Alexa walked into her new room just as Jesse and Paul finished installing the new TV on the wall. She was glad to be away from Tyra and her negative comments and only wanted to think positively."All done." Paul said and turned off the TV."Thank you very much." Alexa told them. "Do you like the room?". Jesse asked her after her little tour of the room."It's perfect." She smiled. "I love it. Thank you for letting me stay here.""It's nothing." Jesse dismissed it. "We'll leave you to settle down and... do join us for breakfast.""I don't want to impose." She smiled shyly."You're not." He told her."Alright. What time do you eat breakfast?"."8." Paul said. "That's Twenty minutes from now.""I'll be there." She assured them."Excuse us." Jesse said and left with Paul.Alexa twirled around the room happily and landed on her bed with a sigh. "I accept your unspoken challenge my dear sister." She muttered. "Two months. That's all I need."~~~~~Alexa walked into the dining room a few m
"Heeyy Regina!". Paul walked into the kitchen and sidled up to her. "How is the best cook in the world doing today?".Regina smiled. "What do you want Paul?". She chuckled."So... I enjoyed breakfast today. It was superb." Paul said. "It's a pity though that we're the only ones enjoying your meals. Wouldn't it be great if you can open a restaurant so other people can benefit from the goodness of your heart and the magic of your hands?".Regina stopped what she was doing and tilted her head to look at Paul with an amused smile on her face."It will be great." She agreed. "I will be able to make people happy and I'll become famous. You're right.""See?". He grinned. "Of course I'm right.""But... I can't leave Mrs Arroyo." Regina told him."What?". He whined."I'm sorry but I'm really happy working for Mrs Arroyo." She said. "I've been her housekeeper for years and I don't see myself leaving her. She took me in when I had nowhere to go and she's like family to me. You can't turn your ba
"Here, I found it." Abby returned with her high school year book and opened to the last two pages. "Here she is." She pointed to Alexa's picture.Jesse took the book from her and looked at the picture. Her cheeks were plump and her face wasn't as smooth as it was now but she was pretty."She was our classmate?"."Yeah. She sat at the back of the class." Abby replied. "Didn't you ever notice her?"."No." He shook his head. "Maybe I was kind of a jerk back in high school because I hardly talked to people who weren't my friends. It was just you, Kester and I until I met Olly and Henry in college.""She was my partner in a science project once." Abby said. "She didn't talk much and she was always alone but she once told me a secret she made me promise never to tell you.""You can tell me now. I'm sure it's null and void now after so many years." He said."Well..." She paused. "You're not going to confront her about this right?"."Why would I? I have a fiancee I like very much thank you."
A wave of nostalgia swept over Jesse as he stepped into the lobby of Standard Flour Mills Limited. Years ago, he'd been the general manager of this company but Helena had taken that position from him out of spite and left him with nothing but now... Well, now he couldn't exactly say why he was here or what he was here for but he was keeping his fingers crossed that the surprise would be a dream come true."Good morning Mrs Arroyo, Miss Arroyo and Mr Billion." The receptionist greeted them. "Mr Allen awaits your presence in the conference room.""Good. Lead the way dear." Aviva smiled at the lady.The receptionist led them to the elevator and they got in. She pressed the button for the top floor and the elevator began its ascent."Rebecca." Jesse called."Yes sir?"."Is... Helena in the building?"."Yes sir. She arrived not quite long." Becca replied."Thank you." He sighed."What's wrong?". Bella asked him."I was hoping I wouldn't have to see her face." He muttered. "But wishes aren'
Jesse, Bella and Aviva rushed into the hospital and straight to the reception and they asked the nurse which room Gwen was in, she told them and they hurried off to the emergency room.They saw Paul and Alexa in the waiting room talking in hushed voices and went to meet them."Alexa, how's she?". Jesse demanded. "Is my princess okay?"."She's fine. The doctor said she'd stressed herself out which resulted to her fainting but she's better now." Alexa replied."Can we see her?". Bella asked."Um yes. We were waiting for you guys actually. Family members and all that.""Paul is part of the family." Aviva protested."The Room nurse refused to let us see her unless her father or mother is present." Paul said and shrugged.Jesse sighed. "Let's go in and see her then." He suggested."Two at a time." Alexa said."You and Bella go." Aviva told him. "We'll go in after.""Alright Mom." Jesse nodded and left with Bella."What happened that caused her to faint Alexa?". Aviva asked."It was actuall
Over the next few days, Alexa fully began her mission to seduce Jesse into noticing her. She sent him text messages, pictures and even began to dress more provocatively. Bella noticed this new attitude of Alexa's but didn't think anything of it and let it slide. It wasn't her place to tell Alexa what to wear and what not to since she was an adult and even gave Alexa some fashion tips which pleased Alexa immensely.Jesse however was ticked off but didn't know what to do. He definitely couldn't tell Bella that he was the reason for the sudden change in Alexa's fashion sense or that she was into him - although he was yet to confirm from Alexa if it was true but putting two plus two together from her text messages was enough evidence to prove that Abby was right.He could fire Alexa but then he'd have to explain to Aviva and Bella why he fired her and he didn't have it in him to tell them the reason.Friday came around and Jesse invited his friends out for a drink and to hang out since i
Jesse, Bella and Gwen were playing Marco Polo in the pool when Alexa arrived at the pool area dressed in a sexy red one piece bikini and had a sarong wrap around her waist. She pretended to be surprised to see them in the pool and stopped in her tracks."Oh, I'm so sorry. I thought no one was here." She apologized."It's okay. You can join us." Bella smiled. "Right babe?". She looked at Jesse who was at the other end of the pool."Uh... Sure but, I just remembered that I have work to do so the three of you can continue." He hoisted himself gracefully out of the pool and walked over to the lounge chairs to pick up his towel. He dried his hair with the towel then slung it over his shoulder."Four people can play daddy." Gwen said."I'm sorry sweetheart, maybe tomorrow." He sent her an apologetic smile and blew Bella a kiss before he hurried into the house."You know daddy is a very busy man now so we'll let him off the hook." Bella told Gwen. "He'll join us tomorrow.""Okay." Gwen nodde
Two weeks laterJesse sat at the bar in the club waiting for his friends while nursing a beer. He was supposed to be heading home but he needed to unwind after a hectic day at work. He had to be well prepared for the business summit that was coming up which was why he stayed longer at the office but thankfully Bella understood the difficulties that came with owning a company as big as Standard Flour Mills. She was after all the president of her own company."Hey honey." Helena joined him at the bar. "I'm surprised to see you alone without your bodyguards." She sneered.Jesse glanced at her and sighed. "My God Helena, please leave." He pleaded. "We'll chat next year.""Very funny." She chuckled. "Buy me a drink.""Order what you want." He grumbled.Helena waved the bartender over. "Two shots of vodka. Neat." She told him."Planning to get wild tonight?". Jesse asked."Hmmm hmmm." She nodded. "And I'll also like to get down and dirty with you." She winked seductively at him.Jesse roll
Jesse opened the door to Bella's hospital room and poked his head in to see if she was awake and found her sleeping so he walked in and closed the door. He walked up to her bed and took a seat on the chair in front of her bed and just watched her sleep with a smile on his face. She looked even more beautiful than she was yesterday and he guessed it probably was because she was a new mom and… "You're staring." Bella said. Jesse blinked. "You're awake?". She opened her eyes and turned her head to look at him and frowned when she saw his red eyes. "Have you been crying?". She asked. "Uh... Well, not really." He shook his head. "I got to see the babies and uh... I couldn't help myself." "They're okay?". She asked. "Very okay." He replied. "We have three boys and a girl." "Three boys? Oh well." She smiled. "This means that I won't have to get pregnant again just to get a boy. I have three girls and three boys now." "Um..." He cleared his throat. "Do you know you just totally agreed
Months laterA phone ringing woke Jesse from his sleep and he reached out to pick it up from the bedside table, swiped the screen to answer the call and put the phone to his ear."Hello." He said groggily."Jesse! It's time!". Aviva exclaimed.Jesse's eyes flew open and he sat up in bed. "What's time?". He asked."Bella! The babies!". She said. "We're on our way to the hospital so meet us there.""Um... Okay. I'm on my way." He hung up, jumped out of bed and rushed to the bathroom to take a quick shower then came out and hurried to his closet to dress up.He was in the process of putting on his wristwatch when his bedroom door opened causing him to look up and saw Jessica standing there with an ashen look on her face."What's wrong?". He stood up.Jessica pointed towards Gwen's room but couldn't say anything."Jess? What's wrong?". He walked up to her."Gwen... Gwen..." She gasped leaning against the door frame as tears poured down her face. "She's... She's not waking up.""What?". He
"Jesse." Bella called. Jesse looked up at Bella in surprise. He'd not told anyone else except his mother and sister about Maitta's accident so he guessed that his mother must have called Aviva. "How's she?." Bella asked joining him on the sofa. "I don't know yet." He replied. "Gwen told me what happened." Bella said. "She didn't mean to do it." Jesse scoffed and said nothing. "She's not someone like that. You raised her." Bella reminded him. "Yes." He agreed. "But I didn't expect her to be so heartless that she'd hurt her own sister. I saw her smiling Bella." "Jesse... She's just a little girl." "Which is why I'm not raving mad right now." He said. "Everything will be fine." Bella told him. "You shouldn't have come. You need to be resting." He chided. "I'm pregnant, not an invalid." She said. Jesse chuckled and took her hand in his. "I'm glad you're here." He told her. "Family of Maitta Deacon?". The doctor approached them. "Yes. We're her parents." Jesse stood up. "
Maitta's sleep was disturbed as she kept inhaling smoke wondering sleepily where it was coming from until she opened her eyes and let out a scream when she saw the fire licking at her door. Her room was already so filled with smoke that she could hardly breathe so she took her robe and covered her nose with it and called out to Trisha tearfully. "Mommy!". She didn't want to get up from her bed. "Mommy!". She screamed. It was like a very horrible nightmare that she couldn't wake up from. She got out of bed when she saw that Trisha wasn't answering or banging on her door and ran to her window. She drew back the curtains and opened the shutters and was grateful for the breeze that was blowing in until she heard her bedroom door give way to the intense heat of the fire and fall to the carpeted floor then she really got to see how unsafe she was in the house from the fire raging in the hallway. "Daddy." She sobbed. "Daddy please save me." She couldn't climb out of her window because it
A week later "Can we talk Bella?". Jesse asked. Bella looked up from her laptop to him, surprised to see him but she only nodded and continued with her work. Jesse pulled back a chair and took a seat. He didn't say anything for a long while and just stared at her causing her to look up and raise a questioning brow. "Well? Are you going to say something or you are just going to watch me all day?". She inquired. "I'm sorry." He apologized. "For what?". She looked irritated. "For everything." "Okay?". She sounded bored. "I'm also sorry that I lied to you last week." He said. "You lied about so many things. What exactly are you sorry for?". Jesse took a deep breath. "I told you three weeks ago that I couldn't love you... well that was a big fat lie." He looked contrite. "I realized how much of a loser I was when I heard the news about your supposed death and all I could think of... was that I'd take everything back if I could get another chance with you." "Oh." Bella said. "So
Two weeks later "Daddy!". Gwen shook Jesse awake. "Wake up!". Jesse stirred and forced one eye open to stare at Gwen. He was hung over and felt like his head would come off if he attempted to lift it. He'd drank himself to stupor the night before after he and Aviva dropped Bella off at the airport. She'd insisted on taking a commercial flight back to Mexico and there was no talking her out of it so they'd let her and Aviva had cried on his shoulder making him feel like a horrible human being. He'd gone to the bar from the airport without inviting his friends but when he realized he'd drank too much, he called Olly who came to meet him and brought him home. "Daddy! Mommy is dead!". Gwen shook him. "Mommy is dead!". "Yes I know." He muttered. "Helena died months ago." "No! Aunt Bella!". Gwen exclaimed tearfully. Jesse's eyes flew open and he propped himself up on his elbow. "What?". "It's on the news." Gwen pointed to his TV. She grabbed the remote and turned it on, waited a fe
A few days laterBella sat in the gazebo working on her laptop when she heard the horn of a car that sounded very much like Jesse's and she suddenly lost interest in what she was doing and set her laptop aside.Jesse drove into the compound and pulled up in front of the house, alighted from the car and shut the door. He rounded the hood to open the door for someone and Bella saw a little girl get out of the car and her breath hitched in her throat when she locked gazes with Jesse and she wondered if he was going to come over but he steered the girl towards the house and they went inside.By the time Bella got inside the house and walked into the sitting room, she met her mother having an animated conversation with Jesse's daughter while he just watched them with an amused smile on his face.Jesse turned his head to look at Bella and his smile faded. He wondered why she was still around when she'd told him just two days ago that she was leaving and he'd told her goodbye but he really d
Gwen opened the door to Jesse's bedroom and slammed it shut when she saw Maitta sitting on his bed watching something on his laptop and laughing out loud but the door slam caused Maitta to look up at her in surprise."Oh, hi." Maitta said. "Want to watch Merlin with me?"."I don't like the movie." Gwen said. "What are you doing in my father's room?"."He told me I could stay. We were watching it together but he left to take a call." Maitta replied."I see." Gwen muttered."What do you like to watch then?". Maitta inquired."I watch movies like high school musical, Hannah Montana, Frozen and others." Gwen answered. "Merlin is an adult movie.""Daddy likes it." Maitta said.Gwen walked over to the bed and stopped in front of her. "Listen to me, I don't like you at all." Gwen informed her. "And just because you're his real daughter doesn't mean you'll take my father away from me with your miss perfect attitude."Maitta looked stunned. "But... I'm not trying to take daddy away from you."
"Maitta, this is the moment you've been waiting for." Trisha spoke up. "You've always wanted to meet your father and here he is. Say hello.""Hello." She waved shyly."Hi." Jesse said. He looked at the bear. "This is for you." He set the bear on the sofa.Maitta's eyes widened. "Really? It's huge!". She rushed to hug the bear."What do you say when someone gives you a gift?". Trisha asked her, frowning at her."Thank you." She said and blushed looking embarrassed."It's fine." Jesse said. "Can I take her now?"."Um... Sure." Trisha nodded. "She's eaten so she's good to go."Jesse smiled at Maitta and held out his hand. "Let's go?"."Okay." She shyly placed her hand in his and butterflies erupted in her stomach when Jesse's hand tightened around hers. "Bye mommy.""Have fun darling." Trisha bent and kissed her forehead. "Don't miss me too much okay.""Okay." Maitta nodded and left with Jesse.Trisha blinked back the tears that threatened to fall as she walked back to the kitchen to cle