Mackenzie squeezed the collar of her shirt and tore her apron off her in the process. She needed to breathe. Charlotte, on the other hand, moved to the littke girl. She lowered her body in a squat and cupped Calista's cheeks. "What's wrong, sweety? You were supposed to be watching cartoons with Cameron. Did something happen?" Calista shook her head, a silent sign for no. She raised her eyes to spare her mother a short glance, but Charlotte remained in front of her, patiently waiting for an explanation. "Cameron changed channels by accident, aunt Charlotte, and the news came up. Mummy, you need to see this! Our new grandpa is on TV mummy!" Calista cried out again. This time, she walked past Charlotte and held her mother's right leg firmly, pulling and urging Mackenzie to go with her. Mackenzie's heart skipped ten beats at once. At the mention of Richard, Chase's father, she sprang up from her stool and picked Calista up from the ground. She held her daughter in her arms and rushe
The bartender poured her drink into a glass, picked up the glass with a professional delicacy and delivered it to her side of the table. Selene did not so much as look at him, not even to commend his effort. She reached for the glass and drowned the sour liquid down her throat with one swift gulp. She dropped the empty glass on the table before she glanced at the gold customized Rolex wristwatch that adorned her left wrist. Forty-five minutes, she hissed. Tapping her right foot on the ground, visibly restless, she continued to look at the door of the bar, then around her, just to see if the silly man had crawled into the bar while she was looking away from the door, and was currently searching for her. There were only a few people in the exquisite lounge, so he shouldn't have been so hard to find. The fact that he was, only meant he had not arrived yet, and Selene's patience was currently hanging on a thin thread, which five more minutes of his absense was sure to snap. Selene tor
Mackenzie had both her children dressed in thick black coats - a small preparation for the cold outside - by the time the security details arrived at her front door. It had been warm for a few days, but the weather that afternoon could almost be described as freezing. Calista wore around her neck, a red and black printed muffler, the red matching the color of the frame of her glasses. Cameron loved the dark blue color, so his muffler was dark blue. Tucked under Calista's right arm was a painting, specially done by her, of the sun and the garden they had met. She was certain her grandfather was going to love it. The security details helped put Cameron and Calista in the back seat of the car with Mackenzie. The driver turned on the car's heater before he started the engine. They started the journey to the hospital. The car came to a halt at the hospital's exit door. Chase had stationed himself at the hospital's exit, making sure it was well guarded. His most trusted guards, yet you
Chase and Mackenzie strolled out of Richard's ward into the quiet hospital corridor. As they walked, Mackenzie found herself tucking her fingers into her coat at seconds intervals. The weather on its own was cold, but being close to Chase seemed to heat her up, causing all the cold to rush to the tip of her fingers. "Uhh. Why don't we just order a coffee?" She asked. There was a nervous edge to her voice, one she hoped Chase wouldn't notice. He did. He looked down at her and managed a small smile. Mackenzie knew she should have looked away in that moment, from his eyes that always threatened to suck her in, but she didn't. It wouldn't hurt once to let her guard down and be completely drowned in his gaze, would it? "I just wanted time alone with you." Mackenzie's eyes widened, sparkling with delight. Her stomach churned from thousands of butterflies. She turned away immediately, chuckling from the shivers that rushed down her spine. "I guess that much." She replied, digging her
Mackenzie and Chase returned to the Richard's ward, laughing with a cup of hot chocolate in each hand. As Chase moved to push the door open, Mackenzie started to walk in, still laughing. Her laughter came to an abrupt halt immediately she caught sight of Eleanor in the room. She was seated on the bed, beside Richard, running her fingers through Calista's blonde hair. Eleanor smiled as Calista continued to playfully pinch Richard's bearded chin. Mackenzie stared at Eleanor, her blood drained from her face, and her limbs lacked the ability to move. She hated seeing her daughter with the old and conniving woman. Innocent Calista was not aware of how callous the woman was. She turned and smiled at her innocently as they chatted on. "The shareholders are thinking of revolting, Richard. The stock prices are plummeting, what are you going to do about it?" When Richard remained silent, Eleanor made sure to continue. "The company needs a better leader, Richard. Listen, I know Chase is the
FEW DAYS LATER That morning, Mackenzie dropped the kids at the door of their daycare center, as was part of her regular morning routine on weekdays. The security details had escorted them to the school premises on Chase's orders, to make sure they were safe at every step of the way. She lowered herself by squatting and held both their hands. Both Calista and Cameron blinked rapidly as they smiled at her. "Your daddy has promised to come pick you up from daycare today." She said to them. Both the kids jumped up in glee, oval eyes glittering with delight as they embraced their mother and followed their teacher into the building. Mackenzie also made sure to show the teacher a picture of Chase, letting her know he would be the one to pick the kids up from the daycare later that day. Chase had told her he wanted to know what it felt like to pick his kids from daycare. "He'll be here a few minutes after the kids close, so they can't leave with anyone that isn't him." Mackenzie instruc
Mackenzie sprang up to her feet immediately, ignoring her wobbling knees and the dire urge in the pit of her stomach to puke. Her mind was racing fast - too fast for her own good, and there was nothing she could do stop it. She paced about the tiny living room, tapping her trembling fingers against her hips continuously. "What am I going to do?" She cried. "What should I do?" She turned to look at Felicity. Her friend stood at the distal end of the room, saying nothing. Felicity's round eyes held a lot of sympathy, but that was the last thing Mackenzie needed. She was on the verge of losing her daughter, her entire life was slowly falling apart. "Breathe," Mackenzie advised herself, sucking in a deep breath. She stood still, closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh."My kids need me right now. I can't…I can't afford to mess things up." "Mackenzie," Felicity walked to her and placed both hands on her shoulders. Mackenzie chuckled dryly, forcing herself to swallow the lump in her
He brushed her loose strands of hair to the back of her eyes. With his thumbs, he erased her tears from her cheeks, and tilted her face up with her chin, so he could kiss her cheeks without going too low. "We are searching for the people who took Calista away right now. My men are on to them. I was in the office when I was called that the kids school was on fire, and the CCTV camera caught someone taking Calista." "Oh my God!" Mackenzie exclaimed. Her hands flew to her mouth as she cried. Chase's heart shrunk in his chest. She had no idea how it broke him to see her like that. He held her hands and pulled them away from her face. "Look at me, Kenzie." But she couldn't, not when her both eyes were flooded with tears. "We caught sight of the plate number, and my men are tailing the car down as we speak. We would get Cally back, Mackenzie. I promise you." She wanted, no…she needed to trust him, and she knew this. He was hurting as much as she did, she could tell from the redness of
EPILOGUECameron felt nostalgic, sitting down in the same seat he had been sitting—six months ago—when he met the woman of his dreams. She had walked on the stage with a grace only a swan could possess and she had captivated his attention and stolen his heart not long after. But compared to Cameron's first visit to the bar, he noticed how empty the bar was. It was heavily decorated—surprisingly—but also unoccupied. Cameron's eyes swept over the room, taking in every decoration that seemed to have been done with precision. Balloons, ribbons, candles, everything felt strangely comforting.He was still sweeping over the area with his eyes when the lights suddenly went out, leaving him in the dark. "Hey, is anyone here?!" He called out into the darkness, hoping someone would hear and come to his aid. It was odd that he heard no noise at all but what felt even more odd to him was the fact that he had agreed to go over to the bar in the first place.Calista had caller earlier and said some
"Don't you think it would be better to just ask her stuff about them? We know them individually but Liza knows them personally." Emily said to her knucklehead sister, knowing she had just found a solution to their six hour long problem but another one was secretly embedded in Calista seeing her suggestion as a good approach to things or if she wouldn't. Luckily for both of them, Calista bought the idea. "Why didn't I think of that sooner?" She asked no one in particular as she flashed a huge smile at her little sister, wondering how their parents had given birth to such a brilliant child. It wasn't like Calista and her twin brother, Cameron, were a disaster, it was just that, Emily was, well, better.But smart or not, Calista was in the middle of planning for the best proposal ever and she wanted everything to be perfect. Cameron had—unsurprisingly—entrusted her with the task of making sure everything went well with his proposal to Liza and Emily had just given Calista a stepping sto
Turns out reconciliation wasn't as hard as Chad had assumed it to be. It was just surprising how easily his family had accepted him back, as if he had not walked out on them over ten years ago. How could they be so loving after everything he had put them through? Chad couldn't wrap his head around the whole situation at all. But that wasn't all he was battling in as he stood at the balcony of his new apartment, looking down at the street just opposite his place. From where he was, Chad could see different people moving around in pairs and some, even in groups.Anyone could clearly see how different they all were, occupied in their little worlds, without any knowledge of what was to come next for any of them. But still, they kept moving, defying the odds over and over again and just basically living life the way they pleased. It was scary but very admirable. The strangers reminded him so much of Calista, the artist that had woven her way into his heart as unexpectedly as the rain wou
"I don't think we should be doing this every morning, Annie. I will be late for work and Calista wouldn't like you coming in late either. Do you want to upset your coach? I thought you adored her, it seems like I was wrong." Liza knew the best way to get her eight year old out of the house was by emotional blackmailing and at the moment, it was working perfectly.In no time, Annie raced down the stairs, carrying her carrier along with her. Liza found herself staring at her daughter and thinking about how things had changed so much in just two months. It felt surreal but then, change had always been a scary thing for her, this time wasn't an exception. "Are you ready, mum?" Annie asked with an accusing glare fixed on her face. Liza felt she was ready but according to Annie's standards of being ready, she was far from it. Her hair wasn't yet in its usual ponytail and Liza's bag was somewhere in the apartment, instead of her arm. But how could she get her bag as quickly as Annie wanted?
Waking up didn't seem as tiresome as it used to be anymore for Chad, infact, the start of a new day excited him–especially this day. It was the day he was finally going back home but that wasn't what was exciting to him. Just the thought of introducing a woman like Calista Axford to his family was thrilling. There was a chance that his enthusiasm would be shared but Chad was past caring. Calista was his and that was all that mattered to him. His father had always been a critically judgemental man and if anyone could thaw his ice cold heart, Chad was sure Calista was the perfect candidate for the job. Wasn't he proof enough of her skills?Chad couldn't believe he had walked into a random gallery and had met tye woman or his dreams. It was even more dreamy because he had never envisioned the kind of life he was now getting accustomed to. In his case, seeing really was believing. Calista's love was something he had to experience to believe it could happen to him. Standing up with a sm
“Are you sure you don't want me to accompany you to the hospital? It does'nt seem like thats the only place you'd be visiting today, though.” Emily spoke under her breath, watching her sister turn the wardrobe in and out, looking for an outfit to wear to her doctor's appointment. No, it wasn't weird at all that Calista suddenly wanted to put an effort into her choice of clothing. Weird was not the word, surprising was. Emily felt something was going on with her sister but she wanted Calista to spill the beans herself. It didn't make waiting for the reveal an easy task.Calista could barely see her sister's suspicious stare, her head had been in the wardrobe for what seemed like an eternity. Pulling herself out for a second, she shot Emily a blank stare, “What do you mean by that?” her question was as confused as the look she had plastered on her face.“I am not a child, Cali,” Emily retorted, moving towards the wardrobe. “I know something is up with you, something sweet and most like
Driving to Liza's place, Cameron found himself entertaining the same thoughts as Chad. Forever didn't look bad at all but how was he going to get there? How was he going to show this defensive single mother that he was ready to lend her a helping hand for a long time?Cameron was brainstorming when his phone started ringing, snatching his attention back to the present. He quickly turned off the radio—that no one was actually listening to—and picked up the call. Stephanie's voice echoed in the car, claiming even Annie's attention.“Good day, Sir,” she greeted politely, “I wanted to let you know that the contract has been drawn out for the deal but it requires your signature, sir.” there was urgency in her voice, it made Cameron feel uneasy. Usually, deals of this magnitude didn't require much stress.“Didn't we already do that in the meeting?” he inquired flatly, flashing Annie a quick smile. For some unknown reason, he felt she could sense his unease. “Alright then,” he said in resign
Chad's first thought was to kill Jason for going behind his back and selling off the painting but when he had been told who the purchaser was, he had wanted to kill himself instead. There was no other way around it, he just had to get to Calista first.As Chad rode his bike to the gallery, he realized he had no idea what to say to her. His initial plan had been to show her the portrait at the exhibition and then have her take it home as a present. But that would have been after Chad had revealed his identity as her anonymous artist.It was a simple plan, it should have worked. Only that it didn't work at all. Infact, it had gone terribly wrong. They had been too occupied—kissing in the balcony—and Calista had ended up leaving without seeing the portrait. Then, the potrait had ended up in Cameron's possession.I will just have to let her know that I am Hell's Demon and apologize for not telling her sooner, Chad concluded in his head as he pulled into the street that led to the gallery.
Motherhood, they say, always came with some exciting changes but to Liza, they were more terrifying than fun. She couldn't deny the fact that she used to enjoy it but with Annie growing older with each passing day, Liza found herself questioning her sanity, along with a good number of things.“Mum, you know the bus leaves in ten minutes, right?!” Annie called out to her mum as she hurriedly packed up her paintings. They never went early to anything at all and even though Liza detested tardiness, she had unconsciously become an ambassador of it.Breathlessly, Liza rushed into the living room, hauling her purse along with Annie's art equipments. That was the name for Annie's art supplies because she felt 'supplies' was a mundane word. The eight year old had put up quite a lengthy explanation —afterwards—and Liza had been forced to go along with it.Ignoring her very sweaty mother, Annie quickly grabbed the materials from Liza and started stuffing them into her carrier. The school had od