Calvin started his day on an awful note. Mr Tommy wanted to know if there was any progress, and the others were asking for an update. He ignored his assistant hot on his heels as he fled to his office. His office door opened moments after he was inside. He slung his jacket over his chair and stood behind it. Destinee edged away from the door, her face a cold mask of professionalism. Calvin stared at his wristwatch and back at her. She was yet to speak.
“What is it, Destinee?” Calvin asked. He wasn’t always this snappy, but he had grown awful at controlling his temper since that blue-eyed woman walked out on him. Sitting, he tapped on his keyboard and scrolled through the list of other publishers on his monitor screen. Destinee stopped behind the chair in front of his desk. She was too silent today. “What do you want?”
Fucking Diane had not helped. Thoughts of the woman he would not mention still plagued his mind, and the only thing h
Three days had passed since the squash game, and Calvin hadn’t gotten a call or text or email from Lance or his assistant. He didn’t want to get his hopes high, but he had been expectant since Charles placed that call. It was only a Tuesday, so he couldn’t contact his friend about the matter.Dropping his phone to his desk, Calvin stepped out of his office, and his assistant stood. They didn’t share a space, but Destinee’s open office was right outside his. He preferred it that way so he could always pop his head out for a random check.“Have we gotten a response from Lance?”Destinee was silent as she skimmed through her laptop. Her head bobbed a few times. “He sent… oh!” Eyes lighting up, she nodded. “Yeah. He seems interested.”The printer behind her desk buzzed and spat out a warm sheet she handed over to Calvin. It was filled with tiny letters, but he recognised the
Hana sat in front of her laptop. The cursor blinked, and she stared at the new page for so long it made her eyes water. The manuscript she had been working on was in that purse those men took from her. Surprisingly, she didn’t miss it. She knew what story she wanted to write next, and her fingers itched to be put to use. This time, she would be smart enough to write into the laptop first. Instead of the arduous process of writing into a note first, then typing it out she had always employed.Opening the Word document, she gawked at the front page that should hold the title for a few seconds, then typed in one word. Unknown.A title could come later after the story. Grabbing a notepad, she scribbled down rough details about her characters. That part wasn’t difficult. Kyle’s features were engrained in her memory. She listed down everything from her memory.His grey eyes. Tiny full-stop birthmark on his jaw. Black hair so soft she miss
Calvin was in his office when the door burst open. He hid his annoyance as his assistant walked in. She waved some sheets in the air, and he pressed two fingers to his temple, hoping the building headache would disappear. Nothing had gone right for him this week. Lance was deliberately ignoring him, and he didn’t know their stand with Ace. Was the problem with the changes he made to the contract? It couldn’t be.“Sir, we got it,” Destinee declared before he could ask about the problem. His eyes carried all his confusion, and his assistant laughed as she bridged the gap between them to slap the papers on the table. “This.”Calvin snatched the first page from her. His brows knitted and relaxed almost instantly. Was this a joke? He spared Destinee a glance, and she beamed. Maybe he would keep her. She had survived his worst. He read through again, skimming the lines on every page to be sure this wasn’t a trick.
Calvin picked up immediately. He owed his friend lunch and maybe even dinner.“Are you busy?” Charles asked as soon as the call connected.Curt and straight to the point wasn’t Charles’ style, but Calvin didn’t call him out on it. Stress could make a man act out of character sometimes. He snapped his fingers, and his driver started the car. It was back to the office for Calvin, but that idea didn’t appeal to him like it should. He looked out the window as they joined the traffic.“No,” he replied. “Not now. What’s up?”Charles ratted out the name of a restaurant, and in a few minutes, Calvin was on his way there.Calvin checked his social media. He might not be as active as his siblings were on the apps, but he had accounts there. He was on a mission. Scouring through the Instagrâm page of The Duchess, he scoffed at the number of followers on their page. 2M. He had nev
One minute more, and Calvin would be done for the week. His office door burst open while he was making the final touches to a contract. He scowled, prepared to give whoever that was a lecture about knocking and waiting for his invitation. But on seeing his twin sister, Camilla, he rolled his eyes. At least she was sober.Camilla’s pointy heel clicked against the floor as she sashayed towards him like his office was her runway. She stopped behind one of the swivel chairs and spun it. Christ.“Good to see you too, baby bro.”“Fifteen seconds,” Calvin reminded her. Pinching his thumb and index finger together, he said, “Fifteen seconds, Cam.”Camilla flipped her brown hair like he was wasting oxygen by speaking to her. She was such a diva, and he knew better than to be offended.“Is all it took to make me the older one, baby bro.”The urge to throw her out of hi
Cara burst into her sister’s room without knocking. Hana looked up from her laptop as her sister joined her on the bed. Cara copied her stance. Resting her back against the headboard, she folded her legs under her and dropped her laptop on her thighs.Today was Valentine’s Day, and Cara didn’t have any lectures. Mr Black had missed their last two appointments, and Hana was more relieved than she should have been about it.What if the man was also having second thoughts? Baba was intent on this deal for his sake, not Hana’s, Cara’s or Mama’s. She couldn’t get out of the deal unless Mr Black cancelled, and she doubted he would after waiting so long. What if he was sick, ugly or burnt? Or even worse than Baba?A tap on her shoulder shook her out of her thoughts. She dropped the laptop on the bed and smiled at her sister. “Yes, Cara?”“What were you thinking?”&ldqu
Friday came sooner than Calvin wanted. So far, Camilla hadn’t bothered him all week, and he was grateful for that. The moment his door opened, that gratitude flew out of it. Camilla waved. Today, she wasn’t in a pencil skirt but a suit. Shutting the door with her foot, she catwalked to his door.Calvin stretched his hand to her. “Eggs.”“Come on, I just got here. Let me sit first,” Camilla told him. Yeah, she didn’t have the eggs. “Well, can I sit now, Vinny? Last—”“Sit if you have the eggs.”“Come on!” she whined.Since he was done with work for the day, he might as well entertain both of them.“Fine. Have a seat, Miss Mckenna,” he said.Camilla grinned. Sitting, she dropped her bag on his desk. He had already packed up. If she had come ten minutes later, she would have missed him. He withdrew his pen from his breast pocket, wrote two dig
The car drove into the vast compound, and their butler came to open the door for them. Calvin left the wine for Camilla and carried the cake. Adam, their butler, grabbed his suitcase. The old man cracked a smile, and he knew that was the most they would get.“Welcome. Your parents are waiting.”Camilla darted him a sharp glance, and he rounded to her side, bumping his hip into hers. “Are you good, Cam? You look pale.”“I’m fine.”“Bible?”“I’m not fine,” she admitted. “Later.”Walking ahead to avoid Calvin asking more questions, his sister opened the front door and shut it before he entered. Adam laughed. He was used to her tantrums because he had been in the family for as long as he could remember. Adam opened the door for him, and Mum’s voice was the first he heard. He heard her laughter, and then Dad agreeing to what his wife said. He didn’t th