ZORA'S POV I lay in bed, thinking over the events of the day. My thoughts drifted to the viral pictures of Elliot and I. Automatically, that led to thoughts of Elliot. I shut my eyes, willing the memories to go away. It had been a long, tough day and I had no desire to relive it. My phone pinged. I rolled over to look at it. "Speak of the devil," I muttered under my breath. I had a message from Elliot. I came to your office today. But I wasn't allowed in. Why? I left the message on read and lay back down. My phone pinged twice. It was another message from Elliot- two actually. I groaned and put my pillow over my face. I decided to ignore the message. I soon got restless as I wondered what else he had sent. With a sigh, I opened the new messages. Since you are ignoring my message, I'm coming over to your house. Now. My eyes widened in alarm. I briefly considered not acknowledging his message and calling his bluff, but I quickly decided against it. He just might do what he
ZORA'S POV The streets were totally deserted as I walked home. The houses I passed were mostly dark and silent. I really had no idea of how much time I had spent with Elliot, but it seemed like it had been a while. All I wanted was to go to bed and hopefully have some rest. With a sigh, I pushed open my gate. The first thing I noticed was that all the lights in the house were on. I paused for a second, clearly recalling that they were turned off when I set out for the park. It was very odd that someone, mostly likely Katherine, had turned the lights back on. This evening, Katherine had complained of having a severe headache. Because of that, she had gone to bed early. The guards would also have retired for the day. I just hoped Katherine's headache had not gotten worse. Perhaps she found that she couldn't sleep anymore and was sitting up, doing something to pass the time. Or maybe she had gotten hungry and decided to get a midnight snack since she gone to bed early and hadn't eaten
ZORA'S POVThe next morning, I felt as though I had been fed through a mangler and kicked by a horse. My body ached. The worst ache was the one in my heart as I watched my little girl go through what no five year old should experience. I had sat by Freya's bedside all night. I had barely slept. I had only dozed fitfully. The whole night had been spent watching Freya, even though the nurse on duty who had regularly come to check in on us, had encouraged me rest. I would not have minded all the inconveniences one bit if Freya had regained consciousness. But she had remained the same through out the night and on to the morning. Work was the farthest thing from my mind. All I thought of was her. At 7a.m that morning, Katherine came in, carrying bags that looked heavy. I dragged my eyes from Freya to her. "Kathy," I said. "You came.""I did. I brought someone along." She glanced at the door which was half open. Finn walked in slowly. He came in and stood close to the door, looking arou
ZORA'S POV"Alright," Elliot said as soon as I unlocked the door. "Show me your kitchen."Without saying anything, I led and he followed. I opened the cupboards as I walked into the kitchen, showing him their contents. He nodded in satisfaction. "You seem to have everything I need," he said, when he had peered into the fridge to see what we had there. "By the way, what did you plan on cooking for her?"I thought for a moment. "I am not really sure but... macaroni and cheese, maybe," I said listlessly."Okay then. Macaroni and cheese it is."Elliot grabbed an apron, put it on, rolled up the cuffs of his shirt and set to work. I leaned against the counter a little away distance from him and watched him cook. As usual, he was very efficient in the kitchen. He chopped up the ingredients faster than w even Katherine. He didn't made a mess and cleaned up as he went. I felt a pang of sadness as I recalled all of the times he used to cook for me, all the times he used to watch me cook- or
ZORA'S POVFrom my place on the chair beside Katherine, I watched Elliot as he adjusted the covers around Freya, as the day had grown a little more chilly. Freya smiled her thanks. Elliot had been here with us ever since. He had watched Freya eat and coaxed her to eat more. I had to admit that he was good with the kids. They seemed to have almost forgotten that they were in a hospital. Elliot had kept them constantly engaged and he showed no signs of tiring. The only time Elliot had left the hospital was after Drew had called him. I had watched him at the other end of the room while he made the call. All the while, he had kept an eye on the twins, Freya especially. Finally, after an intense, hushed phone conversation, Elliot had regretfully taken his leave, saying he had something really important to attend to at work. Finn's face had fallen a bit at the news. Even Freya had not looked too happy about him leaving. He had promised them that he would be back as soon as he attended to h
ELLIOT'S POVZora shrugged. "So you see, that's why I didn't say anything to him earlier."Though she was trying to be very mature about the Derek situation, I could tell that Derek's words had hurt her very much. I saw the tears that had started in her eyes right before I intervened. I would be damned first before I would allow anyone hurt her that way. "That is a messed up way of looking at things. I still stand by what I said. In this situation, you are not the one at fault. You were in a relationship with him and it ended badly. So what? Is Derek the first guy to go through a breakup? I understand that he is hurt and broken up about it, but it is not an issue that he should constantly bring up and torment you about. Derek should get over what happened, suck it up and move the hell on."She shook her head and started to say something when we heard a sound. We both turned to see Freya dragging herself upright. I hurried to her, but before I got there, she was already seating up. Fr
ZORA'S POVI narrowed my eyes at Elliot, stretched out my hand to him and snapped my fingers. "I don't know what sort of game you are playing, but I want you to give me my phone."His brow rose. "Why?"I stared at him in disbelief. "Why? What sort of question is that? It is my device and I have a right to use it however and when I want. Now, hand hand it over."As I took a step forward, Elliot retreated. He gripped my phone tightly and clasped his hands behind his back. He had a stubborn tilt to his chin that I knew so well. None of what I had said seemed to have made an impression on him."I don't think I will," he said after a pause of some seconds. "I think you should go and get enough sleep. Look at you. You look sleep deprived. Your eyes are sunken in and you couldn't have been comfortable dozing in that chair all night. You are a model, you know. Your appearance matters a whole lot. You have to appear well rested. After you've slept, I will er- hand over your phone to you. It i
ZORA'S POVI glared at Katherine, but she still didn't let go of Trey. Elliot grimaced at the scene."Are you out of my mind, Kathy? Can you tell me what the hell is going on here?" I demanded angrily. "I think I have had enough of your weird behavior today. I can't stand it anymore. What is all this about."I glanced over at Elliot who did not seem at all surprised by Katherine's antics. Elliot was just looking at Trey worriedly. When he noticed that my eyes were on him, the frown on his brow smoothed out. Trey had gotten a little over his surprise and began trying to extricate himself from Katherine's grasp."For goodness sake! Can you leave the man alone?" I ground out. "If you still don't realize it, you are manhandling him."After a moment's hesitation and a glance at Elliot, Katherine slowly let go of Trey. She still stood close to him and smiled sheepishly."Alright, spill," I said to Katherine. I pointed an accusing finger at Elliot. "I know you are in this too... whatever thi
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