Charlotte McCartney “What are both of you doing here?” I asked, obviously irritated by their presence.“Mummy, who's there?” Kelcie came running.“Hey Kelcie!!” Whitney and Ron Chorused. “Come give Aunty a big hug”, Whitney added stooping to receive her.“No baby come here, come right back here”, I commanded sharply.Kelcie turned to me, “Mum what's going on?” she asked, confused.“Come back here!” I repeated and she turned and came back. I bent down and picked her up. Whitney and Ron stood obviously outraged by my action.“Come on Char don't be so low”, Whitney said “Come on not with the child” “Yes Charlotte, I understand that what has transpired between us is not exactly the best story but come on not with Kelcie . I've explained it to you, I swear I didn't mean for any of this to happen. It's just happened and you can't keep blaming us for it. Turning Kelcie against us is not any better”, Ron chimed in.“Do not tell me what to tell my child? Both of you have borne no responsibil
Charlotte McCartney “How dare you walk into my house and attempt to assault my wife?” Josh said with so much rage you could see what prevented him from inflicting true injuries on Ron was his condition.“How dare you hit me, screamed Ron back at Josh. “Do you know I could sue you for assault?” Ron asked glaring at Josh“Wait till you see the video of whatever it is you were trying to do to her then you'll know who's suing who”Josh replied holding his phone up. Then he turned to Whitney “What in fucks sake are you doing in my house?” he asked frowning.“Josh don't be like that” Whitney said trying to feign affection. “You know I really loved you, it's just that you know I fell in love with someone else and I just had to let my heart choose. Please Josh bun”, she tried to reach him but he wheeled his chair backwards.“So you fell out of love with me when you discovered that I was invalid and jumped on your sister boyfriend the valid one”, Josh replied, unmoved.“Oh come on Josh, you kn
Whitney McCartney For a second everything they said seemed to make a lot of sense. “Why are we even here?”, I thought. “Why is he here? Is what they're saying true?” I asked myself, feeling quite stupid. “Are they telling the truth babe? Tell me! Did you come here because you still want Charlotte?” I asked, turning to face Ron, confused and angry at the same time.“What do you mean baby? Don't listen to them, they're just two crazy people you know that right?”Ron replied, looking totally shocked.But I couldn't calm the fear and uncertainty that had already started boiling within me. “Is Charlotte right? No, freckle face Charlotte cannot be right. She can't be”, these thoughts kept coming back to my mind even as I tried to fight it. Even in my thoughts, the name “Freckle face Charlotte” brings a smile to my face. I gave her that name when we were teenagers. I have always thought myself to be the fair princess who lived in a fair castle and Charlotte was my not so fair sister. I
Josh Xavier I recall the first time I met Charlotte. It was when she was born to my best friend, Lancelot McCartney. She was a tiny one. I watched her grow. Her grandfather and I were business partners at the time so that made me a frequent visitor in his big home. Lance and I were different in certain respects. For him, he loved family and his home was a full one with children as well as grandchildren. I, on the other hand, never really understood the essence or the need to have a family. All through my years as a young man and middle aged man, I was immersed with working and managing the various enterprises my father had left in my care so I had no time. I did have various romantic relationships with different women from different classes but none led to anything meaningful. I would have continued, but the issue was I had to have an heir. I told this to Lance one evening when we were sitting outside his mansion.“Lance I don't know, anyway it's going to happen but I need an heir
Charlotte McCartney “Mommy are the cookies ready yet?” Kelcie asked impatiently as she tried hasten me up.“Almost honey. What's the hurry?” I asked, quite confused by my daughter's display. “She is probably just excited about the cookies”, I thought.“Nothing mom” she said smiling cunningly. “Did you make the special ones with chocolate in them?” she asked excitedly.“Of course honey and God I have really wasted time here I promised Lydia I was going to only need to twenty minutes and it's past an hour now. Come on help me put away the plates so I can get here cleaned up”, I said and began tidying the kitchen up.When we were done tidying and were about taking the cookies upstairs to our bedroom I remembered I left her phone back in the kitchen store.“Wait outside here for me honey”, I told my daughter. When I got back there however, Kelcie was nowhere to be found.“Where has she wandered to now?” I asked grumbling. Then I heard soft footsteps which I followed.“That must be Kelci
Charlotte McCartney “What alphabet is this one baby?” I asked, sceptical that she would get that one.“Letter w”, she replied almost immediately.“Oh! my one true genius”, I said, picking her up and blowing on her stomach till she laughed so heartily she held my head to stop.“How about this one? Do you remember this one?” I said, still holding her.“Letter v”, she replied cheerfully.“Baby you've made mommy so happy. What would you want me to buy for you?” I asked cheerfully, then I remembered that I can't exactly buy anything because I don't exactly have any money. Coming here we had to give up everything, I gave up lots of past acquaintances, my job and most importantly Kelcie's education. The issue that led to Kelcie's leaving school didn't have so much to do with money but more to do with the distance from her school to here. Josh Xavier's house was located in a much distant part of the town. It wasn't that there were no schools around here but the schools here are so expensiv
JOSH XAVIER She just stood there looking as though she didn't hear what I had just said. “My name is Kelcie, what's your name?” she asked in that innocent daze .I kept a stern face and remained silent hoping that she'd take the cue and run off to her mother but she was unperturbed. “Excuse me Mr, what's your name?” she persisted “What's your name Mr?” then she stopped as though she got an idea in her little head and said “I'll call you Mr”. I rolled my eyes at this which she took as encouragement.“Mr”, she said, coming even closer than before putting her little hands on my legs “Can I ride too?” she asked.“No” I answered“Why?” she asked innocently as though as I was trying to stop her from something she thought would be fun. I don't know but something in my depth melted at this. “You'll not want to ride this one”, I said. “We could get you a toy to ride if that's what you want”, I added.“Will you ride it with me?” she asked excitedly.“Of course not,” I replied, feeling a littl
Charlotte McCartney Josh fell atop the shards of glasses that he smashed.I didn't know exactly how I felt when that happened. A disabled old man got clumsy and fell atop shards of glass. I was numb. Maybe it was how quick it all happened before we could even reach to prevent him from falling or maybe it was the fact that he was nice to Kelcie that actually made me feel bad for this man. As malicious as this may sound, it wasn't said from a place of malice, I held nothing against Josh Xavier aside from the few times he said some mean and awful things to me but my problem with him here was he was evading treatments and medical administration, evading isn't exactly the word he was telling everything to go straight to hell.He lay on the floor grunting and breathing deeply, shards of broken glass had pierced his skin causing him and the floor to be stained with blood.As soon as the Doctor came to help him, he roared, “Get back, don't you come close to me!”The Doctor just stood there
Josh Xavier“Hey Happy birthday Josh”, Oliver, my class buddy, shook my hands and slapped my shoulder playfully. He was always that playful and funny and was my best friend at the time. “Thanks man”, I said, rubbing the place he slapped me. It was a really bright afternoon that day and people kept trooping in. I sat on the playground to wish myself well.My school had bested the entire region in the sports of lacrosse and today being the final game was marked by loud screams and jubilation. I had led the Victorious teams as its fearless captain and was also named the most valuable player of the entire gaming season. What made that day memorable was that on this final game, I was marking my seventeenth birthday, so the celebration only got better when it was announced that not only had I won the most valuable player, but that on this day and on this very game was also my birthday.“Happy birthday Josh”, Marcy, a very pretty girl at the time whom I secretly admired and desired came to
Charlotte McCartney We were standing at the same spot when they arrived. Their car drove slowly towards us until it took a short turn to the left and parked. Next thing all four doors opened and there was my family, the whole of them; Father, Mother, Whitney and Ron.“Good afternoon or is it evening?” mother said, taking charge of the entire interaction as she always did.“I don't remember asking you to bring this asshole here”, Josh said, looking immediately annoyed by Ron's presence.“You asked for the family Josh and I brought you the family”, mom said, nonchalantly.“Plus I don't think it's proper to insult an obvious member of the family”, Whitney said with a serious face.“I don't remember when exactly your family took him in, please remind me when”, he asked Whitney roughly.“And please remind me when it is you took in this wife of yours”, Whitney said, gesturing to me and I snarled in return.“Come on, is this what we came here for Josh?” Father asked this. “For you to let ou
Charlotte McCartney “Oh no you didn't Josh”, I said, agitated. “How could he even decide to ruin what had started out so beautifully. Was this intentional?” I asked myself. “Or is it just a deed, one pulled out of ignorance”, I wondered again. “But no. There's no way it was a hidden fact that these two people were the least people Kelcie needed and at least not in this party”, I thought angrily.“Yes I did”, he replied. “I sent out an envoy to them as well. And though they did agree to come around, my boys reported that they sensed a negative reception of the message they carried. It was as though they both did not seem happy about that and that's where I would like you to come in and explain to me. Why?” He asked as he gazed at me.“You don't know why? It's because they hate us, they hate her. They might act as though they're cool and do not have a problem with us but it's all lies. That's why I don't want my daughter around them. I can't even imagine you invited them Josh. Thought
Charlotte McCartney We both sat looking like items picked out of an aristocratic box. Kelcie looked all dazzling and adorable in her dress while I on the other hand looked well like the wife of a billionaire. Right after the makeover everyone we passed became instantly attentive on more than two instances, I caught two sets of wealthy customers whispering to one another as we passed through, I even over what the other set said.One asked, who are these glamorous people ? Seems like they're from some billionaire family of something of that sort”.The other responded, “they're always waltzing around acting as though they run the world. Well they don't run my world, they'll never run my world”.Even the Chauffeur seemed a little confused when we got outside though he did a great job concealing it and was quick to respond as soon as sighted us but his contemplation was very apparent all the same.“Mommy are the horses going to be at my birthday?” Kelcie asked, as we headed home. “The ho
Charlotte McCartney Maudere was like a god in our city, he was a former religious leader, a former politician, one of the senators of our republic. At a time he was the most renowned psycho physician in the whole continent during his era. Till this date, his clinic still stands amongst the most prominent in our city. As of these days, he opened a small massage agency as a retirement settlement, one that he takes around the world to offer massage and mental therapeutic services to the richest men in these cities. “Looks like Josh had booked this exclusive service for me and Kelcie on this occasion of her birthday. This would have cost much more than a fortune for a regular working class man”, I mused.“Good afternoon ma”, a very attractive woman of about my age or thereabout greeted me. She was also very elegantly and richly dressed. “Please follow me”, she said to me and Kelcie. “Mr Maudere does not like to be kept waiting”.Maudere was an equally elegantly dressed man in his sixti
Charlotte McCartney We stood in front of a huge building with the words “Majesty's Care” largely inscribed at its front.“Mommy what is this place?” Kelcie asked, as curious as I was or maybe a little more for at least I could read the sign board.“I think it's a salon”, I said, not entirely certain. Most salons around had similar names but this particularly looked different, way bigger to be precise.“Mommy is it for my birthday?” She asked, seeming more excited than curious now.“I guess there's only one way to find out”, I said, flashing a smile.The journey to this place had not exactly been exciting to me. It was true that Lydia had stated a valid point and I had taken it to heart to at least chill out just a little bit. But that couldn't change the fact that I was really anxious. It was even a little more different now we were being taken out of the house. “To where exactly?”, I asked myself worriedly.Ever since we moved to Josh Xavier’s country home, Kelcie had not gone out
Charlotte McCartney The door swung open before we even knocked and we were greeted by Lydia's familiar face and smile.“Ms Lydia!” Kelcie screamed, surprised to see Lydia. I was too but unlike my daughter, I expressed mine quietly.“Happy birthday baby Kelcie”, Lydia answered smiling.“Yes Ms Lydia. Today is my birthday. Thank you Ms Lydia”, Kelcie responded excitedly. “Mommy is organising a party for me. And Josh said my birthday party is going to be a really big one”, she announced. “Is that so? That is lovely. You're going to have a lot of fun today Kelcie”, Lydia replied, feigning surprise. “Yes Ms Lydia I will”, Kelcie said, beaming with joy. “You have to come also Ms Lydia. Promise you'll attend my party”, Kelcie said, with pleading eyes.“Definitely dear", she said, assuringly. “But before then,we do have some plans for your morning by the way”, she added, as though she was trying to not leave the important things out.“yay!!! I'm so happy”, Kelcie said at the top of her voi
Charlotte McCartney For almost one week, I had been waking up later than usual. But today I did not. Today I woke up earlier than usual. “My baby has a habit of waking up before everyone else. So today I tasked myself to wake up earlier than I would on a normal day. Because today is my baby's birthday. Back home, this day was mainly a day for my baby and I because no one really seemed to care what day it was. Yes, mom had once hosted a party to celebrate Kelcie's birthday and Whitney may have given Kelcie a present or two, that was mostly all. “They both didn't care so much for Kelcie. Grandfather is the only one who would have truly cared for my baby. But here, in Josh Xavier's home, I know my baby has met people who care for her genuinely”, I said to myself as I sat, thinking.“Josh has promised Kelcie the best birthday celebration she can imagine. I also can't wait to see what he has planned out for her. But I can't let anyone wish my baby a happy birthday before I do. I cannot
Charlotte McCartney After my brief meeting with Josh, concerning Kelcie's birthday celebration I still could not feel relaxed about the whole thing. “I have it under control”, that's all Josh said to me. I stood there waiting for him to say more. For him to tell me how he had it all under control. “It is my daughter's birthday celebration for crying out loud. Am I supposed to sit down and do nothing? And also have no clue? What will I tell my baby if nothing happens? How would my little girl feel if her mommy fails her?” All these questions kept bothering me for the rest of the night. But not this morning. This morning it was settled. This morning I was not going take just that vague reply. “It's not like I can't do this without him anyway. It's just that he said he wanted to take care of it, that's why I'm really asking. Plus this is his house it would be rude to not involve him. But today is the last day before Kelcie's birthday and I promised my daughter a special celebration