"Dinner is ready, Mrs Topher." He said to her. "Is Jake downstairs?" "Yes, Mrs Topher." "He is, huh?" Felix nodded to the second question. "He was the one who had me come get you, after the helper I sent returned without you." "I see," She said, her mind thinking of what to do, she needed to show Jake that she was angry about what happened so he didn't repeat it."I'll be there soon." Going down the stairs, she saw Jake seated at the head of the table and as usual, she went all the way to the other end and took a seat, his eyes on her the whole time. He saw that she wasn't all smiley with the helpers when her dinner was brought, it was obvious she was displeased with what he did earlier, she wasn't even looking at him. Don't look, Tori. Don't look. She told herself as she forked some salad into her mouth, she suddenly didn't want to be angry anymore now that she was here seated at the same table with him. She was avoiding looking at him, hoping she could pull it off; pret
"Do you think you can use any of these?" Felix asked when she came to where he stood and looked into the pan full of vegetables."Is there any reason I can't use them?" She asked still peering into the pan because they all looked fresh and okay."Not really, it's just that we don't use these things after they become a day old, the chefs get new and fresh vegetables every day.""Every day? It doesn't look bad?" Victoria took one of the red and round tomatoes, looking at it."Maybe I could ask someone to go get you fresh ones...""No," She refused immediately."they look pretty fresh to me. Thanks." She said and Felix smiled, happy that he had tried his best to please her before he left.When he walked out of the kitchen he saw Jake arrive downstairs. Jake was about to retire to bed after his extra time spent at his home office when he noticed that the kitchen lights were on and someone had to be there, it was the only place with bright light downstairs."Why are you still awake?" Jake a
Jake started to chop the carrots in equal and little box shapes. He turned to where she stood next to him sharing the long chopping board as she sliced onions, he saw her clean her eyes with the back of her palms repeatedly, he knew the onions were most likely making her eyes teary and wanted to be the one to cut them but she had said she preferred them diced in a specific way.Victoria suddenly dropped the knife on the board and ran to the sink. Jake stopped what he was doing and joined her in the sink where she was washing her hands."Did you cut your finger?" He asked taking both her hands away from under the running water before he began examining her fingers, then her palm, he was checking her whole hand. She watched him continue to check her fingers and she smiled, thinking he was being dramatic worrying about her getting a cut."No, I didn't." She took her hands back from his hold. She took some water from the opened fancy faucet and splashed it over her face, her eyes particul
"You are not going to say anything, huh?" She said to him again when he came to the kitchen island to set the plates."What do you want me to say?" He finally replied her like she wanted, facing her with the kind of look he had on before he kissed her earlier."Say sorry, I want an apology and an explanation for what you did earlier." She demanded folding her hands, still sitting."An apology?" He was done setting the round plates on the island and now standing there with a kitchen towel in his right hand."Yeah?" Victoria was now trying to keep up with her strict Tori face but a picture of him with just a towel came to her mind as she was looking back at him.Why on earth did that have to come to my mind right now?! She said inwardly."But one should only apologize if they make a mistake." She heard him say with a mellow smile. "...." She wanted to say something but no words were falling out of her mouth. Jake went back to get the pot and her eyes followed him.He just implied that
When she was done with her dish, she took her plate to the sink. Turning the faucet on, she looked around the sink for the sponge, planning to do her dishes. She felt like Jake was directly behind her so she turned and he was. He turned the faucet off, holding her right hand, he started to wipe her fingers dry while she looked at him."What are you doing?" She asked him."Drying your hands." "I see that, I mean why are you drying my hands, I was going to wash off my dish." She said but he didn't stop, he took up her left hand after he was done with the right and started to tenderly wipe it too. "I will do that for you." "Why?" She asked, not wanting him to think he was doing her a favour by offering to clean up her dish, she surely knew how to do that herself."Because you burnt your hands earlier?" He was done with wiping both her hands."Take a seat, I'll take care of the dishes." He told her.Without giving her a chance to argue what he just said, he started to do both their dis
Holding his hands, she attempted pulling him up so he helped her out, getting up like she wanted but he was surprised by what she did next. She stood on her toes and put her arms around his neck, hugging him before proceeding to whisper to him;"It's okay." Jake haven't had someone hug him like that since he turned eighteen and had to kill all of his feelings to take on his office as the vice president of the Tn group.His mother hugged him occasionally but those were mostly for her own self- gratifications and they didn't come with the sense of care Victoria's hug came with. When she hugged him, it made him feel warm inside for the first time in so long, it took away the iciness he had to keep up with, she melted him.Still unsure if to return the hug or not, he heard her say;"Things happen for a reason you know, it couldn't all be your fault." With less hesitation now, he put his arms around her, pulling her closer to himself, he hugged her back. Their torsos pressed against eac
Next morning.0 9 : 1 4 am.Victoria was laying in bed, sleeping peacefully when the phone rang loudly, it woke her up with a jolt. When she checked, she saw that it was Amber calling so she answered."Tori?""Yeah?""You sound sleepy, please tell me that you are not in bed right now." Amber said and Victoria realized that she was probably late again.'Shit.' She said in her mind."Tori?" Amber called her again."I will be there in the next twenty five minutes, I think?" Victoria said getting out of bed."O my god, she is still in bed." Amber could tell."It's not my fault." Victoria was now in front of the wardrobe taking out a dress."There are some persons here to have a talk with us, all of us and you're not here yet.""Have they begun?" Victoria threw the dress to the bed as she asked worried that she might not be able to make it on time."Not yet, I think they are waiting for one of their team member to arrive at the studio before they begin. Hurry up, okay?" "Okay." Victoria p
"Stop the car here!" Victoria made Jake stop the car suddenly when they were almost at the studio."Did you forget? I can't have you dropping me off at the direct entrance."Jake actually forgot about that.She left the car in a hurry, her handbag almost dropping from her shoulder. She was almost at the entrance when she turned back to the car, Jake wasn't leaving, he was waiting for her to go in.‘Why is he waiting?’ Victoria asked herself and decided to wave at the car so he could drive away. Jake smiled broadly when she waved at him, one of his rare smiles but no one was in the car to witness it. Victoria saw that he wasn't leaving so she walked back to the car. Jake rolled down the glass to the car's window before she could knock on it."Why are you still here?" She asked with a bossy voice that only made Jake smile at her without giving a response."Urghh, don't you have to be in your office or something? Go to your office, now!" She ordered him with her hands akimbo."Yes ma'am."
"I'm desperate Vee, I won't lie I am." He touched her forehead with his,"I just want it to be how it used to be, except that we are older now and I don't need to hide before I can spend time with you. I just want you and your love, I just want you to love me as much as I love you." Victoria didn't interrupt him while he spoke. She was confused just as much as he was drunk. When he said he wanted it to be how it used to be, she felt like he couldn't be lying or saying rubbish like she initially thought. She wished she could just remember the things he was speaking of and be sure he wasn't just saying those things because he was drunk.While she was still in thoughts, she felt his lips on her forehead. Jake kissed her lightly on her forehead and left his lips lingering over her head, wanting to kiss her in more places than just her forehead but he also was trying to control himself. He hugged her in hopes that it would calm him down from losing himself. He hugged her tight, his nose re
While Jake returned to where Victoria lay to check on her, Hale got a call from Felix and went and handed the phone over to Gemma."Felix," he mentioned who it was calling after she took the phone from him."The guests are beginning to notice young Mr Topher's absence, Mrs Topher." He informed her."Sir Gregory gave a cheer speech to his nephew's new age and asked for him to come clink a glass of wine with him and now everyone's wondering where he is.""Keep everything under control, we will be on our way back very soon." She told him and went to Jake."We have to go back...""She needs to be taken to the hospital." Jake couldn't believe her. He wasn't going to leave Victoria till she got to the hospital safely."Someone will take her," he noticed how his mother was back to being autocratic now that Victoria wasn't dead anymore."I will go with her to this hospital and be with her.""Jake!" Gemma got angrier than she could contain."Do you have any idea how bad things will get if you don
Jake got to the beach of the sea and stopped the car. He quickly got out and went to where a car was parked. There was no one in the car so he looked around the water and saw the people he was looking for. They were on a yacht so he ran towards the water."Stop!" He yelled out but they didn't seem to hear him so he yelled louder."Stop! Don't do it!" He waved as he yelled."Can't you hear me?!" He screamed out but the yacht only went farther on the water till it stopped going. He stopped screaming, thinking they finally heard him and that was why the yacht was stopped but that wasn't why.He saw them throw a person into the water, he could see the water around there splash. He immediately took off his suit jacket and dived into the water.Gemma and Hale got there just in time to see him jump into the wavy water. Gemma got out of the car immediately and ran to the shore of the water."Jake!" She panicked when she saw him swimming further into the water. "Hale, do something!" She turned
Jake snuck out of the party like he did the first time and made sure no one was following him, especially his nanny. He knew she wouldn't let him into the room again after letting him the first time. His mother had instructed her to make sure he didn't talk to or meet Victoria but she risked her job when she let him; she might not let him again. Looking left and right to ensure that no one was around, he opened the door to Nanny Therese's room and went it. He was surprised that the lights were turned off because it wasn't when he was here earlier. He wondered if she had fallen asleep for the lights to be turned off. He went to where he knew the switch would be and turned on the light. Victoria wasn't on the bed sleeping like he thought. He picked up his neck chain and went to the bathroom door to knock."Vee?" He called out to her, strangely feeling worried. Victoria didn't respond to his call after he called out two more times so he opened the bathroom door and looked around.
"Jake?" He was called back just when he was about to go into Victoria's room. It was his eighteenth birthday and his mother had prepared a big party he did not ask for. After meeting many business men and women and thanking them for coming like his mother asked him to, he snuck out of the party which was holding in their large, hall-like living room.He hadn't seen Victoria since morning that day so he went straight to where he knew she would be, her and Nanny Therese's room."Jake?" It was Nanny Therese."What are you doing here? Do you want your mother to get angry at you on your birthday too?""I just want to see her," he explained to her."No. Your mother prohibits you.""Why is she in the room alone, I want her to be at the party.""No.""Did mum ask you not to let her?""Jake, please, just return to your party before the president notices you are gone." Nanny Therese worried that his mother might find out he left the party and she knew she wouldn't be happy to know that he came
"I would do that," she gave a reply to his question."I would drink a glass of wine so suddenly like that." "Why? You don't like me that much?" He asked and she didn't know what to answer so she opted for the only thing to avoid that question."It's not your turn to ask. It's my turn.""I'm waiting." He complied."Why don't you like your brother?" She asked something he didn't know if he could answer or not. He was starting to realize that she had lots of questions he wouldn't want to answer and he could end up drinking more than he could handle."You really want me to get drunk, don't you?" He asked and Victoria's eyes widened."Me? Get you drunk? No. Of course not." She swallowed and started to use her hand as a fan even if the air conditioning was working well."I make stupid decisions when it's you involved. I shouldn't have agreed to this, I'm surely getting drunk tonight.""You don't have to play the game if you feel like that." Victoria said to sound innocent and hoped he didn'
Victoria sat in the car while the helpers put in suitcases in two of the cars. She couldn't believe she actually did agree and was about to go to the airport and take a flight to the renowned Katar beach in M-city. She had always wanted to go there so she picked that place. At least, there would be an advantage to her agreeing to go on a honeymoon trip with him.She had spoken to him after her call with Amber yesterday and he assured her that they will be back two weeks before the preplanned fashion show so she can return to practicing with the other models.*****M-city."Wowww," Victoria let her eyes wander around her when she got out of the car that just stopped in front of the beach's resort."Do you like it?" Jake came up behind her."I love it. The place is beautiful. Much more beautiful than I thought." She had the biggest smile on and it made Jake happy."Your room," the hotel manager showed them to an executive suite and waited for Jake's comment but Victoria spoke first."It
"So, how's my brother-in-law doing?" "O my god, Amber, it's just for some months," Victoria told her friend and heard her laugh out loud over the phone."Mark my words, it's gonna be longer than that, way longer. I know love when I see it.""Here we go again.""You know I have a way to detect love when I see it.""And is that because he's billionaire Jake Topher?" Victoria laughed back before getting a knock on the door."Who is it?! Cora? Emily?" She asked, but when she didn't get a response, she decided to go for the door, leaving her phone on the bed."Give me a second, Amber,""Alright..." Amber replied to Victoria who was already by the door."Emily, I told you already, I eat all the types of fruits, so anyone you use to make my fruit salad is okay." Victoria started to talk before opening the door."Please don't come up to ask me again," She said on opening the door but saw that it wasn't Emily and neither was it Cora."Are you busy right now?" Jake asked her when she stood for s
"How did I? I guess I have a superpower, like you do" he reminded her of what she told him yesterday when they were alone in the kitchen.She laughed shortly."Okay, let's do this..." She had an idea to get him to tell her more of the things she wanted to know about him."How about I tell you about my grandma and our not-so-good relationship and then you tell me about you and your mother, and maybe your brother too?"Jake nodded. He didn't need her to tell him about her grandma because he knew her well, he knew about her relationship with her grandma but yet he nodded, anything to please her."Okay, I'll start." Victoria smiled. "My grandma is a nice woman, the nicest, I love my nana but...I haven't been on good terms with her since I turned eighteen, I mean there were a lot of things that led up to that but when I became eighteen, it kinda got out of hand." She paused and looked up from fiddling with her dish. After seeing that he was listening, she continued."I was in my Nana's roo