"Do you have to make me go to church?" Lila groaned as they sat in the car. She could see the top of the church come up in view. She closed her eyes and wondered why her brother was being so adamant about getting her to church. If he were a religious person, then he should remain that way; why did he need to force her to come as well?"Don't you want to repent of all your life errors?" he asked."With the way you speak, one would think you are the most holy man on earth," she murmured."Are you trying to say that I am not?""I do hope that was just some horribly bad joke," she said, turning to him with daggers in her eyes and shooting at him."I have a gift for you, and we can talk to them after the service.""Talk to them?" she asked, whipping her head back to him. "Are you going to make me do some silly things again? How many more things do I need to do for you to just let me be?" she murmured."When you came back to live here, you said you were going to do whatever I asked of you,
Lila could not believe that her brother had put her in the position and that she had agreed to go out with this woman she was meeting for the first time. Rosa had gone on and on about how much fun they were going to have, even though Lila highly doubted she could have fun with an old woman."Why the hell would hook me up with an old woman?" Lila asked as their car pulled away from the church, merging onto the road."Trust me, you would be grateful to me for doing this for you.""Grateful that you are linking me up with a strange old woman.""Trust me," Oliver said, and she sighed. "Moreover, Rosa is such a sweetheart; I am sure you would have a blast with her."Do I have a choice?" Lila groaned. Her mom suddenly came to mind; she had not seen her in ten years, and even now that she was back at the house, she was not going to see her as well. They knew that their mother was alive and well because she sent a letter to them with a postcard every month.It had been years since she got the
Lila got out of the flashy car that her brother had asked her to take out. He told her that she would need to begin to establish herself in society so that people would become curious about her. The truth was that if she did it right, the price of their stocks could go up very drastically, and that was what he wanted. They were on top, but he desperately wanted to be in first position; that was the only way he could remain at the top.Lila walked slowly into the restaurant; she was supposed to meet with Arietta for lunch at a random diner that she was comfortable with, but Oliver had overturned all of her plans. When she woke up that morning, there was a makeup artist, a hairstylist, and a clothes stylist to help her get ready."All this fussy for lunch with your girlfriend?" At that point, Lila wished that she had agreed with Arietta's earlier suggestion of having lunch at home. That way, her brother would not make such a fuss about anything. She sighed when he did not say anything i
Arietta and Lila had a nice lunch, and Lila was pretty sure that she would make the news. She saw Arietta out and then came up to meet with Zach. The truth was that they had nothing to catch up on, but she wanted to talk to him. He was supposed to be the normality she would have in recent times."So sorry I am late""It's no worry; a man has got to do what a man has to do," she said with a smile lingering on her face."Oh, I see you've got a sense of humour," he said, and she shook her head."Oh no, I would not dare call this that; I am just a girl," she said, raising her shoulders a bit."I would have invited you for a late lunch, but you just ate so..." he trailed off as his mind spun on activities that they could do together."Do you have to go back to work?" She asked, looking around. He was not popular like any of the other CEOs, which meant he was either an office worker or someone who owned a start-up. The restaurant was pretty much empty, as everyone who had come in to have an
"What are you doing today?" Oliver asked as his sister sat by the table for breakfast. "Thanks to you, I have to go to meet that old woman," Lila said, taking up the toast from the pile and taking a bite from it."Old woman?""The woman from the church," she said before taking another bite from it. "This is really good," she murmured with her mouth full. "Can you please for once at like your class?" he asked, rolling his eyes. She dropped the tray to the plate in front of her, crossed her legs under the table, and turned up her nose. "I am sorry, did you want me to act snobbish?" she asked, trying to fake an accent. "No, I do not want you to act snobbish or do a terrible accent impression. I want you not to talk while you have food in your mouth," he said. She wondered how hard it was for him to take a sarcastic joke; she had made sure to sound out her sarcasm so he could know what she meant, but suddenly he was dense. "I wonder how the company survives," she muttered before taki
"You look like someone who is in urgent need of soem boozze and hoe," Daniel said as he sat down to Gavin's table at the bar. Evangeline had finally taken off her yes from him, and he was all set to meet up with his friends regularly. If he was being honest, marrying her was not what he thought he would like. If he had gotten married to Lila instead, he was sure that he would have been free to do whatever he wanted, but with her, she was trying her best to cage him down. "Maybe that is what I need—some alcohol to numb my brain and a woman to make me feel like a man again." Gavin repied his eyes, scouring the dance floor of people moving to the beat. "Then I would take it upon myself to get that for you," Daniel offered."You do not have to do such a thing," Gavin told his friend before he got out of his seat. "So you are saying that you would rather look like a monk at a place like this?""Do you want me to turn up dead?" Gavin asked, taking up his glass and chuging it down. He was
"Where are you?" Damien asked over the phone. "Mr. Damien Calloway, don't you think you are obsessed with me considering that we are in a fake relationship?" She asked over the phone. She had waited all afternoon for Rosa's call, but she did not get one, and since she did not have her number, she could not call to check up on the woman; her brother was being a pain and was not getting her calls. All she could do was pray that the woman was all right. If she had known that all she would have been doing all day was to lay down and not do anything, she would not have turned down Zach's invitation to lunch."Fake relationship?" He gasped as if she were making up things, and he did not know what she meant when they had agreed on it together. "What do you want?" she asked, ignoring his fake gasp and pressing her lip into a thin line. "I want to treat you to dinner, so what do you say?" he asked, and she shook her head. She most especially did not want to see him; his presence was too ov
Lila jumped out of bed almost immediately, and the call dropped. She dropped her phone to the bed and looked down at herself. She was still in the clothes she had put on in the morning. "What do I wear?" she exclaimed, looking down at herself as she rushed into her closet. It was almost next to empty. She did not really care about things like that, and since she got back, she has been trying her best to get pieces of clothing for herself. She only got a new one when she needed it, and now out of the pieces of clothes everywhere, she had no idea which of them she was going to throw away to get a cute outfit for her to wear. One thing she very much wanted to do was have something that looked like she threw something together without putting much thought into it. "Maybe I do need to get myself some clothes," she murmured, holding a piece of cloth to her body as she stared in the mirror. After doing the same for almost everything in the wardrobe, she decided that before the end of the w
"Damien?" Rosa said as she saw him walk towards her in the garden. "I did not know you were coming over today," she added, and he smiled sadly, sitting beside her in the chair. "I also did not know that I was going to come over; it was kind of an impromptu thing," he confessed. "What is it with that expression on your face?" she asked. "What expression?""You look sad, but it is a different kind from the one I am used to," she said. He always looked sad, carrying around a gloomy face since Amber died. She always thought that it might be a good idea if he found someone who knew and loved him, but somewhere deep inside her, she wanted her daughter to be remembered a bit more. She was afraid that if she told him to do that, he might take it so seriously that her daughter would be a forgotten memory faster than one could think. That was the reason she never suggested it to him. She feared that the expression on his face was him coming to tell her that he had found someone and was goin
Tessa smiled at her daughter's report, and then she put the phone down on the table. She raised her head to meet Damien's gaze. "What do I owe the pleasure of meeting with Damien Calloway?" Tessa asked, leaning in and using her to trace the edge of the table. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Damien said instead of answering her. "It's already past ten; I had breakfast," she replied and then added in a low tone. "I am not an animal after all." "I am yet to have breakfast. I guess I must be an animal, but I need breakfast, so I will get you a cup of water and a few pastries for the table," he said, standing up and going to the counter to order. Tessa wondered why he had so much confidence. She knew him and his father when they suddenly rose to fame and how he changed the history of everything around him. He had been so influential that his past suddenly did not matter to everyone around him. Those who would have nitpicked at everything were comfortable with it all. Damien
Tessa smiled at her daughter's report, and then she put the phone down on the table. She raised her head to meet Damien's gaze. "What do I owe the pleasure of meeting with Damien Calloway?" Tessa asked, leaning in and using her to trace the edge of the table. "Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Damien said instead of answering her. "It's already past ten; I had breakfast," she replied and then added in a low tone. "I am not an animal after all." "I am yet to have breakfast. I guess I must be an animal, but I need breakfast, so I will get you a cup of water and a few pastries for the table," he said, standing up and going to the counter to order. Tessa wondered why he had so much confidence. She knew him and his father when they suddenly rose to fame and how he changed the history of everything around him. He had been so influential that his past suddenly did not matter to everyone around him. Those who would have nitpicked at everything were comfortable with it all. Damien
Lila wanted to check on Damien to see if he was hurt in the fight, even if it was most unlikely that anything like that would happen. She was still worried, but how would he believe anything if she was calling him up to check on him after brutally breaking up with him and even going the extra mile to try and convince him that she was done? "I never even got to tell him that I liked him," she murmured to herself. She did not know why it was so important to her, but she wanted to tell him at least once that during their time together she had begun to fall for him before she had to do what was right for herself and her family. THE NEXT MORNING"Damien is asking to meet with me," Tessa said as if she were giving morning updates to the group on the table"Why?" Lila choked out, trying not to sound too excited or curious to hear it. She had to first convince herself that she was capable of getting the job done before she could convince anyone else. "I don't know; I guess we have to meet
Gavin looked at his face in the mirror of his car before turning it off. He felt pain surge through his body. Damien had only punched him once yet but felt like he had gotten beaten up. He walked into the house hoping that Evangeline was already asleep and he did not need to go back and forth with her today. "Why are you just getting back?" "Since when did you care what time I got back?" Gavin was startled by her voice because he had looked around when he got in and had not seen anything but majorly because the entire place was dark. She watched him look around like a criminal ready to steal something when he came in. She wanted to stand in front of him and rain down cursed but held herself back. Tessa had called her and sent images of Gavin with Lila. She told her that she was against it but her daughter was going back to Gavin. If Tessa had not told her to calm down then maybe she would have gotten all rilled up and thrown him out of the house. Tessa promised to get back at Gav
Gavin is barely able to recover from the punch that Damien landed on his face when another one cuts across his face so brutally. "What do you think you are doing?" Gavin screamed, tasting blood in his mouth. He spat out what he had been able to pull and moved up to Damien. He knew that he would not be able to win against this man, but the pride he felt in his heart was not going to allow him to back down. "What do you also think you are doing?" Damien asked, closing the gap between them so that they were now touching chest to chest and their faces so close to each other that if they tipped a bit, they might be kissing. "I asked you first; why don't you answer?" Gavin asked. He knew he should not be doing anything like this, but maybe the confidence that Lila was beside him now was giving him some kind of push. "What?" Damien let out a surprised laugh. "You must think that you are a big shot now," he added. "You punched first, and for what?" Gavin's eyes darted around, trying to f
"You are here with him?" Damien asked as if she had spoken in an unknown language. "Yes," she said We had so much confidence that it was even scary to her. Where did she see such confidence from, and how did she develop it?"With your ex? With the man who married another woman? Are you with a married man?" Damien's voice came out as a mixture of anger and concern for her. She could see that all was wrong, but she had to defend herself. What if Damien began to see her as a loose person who did not care about herself? "It is just a friendly date, and I do not think any of this is your business," she murmured, trying to look away. "You do not think any of this is my business?" He said, taking a deep breath as if to stop himself from exploding. "And what is a friendly date?" he asked with a puzzled expression on his face. "A friendly date; we just met to have dinner; what is so difficult to understand about that?" she asked. She knew she was not supposed to be there holding a conversa
"Why? I thought you two looked together," Gavin said. He was brimming with so much joy, but he could not show it. He was supposed to be a married man. How did he show so much happiness just because she was going to be with him if all went well? "We were a good match, but he liked me more than I liked him, and in relationships like that, it is hard to keep up, and as I said earlier, I still loved you; I liked you so much that I could not move on," she lied, and her throat felt itchy as she lied so much. "I am a married man," Lila wanted to call his bluff; he was acting hard to get, and to what end? He had been brimming from ear to ear, and now he wanted to act as if he were faithful to his wife. "I know this is wrong, but are you saying that all of the feelings you have for me are all gone?" She asked, and he stood there, watching her. "If you tell me that you do not have a single feeling for me again, I will not disturb you again." Gavin sat there and watched her without a word. "
"You are here," Gavin said as soon as the door opened and Lila stepped in. The door closed behind her, and she moved into the room. "I hope I did not keep you waiting too long," she asked."Of course not. I got here early," he said, moving from where he stood to help her get the chair. She looked at him shocked at his actions; she wanted to ask him why he was acting like such a gentleman and standing up when she got into the room. Pulling out the chair for her? She remembered their dates as a couple and how he was always nonchalant towards her. She licked her lips and shook her head, trying to act as if it were normal for him to act like this. "Thank you," she murmured instead of asking him what had come over him. She slipped into the chair, and he put it on a bit before going back to the seat opposite her. She hated the way they had to sit opposite each other and stare into their souls as if nothing was wrong with it. "You are welcome," he replied, taking up the menu and giving it