ZORA'S POV"Ms. Walters? Could you please respond to the questions?" asked the first reporter. There was a note of impatience in his voice and I could not resist shooting a glare at him. The nerve of these people! To act like I owed them anything. But I had long since learned that it was the way of the world and the price I had to pay for fame. That did not mean I liked it though. I felt hands clutch my trousers and at first I was startled, thinking one of these news hawks had gotten the audacity to physically restrain me. But it was only Freya, who looked so small and frightened. She met my eyes and held me even tighter. A camera went off with a flash right in her eyes. She slunk back and tried her best to hide her face in my shirt. Finn stood beside me, staring at the people expressionlessly. Apparently, he was unmoved by the whole scene. I knew he was affected by it as we all were, by the way he grasped my hand. As I got over my surprise, I began to look for a means of escape.
ZORA'S POVI walked into my office with Cheryl close behind me. I settled down before turning to her. "So, what am I to do today?" I inquired. After a glance at her iPad, she said, "There isn't very much to do today. All you have on your schedule is two commercials. That's all.""That's all?" I echoed, both relieved and surprised. Cheryl nodded. Since I had moved here, today was the least tasking day I had had. Coming to work these days almost literally meant working non-stop with little breaks in between. Having just two commercials meant I could go home on time, spend time with my kids, and also rest a little, considering the fact that my Saturday was stressful in more ways than one. "When exactly am I due for the commercials?" I asked Cheryl. "You have one by noon and the other...they requested that you tell them when it would be convenient for you."I thought for a moment. "Tell them I will be free by... 1 pm I should be done with the first commercial before that time."Havi
ZORA'S POVAfter a wait of about fifteen minutes, the petite secretary of Sleek and Chic who had ushered us in, made a second appearance. I was almost half out of my seat, thinking it was Elliot. Seeing it was only her, I gave a disappointed sigh and sat back down. "Is he going to be much longer?" I asked tersely with a pointed stare at my watch. She smiled apologetically. "I am so sorry about the delay, Ms Walter. I just came to tell you that he said he would be with you shortly. So, please exercise a little more patience."I turned away with a disgruntled sniff. The wait was already fraying my already-stretched nerves. "Can I get you both something while you wait?" she asked. I made no reply. I shifted uneasily in my seat."Nothing, thanks," Cheryl replied. The girl nodded and left. I looked at the gleaming leather desk, in front of which Elliot was to sit in a few minutes. I caught sight of my face on its surface and realized that I was frowning. I quickly did my best to scho
ZORA'S POVFinn held unusually still while I brushed his hair. He was better this morning, but I could still see the terror of last night lurking in his eyes. "Off you go now," I said as cheerfully as I could. "The driver will drop you off at school but I promise to come pick you up myself. Freya will join you at school tomorrow. Is that okay?"He nodded and glanced briefly at Freya who sat on the living room sofa looking a bit pale and wan. "Off you go, Finn," she said and waved her hand imperiously in the direction of the door. Finn rolled his eyes and shouldered his backpack. "Bye, Mum."I bent and he planted a kiss on my cheek. He was almost out the door when he hesitated, turned back, ruffled Freya's neatly combed hair, and ran outside before she could react. Freya smiled and looked fondly after him. It felt as though she wanted to go after him but couldn't. I was still worried about her and that was why I did not want her to go to school today. I wanted to take her to the
ZORA'S POV"Alright people... Ms. Walter, I think that is a wrap on the commercial for today," said the director. Quickly, I relaxed my rigid posture. There was a collective sigh of relief from the technical crew and the girls assisting me. The bright lights which were trained on me went off and I stepped away from the backdrop which I had been standing against. A glance at my phone told me that the time was 5 pm already. I was supposed to have finished the commercial at Sleek and Chic about an hour ago but the director had taken a lot of time and had kept me filming scenes until he was satisfied. I was so tired and I could not wait to start heading home."Great work, Ms. Zora," the director said, a man with a lot of nervous energy. "It's been a pleasure working with you today.""Likewise," I murmured. The director turned to a man who had been assisting him, who looked really tired. The director began speaking to him as they both headed out the door. "For the next commercial, see
ZORA'S POVAs soon as I opened my eyes the next morning, I knew I was in big trouble. My head was banging like crazy. It felt like the world's biggest band practice was going on there. Thankfully, the room was in darkness. The electric lights were off and the drapes were drawn. But even the little sunlight I could see from a tiny portion of the drapes sent waves of pain through my skull. I moaned softly and held my head in both hands as I struggled to remember what had happened last night, and how I had ended up in this pitiable condition. I remembered drinking, ordering for more drinks from the barman, and downing the drinks faster than he could pour them. Then I remembered trying to get to my feet, with the vague intention of somehow getting myself back home. I recalled that I had staggered and almost fallen. Strong hands had effortlessly held and kept me upright. The rest was blank. I looked around the room which was mine. I took in the familiar objects in it and muttered silen
ZORA'S POV "Shit!" I exclaimed as I banged the table repeatedly. "Shit! Shit! Shit!" I was in big trouble. There were more photographs on the site but the first one was the most damning one. It encapsulated everything that had gone wrong last night. There were a lot of comments attached to the post but I did not bother going through them. I knew that all those who had been trolling me on social media would have a field day. I quickly dialed Trey's number. He picked up at once. "I was just about to call you, Zora," he said in a choked voice. "Never mind who is supposed to call who," I said impatiently. "You were here earlier, so why the hell didn't you tell me what happened? Someone just called me and told me about those horrible pictures circulating online." "Zora, I-" "Trey, do something for heaven's sake before all this comes crashing down on our heads. I even thought you would have handled the situation before it- it blew up in our faces." "I honestly didn't know that it w
ZORA'S POV I was so shocked that I could not even pull away. A part of me was wondering what had brought this on. A larger part of me was thrilled at the prospect of rediscovering the taste and feel of Elliot's lips. His tongue probed my lips, urging them to open and let him in. I tried to remind myself of where we were and why we shouldn't be doing this. He was married and I was a model who had just been in the news for the wrong reasons. But the more I tried, the more my objections to returning his kiss flew out the window. Elliot had a trick of flicking his tongue across my lips when kissing. As soon as he did that, I was lost. Someone moaned and seconds later I realized it was me. My hands of their own volition crept up and fisted themselves in his hair. I massaged his scalp and drew him even closer. His scent filled my nostrils, leaving me feeling light-headed. My response seemed to be the signal Elliot had been waiting for. He deepened the kiss and continued with such inten
ZORA'S POVTEN YEARS LATER"Freya! Freya!" I called repeatedly as I walked towards her room.I did not hold much hopes of her answering though. It was a few minutes to 7 in the morning, and if I knew my daughter very well, she would still be in bed and fast asleep at this time."Fre-" I threw open the door to her room and stopped short.She was not in bed as usual. She was up, and appeared to have been up for some hours. She was already dressed and was sitting in front of the mirror, applying some lip gloss. My eyes narrowed at this. I could not remember when I had seen Freya interested in anything that had to do with makeup. As a mum that was a model, I had half been expecting Freya over the years to have shown some interest in the cosmetics lining my dressing table. But she had been completely indifferent to them. I hadn't minded her indifference though. I had sort of welcomed it."A mother that knows all about fashion, and a daughter that has no interest in it whatsoever," Elliot u
ZORA'S POV"And how is your vacation going?" Katherine asked almost as soon as I picked the call.This question was followed by a giggle. I narrowed my eyes at that. It seemed there was a hidden meaning underlying Katherine's question."And why did you laugh after asking that, Kathy?" I asked her."Oh, don't mind me. It's just that my imagination went into overdrive for a minute. What I actually wanted to ask if if Finn and Freya's presence there has given you and Elliot some much needed smooching time, if you know what I mean.""Kathy!" I exclaimed and blushed when the meaning of her question became plain. "You are something else, you know that, right?""I know. I know. I'm picturing the blush on your cheeks right now." We laughed. "Seriously though, how is everything going over there?"I stretched languidly in bed and transferred the phone to my other ear. "It's going better than I had imagined. We are all having lots of fun. This resort is so beautiful. I can spend hours and hours w
ZORA'S POV"What do you think? That I'm serious about this, or joking?" I asked Elliot with a grin.Elliot traced patterns with his fingers all across my collarbone."You tell me, Zora," he murmured softly. "I can't seem to think straight right now. But I know something that will help improve my thinking faculties right now.""Oh. And er- what could that be?""This." In one fluid movement, Elliot pulled himself up and pressed his lips to mine. His tongue moved across my lips several times, then withdrew. He continued kissing me a few moments longer before pulling away. I was breathless by then and could barely speak. He smirked at the effect he knew he had on me."Now I can think again," he said. "Now where were we? Let me see. Ah. I remember. We were talking about what you just told me-"I pouted. "It's not fair at all. We were having a serious conversation, then you kissed me and sent my thoughts going here and there." I reached for him. "Come back here and finish what you started."
ZORA'S POVUnder the lights, Katherine's diamond ring sparkled and glinted like there were a thousand fireflies caught in it."I still can't believe it," she gushed. "I'm engaged to the man I love-" She gave Drew, who sat beside her a doe eyed look. He gave her one right back. The sparks flying between the two of them were almost visible. "-and that was after several tortuous days in which I died several times over. I just can't believe it everything turned out so well.""I can't either," I said and groaned, rubbed my forehead. All eyes turned towards me. "I can't believe that you finally proposed to Katherine. I think that at this point, I am happier than Kathy here. She almost drove me out of mind by worrying so much about you, talking on stop about you and forcing me to listen to her do so."This stirred up laughter. A chuckling Elliot put up his hand. "I'm a witness to this. Whenever Zora's phone rang when I was with her, it was Katherine calling more than ninety-nine percent of
ZORA'S POVElliot turned to Finn who he held in the crook of one arm."And how has school been for you lately, Finn?""It's been good. My teacher says I'm smart, and I always do my work at school myself. I do my homework too. Mummy knows that.""Good. I'm impressed with you. By the way, have you been drawing any more of those beautiful pictures?"Finn nodded eagerly. "Uh huh. I've drawn lots and lots of them, but they are at school now. I will get them next time, so you will see them.""I would like that very much.""Aren't you going to ask Freya about how school is too?" Finn questioned.There was a twinkle in Elliot's eyes as he looked over at Freya who he held in the crook of the other arm. She was busily engaged in licking a lollipop from various angles."Freya has told me all about her time at school. She gives me a dialy report every single day." Elliot tipped me a wink.I hid a grin. I knew exactly what he was talking about. Whenever I went to pick the kids from school, Freya w
ZORA'S POVDrew goggled at me. The expression on his face was almost comical. I tried my hardest to keep the laughter in, and to keep my qexpression deadpan."Are you being serious, Zora?""Uh huh. Don't I look serious?"Drew groaned. "Why are you and Elliot being such a pain in the ass today? It's almost like you two had it all planned." He looked at me sharply. "Elliot didn't call you to tell you that I was coming here, did he?"I rolled my eyes at that. "Of course not.""Then why won't both of you help me? You are sort of like my last resort, you know? Who else am I going to ask for ideas?""I don't know, honestly. Like I told you before, I am fresh out of ideas, but I am sure that you will figure something out. You always do. Whatever you eventually come up with will be... adequate."He gasped. "Adequate? Did you say adequate? This is a once in a lifetime event, and I want to get it exactly right for Kathy. Not right even. I want it to be perfect. Adequate won't do at all.""Ah. I
ELLIOT'S POVI looked through the pile of documents on my desk as I waited for my secretary. Seconds later, the door to my office opened, admitting her."Here they are sir," she said as she handed some more files over to me."Okay. Thank you."She resumed her seat, restarted her computer and began to work. I quickly glanced through the files, noted some information on the notepad in front of me."What about the progress reports on that account we just got?' I asked her after a while."I didn't include it because it was not completely ready yet, sir.""Okay... but it is essential for me to have that in order to properly make sense of the bulk of these reports you just gave to me."She quickly made a note and nodded. "Alright. I will get the person in charge of sending the progress report to speed things up.""Good. Now how about the project the company is working on outside the state? I haven't been able to travel to er- oversee it myself. How is it coming along? ""Oh, very well, sir.
ZORA'S POV"Are you quite busy?" Trey said a couple of minutes after he had come into my office and stood around, watching me work.I placed a finger on the place I was reading and looked up at him. "You gave me this files through Cheryl to work on, so I'm saying yes, I'm quite busy."I meant this as a joke, grinned at him, but he did not return the smile. He looked like a man with a lot on his mind. I shut the file folder, and sat up, giving him my attention."Okay. Tell me. What's on your mind?"As though he had been waiting for me to say that all along, Trey quickly seated himself."What's on my mind is a question. When is Elliot making it official?"I had an inkling of where Trey was headed with this already. Katherine had asked me this very question a while ago too. I just wished they would all give it a rest already, at least for now. I was still sorting out myself. I didn't know if I was ready yet for that commitment.I raised a brow. "I am guessing you are insinuating that Ell
ZORA'S POVI watched Finn and excitedly tear off another gift wrap. I winced a little at the squeal of delight that they let out at the same time. My ears still buzzed from the last one."Mum, mum, look. He got me another doll," cried Freya as she held out a realistic looking dolly still in it's plastic wrap.I grinned. "Yes, sweetie. I can see that. You new doll is pretty. What are we going to call her?""Let me see," Finn said, and tried to take the doll from Freya.She immediately held it out of his reach."It's not yours," Freya said.Finn gestured to the pile of unwrapped toys beside him. "I let you see my own toys. Why can't I see your doll?"I felt it was time to intervene now. It was the twins birthday and they had been happily unboxing Elliot's gifts for the past hour. They had gotten through a pile and still had about half a pile more to go."Why don't we go on with opening your presents?" I suggested. "I'm curious to know what is in all those pretty boxes. Aren't you?'S