EMMA.The first time I had made an attempt at calling Alexander Blackwood after his wife pleaded, he did not answer.I was immensely grateful for that. At least, I could say I tried.I mean, it would go down in record that I dialed his number, right?Yes, it would. I hadn't done anything wrong.I laid in bed, watching the ceiling, engrossed in thoughts.The day had gone all so well. Kristina and Samuel had gotten into a deep conversation about me, and I didn't want to be there while they analyzed my lifestyle.Well, two hours had gone by, and neither of them had come up to me.I looked out the window, only to find the entire family, and some friends in the backyard. They seemed to be having fun discussions, and eating together.Did anyone notice my absence?Did it matter?I was sure they were preoccupied with activities.I laid back.Looking at my screen, I stared at my wallpaper. There was a picture of me in sunglasses, and red lipstick. My smile was broad, and genuine. I was all too
EMMA.He turned around.“Are you sure about that? I can always come by later.” I closed off my phone, “I'm sure.” I replied.His smile was all too bright for his excitement to be hidden. It somehow made me excited too. He had this boyish glow in his eyes whenever he was excited.I walked up to him.As I approached him, I noticed his eyes following my chest.Little did I realize that I wasn't exactly clad. I had unbuttoned my shirt, and while I had covered up, the buttons were mixed up, giving him access to see my chest. He looked away immediately. What a gentleman. Well-behaved. He maintained eye contact with me, and in his eyes, I could see him battling not to look again.Something about that turned me on.“Please come back,” I said.I said out loud just because. It was good that I did. I wanted to choose someone who wasn't Alex, and I had done that. I verbally, outrightly chose someone who wasn't Alex.I had broken free away from his grasp. I was my own woman.I took a breath, l
EMMA Well, it was safe to say this was the sweetest and most intentional thing any man had ever said to me.I was dumbfounded, and couldn't even come up with any concrete reply. “Emma,” he called my name.“Yes?” I croaked out.He seemed to be genuine. As I stared at him, I will ndered if his words were genuine? They could always be lies.I would be a fool to believe his lies.“Emma, I want to take the appropriate step. Can I take you out on a date tonight?”Tonight? I had nothing to wear. All the clothes I had brought were casuals, and it would be almost impossible to find an outfit that would work in less than six hours.“What's the time?” I asked,He pulled out his phone. “Six thirty three.” He answered.No. Definitely too late.“I don't think I can,” I replied, slowly. I just hoped he didn't get the wrong message. I did want to go on a date with him, but I was beyond unprepared.“Why?” He askedIf I asked for a dress for the date would I come out as entitled?I mean, he had alrea
EMMAOh well. The day I agreed to go on a date had arrived.I didn't inform Kristy, neither did I tell Zara. Not even my mother was aware.I sat on my bed, pondering on what to wear. I knew I should have told them what happened, but after yesterday's event, we all clocked out.Since then, I just couldn't come up with a way to tell them. Not that they would be annoyed or anything.I knew they would be excited for me. They loved me.Kristina on one hand would be over the moon. She had been waiting for this for a long time.But in my heart, I harbored some thoughts.Was it wise to start something with Samuel?What if it didn't work out? What would happen to his lovely relationship with my family? He knew them before me. I didn't want to get in the way of anything.If I ended up ruining their friendship, I would be pissed at myself forever. I couldn't even tell if I would recover from that.Then again came the question of time. Wasn't it too early to date? Did I want to fall in love jus
EMMA.I knew Kristina often worked out to tone her body, and maybe gain some strength, but I was beyond surprised when she lifted the heavy box off the floor, and headed into the living room.I stepped out of the way giving her all needed chance just so she could do what she wanted.She slammed the box on the floor, turning to face me.“It wasn't even that heavy,” she said, breathing heavily. Yeah…“It wasn't that heavy but you lifted it off the floor, and slammed it down like a two hundred and sixty five pounds man. Oh, and the delivery man himself refused to lift it because she thought it was ‘too heavy’”“Come on, you know I work out. I lift weights often. This is a breeze.”“I work out too, but you don't see me lifting things like superwoman.”.She laughed out, wiping her face.“There's absolutely no point in arguing over this. Samuel gave you a gift, and I helped you bring it in. The least you could do is appreciate me.”“Fine,” I agreed, “thank you.”*You're welcome.”“Now let'
EMMA.At about five pm, Samuel had texted, telling me I would get picked up by eight. That meant I had three hours to prepare. Kristina and I had already chosen the dress, shoes, and bag I would use so it wasn't that much work left, but I still panicked.I needed to get my hair, and make up right.We eventually started preparing by six pm. A girl needed her time to prepare right?I sat before the mirror as Kristina worked her magic with my hair. Luckily, Zara had some curlers around and we made judicious use of them.“This date will be amazing,” Kristina said, brushing my hair.“I hope so,” I replied, trying to ease the tension I felt in my chest.It had been a while since I went on a first date with anyone. What were the etiquettes? What would we talk about?For someone who had decided to dump the dating pool for a long while, it surely was too early for me to be rehearsing what to say on a first date. What would we even talk about? I couldn't think of one thing we had in common. Su
EMMA Alex had to be God’s punishment to me from the sins in my previous life because how could he be here at such a time? This could be the worst time for his presence to be seen or known. He had months to reach out, but he chose today of all days to show his ugly face.He was still staring at me, as though he had seen a ghost.He didn't answer my question.I stood still, unable to move as he approached me.“Baby…”I smacked him right across the face. His jaw twitched, and I watched as shock sinked in.“Don't you ever call me that name!” I warned him,He didn't say anything.“Get. Out.” I spat at him,Realization set in his eyes, and he let go of my hand.“Out.” I repeated.He turned around, and headed towards the door.As I watched him leave, relief washed over me. The worst thing that could happen was for Samuel, and Alex to cross paths. I wouldn't let him ruin the one good thing that was finally getting my life back on track.He was about to leave, when I heard a knock on the door
ISABELLAIt had been a month since Alexander's business scandal fell. It had been proven that he was innocent and he was redeemed. It had been proven that he was framed. I had expected every other negative thing to have drowned with it.He was supposed to return back to the version of himself. He was supposed to return, but he never did.My husband never returned to me. He remained where he chose to live.For a minute, I thought he had started seeing another woman, and I even went as far as hiring a private investigator. The results had come out null. I thought that investigator was too dumb, and couldn't see things hidden so I hired another. The same result was brought forward. My husband was faithful, and was drowning himself in work.For a while, I allowed it. His brand was gaining good recognition, and he didn't want to jeopardize it the second time. A week passed, and he never stopped by to check on me.What happened to us having a fresh start? What happened to us being truthf
EMMAAs I approached Isabella, she eventually paused then turned around. I watched as she crossed her arms across her chest, “what do you want?” She asked ,with a sneer.“I want to talk,”She chuckled. “You want to talk. After years of ruining my marriage, you want us to talk? What do you want to talk about?” She spat,I pleaded an arm forward. “Please, just calm down. I have left Alex, haven't I?” She hissed, “We know you only left my husband because you found another site to dig your gold.” I sighed, “you have every right to be mad at me, and to have awful thoughts about me.” I continued, she only glared harder, “I just want you to know that I am sorry. I truly am. I have wronged you in many different ways-”“And you'll do it again.” She cut in.I sighed deeply, “no, I won't. I won't do it again, because I'm sorry. I have left Alex.”“Oh, no no no. You can have him. Gone are the days when I wanted him. You can fucking have him. I'm done with him.”I sighed, “fine. For what it's wo
EMMA I stared at him in shock. He couldn't be serious, could he?“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.“I already knew.” He repeated,He had a sly smile on his lips. I was too stunned to speak. Could this be a dream? A crazy dream. I blinked twice.How could my mother tell him, and not tell me.He saw the confusion on my face, and began to speak, “I know you're confused, but let me explain. Your mother and I already talked about you before you arrived at manhattan.” He explained, “she always complained about you and Alex and how she wished you would always leave him. When I met you at first, I didn't know you were her daughter, but as time passed, I found out.”“Why didn't you say anything?”“You said you weren't ready to talk about it and I didn't want to force you.”I don't know what to say, “I-I…if you knew, why did you still stay with me?”“I met, and studied you. I realized you were more than just a silly affair. Emma, your affair went viral, there's barely anyone who doesn't
ISABELLAI watched as Chris's face bent into a frown. I expected him to stand up to Alex, and claim his position, but either he was too chicken or just knew his place, so he stepped back. Alex stood before me, and I ensured I had anything but the slightest of smiles on my face.I watched as he skimmed me from head to toe. “You look…stunning,” he said,I couldn't remember the last time he had looked at me like that, or even looked at me at all.“Are we going to dance, or will you keep gawking at me?” I asked, raising a brow.He took a step back, “let's dance,” he said, stretching forth his hands. I took it, and followed him to the dance floor.The song chosen was a slow, and soulful one. We danced rhythmically, with his hands on my waist, and mine on his shoulders.I took a whiff of bus perfume, and my knees weakened. Alex never played with scent, and that was one of his most attractive attributes. The dance continued, and I silently searched for El through the crowds. It was hard t
ISABELLA A knock pounded on my door. I knew it could be no one else but him.“Come in,” I said, applying the final touches to my makeup. I knew he wasn't aware that I had changed my mind and would be attending.I listened as the door opened, and he stepped in.“You're coming,” he simply stated,“Yes.” I replied, dropping my lipstick. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, “do you have a problem with that?” I asked, facing him.“No,” he replied, but I could clearly hear the tension in his voice.“What? You don't like that I'll be able to see you stalking her?” I wanted to ask, but I suppressed it. Talking about Emma had gotten me nowhere. It was time to play fair.I picked up my bag. “Can we go now?” I asked,I watched as his eyes fell on my legs. My dress wasn't exactly short, but it held my curves accentuating my look. The dress had an open back, and thin arms, giving way for me to show off my toned skin. My hair was down to my shoulders, and I had red lipstick on.I watched as h
EMMA.The burial was done soon enough, and I wanted nothing more than to return home. New York just felt like the place where all bad things happened to me. I didn't want to return here.I silently remembered Kate and Faith. Both had been unable to make it for the burial, and although I wanted to be infuriated, I knew I couldn't blame them. Faith was in the last month of her trimester, and her husband had informed me she was due at any date. I couldn't risk her losing the baby due to a heart attack from such a news, so we kept it away from her.Kate on the other hand had relocated out of the country with her husband. I was wise enough to know the expenses for returning back were too much. She could repay her respects later on.God, how did we get separated so soon? I always thought we would all grow old together. I sighed. Truly, Kristina had left all she owned in my care, and I didn't know what to do with it. I wasn't sure I wanted to sell the house just yet, but I didn't know what
EMMAAfter days of trial and error, we had finally been able to get Kristina laid to rest. I had thought that by now, I would have left the denial stage, but that was a lie. I was still in denial as much as ever. My mind just couldn't grasp her not being alive and with me. It made no sense.I crossed my arms across my chest as the priest read from the bible. I looked around. Not even one of her family members had made an attempt at attending. Samuel had offered to invite his family to stand in, and luckily, they all did. I was eternally grateful for that.I looked around. The only person that wasn't seated was Samuel's mother. She had excused herself minutes ago.I sniffed, trying to push back the tears that had been formed in my eyes.What would happen to our dreams of growing old together? They were all just…gone! Just like that! Everything we had budgeted.Samuel held my hands tight. He hasn't known Kristina for the longest time, but even he knew how kind of a person she was. If o
EMMA.Okay. This resemblance was beyond extraordinary. I stared at her for a long time trying to decipher if I could spot any difference between her and Kristina. Finally, I closed my eyes.If I hadn't seen Kristina's body rotting on that floor, I would have been so confused she was the one.“Any problem, ma'am?” She asked,I shook my head.Samuel helped me place an order. I sat still, not knowing what to say or do.“Hey,” Samuel said, bowing his head to meet mine.Tears had piled up in my eyes. I wanted feedback from the cops. I wanted to know what had happened to my best friend. “Have you heard anything?” I asked,He picked up his phone, and scrolled through, “nothing yet,” he said, dropping his phone.I sighed. “They're not taking this seriously enough! They need to do better!” I screamed,He touched my back, “darling, I'll ensure that they work faster and put this at the top of their books.”“Thank you,” I thanked him.I was drained. “I want to go home. I'm tired.” I said,and by
EMMA Zara had retained her dorm from last semester. It was a Saturday, and I knew she had no class. I hadn't been good enough of an elder sister to know if she had a job. I sighed. I really needed to change. There was a lot of things I had slacked on.“I'll be out in a few minutes,” I said to Samuel,“Take your time. I'll be working from here.” He replied, bringing out his tablet.I walked out of the car, and headed into her hostel. They were girls everywhere. I looked around, trying to see if I could recognize anyone. My eyes were clouded with tears.“Block C1 room 5,” the words rang in my head, as I continued walking. I looked at the doors trying to determine what block I was on. I silently hoped the room number I had memorized was accurate.After a few minutes of walking, I finally arrived at the said room. I could hear some voices from inside. It sounded like the tv was on. I knocked.“Come in,” Zara's voice replied.I pushed the door open, and she screamed as soon as she saw me.
EMMAI couldn't move. I blinked, but I couldn't move. Samuel dropped the phone on the table, and turned to face me.I opened my mouth to speak, but words wouldn't leave them.“I-”Jesus Christ. He wrapped his arms around me. I still didn't move. My eyes were fixated on it. I couldn't see anything else.Samuel's hand crawled up my head, and he touched my head gently. “I need to move closer,” I said, still in a state of doubt. He moved out of the way, giving me the space I needed. Although, I could see what was before me, I felt like I needed to move closer.This had to be some sort of prank. This couldn't be true.I bent down, and although the stench grew stronger, I ignored it.“She can't be dead,” I whispered.I wanted to feel the tears crawling up my eyes, but I didn't. They refused to fall.“She can't be dead,” I repeated, “she can't be dead and decaying!” I screamed. “No! Kristina is not dead! She can't die! She wouldn't do this to me! She can't do this to me! We are in this l