Vivian’s POVThe morning began with a busy routine, unexpectedly. That morning, customers had trooped in like bees to a flower, and it had been the first time since I got here that this was happening.“Our tables are all occupied,” Jane whispered behind me happily. I startled, because I hadn’t seen or heard her walk up to me. I didn’t even know that she was also watched at the wonderment of it. We had served almost all of the coffees in the shop that morning, and it wasn’t even 10am yet. “Oh, yes,” I whispered in return and kept quiet after I had recovered from my shock. Then I faced the small crowd that had gathered in the shop, ignoring Jane.She had slept off in my room the other night after we talked about our relationships and how it ended deeply. Actually, she had begun to cry profusely about Ted leaving her, and I had consoled her until she fell asleep, but by morning, I had returned to giving her my cold shoulders. I wanted her to still know that I did not want the so-called f
Vivian’s POV“Well, you would have to get there to find out,” had been Leo’s wife’s response to my question.As I got dressed to leave the room that day for my antenatal registration, I reminisced on her response. She gave me a note to her cousin, so that it be easier for me when I got there, and she also promised to call him on my behalf and inform him that I was coming. “I just hope and pray that they are not as strict and formal as the last hospital I used,” I said to myself. “Otherwise, you would be toast, Vivian,” I told myself.The last thing I needed right now was to get there and be told that Syrus needed to be present in order to be able to register or carryout my antenatal process. I strongly did not want Syrus to be involved in the process. I didn’t want him to be in the first place, and if the first hospital hadn’t insisted, I would have done it successfully without him, but their protocols would not be broken.“Damn hospitals and their bloody protocols,” I spat.It was po
Vivian’s POVI got scanned and registered for antenatal procedure right after my answer that Syrus was dead. A part of me began to feel guilty and uncomfortable about such a huge lie. This was the first time I was doing something as outrageous as this, and I felt almost terribly sick, but after I was able to successfully register, I felt less guilty and bad.After one of the nurses was done with attending to me and registering me, I went back to Ken’s office, because they had been asked to redirect me back to him after I was done.“How did it go?” He asked me after I entered into his office and sat down across from him.“It went well, thank you,” I responded.Then I noticed that he was staring at me with sympathetic and sad eyes. He did not have this look on his face before I went for the antenatal registration, and I suddenly began to feel uncomfortable.“How do you feel doing this alone?” Ken asked. “Um…” I cleared my throat and shift uncomfortably on my seat. I had no idea that h
Vivian’s POVI woke up a little later than usual. It wasn’t my off day, so that means I would have to go and wait tables. It was a good thing that Jane hadn’t shown up at my door. It was a huge relief.Also, Dan’s text message left me worried, even though I had turned off my phone right after without texting him back, or calling.“What could he have wanted to tell me?” I asked myself as I got dressed for work. There was absolutely nothing I wanted from my former place of work. He fired me without explanations and at the worst time of my life, so I wasn’t even interested in hearing what he had to say. There were a lot of wrong things happening at the moment, and now that I had found a place that felt discreet, safe and secure to me, I just did not want to deal with anything else in my life for now. Besides, talking to Dan might put me in the spot where I didn’t want to be; seen.I grabbed my new pair of Jean trousers, baggy t-shirt, tied my hair into a rough ponytail and hurried out of
Vivian’s POVAll through the day’s work, I kept thinking that Jane would show up, but she didn’t, which really got me worried and concerned, but I didn’t come to work with my phone; I never do, otherwise I would have called her to find out why she was absent.After the day’s work, I packed up all the tables and chairs, changed the sign to ‘close’, and sat down waiting for Lori and Leo. Both of them had been worried about Jane’s absence, but by late afternoon, they had gone somewhere together, and I didn’t want to retire to bed without seeing them.While I waited, a young giggling and happy couple sauntered into the coffee shop.“Hi, you work here, right?” The man, who seemed to be in his late twenties asked me.“Yes, but we are closed for the day,” I said.He then turned to his girlfriend who poured her lips in disappointment. “I told you they were closed, but you insisted on checking even after seeing the sign,” he teased her.“It’s your fault! If you hadn’t kept me up, we would’ve be
Vivian’s POV“I wasn’t thinking about anyone,” I insisted weakly.“And that is okay,” Leo said, nudging his wife. “We were just messing with you?” He assured me with a smile. The atmosphere became better all of a sudden. “Jane didn’t show up today?” Leo asked, worried.“No, she didn’t,” I told them. It was such a worrisome thing, coming from Jane.Leo and Lori were equally very worried. “I know she is a wild girl who doesn’t care much about anything else, but this is so unlike her. Jane has never missed a day before,” Lori said worriedly.I stood there staring at them, speechless, because I did not know what to say. Her absence had bugged me all day. In truth, the thing I missed about Jane was having someone else who shared the work with me rather than doing it all alone, because I never enjoyed being disturbed by her, especially during work hours.“Did she speak to you about not coming today?” Leo asked me.I shook my head. “No, she didn’t,” I answered.“Did you see her again afte
Vivian’s POVI definitely freaked out!I opened my mouth to scream; it was obvious that Jane had been murdered, and my first instinct had been to scream, but the picture on her made me stop. Ted’s face was there. Manny’s face was there. My face was there. The picture was taken a few months before I chose Syrus over my family, so we were all easily recognizable. If I screamed now, and the cops arrived, it would definitely put me in a more complicated situation. I stood there, scared, speechless, stunned, clueless.I should have acted faster, I know, but this was the absolute first time I was being in this situation and space. I was so dazed that I did not even realize that Ken had entered the room.“Heck!” He almost yelled.I turned to him with pleading eyes, asking him not to scream.“What happened here?” He asked.“I don’t know. I walked in and saw her this way,” I told Ken.“This is incriminating, Vivian. Is she still alive?” Ken asked. He could not exactly tell because I was block
Vivian’s POVKen did not have the chance to respond before the cops barged into Jane’s room, so I did not know if he agreed to what I had pleaded with him for or not.“We are from the police department, and we got a call from Doctor Ken about a murder crime,” one of the cops said.I looked at Ken briefly, shocked. I didn’t know that he had placed a call through eventually. This very well shows that I cannot trust him at all. My heart began to thump rapidly.I was done for.The other cops began to wrap up Jane’s body in a big leather bag. I looked at them, and I began to shiver. Jane was dead. The same person with whom I had waited tables at the coffee shop for days, spent time together at a club, and shared a night at my room was dead and gone, just like that. Then I began to feel horribly bad and guilty for pushing her away after her several attempts to get close to me. It dawned on me that she could have been murdered by the drug lord, although I wasn’t certain, because I did not kn
Georgia’s POVGeorgia stayed hidden in that spot and watched everything play out. She had planned everything with Adrian, but she needed to be sure that nothing was going to go wrong. Georgia watched Bonnie give Adrian a side look, and she raised her nose up.“All of you from wealthy homes are always looking down on people at first look,” Georgia said to herself in disdain.She was familiar with that kind of look all too well, because when she was trying to make her way to the top, she faced a lot of criticism from wealthy and influential people. Georgia also knew that if she wasn’t where she was now, Bonnie would not give her a first look at all.“Well, all that is about to change,” Georgia said as she paid attention to the pair. She arranged it in such a way that made her hear everything they were talking about.“I am waiting on someone, and you are in her seat,” Bonnie said in her rich, proud, and sophisticated voice that made Georgia want to drag off all the wealth and influence
Georgia’s POVIn private now, Georgia held her hand to her chest and released the breath that she had been holding.“That was freaking close!” Georgia said in shock.While she sat there and watched the banter among Syrus, Nancy and Bonnie, Georgia had been praying that Bonnie wouldn’t be pressured into telling the truth, thereby mentioning her name.She was really smart enough to have told Bonnie to wire it over to her, because she knew without a doubt that Syrus definitely tried to trace that money. “I have to think of something,” Georgia said to herself in thought.She received the mail of her officially approved contract with the TV show, which meant that the money would soon be paid to get. It also meant that she would soon begin her tour. All things seemed to be working well for Georgia. Now, her only problem was Bonnie. Georgia had a deep feeling that if Syrus applied just the right pressure, she would slip. She knew Bonnie and the soil she was made from. Bonnie was too soft at
Vivian’s POV“Twenty thousand dollars?!” For a moment, I thought my ears were playing tricks on me, but from the look on Manny’s face, I knew he was not joking. Why would he? Who would joke about something as important as this?Manny took a seat, dejected. He looked like he was dressed for work, but I couldn’t ask him.“Dad’s medical bills certainly shouldn’t have cost that much,” I said with certainty. Not like I had any valid proof, but I just couldn’t believe it at all. “You weren’t here, Vivian, so you have no idea what it was like,” Manny said.There was still the underlying tone of anger and resentment which I just recently figured out, and it really broke my heart. Well, I guess everyone in my family now officially hates me.“I know that, but…” I tried to talk, but Manny interrupted me.“What about that Jane girl?” Manny asked out of the blue. I blinked several times, because for a moment, I could not understand Manny’s question, and he noticed my confusion.“The girl you m
Vivian’s POV“What does that even mean?!” I asked, angrier now.“What doesn’t it mean? Vivian?” Manny responded, equally upset, even though we were both equally trying to keep our voices down so that we would not wake dad up.“He does not want to see you, or speak to you! I wouldn’t even have let you in if he was awake!” Manny spewed.His words hit me like a punch in my guts, making me stagger backwards. So this was what life had become for me. My dad who accepted me when I returned after the divorce no longer accepted me.“This is not fair!” I said as hot, bitter tears began to fall from my eyes. “This is not fair at all.”It was as though my words aroused the anger that Manny had been trying so hard to keep at bay.“It is not fair? Vivian, do you have any idea the pain you have caused us?!” Manny bellowed. “First of all, you ran off with a man that none of us approved of!” Manny said.“I know that. I know that,” I was crying now, in deep regret.“That alone, caused dad to have his f
Vivian’s POVAfter Belinda left for work, I began to contemplate whether or not I should go. I wouldn’t have gone if Ted hadn’t been taken away, which should have given me enough confidence, but now, I just felt horrible going, because all this problem was because of me.I hadn’t spoken to Manny since the last call when he told me to run to safety. Maybe he must have been trying to reach me, but my phone was switched off.“You don’t have all the time in the world to contemplate, Vivian,” I told myself, because if I don’t go now, I might not catch Manny at home before he goes to work.So I got dressed and left the apartment, taking the key with me.On my way there, my heart began to pound heavily, and I wondered why I was feeling this way about visiting my family. I used to be very comfortable around them, and even though we have had our rough patches, we were still a family.Standing in front of the door now, I inhaled and exhaled.“You have got this, Vivian,” I encouraged myself befo
Vivian’s POVI have been reminiscing on the things that Belinda revealed to me, and I could barely make sense of it.I watched Belinda getting dressed for work as I stayed lazily in bed, my mind trying to understand everything.“Vivian!” Belinda practically yelled my name, making me snap out of my reverie. “Jeez, you were lost for a moment,” Belinda said.“No, I have been here,” I lied, and Belinda knew I was lying. I really do not understand why I lie to her when she could read me like a book. “I have been talking for about ten minutes, and you completely zoned out, so stop lying to me,” Belinda said.“Okay, what were you saying?” I asked, somehow sensing that she was yapping about silly things.After talking at length yesterday, I had pleaded with Belinda to spend the night with me. It was my first night in the apartment, and I did not want to sleep alone. Trauma from that small town still haunted me greatly; which was even why I switched off my phone. Thinking about it now, I had
Syrus’s POV“Mum, do you have an idea what Bonnie did? Did she tell you? Are you also in on this?” Syrus asked his mother, fuming.He had gotten a worrisome call from the family’s finance officer who expressed his deep concerns about how huge amounts of money was being withdrawn from the family account. First, it was Bonnie, then Syrus, and now Syrus was requesting for another amount of money.Syrus would be really upset if his mother was in on this.“You can at least start by talking first, Syrus,” Nancy demanded authoritatively.Georgia just sat there watching the family drama, and hoping to God that Bonnie would not be forced into mentioning her name, otherwise she would be doomed. This was the only family that she pitched her tent for now.“Bonnie had five thousand dollars wired out of the account, and I demand to know what she used the money for!” Syrus bellowed.“So you refused to answer mum’s question, but you want to force me into answering yours, right?” Bonnie stated stubbor
Georgia’s POVGeorgia was upset and disappointed at Bonnie for making her waste her time going all the way to that property only to discover that there was no one there.In as much as she would like to, she could not show off her anger and disappointment towards Bonnie. If she didn’t need both mother and daughter to reach her goal, she wouldn’t bother with a dumb head like Bonnie.“Sometimes, being born with a silver spoon just makes them really stupid and silly,” Georgia said to herself, referring to Bonnie. Georgia was not particularly a fan of these rich kids, because half of them were not remotely as smart as she was, and that was because they had everything practically handed over to them in a platter of gold.Georgia arrived at Syrus home, and for the first time, she really hoped that Syrus would not be at home. She did not want to see him, at least not now, and she was still very upset that after that interview, he never bothered to reach her. Instead, he had gone to be the kni
Georgia’s POVGeorgia arrived at home in a lighter mood, because a few minutes after she left Brenda’s apartment, she got a call from Brenda.“Have you changed your mind?” Georgia teased. She already knew the answer, but Georgia just enjoyed toying with her victims.“No, I haven’t,” Brenda responded, and from the sound of her voice on the phone, Georgia could tell that she was still shaken.Very good, just the way Georgia liked it!“I wanted to inform you that the interview video has been deleted completely, and it would never be out in the public,” Brenda said.“How am I certain that this isn’t a lie just so that I would not expose you?” Georgia asked.She was not a fool. In fact, she was way smarter than a bunch of people, and she knew how these things worked, because she had been in the game long enough, which was why she did not even talk about her other blackmail request yet.“Because you have just been crowned our star of the season,” Brenda announced.Georgia could not believe