So, well, after debating with myself for a short while, together with Vicki's persuasion, I had agreed to go on a walk with Ryan. However, there was no big deal in walking with him. And, between, it was a good idea. The streets were usually very silent at night, which meant people wouldn't have to see us together. I didn't want anyone from Twinkle Stars to see us, and think there was really a thing between us.
Noticing he was in casual denim jeans pants, grey-colored hoodie sweater, and a canvas shoe, I knew he hadn't come here just after he had left the office. Okay, it was time to say something to him. I was tired of biting my lip, feeling shy. My heart had to stop beating this hard.
"So, you didn't go to work today?" I started, shortly after clearing my throat.
He glanced at me, smiled. "I did. Raymond got on my nerves, so I left there by three."
"So, who did the work aro
This was really crazy. I was attempting to run out of the bush, yet I hadn't worn my pants.Terrified, I pulled my pants up at all costs, but didn't zip it. I managed to run out of the bush, and luckily for me, I spotted Ryan immediately."What happened?" He asked, fear swimming in his eyes."There's a stupid dog over there! It's chasing me!" I gripped his hand, pulled him, so we would both run away.But then, for some very annoying reason that was unknown to me, he stopped us from running. I snapped my neck to look at him, breathing hard. He was wearing a blank expression, and I really felt like stabbing him at this moment.
Before Praise and Tracie had gotten married, they had promised to never make me feel like an outcast, and had said they would ensure they spent enough time with me no matter what, especially due to the fact that I was now single. Because of their promise, anytime they needed to go on food or cloth shopping, they liked it when all three of us went together."Please, give me enough green pepper," Praise said to the seller behind the food counter.The man smiled. "Done. Just take everything, and make your payment over there." He pointed to another counter behind us.Praise nodded. "Sure. Thanks."Grabbing all the items we had purchased, we walked over there. Behind the counter, there was a plump, red-haired lady, who was probably about 5"7. As her eyes skimmed through the paper in front of her, I couldn't help but notice how big her eyeballs were, together with the intense blue color o
It had been only a week plus since I began working at Stanley's, the grocery store, but it felt like a year. Working for a year in Twinkle Stars hadn't felt this crazy. It wasn't just the workforce that was the problem. This woman, Marsha Jay, was an earthquake in my life.Here she was, firing hard and dangerous scowls at me, only because Kenneth and I were going home together, for the fourth time this week. She was just like Sherri, to be honest. The only difference between them was, Sherri was cuter and richer, and was a hypocrite in a way. But, Marsha was blatant in the purest way. She even complained about Kenneth and I, right in front of the innocent customers who had no interest in her babbles.I rolled my eyes. "Marsha, this is crazy. What makes you think there's a thing between Kenneth and me?"She chortled. "We only broke up about a month ago. There's no doubt that he still likes me. So, why the heck
I hadn't seen Ryan in about three days. He had been quite busy at the office, so I never bothered him in any way. But, the moment he had to visit me, Kenneth was around. I really didn't appreciate the fact that he seemed this protective of me. He claimed that it was because of Raymond's threats, but I didn't believe that. That was far-fetched. There seemed to be something else going on with him. Only if I knew what it was.I sighed. "Good to see you, Ryan. But, I don't think you should care about him. He's a friend from work.""I see…" He twitched his lips sideways, the seriousness in his voice exacerbating. Goodness knew what was going on in his head.Well, I didn't care about whatever he thought of me. And, for goodness' sake, why did he care about who I spoke with? He didn't have to be so nosy in my affairs, right?Kenneth turned to me, smiled warmly. I knew he wasn't comfortabl
"Thanks for shopping here." I smiled at the old woman who stood by the other side of the counter, then gave her her change. "If you don't mind, leave a review on our website. The website's name is attached to the bag.""Oh, sure." She smiled. She twirled around, and slowly walked out of the store.I glimpsed at my wrist watch, and sighed. It was six already, which meant I had an hour left to work here. Grabbing the paper in front of me, I sighed for a second time. Skimming through it, the thought of my argument with Ryan came racing in my head.Just last night, I had realized something. Since a month ago, my attraction towards Ryan wasn't normal. It felt so much like I was feeling something for him. Yes, I'd admit, I kind of liked him. But, the thing was, no matter what, I wouldn't tell him about my feelings. I really didn't know what he wanted. People liked him tended to be untrustworthy. What if he was plan
"Serene!" Ryan cried. I could sense him running towards me. It wasn't just him. All of them were. Gosh, what now?I ensured I remained motionless. I wasn't going to stand up. This was the best way to prevent a commotion from happening."Serene!" Ryan held me up, shook my body, but of course, there was no response from me. "What's wrong with you? Hey, get me some water! Hurry up!"Gosh, no! Water? How come I hadn't thought about that shit? He was going to ruin this!I peeked at him by opening my left eye. Unluckily for me, Raymond caught me. I quickly shut my eye, cursing myself for opening it. What if he had seen me? Gosh, what had I done?!I swallowed, and just kept pretending.Ryan soothed my hair. Of course, Raymond and Ralph would be so jealous. But, I was glad to know that Ryan was the one who was holding me. I was more comfortable around him
I whimpered. They were getting so violent. Violent to the point a lot of people started to gather around us. I felt weak, unaware of what to do. Who could I speak with? Raymond or Ryan?Ryan seemed even more angry. He pulled Raymond close, hit him about two times. Raymond's face was already swollen. It looked like a big, fat, red balloon. I felt very terrible, knowing that all this was nothing but my fault."Stop, please," was all I could say. My voice was really low, so of course, I wasn't expecting them to listen to me."How dare you touch her?" He slapped Raymond on the face. A couple of people gasped, which made me even more fearful."Serene, do something about this." One of my old co-workers, Tanya, walked to me, sounding so worried. "Get Mr. Arthur out of here. This is stupid. If this fight continues, the police will arrive. Also, there's a probability that the media will arrive as
Anytime I saw the characters in movies staring at each other for too long, I always felt the need to hit a hammer against their heads, which would probably make them understand that staring at each other for a long time was crazy and not so romantic. Not for once would I have thought I would be staring at a man for more than thirty seconds.I crossed my fingers, trying as much as possible to ignore the heaviness and hard thumps in my heart. I just needed this dream to end. But, that didn't seem to be working. This was reality. Ryan had just said he liked me?Wait, what? Sweet Jesus!Praise, Vicki, Tracie, mom and dad, had said that he always came to visit me, only because he liked me. But no, they were wrong. He didn't like me. He had said he loved me!I had thought I wasn't his type. So, how could he like me? How? When? Where? And wait, me? The middle class chic? Okay, I woul
Wow, wow, wow! This book is finally complete! Thanks to God, and thanks to everyone who supported me. Your comments, suggestions, and social media follows encouraged me in the best ways. I'm very happy about this. This is literally not my longest book, but I spent about three months writing it, which is something I normally don't do. 😔 Anyway, I'm happy that it's now complete!In case you haven't checked my other books out, feel free to. All you have to do is to reach me out on my social media.Facebook Author page: Author Praise OdulesiFB group: Praise FamIG: official_praise_ewa(The Facebook is my preference, please.)Also, if you spotted any error(s) while reading it, I'm sorry about that. I'll edit it as soon as I can.I really enjoyed writing Ryan and Serene's story. It was a nice journey! However, for some reasons, I feel like writing a second book for them. Also, I
Being my husband's secretary was something that wasn't close to being easy. First, we usually got distracted at work, being a lovey-dovey. And, second, I felt like I was being too focused on work, so I didn't have enough time to spend at home. However, it made us spend so much time with each other. That was a good part of it.I turned to the rectangular shaped mirror beside my desk, fixed my hair in a jiffy, and added some makeup to my face. Taking a glance at the black, evening gown I was wearing, I smiled. Ryan would be so excited and proud to see me looking this beautiful.I grabbed my purse, making my way to the main hall of the company. Stepping into the hallway, my personal assistant walked behind me."Mrs. Arthur, are you sure you won't need any other thing?" She asked."No, no." I walked into the elevator. I glimpsed at her, crouching a little so I'd adjust my shoe. It
There was something wrong with his voice. It sounded different. It wasn't just about its shakiness or hoarseness."Serene," he called again.Dreaded, I summoned some courage to take a glance at his face. I moved my neck slowly, pushing him a little. My eyes catching the green color in his, I gasped. I gawked as well, holding onto him as he almost fell. He shut his eyes, and maybe passed out."Kenneth!" I cried. "Ryan, come over here! Hold him for me!"As soon as I said that, Ryan hurried over to me. He held Kenneth, and let him lay on the floor, just close to Jessica. They were both bleeding, but Jessica was still conscious. "Call the ambulance," he ordered."Stop! Leave me, you idiots!" I turned to Sherri when I heard her scream. She was struggling with the police, wailing at the top of her voice, crying her eyes out. "I swear, this isn't the end! I'm gon
Ryan sister was as fun as him. It hadn't even been a day since I had met her, yet we had grown pretty close to each other. Between, she was very pretty, maybe not as pretty as Ryan, but definitely pretty. They had similar characteristics. Her hair was brown, her nose straight and shiny like olive oil on a metal surface. Anytime my eyes caught the beautiful, blue color of those eyes, it felt so much like I was staring into Ryan's eyes. Though she was a mother of two pretty girls, her slim and model-like shape was still intact."Tell me." She winked, the corner of her lips curling up in a small smirk. "Does Ryan ever buy you jewellery?"I glanced at Ryan, and chuckled weirdly. "Well, your brother is slowly learning how to be romantic. Don't blame him for not knowing these things.""Oh, really?" He held my arm, clinging me to him. "Wait, so, I'm supposed to buy her jewelries? I didn't think about that. She hardly ever
Life could be boring when one was alone and jobless. As expected, yeah, I had lost my job. Last two nights, James had called me over the phone, and had cursed me so badly. I was pretty sure he hadn't dared to call Ryan. Ryan, on the other hand, was missing. Goodness knew what was up with him. He didn't even care to call and ask about me or my parents. Well, he had probably left forever. Though I wasn't ready to, I guessed I would have no choice but to move on."Hey, aunty!" I flinched on hearing that voice. With a small smile hanging on my lips, I turned to my tiny nephew who ran towards me."David." I put him on my lap, pecked him on the forehead, and tweaked his cheek. "How're you, my love? Did you have fun at the park?""Yes, I did.""Happy Birthday in advance." I smiled widely at him. "My sweetie's gonna be four.""Yes! I'll be a big boy!" He rejoiced, throwing hi
The officer cleared her throat for a second time, and started, "From the footage we got, we weren't able to see the vehicle's number plate properly. But, we were able to scrutinize the picture of the vehicle, as much as we could. Only two days ago, one of our experts suggested that we took a survey. We went around the town, in search of a vehicle salesperson. The vehicle seemed pretty new, so we guessed that it was bought only a few days before the day of the incident."Serene sobbed from behind. She kept quivering, and though I didn't appreciate that, I wasn't ready to comfort her. Right now, she seemed disgusting. It hurt that I couldn't contain this ruckus. It was her fault."So, what happened?" She asked the officer, her voice low and scattered."With the help of an old salesman, we found out that his retired coworker still sold vehicles, though that is pretty illegal. We visited his friend, and gently as
Ryan°°°°°°I knew it. I just knew it. I knew I shouldn't have fallen in love.Love was stupid, annoying, gross, vile, filthy, and every other bad words it could be called. I fell in love at thirty, and almost at the age of thirty two, the love betrayed me. This had always been my fear. A fear that came to reality.This hurt. So much.Why would Serene do this to me? Our love felt so real. Day by day, I fell in love with her even more. In the best ways, I made her feel special. People said it wasn't only about buying gifts and spending money on one's lover, so I tried my best to always make her feel special.Why would she deceive me? Why would she ditch me? Couldn't she have given me a second chance? What else did she want? I had tried my best, hadn't I?Walking into my kitchen, feeling so frustrated
Finally, the day had come. I had been counting the hours until my marriage to him. Now was the time. The time for a turn around in my life. Only a few minutes left. This felt so unreal. Everytime I thought about it, the fear jerked in my chest. I just wanted it to happen already. I wanted to be convinced that I had accepted my fate.Sitting on the chair in front of this huge mirror in James' dressing room, I stared at my reflection via it. I looked so beautiful, as beautiful as an angel. But, the smile was missing. The great makeup on my face couldn't hide my weariness. I felt quite depressed. Yes, I deserved to feel this way."Hey, friend." Sherri walked to me. She stood behind me, put her hands on my shoulders, smiling at me via the mirror. "Hm… see who looks cute? It's good that Ryan wouldn't be coming around. If he was, he would definitely stare at you all through the wedding. That'd make James jealous."
He remained silent. He was obviously shocked.I looked away, slipped on my jacket, trying to act like I wasn't remorseful in any way. "I know you're surprised. But, please, accept this. I wanna move on."After a while of staying silent, he threw his head back, and burst out laughing. I let my tears go down my throat, curled up my hands in a fist, waiting for his next reaction. He was laughing, I understood that. He was only trying to be hopeful."Are you this crazy?" Done laughing, he put his hands in the pocket of his pants, smirking at me. "What's with this sudden joke? Alright, I get it. We've not been so good these days, so you're like, trying to pull my legs."I scoffed. "This is just the problem. How can you claim you love someone, and never know how to study the person's body language or emotions?""Don't start with this again." He rolled his eyes.