ZORA'S POVKatherine and Drew froze and pulled apart at once. Katherine, who was facing me, was wide-eyed with surprise when she saw the kids and I standing there. The kids were giggling and trying to get my hands off their faces. Katherine laughed nervously, walked away from Drew, and sat heavily on the couch."Hey kids," she cried. "Are you two back already?"I rolled my eyes at her and let go of the kids. As soon as I did, they ran to her and she hugged them tightly. "I missed you both so much," she said, after planting kisses on both their cheeks. "But we have only been gone for some hours," Freya said, looking up at her and giggling. "Doesn't matter," she returned. Drew had turned, was standing in the corner and smiling wryly, and I daresay a little shamefacedly at being caught smooching Katherine in my living room. I nodded in greeting. "Hi, Zora. After all that has happened, I have to ask. How are you really?""I am okay. The moment the kids came home, all my worries disap
ELLIOT'S POV"Yes, Drew. I'm here," I said in response to Drew asking why I was silent for so long. "Good," he continued. He paused, trying to get back his train of thought. "Yes. So, I got there and it was no surprise that I first encountered Katherine. She told me Zora and the kids went to the hospital, so a doctor could have a look at the kids to be sure they were okay. Kathy kept me company while I hung around, waiting for them to return... Hello? Are you still there?""Still here," I muttered. Still here, I had said. That was a laugh. I honestly wasn't. My thoughts were miles and miles away and I was just barely holding everything in with a tremendous effort. I had sent Drew to Zora after all, and I figured it was my duty to at least hear what he had to report. And so I reined in my emotions and lied that I was still here. "...came in, looking radiant." Drew continued. In my abstraction, I had missed some of what Drew said, but I didn't bother telling him to repeat it as I a
ZORA'S POV"Are you going to eat that?" Derek asked. Without waiting for a reply, he used his fork to spear a large portion of beef from my plate. He made sure I was looking, then popped it into his mouth and grinned. Because it seemed to be what was expected of me, I playfully swatted his arm. "I didn't say you could have it, you hog," I said. He winked and resumed eating his food. "You can't blame me," he said. "Finn and Freya wore me out today. Taking you out on this date is like killing two birds with a stone as I am famished."I smiled distractedly. A waiter came to refill our diminished glasses of wine. Derek had been here for three days now. He was to leave tomorrow, a Monday. He had promised to take me out on a proper date before he left because in his words 'Having dinner alone with you at home is nice, but doesn't quite cut it.'The twins had other plans for him though. They had insisted that he took them to the park, shopping for clothes and toys, scouring the eateries
ELLIOT'S POV I disconnected the call at once. I glanced at the empty spot beside me on the bed as I remembered all that had happened last night. "Shit! Dam!" I muttered under my breath. In a bid to vent out my anger and frustrations, I had no doubt complicated the situation at home, with Sharon. I dashed into the bathroom, adjusted the temperature of the shower to really hot, and turned it on. I let the water sting my skin, bringing me back into reality. All the alcohol I had consumed last night had turned out to be useless after all. I still felt the anger slowly simmering on the inside of me, waiting for the slightest opportunity to emerge. However, by the time I had come out of the bathroom, I felt slightly better. I quickly got dressed and headed out, buttoning up my shirt on the way. Sharon was standing at the entrance of the living room when I got there. "Hi," she said, eyeing me with a little uncertainty. She looked as though she did not know how to approach me this
ZORA'S POVAgain, I walked past the half-open door of the guest room as Derek got his things organized. It was still really early in the morning, but Derek looked like he had been up half the night. I supposed that my assumption was true. He probably couldn't wait to get far away from me. I had a sleeplessness night. Judging by the circles under his eyes, he hadn't slept much too, if at all. I had hurt him a lot. I knew that. But I still wished that we could part as friends, not enemies. This morning, he had not even spoken a word to me. He had completely ignored me, acting as though I wasn't there. I had apologized a lot of times, but he wasn't listening. I almost walked past. I hesitated and came into the room. Derek did not turn or stop what he was doing, but I saw him stiffen instantly. He folded a shirt and threw it with a little too much force into the suitcase. He reached for another. "Can I help you pack... or with anything at all?" I asked in a quiet voice. He said nothi
ZORA'S POVI was slowly sinking into depression. I knew it and yet there was nothing I could do about it. How else could I possibly handle all that had been going on in my life? I felt drained and miserable more than ninety percent of the time. I forced myself to mechanically perform my tasks day in and day out. It had been one whole week since I had broken up with Derek. One week since he had walked out of my front door without once looking back. He hadn't taken any of my calls or responded to any of the numerous voicemails I had sent him to apologize. I had lost a friend because I was too cowardly to draw the line in our relationship in the first place. Elliot, the reason I had left Derek, had suddenly picked this time to act like a complete asshole. The last time I was at his office, he had more or less thrown me out. He had not even called once to apologize for his behavior and now, I didn't think he would. I could not remember the last time he had been so cold, so frigid towa
ZORA'S POVAlmost as soon as I hung up, she barged into my office like a tornado, eyes flashing, fists clenched, apparently ready for a fight, verbal or otherwise. Her usually immaculate hairdo was messy, and her make-up was not properly applied. From the way she had sounded over the phone, I had sort of expected this. I remained seated. I was determined to conduct this interview or whatever the hell it was as peaceably as possible. "You bitch!" she yelled as soon as she set her eyes on me. "You slut! I thought you would continue hiding in here in your office, like a frightened little rabbit. I would have broken open the door of your office if that was what it took to see you.""If you would take a seat and state your business-" I began. "I wouldn't touch or handle anything that you have touched, even with a pole. The mere sight of you disgusts me.""Then why are you here?"She sneered. "Quit pretending already. You already know why I am here. You want to destroy my home. Your plan
ZORA'S POV"First of Zora, I would like to say a big, hearty congratulations to you. You won the award for the most talented female model this year and I must say, it is no mean feat." The interviewer grinned wryly. "Trust me, I know how hard one has to work in order to get that award. I was once among those who reviewed the criteria for the award. So once more, I say congratulations."I flashed what I hoped was a brilliant smile. "Thank you so much, Ciara, for your kind words.""I would like to also thank you for honoring our invitation to be here on ABC News." "The pleasure is all mine."Ciara faced the cameras. "For those of you just tuning in, we have live here on ABC news, the beautiful, phenomenal, Zora Walters, winner of the most talented female model award for this year and one of the most famous supermodels in America and I daresay the world." Ciara turned to me. She was a pretty, middle-aged platinum blonde with penetrating eyes that seemed to want to worm out the truth fr