Anne I knew Vincent would get me a dress as usual so I decided to get something for him in return. My dress arrived two days before Saturday, the day of the party. From a glance, I knew it was different from the other two he’d gotten me during the other parties. He didn’t go to his mom’s boutique this time. We all know why. Well, the new dress was stunning all the same. It was a sparkly blue halter gown that hugged my upper body and cascaded from the waist down. It had simple designs yet when I wore it, it screamed elegance. I don’t know how often he bought dresses for Fiona when they dated but Vincent’s taste in dresses is impeccable. The only thing Fiona and I had in common was our slender figure. Fiona is bustier and curvier than I am. I don’t know where I’m going with this but if we were to say he learned his dress sense from his time with Fiona, it wouldn’t prove how he got what suits me perfectly the very first time. I believe he is naturally endowed with that perception or it
Anne I met Pamela at the party. She was looking stunning in her fitted, long-sleeved red gown with puffs on both shoulders, and a plunging back-line. The hem that ran down her back had glittery stones at its edges following the long v curve of her dress. She had on pearl stud earrings with a matching pearl necklace and had her hair packed in a bun. Pamela was breathtaking. Beside her, dressed in a black tux, stood Andrew, who was talking with a man with a bit of grey hair. The man had his back turned, so I couldn’t see his face. The party was filled with distinguished men and women from high places, most of which were in their middle ages. They all had sophisticating gowns and tuxes, and moved about like old Barbie princesses and princes, acting all prime and proper. You can’t even imagine them pooing. Vincent tugged at my hand and pointed at the man standing and talking animatedly with Andrew. He was doing a lot of body movements while he spoke, as if his mouth alone couldn’t do j
Anne It was Joshua. He was standing all tall and powerful, staring right at me. He had on a golden tux and black pants and had his hair gelled back like men from the 80ties, yet he pulled off the look, making it look more modern. Now Vincent had moved to stand close to me because of what I’d told him about Joshua. Andrew and Pamela, on the other hand, had a totally different stance when they looked at Joshua. In fact, they weren’t looking at Joshua. They were looking at the lady perched on his arm. Not in my wildest dream would I have imagined seeing her here, not to talk of being Joshua’s plus one. With the way Joshua revered his half-sister, Fiona, one would think he would have brought her instead, but no, he brought someone else. Someone that left us shocked. Something didn’t feel right. Of course, the aura Joshua exuded had never felt right to me. I doubted it was anything near coincidence. How in the world did Joshua meet Jane?! She clung to him, like paper to tape, staring a
Anne It was an ugly, deep purple scar, slightly peeking out of her sleeves when she folded her hands underneath her bosom. She widened her eyes and immediately dragged down her sleeves to conceal what I’d already seen. “What is that, Jane?!” I asked again, moving close to her. She stepped back from me, darting her eyes fearfully towards where we’d seen Joshua. He was still standing there, but he wasn’t looking our way. “Did he do that to you?!” I whisper-yelled, already boiling with anger. “Don’t be ridiculous, Anny. It’s just a new tattoo I got. It’s still healing. Joshua would never hit me,” she defended. I was speechless. I didn’t know how to act rationally there and then. My mind kept telling me to stomp over to Joshua, grab a bottle from the table beside him, and smash it against his evil head. I couldn’t do that, though. Jane hadn’t admitted he was the culprit. “Can I see it then?” I said, conjuring up the calmest voice I could muster from within. “No. It is still messy.
Anne I heard her voice first before I saw her. She was begging, pleading to be let go, but the perpetrator wouldn’t listen. He had her pressed against the wall, smashing his whole body against her while he held her neck tightly. “You little b*tch! If you’d followed me when I was a bit calm, this wouldn’t have happened. But no, you decided to meet with your stupid friends and wag your stupid mouth,” he said in a low sinister voice that gave me chills all over. “I didn’t,” she cried bitterly. “She just saw it and started asking question. I didn’t tell her anything, please! You’re choking me! I can’t breathe,” she gagged. My eyes stung with tears as I advanced forward. I had seen this scene before. But it wasn’t of Jane. It was rather, of a little girl being dragged by a beast of a man into a dark alley. Yes! I remember the nightmare I had when I was sick. Was it coming to live? Was he going to draw out a shiny sharp knife and stab her? I didn’t wait to answer my question. I bent ove
Anne If beastly was human, that would be Vincent and the look in his eyes. It was scary. Worse than the one he’d exhibited that time Fiona said some sh*t about my mum. Vincent was beyond enraged. He was destructive. It was evident in the cracking sound I heard as Vincent slowly bent Joshua’s raised hand backward. Vincent had his eyes fixated on his face, watching his reaction as he turned his arm into an odd twist. I don't know whether the sound came from his shoulder or Vincent's vicious hold on Joshua's wrist. I did know that Vincent’s intention at that very moment was to break Joshua’s entire arm off. “Vincent…” I had started but was abruptly cut short when Andrew jumped in…no…more like flew in from behind Vincent, with elbows pulled back and hand tightened into a veiny fist, with which he descended on Joshua’s jaw, sending his face to the back of his head. Jane and I screamed in horror as Joshua went limp and fell to the floor. There was no way he could survive such a blow. “He
Anne “What are those?” I asked, slitting my eyes thoughtfully as I walked into Vincent’s room from the bathroom. I just finished having my bath. I had a towel wrapped around my body and another tied over my head to dry my hair. Vincent had come back from his shift and laid some gadgets on his reading table. I met him standing in front of them with folded sleeves and a hand beneath his jaw. When he heard my voice, he turned to me and waited for me to reach him. When I got closer, he brought out his hand and took my hand, pulling me to stand in front of him with my back against him. He then wrapped his arms around me and placed his jaw on my right shoulder. “What are these?” I asked again, chuckling briefly while raising my hand and caressing his cheeks. “I won’t be with you at all times. You’ve got school and other things going on for you. So!” he said aloud, removing his head from my shoulders, then stretched his hand and grabbed a gadget. “I’ve decided to fortify my fortress,” he
Anne With all the events of the past month, things had been a whole lot stressful physically and mentally. The thing with the paparazzi was taking longer to diminish. Vincent being the heir to Sawyer Memorial plus his other passive income asserts had placed him on the top 10 billionaire bachelors under 30. It was from the press releases that I found out that in his early twenties, he’d taken the money he’d gotten from his trust fund to acquire new and dying companies, both foreign and local, and today, more than half the companies were flourishing wildly. On top of that, Vincent and Andrew had inherited properties worth billions of dollars from their grandparents. This was why the press was still shocked as to why such people would go for a nobody like me. “It’s not a movie…” read one news caption, “It’s life.” Vincent had mentioned his wealth sometime in the past, but he didn’t delve into it. Stupid me was lost in kissing the heck out of him that most of the things he told me were l