the distance stretching down below me.“Well, if it isn’t Chloe.Chloe Anderson . Or is it Chloe Sam?”It was Lena. She stepped out from the shadows, calling to me. Then Amanda walked to
RILEY.“Well,look who’s come to join the party,” said Lena. “And just in the nick of time, too.” “ What a perfect way to have a wedding between you and my daughter”I scoff.“ So what has my wife and kids got to do with all of this ? I ask.“ Uhm…Lena scoffs, who’s with you?“Check for yourself” I said.Is men quickly rush out and return that I was the only one. Really could that be true, how did I know here if there is no one with me? I thought.“ Okay, why should I fight you, my mom and dad was murdered by you and now I am sure your plan is for me to get married to your daughter so that you will have that total right to my inheritance” I said.“Well,well well, Your father was a bastard, I proposed marriage to him but he went ahead to marry your mom and to add to it all, he found out my truth , he was going to block my avenue to run my father’s company which has flopped, I had to do the needful” Lena said.“ So that you can continue stealing and you succeeded in doing that for twenty
“I think we need it,” I said.“Where is daddy? Henry asked.Not long Russell O’Rourke stood at the door, he stepped in. My sons backed up in their separate bed in fear.“It’s okay, kids,” I said, giving her a reassuring glance. “This is the man who saved you.”“Judging by what the ballistics guys have just told me,” growled O’Rourke, “it was Riley who saved the two of you.”I lowered my eyes, and felt a rush of blood spread to my cheeks.“Daddy was the hero,” Harry asked, and suddenly I felt tears rushing up through my body.“Yeah,” I said. “He was.” And I began to cry.***Sara came to sit with my kids for a while. There was something I knew I had to do. If I didn’t do it now, I wouldn’t sleep a wink. And more than anything, I needed to sleep now. Needed to know that the nightmare was over.Only, it wasn’t.Because Riley hadn’t woken up yet.When Lena had gone over the side, Riley had gone with him. Lena was handcuffed to a bed in a different hospital somewhere.He was medicated out
RILEYFew days later we return home, our kids were having nightmares.My Grandparents have been helpful, they came spend some few days with us then left, they always call to know about our well being. they couldn’t sleep alone, we had to share bed with them I practically left her off balance when I leaped from the shower and kissed Chloe. But then, as I cradled her, with nothing but a towel around my waist, she put a hand knowingly to her lips. And then I remembered that our kids were fast asleep.“It’s three walls of soundproofed insulation,” I said.“I still want to be quiet,” Chloe said, playfully.I grinned and wrapped my arms around her head as I kissed her. In turn, she put her arms around me, and the feeling of the soft linen material of her shirt as it pressed against my naked back was ecstasy. In the low light of my bedroom, I picked her up easily, and span her as we kissed, making her a little dizzy. By the time I threw her onto the bed, cushioning her fall with my arms, I
Once we’d figured out what normal was.“What are you thinking?” I said, and Chloe turned around, and smiled. But there was a sadness in her eyes.“Been a long time since anyone asked me that,” she said.“I’m making it my business to know these days,” I said, as I took her in my arms. I cradled her waist and pulled her up to me, and we kissed, her eyes glinting with the far-off neon and streetlights of New York City beneath us.“I’m thinking that I’m going to miss this view,” she said.“You don’t have to miss it just yet,” I said. “After all, you’re still going to need to find a new apartment.”“I guess so,” she said thoughtfully. “And a job.”“Well, when the company’s rebuilt in November, I’ll be sure to give you a ring.”“Actually, I was thinking that I’ve been working as a PA for too long,” said Chloe.“ I want to earn better now and go back to my crumbled business” Said Chloe.“The jewelry business…..uh?she nodded.“ I guess the boys need a little sister?She looks up to me.“not no
NICOLE I run up the dirty steps to get out of the NYC Subway system, cursing the backed-up trains, and tapping frantically on my phone. I can still save the morning, get to work on time, and make a good impression on my new boss if I take a ride share. I can get to work in...I hold my breath, watching the app’s loading signal. Ten minutes. That’s when the nearest car can get to me. I blow out a sigh of relief and wrap my puffy coat tighter against the winter cold. I can make that work. In my headphones, Summer walker is breathlessly singing about throwing a wish in the well. I love this song because you can hear the smile in her voice. I take a few more deep breaths and remind myself thatthis timethings are going to work out. For good. I wait for my heartbeat to slow from a sprint to a jog. The truth is, I’d be a knot of anxiety, even without the backed-up trains. I'm a 26-year-old graphic designer, and I have the worst possible luck with jobs. First there was the theater company t
Carlos puts a drink on the bar, and I snatch it before the Suit can. Victory, I think. And immediately I feel a little stronger, tougher, more formidable. I wonder if this feeling is why men are obsessed with winning. “Hey,” Nathan says, his voice low and stern enough to give a woman fantasies. Not me though. I am fantasy free. “That’s mine,” he says. “No, it’s mine,” I say, taking a swig of coffee. And then I’m coughing and gagging because of how black and bitter it is. No, it’s mine,” I say, taking a swig of coffee. And then I’m coughing and gagging because of how black and bitter it is. So much for the victory tasting sweet. “Never mind,” I croak, as Carlos sets my bagel and coffee on the counter. I pass this coffee to the Suit. “This one’s yours.” He looks down at the lipstick stain on the coffee lid with distaste. Then his phone buzzes, and he swears. He takes the coffee from me, and my stomach does a weird buzzy thing when our fingers touch. Probably leftover adrenaline