"They didn't come for work." Andrea said to me as we were having lunch.
"Belle and Margareth?" I asked and she nodded at me.
"Maybe their punishment was the same as mine. Indefinite leave?" I answered her.
"Maybe. Haven't you heard anything from Gavin? Or HR?" she asked and I just shook my head.
"I haven't, but what I'm really curious about is who sent the anonymous email to them?" I admitted to her and she nodded in agreement.
"It's just a bit scary that whoever did that might do it again, and as Gavin said, maybe he was the main target, not me." I said to Andrea.
"It really bothers you?" She asked and I just nodded.
"Well, we need more info if we're gonna find out who started all of these, but we need some help." Andrea said, giving me a look that makes me a lot nervous.
And I had all the right to be nervous. This was what she meant when she said, we needed some help. We're here right now, in Andrea's living room, eat
Awkward seems to be an understatement in describing the atmosphere around the five of us. Gabby and Andrea were whispering to each other in one corner of the room while Grayson does his very best to simultaneously hack Belle's laptop and annoy Gavin. And slowly, Grayson's remarks seem to finally have an effect on Gavin. "Have any idea who might go to this lengths for you?" Grayson asked as he plugged in one of his hard drives to the company laptop that Belle used. "If I have any idea who did it then we wouldn't be here right now." Gavin answered with a slight sass and annoyance in his voice. "Dude, chill. I'm just asking." Grayson said with a smirk on his face. He's really enjoying pissing Gavin off. "Can you just do the hacking, please." I asked him and he just winked at me again. What has gotten into him? He's been like this all night. Since Gavin came back, Grayson would act all sweet and cringy. "I'm already doing it, but it go
We cleaned up our things and immediately went to Gavin's apartment building to see if we could find anything about this Nancy. "I have something to do today, but I'll dig into it. I'll let you know if something comes up. Good luck." Grayson said as all of us got out of the building to the parking lot. "Thanks, Grayson. You really did me a solid." I said to him as we stopped in front of his car. "No problem, Zoe. I'll do anything for you." He replied pulling me into a tight hug. "What are you doing?" I whispered to him and I could hear his smirk. "Just go with it. Soon enough, Mr. Bossman will explode with jealousy." He whispered to me. "You're laying it on too thick. Don't you think?" I asked and forcefully pulled away from him. He chuckled in response and I just shook my head. "See you later, Grayson." Andrea said, getting into Gavin's car. "Good luck, guys." He said, waving goodbye to us and also getting into hi
The car continued spinning out of control, I closed my eyes in fear, then I felt a strong crash and I was jerked forward. My head hit my steering wheel and I slowly opened my eyes. I was still alive. Thank goodness. I tried sitting upright and when I did, I saw that my car hit a tree that was near the sidewalk. I hope nobody got hurt. I looked around, but I didn't see the car that swerve in front of me anywhere. I guess they ran.I could feel my eyes getting heavier by the second. I reached for the lock on my seatbelt and took it off. I slowly tried moving and I heard a tap from my window. I slowly looked out of the window and saw an older guy tapping it. I heard a muffled 'Are you okay?' from him and I slowly nodded.I opened my car door and thankfully, he caught me before I fell to the concrete road. I could hear a lot of mumbles around me but I couldn't focus on any one of them."The ambulance is on its way." I heard the man say to me as he tried his be
It's been a whole week since we traced the IP address of the sender of the email to a Nancy Mandino but still, no luck. I haven't heard anything from Grayson, and with all the added workload of Gavin, and me being hospitalized, we haven't had time to look through the photos we got from the security log book. "You're spacing out on me again." I heard Zab say as I continued twirling the spoon in the soup that she made. "Sorry. I'm just thinking about something." I said to her then continued eating my food. "You're still bothered about Nancy?" She asked and I didn't even need to answer her. "Look, Zoe. I know you want to know who's doing those things to Gavin, but you're still recovering from your accident. You need to take care of yourself first before thinking about other people." She said in a very strict tone. I know she's right. I wasn't able to come to work for two days because of the accident and even with my doctor's permission, Zab
"Do you her?" Officer Philips asked, and I guess just looking at our expressions gave him the answer to his question. "We just found out that Nancy is my neighbor, but she's, sometimes, uses a different name." Gavin explained. We then showed Officer Philips, everything that we found. "Thank you for all of your cooperation. Please don't do anything on your own from here on out. She could be dangerous. We'll do our best with this information so, please don't do anything rash and keep each other safe. We'll be on our way." He said then stood up and walked to the door. "I guess you guys should go home too. It's getting late." I said to them. None of them spoke but they both started packing up their things. "Are you sure you're gonna be okay here, alone?" Gavin suddenly asked before getting out the door. "I'm gonna be fine, I'll lock the doors. Don't worry." I said to him as Grayson looks back at us, waiting for Gavin. Gavin nodded at me and they b
"So, what will happen in the office? How is all this going to work?" Andrea asked as we were eating breakfast. To be honest, the thought kinda slipped my mind. We got in trouble because everybody thought that we were together, and now we are."I'll take care of it, don't worry." He simply said shoving another piece of bacon in his mouth. I don't know what it is about him, but I felt reassured by just those words. We spent all morning together in the apartment, but eventually, they had somewhere to be."I'll call you later." He said to me as he went out the door."Okay. Drive safe." I said to him. He nodded at me with that bright smile of his and kissed me on the forehead before walking to his car where Gabby was already waiting for him."Did you tell him?" Andrea asked, I knew exactly what she was talking about."I haven't really had a chance to tell him." I admitted to her."Don't you think you should tell him? Before he finds out from some
All of us were so dumbfounded by what we saw that silence filled the whole apartment. Everybody had their breath held and just tried our best to take everything in. "Seems like Nancy had attached herself to you Gavin." Officer Philips said, breaking the ice. "I don't think you should stay here." "Yeah." He just replied and started walking to the door with all of us in tow. "Let's go get your things." I said to him, clasping his hand on mine. He just nodded at me and we went back to his apartment with heavy steps. Andrea and Zab decided to go back while I waited for Gavin to finish packing his things. The whole ride to the apartment was so quiet and halfway through it, I received a message from Andrea. Zab's staying at my place for the time being. We got some of her things. Be safe, okay? I replied a simple okay to her and just quietly sat there on the passenger seat as we drove on. I looked at the clock in hi
For the past two weeks, Zab stayed at Andrea's, and sometimes she stayed with Charlie. After that bittersweet weekend, me and Gavin went to work and went home from work together. Police officers were also patrolling our office building and the streets near my apartment and Gavin's apartment building, for some added security for us, since we still can't locate Nancy. I guess they are also thinking that Nancy might go to these places just to see Gavin again. As much as possible, we kept a low profile about our new relationship but he told me that he already filed a conflict of interest report to management and it was already approved, but that doesn't mean that we have to flaunt it all over the office. Both of us actually did a lot of overtime for the past two weeks, just to catch up with all of our work. Unfortunately, the management has yet to find replacements for Belle and Margareth so me and Andrea still have to fill in for them. "I guess we need another l
Soon the party settled down and a two-tier birthday cake was pushed into the center of the garden. The people in attendance were just my family, friends, and co-workers, so I looked at my husband and he immediately understood what I was thinking. My kids led the crowd in singing Happy Birthday. Both of them were jumping up and down, clapping their tiny hands. I gestured for them to come over as the song came to an end and they joined me in blowing out my candles as everyone cheered. "Let's hear from the birthday girl!" Cam suddenly said, handing me the microphone. Gavin picked up Zia as I held ZG's hand while I addressed the rest of the crowd. "First and foremost, thanks to all of you for spending your time to celebrate my birthday with me. It has been a rough couple of weeks for me and my family, but standing here in front of you makes me realize just how much love we receive from lots of people around us, and for that, I want to show my gratitude to everyone who gave us strengt
The days in the hospital were still so agonizing. I could still feel the pain in my abdomen, just where the bullet hit me. The doctor told me that I might be experiencing the "phantom effect", you know? The feeling you get when you remove something but it still feels like it's there. They kept reassuring me that everything was fine, but I had my doubts that's why we decided to take a few more tests just to be sure. And just like any other day, Zia and ZG visited me right after school. They would always tell me everything about their day and these past few weeks, their stories have been the highlight of my days inside my dull hospital room. "When are you going home, mommy?" ZG asked as he got ready to go home for the night. "We're still not sure, baby. But I'm fine. The doctors just want to do some more tests to be sure." I answered him, patting his head before giving it a light kiss. "Don't worry, bud. Mommy will be home in no time." Gavin said as he lifted our youngest from t
His lips on mine were pure ecstasy. Honestly, I was left hanging and unsatisfied with his kiss earlier but this erases those longing feelings that were lingering in my chest as my doctor was checking on me earlier. His hand made its way to the back of my neck, pulling me closer and deepening the kiss. We were kissing each other as if our lives depended on it, and frankly, I think it does. It felt like an eternity since our lips met, but when we pulled away, out of breath it still didn't feel enough. Our eyes met and a smile was lingering on his lips. "Welcome back, love. I missed you." He whispered to me before planting a kiss on my forehead. "I missed you too, love." I whispered back, returning his smile before he pulled away and sat on the side of my bed. He started fidgeting with his phone which made my eyebrows furrowed. I just woke up from a two-week-long coma, as per what the doctor said to me, and here is my husband sitting beside me but is preoccupied with whatever inter
"Officer, can you watch over my kids for me? I just need to know what's happening to Cathy." I asked Officer Philipps and he nodded. "ZG, Zia, Officer Philipps will stay with you for a while, okay? He we keep you safe. Daddy is just going to see Mommy." I said to them, and they both nodded at me. "Come back soon, Daddy." ZG said and I nodded at him, giving them each a kiss on the forehead before heading out of their hospital room and making my way to the Emergency Room. "I'm looking for Catherine Mitchel, she got shot." I said as calmly as I could to the person at the desk. She nodded and started tapping on her computer. "The patient has been transferred to the operating room." She said and I dashed off before she could finish talking. The lights in the operating room were already on when I got there, so there was only one thing to do, wait. Minutes passed, then hours, and a couple of minutes after the three-hour mark, the doors opened. "How is she?" I immediately asked the
I got out of the house, I need fresh air. I had to clear my mind or our conversation would not get anywhere. I was in the middle of the park when I decided to call someone I really trusted. "Good afternoon, sir. Can I speak with Officer Philipps?" I asked the person in the other line. "May I ask who this is?" He asked. "This is Gavin Mitchel." I answered shortly. "Okay, sir. I'll patch you in." He replied and a lively tune started playing before I was greeted by a familiar voice. "It's been a long time. How are you, Gavin?" Asked Officer Philipps through the phone. "Not so good, sir. I need your help." I then gave him a quick rundown of everything that went down. After I finished I heard him sigh. "Why do both of you attract these types of people?" He asked curiously, but even I couldn't give him an answer. "For now, be with Cath. I'll look into it and call you as soon as I get something." "Okay, Officer. Thanks... for everything." "Now, go home. And make sure Cath doesn't d
This is probably the longest ten-minute shower I ever had. I'm still waiting for Nathan's instructions and I got into a huge fight with Gavin because of it. “You want me to be okay with him taking my wife in exchange for my kids?” He asked. “No way I’m letting him take any of you.” “Love, we can guarantee that he wouldn’t hurt me but we can’t say that it's the same for our kids. We don’t know what’s going inside his head.” I said, trying to reason with him. “No. No. Sorry, love. That is not an option.” He said walking out of our bedroom. It was a hard decision for me too, but I can't let my kids get hurt. I can't let any of them get hurt because of me again. This time, it's my turn to save them. I got out of the shower and Gavin was still not back in our room. I grabbed my phone and there it was. A message from Nathan. It didn't have any time or date, just the address, making me think that he probably wanted me there as soon as possible. That works for me because I want to see my k
"Where are my kids, Nathan?" I began, trying my best to remain calm in the situation. Gavin tried to snatch my phone from me but I avoided it. I don't think it's a good idea to let the two of them talk. they both might explode. "They're safe. I have them with me. We had a little bonding session today. I was hoping you could join us?" He asked trying to sound sweet, but I couldn't help but feel a shiver down my spine as listened to him talk. "I'm still at work, Nate. Maybe another day? Do you mind dropping them off at the office?" I asked, acting oblivious to his motives. "Oh come on Cath. It's already seven in the evening, you should be home by now, right? Both you and your husband?" He asked and Gavin quickly took the phone from me. "Where are our kids, Nathan? I'm not playing with you!" Gavin angrily said through the phone. "You are going to talk to me! Just what do you want from us!" Then Gavin went silent. He looked at me, his eyes trembling. I could see fear in them. "Fine!
Being with Gavin again made me realize that I have never stopped loving him. No matter how much I wanted to forget about him, my heart remained with him throughout the years. I guess it is true, that no matter how far you walk away from each other, people who are meant to be together will always gravitate back to each other. "Mommy?" I heard Zia's voice as she was tugging on my dress. "Are you okay?" She asked me. "Why? What happened?" Gavin suddenly asked as he and ZG walked towards us. "Mommy was staring at you with a silly smile." Zia said that made my eyes bulge out of their sockets. "No, I wasn't." I said to her, looking right at her. Asking her to shut up with my eyes but it looks like I need to work on my silent communication with my daughter. "Yes. You were." She said before hopping away from us. "Just hold it in, love. Our kids are still awake." Gavin whispered to me, taking the picnic basket from my hand before following our daughter, leaving me dumbfounded. "I wasn't
The weeks went by in such a bliss and now, we’re moving back in with their dad in our old apartment. It took a lot of convincing on my side but eventually, Gavin was able to make me agree with him. “Are we there yet?” Zia asked for the nth time as we were driving to the apartment. She has been very excited since we told them about the move, and couldn’t wait to see the room her big brother was talking about. “No yet baby. We’ll have to stop to get some groceries, remember?” Gavin answered her sweetly. “Aww. Are we going to stay there long?” She asked again with a pout on her face. “Come on, Zia. It’s going to be fun. And you can pick out some decorations for our room.” ZG said, calming her sister in the back seat. “Yey!” Zia screamed as she started humming the theme song of her favorite show. Thank goodness, ZG knows precisely what to say to his sister in every situation. When we got to the groceries, the two of them walked in front of me and Gavin and started getting things that