"Are you Elena Hemsworth?" Mr Simeon, the bank manager asked. He had just gone over the note the security had given him. A wide middle-aged man with a beardless jaw. Elena nodded. "Yes.""Okay. Please leave us," he said to stern security, who seemed to want to stay around, so as to throw her in jail if it called for that. But he left."Are you aware, ma, that a case of fraud has been accredited to your account?" Simeon asked.She made a face of puzzlement. "I don't know why or how that happens. I've been calling you on phone, which you severally declined."He leaned forward, placing his elbows on his table. His eyes were dead serious. "Mrs Liam," he began, "you've been one of our favorite customers in this bank. I don't understand why you'd reduce yourself into doing such a thing as this."Anger broke out of Elena. "What the hell are you talking about, Mr Simeon? Tell me what it is that happened, and stop this acting. It helps nothing."He then leaned back on his chair, shaking his
The weeks that followed the embarrassing incident at the bank manager's office, Ethan went wild. The fear of what Elena could do, the anger of the shame he had incurred before his mother, the dread that she was about to destroy him, drove him to do extreme things. To exert his dominance."How did it go?" His mother had cornered him when he arrived from the bank that day."We're still working on it," he said, brushing past her to his room. His head twirled. Fred had postponed his visit, and Ethan knew Fred was only angry that Ethan said he wasn't home."Answer my question with detail, boy," his mother said, a stern look on her face. How would he tell her he had failed in this small task? It would be so devastating. The taint of it would remain unerasable. She would always bring it up in their future discussions. Even worse, she'd tell his father, too. And some of the uncles."This is who we are going to give the position of the CEO?" she would say. "He trembles at the feet of a mere l
"Listen to me, man, I do not want anything less inferior to the latest model. I don't care about the price. Just have it delivered to my doorstep and get your cash."This was the voice of Elena in her office. Rosa was sitting across her, her lips turned down at the corners in an amused surprise. She had many questions on her mind, Elena could guess.And the moment the call ended, she dived at her with questions."Babe, did you just order a 5 million dollar yacht as though it was a box of pizza?"But instead of answering, Elena beamed and raised a finger, as she had another call."Hi, Mr. Donald, how is the process of the customisation going?" she asked . A pause of wait. "Good. I shall be sending three men to your company in an hour. Men who are skilled in gold and jewelry, and they will test the authenticity of that Rolex watch. Are we clear, sir?"After another pause that left Elena nodding in satisfaction, she ended the call. Then she placed her hands on the table and leaned forwar
"Hi, uncle," Ethan said cheerfully into the phone, staring at a prop calendar on his bedside table, where he had been counting off the weeks with a pen. Then the months. It was the fifth month since Liam's coma. And the days cascaded headlong to birth the sixth. The sixth meant a problem.Mr Griffin snorted from the other side of the wire. "Why the call this early morning? It's barely seven AM."Ethan figured he was probably still on his bed. But that wouldn't stop him in any way."I called to apologize for—""There's nothing to apologize for, Ethan," his uncle cut in, anger evident in his voice. Ethan knew why, and had battled in vain to make up for it. "You failed at one tiny task. I don't know how to trust you anymore.""Uncle Griffin, that was a corporate organization. I can't just barge in and rip a customer off her money.""And the man," says Griffin, "who single-handedly sent a simple memo which got the said account frozen
As Elena packed the trunk, she tried but failed to wave off what she saw today as amusing. Was Plum really having a thing with Ethan, of all persons? Ethan was a flirt, all right, but there was a deeper connection Elena felt existed between them. Plum had a spark in her eyes as she hugged him. Elena shook her head and picked up a baby toy tambourine."If you've fallen in love with Ethan, my dear Plum," she said to the tambourine, "get ready to wade the troublesome waters of emotions and heartbreak."Liam had a stronger personality than Ethan; Ethan had a more visible soft spot. But Ethan, of late, was beginning to evolve into something unrecognizable. His language had changed, his physical looks were abandoned. He chased money too hard. And most times, he couldn't get it on his own.Elena zipped up the trunk and gave it a tap. Gifts for the baby girl. Yesterday, she had witnessed with tears in her eyes as Chelsea pushed her baby into the world. They had been allowed into the delivery
"Another week gone again!" Ethan wondered aloud, as he dejectedly ticked off the ending of the week on his prop calendar. Time was rushing way too fast for his comfort. He still had a lot of things to accomplish!There were the workers' salaries to pay off, there were some outstanding debts, too. There was Mr Griffin on his neck. When Ethan had gone to fetch Elena's father, he had met an empty house. He knocked for barely a minute before he hastily ordered the guard who had brought him to take him "out of this looming place."Then he called Mr Griffin. "Hi, uncle.""You have the the girl's father? Thing is, I'm not home at the moment. If you could just —""He isn't with me," Ethan retorted."Right." It sounded like Griffin wasn't surprised."They're out of the country," Ethan said. "What?""I was as surprised, too. I'll contact Elena to give me more details."The lie had many loopholes, but Ethan quickly ended the call to avoid more questions. He knew ego wouldn't let his uncle call
When Elena's phone began to ring one early morning, she reached for it quite lazily. But as she checked the screen, it wasn't a call; it was an alarm with bold letters screaming: "AND IT'S THE 6TH MONTH!"At first, her brain was blank and couldn't process the meaning of this. Or even remember when she'd set the alarm. Then she did. And with it came her own shouting."Woohoo!"She jumped out of bed and headed straight to the shower. It was when the water hit her that she realized she was still in her nightgown. Frustrated and laughing hysterically, she pulled it off her body and shouted the more. "It's the sixth month, it's the sixth month," she sang as she thoroughly scrubbed the sponge all over body. "My baby is going to open his eyes to the world once again in a million years! Woohoo!"With her naked body plastered with lather, she stood in front of her mirror and held a shampoo bottle as a microphone and sang sweet nonsense. She gyrated to the sound of the shower, twisting and rol
"Liam!" Elena shrieked and went close to the bed. After some seconds, she sat, jittery and fidgety.Joy erupted in the hospital room. Aunty Rebecca broke down in tears. Mr Paul made muted sounds of happiness. Mr Griffin said, "Such a wonderful occasion."Just behind Elena, Oliver exclaimed, "Yes!" and gave the air an uppercut.James said, "Thank goodness."Ethan only smiled, inching closer to the bed.Elena watched Liam. He was yet to open his eyes. But his fingers had begun to move more repeatedly now.Then the muscles of his forehead moved. His lips flinched. He moved his neck to the left, then straight up. Elena stared at these movements like it was a show of art and magic. He was about to open his eyes.Elena leaned closer, breathless. Then he did open them.They were very reddish. He opened them a slit at first, then widened up.Elena felt a rush of emotions as she watched her husband come back to life. She barely stopped herself from jumping on him."Shouldn't the doctor be call