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11. The Floors of Arkitexs
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2024-10-29 19:42:56Related chapters
Her Dilemma 12. I Don't Want My Latte from the Comapny Cafeteria
Leighton packed the files off the systems analyst's desk. The latter looked nervous, twirling a strand of hair. She looked full of nerves enough to chew on it.'Leighton, you sure everything's fine?''Yeah,' said Leighton, rolling his eyes.'I mean, I was gonna bring the files myself, is Mr Chevrolet angry?''No. Wena, you're overreacting.'Rowena wrung her hands and tried to smile but only succeeded in looking more nervous. 'If you say so.'Leighton flashed a smile, ticked something on the top file then pat her cheek and made to go.'Leighton?'He stopped and glanced back at her.'I was wondering if you're still up for a drink at my apartment.' Rowena was shy saying this, her face red right to the roots of her hair, like someone suffering from a bad rash.Leighton turned pink at the neck and ears. 'Well, okay, fine by me.' Then he bolted out of the room speedwalking to the elevator towards the end of the hallway.It was his luck it was a mini-break for the fourth floor and no one was
Her Dilemma 13. I Should Take a Sick Leave
Trying to not worry was definitely not an easy task for Taissa. Nothing seemed to be, nowadays. The worrying parasite thoughts kept running all over her head like energy zigzagging through her brain. Where was the next money going to come from? She didn't always get the paperwork (she wasn't the only one who applied for them). The current client she had was a shoestring budget man who'd come to her in the first place because he couldn't afford them famous and more expensive advocates.His sweatshop had been run into by a FedEx truck and he hoped to squeeze some money from them for damage control.Was it this man she was going to depend on? It wasn't easy keeping her head above water. The landlord was getting more aggressive each day, that problem wore her down the most but she was almost through with paying the rent money and then she'd look for a nice apartment building. Tears stung her eyes at this. She couldn't help remembering her dream, her and Aeneas's. To live happily in a 'hom
Her Dilemma 14. Everyone Now Looks Like Taissa
'Guys, Mr Channing Chevrolet is now almost around, be on your best behaviours,' Ms. McCullough said. 'And, kids, please stay together. Nobody wander off on their own.'A girl raised her hand.'Yes,' Ms. McCullough answered'We can ask questions from him, right?' she said.'Definitely??' Mr Quasar said. 'Feel free to, just do not ask questions that . . . ah . . . aren't . . .''Did you wanna say stupid?' Annoying Thing interjected. Naima didn't know if anyone noticed, but he'd just removed a finger from up his nose—where it'd been for a long time— and had wiped the disgusting booger on the back of a row seat near him. Naima turned away in disgust before she gave in to the urge to retch.'No, boy,' Mr Quasar gently said, smiling. The smile looked pretty forced to Naima, like the man had the thought that Annoying Thing was the stupid one. She was all heart and hands for that opinion. 'I was just going to leave my words in aposiopesis.'He garnered himself attention at this.'What the he
Her Dilemma 15. The Locket
Naima waited for the crowd to dwindle before she approached Mr Chevrolet, who had just finished signing on Lin's sneakers. Silly girl, Naima thought of Lin as she approached him, nervous all of a sudden.'Hi there,' he said and flashed a smile.'Hi.' She let out a deep breath she didn't know she was holding. 'I was wondering if you could sign in my autograph book,' she said at the same time unzipping her backpack for the big book.'Sure thing, you've got a book for autographs?' He sounded surprised.'Yes.' She blinked. 'Is it not okay?''No, no, sounds . . . sensible, actually.''Thanks.' She handed him the book and he signed on the front page and then a blank page.'Do you want anywhere else?''Yes! On my sketchbook . . .' She broke off, knowing she'd said something she shouldn't have. 'Oh, never mind,' she muttered.'I heard alright, Ms Allendale,' Channing said. 'Bring it out.''It's not here,' she said softly, he almost didn't catch it.'You could get your dad to stop by anytime
Her Dilemma 16. Game Turned Nasty
Clodagh plopped the bowl of French fries in front of Naima on the bed.'So, what you're saying is that you met your idol after all this while and then you don't like him anymore,' the nine-year-old said, popping a curly fry into her mouth.Naima tucked her legs beneath her on the rocking chair and sucked noisily on her juice box. 'Yeah.''But what would make you suddenly decide that? You're not gonna drop your dream, are you?' Clodagh peered at Naima from beneath her curls, her eyebrows meeting her forehead in questions.Naima was startled at the second question. 'What? No. Of course not. Why would I? I love to sketch.''So, why do you suddenly feel off about him? So what if he recognizes your Mom? Why don't you ask her how she knows him? Maybe he's an old family friend.'Naima gave a short laugh and rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, you don't say.''Why would my mommy be friends with the richest person in the country and I wouldn't know?' she added.'But isn't it still cool that he knows her?
Her Dilemma 17. Grumpy Pants
The calm cerulean-blue pool reflected the room opposite, giving the impression that it was right beneath the water and inverted.Channing squeezed a blob of sunscreen into a palm and settled back in his recliner to stare at the shape in the water. He wanted to see if he could make out the wordings on the high windowsill without having to look up at the real thing. He couldn't see anything from his position. He rubbed the lotion all over his muscular chest and sat up leaning over the edge of the recliner to stare at the water.Something Tex. Good thing he didn't even remember what was actually written on the sill.Anyways the angle at which his head was bent was making him dizzy and he feared he'd start haemorrhaging from the nose. As he sat back he was struck by how lonely he felt. Everywhere was dead quiet — even the clouds weren't moving. It made him wish he'd had put aside time to make friends. But he just wasn't the friend type of person, he was used to people holding him in hig
Her Dilemma 18. The Man Babysitter
'What the . . .?' Channing yelled, stopping himself just in time from swearing. 'Why is she going to stay with me?'From afar Chauncey tsk-tsked and continued to walk towards the house. Forgetting his niece, Channing stormed towards his brother.'Don't you dare do that and walk into my house,' he ground through his teeth, pulling his brother back.Thankfully, Honey hadn't stopped walking and was now almost at the front yard.'Hey, easy bro. You're not going to take her? Then go tell her you don't want her. Come on, go there and tell your niece her uncle thinks she's going to be a burden.'Channing gritted his teeth till his head started to ache. 'You son of a gun!' he spat out through clenched teeth. 'You're hightailing it!'Chauncey shrugged, a smile dangling on his lips. 'I've got a business deal to attend to in Manhattan, tell that to Father, with love.'Channing almost puked blood at this. He grabbed hold of the front of Chauncey's T-shirt. 'You fucking coward. You're going to lea
Her Dilemma 19. Seeing Her Again
The sleek blue BMW was easy to notice in the filled car park. The colour was simply arresting. It looked to have been made out of lapis-lazuli itself.He watched as it waited, its engine purring gently. Was she going to come out? Or would she remain waiting in the car? A thought occurred to him somewhere in his mind that he was behaving like a teenage boy out meeting his date — more like perving on her in this case. Only she wasn't his date. And he was no schoolboy.Just as he was going to look away, a blonde girl darted to the car, her hair in a high ponytail that swung gently from side to side as she walked. Ah, Naima.The kid made a face at the smoked glass and went to open the backseat door. Channing smiled at this then quickly snapped out of it, was he developing a liking for the kid too? But still, he wondered how it'd feel if he were her father. Okay, Chan, snap break.He returned his thoughts to the mother and almost groaned in frustration. Was she not going to come out? Hi
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Her Dilemma 28. A Dreadful Feeling
A dreadful feeling lay heavy in the pit of his stomach, it had lain there all day. His father, Chauncey Chevrolet the Third was arriving today. And now that he was on his way to the airport to pick him up, the feeling slowly mushroomed.He managed a sad smile as he merged into the interstate. One wouldn't believe Ice King Channing Chevrolet could let himself be rattled by anything, but then his father solely had that power over him, had always. He let out a shaky breath and concentrated on the road he was driving on."What, uncle? Aren't you excited about meeting Grandpa?" Racquelle asked from the passenger seat, where she was busy on her tablet.Channing scoffed. Excited? That was the last word to describe how he felt. He was going to do this alone, Racquelle didn't count, she loved Dad to a fault even though she had met him in person pretty much just twice or thrice and only gets to video call him once or twice a year. He silently swore at his selfish brother. The recreant had dumpe
Her Dilemma 27. Running Crazy
Channing Chevrolet was outside an event centre on the other side of the city. He had been seated in his car outside for a bit over an hour now. A friend of Racquelle's who also happened to be a family friend was having her ninth birthday party and Racquelle had insisted he bring her to the venue himself.Today, he was in a silver-red Lexus, contrary to the black Tesla he had taken to work this morning. He had been going for the don't-notice-me look, but he might have missed as people kept staring at the car as they pulled up for the party. Thankfully, the windows were smoked, so they couldn't possibly see him inside.A thought struck him that he should get a chaffeur, being a busy businessman and all. Leighton usually took the wheels or he put the car on autopilot.On arriving at the party, he had tried to kill time by video calling Chauncey. But the call had ended in a heated row when it was obvious his elder brother was having the time of his life and felt no remorse whatsoever fo
Her Dilemma 26. The Gentleman Already Paid for It
Channing watched as she moved away from him. What had he done wrong? He closed his eyes and the memory of her moaning like an animal in heat came to him. He was powerfully aroused.She was so sweet he could still taste her mouth on his. The hot swollen ache that bulged between his legs threatened to unbalance him. But the inexplicable tenderness he felt for her was way more dangerous than his desire.'Please, let me go,' she said sidling along the wall, looking so scared and uncertain he wanted to take her in his arms and kiss away her fears. Her tears shimmered pain lingering in her eyes. He glimpsed regret and sorrow in those shining eyes.'Taissa,' he reached out to her, 'you don't have to be scared of me.'She stabbed him with her hot eyes. 'I have every reason to be, Channing Chevrolet. You're way too dangerous for me. I don't know you and—' I'm carrying your baby. But she couldn't say that. He'd laugh at her and tell her to look well for the father of her baby, hell, at worst h
Her Dilemma 25. . . . 'n Kiss
She put a hand to her throat where her pulse was fluttering madly.What did he want from her? Her only offence had been to call out to him. What if he was a murderer?The breath caught in her throat at the thought. Sweet God, she was pregnant, she had two kids and they'd be orphans if she died. Her mouth dried. She looked around for any object with which to defend herself, but she saw, to her dismay, nothing within reach. Why did it have to be in a quiet corner where no one would hear her die? She prepared to scream when his hand closed over her shoulder a second before his mouth descended to claim hers. Taissa thought she heard him mutter her name at that second but she didn't give much mind to it as her mind was on another alarming thought. He was kissing her! She wasn't being murdered, she was being plundered. Crazily, she didn't fight him. It almost felt familiar, the kiss that is. But she hadn't kissed anyone in ages, well, save for Channing Chevrolet. There was nothing she cou
Her Dilemma 24. Rock 'n Bike . . .
Chevrolet never knew deciding what to get for your niece could be such a big job. He wished again that he hadn't promised to get her a present. But she'd been so forlorn for so long that he'd feared she'd die of sadness, so his plan to cheer her up had been to promise her anything she wanted, but Racquelle wasn't inclined.It was on his way driving back home from a stressful day at work that he'd seen the bright pink and green neon signs of the store. Rock n' Bike.The perfect place to get a gift. So he'd pulled off the A1 into the parking area. Rock n' Bike stood beside the channel and the occasional sounds of the sluicing river and vessels coupled with the noise of the traffic overhead created a somewhat perfect symphony for the store setting.He paused to dig for a camouflage. He didn't wanna find out what'd happen if a crazy fan ran into him at the store. He couldn't find anything in the glove compartment. He uttered profanities and pulled a latch inside the compartment that slid
Her Dilemma 23. Her Own Tune to Dance to
The kids had seemed okay by it, but Taissa wasn't convinced one bit about her daughter. It was obvious from the girl's expression that she had a million questions to ask.But Naima had always been a reasonable kid. She must have seen that her mother was going through struggles of her own at the moment and had decided to file her questions away for another time.After Taissa had made them promise not to tell anyone about it, for the time being, she kissed them and tucked them into bed. It was bad enough that she was single, broke and had two and a half other mouths to feed. If people knew she was pregnant, the onslaught of questions and pity and ridicule would be too much for her to bear.Taissa made up her mind to stay as clear-headed as she could be. She couldn't fool herself into thinking things would get better, but she could welcome the thought that things wouldn't get worse. She wouldn't let it. Not on her life.She sighed deeply as she shut the door to Naima's room, having just
Her Dilemma 22. Barney's a Dinosaur
Taissa slapped her knee and laughed out loud. 'That's the best joke I've heard today, Marlee.'Marlee Ransom pursed her lips and sat down beside her friend, her face revealed no hint of comedy. 'It's no joke, Taissa. You're preggy.'Waves of shock, alarm and stark terror crashed over her Taissa like an angry tide. Her open mouth went dry and it felt like something had stuck in her tonsils. She was fairly sure her heart had missed the next few scheduled beat. She unconsciously flexed her suddenly numb fingers and searched for her voice. 'Pregn-nant?' she finally echoed.'I'm afraid so, babes.''How is that pos—' Taissa suddenly blanched. 'Oh my God, no. Oh my God, no. No, no, this did not happen,' Taissa said softly, hanging her head.Marlee sighed and gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. 'I'm so sorry to have to be the one to tell you this. But you gonna be okay.' Even though she had bad news, she tried to wind up her speech on a positive note.Taissa shut her eyes and swallowed painf
Her Dilemma 21. You're Not Ill . . . You're Pregnant
'Wakey, wakey.'Still pretty much asleep, Taissa slapped the tickling thing away. The giggle that followed broke her dreamy haze and she pried open her eyes, sitting up to shake out the cobwebs of sleep from her eyes.A smiling messy-haired blonde stood taller beside a grinning boy whose red hair looked like he'd stuck his hand in a toaster.'Happy birthday!' Yannis shouted. That got her full attention.'Birthday?' Naima frowned, turning to him.'Birthday?' Taissa said.Yannis sucked in his lips as though he'd just realized the meaning of his utterance. 'Um, is that not what you say when you bring me breakfast in bed?'For the first time, Taissa noticed the covered tray on the nightstand. 'Oh.'Naima palmed her face. 'No duh. That's because you mostly get breakfast in bed "on your birthdays"! ''Sorry, guess I'm just too used to that.' The little boy hung his head.'Sheesh!' Naima scolded. 'Mommy was supposed to guess the reason we were in her room.''Sorry.' His head couldn't go any
Her Dilemma 20. Finding Her Nepenthes
Taissa Allendale barely managed to slip the two glass flutes unto the coffee table before she collapsed into the sofa, her right arm hitting Marlee. 'Sorry,' she mumbled.'With your damn work taking it out of you you're really gon' kill yourself before your time, girlfriend.' Marlee's nagging voice made her feel worse.'Oh, for fuck's sake, Marlee!' she grumbled out loud.'Okay, okay.' Marlee seemed amused.Taissa sighed in relief and waved to the liquid in flutes. 'Make yourself at home.'Marlee picked up a flute and sipped from it rather daintily. 'Since when did you start having liquor in the house?''It's only margarita, Marlee. I got one at a c-store on the way home.''I didn't know they had this kind of stuff at c-stores.'Taissa sighed and said, 'This particular one had. Marlee, I've got a headache building up.' So stop yanking my chain. But she didn't voice that. Instead, she glared at her best friend meaningfully.'So, you thought the best thing to do was buy a drink on yo
