**** "London at last," Grace muttered; they had barely made it to the airport on time, thanks to Diana, who overslept. "Alright, ladies, come this way," Secretary James said, addressing them. "Instead of the hotel, we will be using one of Mr. Creed’s villas; after all, it's going to be a three-week trip; so please behave yourselves and remember the rewards and promotions you will get after this business trip; it will depend on how well you perform. Do I make myself clear?" "Yes, sir," they all chorused. Before dark, they arrived at the villa, and oh, what a villa! It was huge, with a grand fountain in the middle of the field and a swimming pool at the side of it—one they were told not to enter, by the way. Each of them was given a room, and Grace found herself close to the master bedroom. "Okay, here we are; take your time, rest, and prepare what needs to be prepared by morning; the real work starts," Mr. James said and left. Diana turned to Grace and said, "Is it just me or did
***Grace stormed angrily into the large dining hall, slamming the box onto the table with a loud thud. "Who the hell does he think he is? He's just my boss and nothing else—the nerve of that bastard."Observing her fury, Diana cautiously approached, continuing to distribute the contents of the box to the others. "What happened? You look mad.""Oh, I am beyond mad and furious. I could kill someone right now." She spat."Ah, do you mind holding that thought? We only have like half an hour to get the dining hall ready, after which you can kill anyone you want. What do you say?" Diana said, grinning, likely suppressing her curiosity."Fine, but I'll take two heads." Grace replied with a faded smile."Sure, I can't wait to see who." They hurriedly continued with their work.Meanwhile,Inside the master bedroom, Noah was fuming. "How dare she speak to me like that? I am Noah Creed. Nobody talks to me like that; nobody." He muttered angrily, throwing the suit on the bed.Yet, he couldn't he
** Grace found a perfect place behind the main bedroom to take a breather. With a chair, a bottle of wine, and some delicious dessert; she sat down. What a magnificent, well-built balcony. Appreciating the view, Grace muttered, “It must be nice to be rich,” “You think so?” Noah emerged from the side of his room, which, by the way, was closer to the balcony. As he watched her jump, almost knocking down the table, he chuckled and held onto it. "Wow... calms down; I'm not going to eat you. Well, not like this." He said, almost to himself. Grace cursed with a low voice as she felt her heart racing. It hadn't even been a day since that stupid incident, and now he thought sneaking up on her was okay. Forgetting that this place was close to the main bedroom, she asked in a not-so-respectful way, "Why are you here, sir? This is my place of tranquility, boss or no boss; I'm not leaving." Noah stared at the lady with pink lips. "What do you mean? This is my room's balcony," he replied. "W
Grace placed the last file in the cabinet, returning to her seat with a heavy sigh. The past few months have taken a toll on both her mind and body.Despite returning from Paris, she'd hoped for a break since they had been working tirelessly. However, there was no such thing as soon as she came in; that round breast frog had a lot of work on the ground for her, so the workload remained overwhelming, leaving her and even Dian, her colleague, stressed out. Dian had been in tears the night before.Since the incident with Noah, Grace has done everything to avoid him. A week ago, though, he asked her to stay after closing.She expected a meaningful conversation with him, but it turned out he only wanted her body; seeing how he was in a hurry, he put it in her. Who would believe her first time was going to be in an office? It’s a good thing she came to her senses when she did, or only God knows what would have happened.Why her? Grace wondered. Yes, Noah was handsome, with a great figure, a
**** Grace scolded herself silently, "Great, Grace, now you've done it. How could you do something like that?" she muttered, hitting the toilet seat in frustration. Stepping out of the stall, panic washed over her. "Oh no, what if I lose my job? Mrs. Hail did say my rage could land me in trouble if I don’t control it. Ah, ah, ah," she screamed, pulling at her hair in despair. "You are going to pull out your hair if you don’t stop doing that," James said behind her. "I don’t want to believe we employed a madwoman," he added, shaking his head in disbelief. Grace gasped and quickly composed herself, forcing a smile. "Oh, ah, good morning, sir," she said, trying to sound normal. She glanced around. "This is the female's toilet," she added, her voice rising in defense. Sighing, James replied, "And you think I don’t know that? I saw the sigh. Thank you,” He spat out and sighed “Anyway, the President wants to see you." He reported. Did he just say president? Panic gripped her once more.
*** Susan was seething with anger, kicking anything and everything in her path as she stormed into the modeling department's head office. "That Bitch! How dare she talk to me like that? And in front of everyone?" she fumed, her voice sharp with frustration. Her steps were determined as she barged into Lora's office. Lora, the managing director of the modeling department at O.S. Publishing, looked up from her iPod, her expression a mix of annoyance and weariness. "Seriously, Susan, how many times do I have to tell you? Stop barging into my office like it's yours." Ignoring her, Susan took a seat, her eyes blazing with intensity. "That's why I told you, make me your assistant. Then I won't have to work with that asshole." Her voice crackled with irritation; he had the audacity to scold her, all because of that manipulative gold digger. Lora fixed Susan with a stern gaze. She knew that unless she gave her cousin the attention she craved, Susan wouldn't calm down. Putting down her iP
Chapter 14 ****Staring at James with a deep frown, Noah asked from the heap of files on his desk, "Who was that?""It was Miss. Lora, sir," James replied."What did she want?" Noah questioned him again."I don’t know, sir. I didn’t ask her; she only said you should call her back. There were some important issues she would like to discuss with you," James explained.Noah fell silent, focusing on his work. Perhaps it was about Susan, given their cousin's like relationship. She might have informed Lora about what happened, but he wondered if that constituted an important issue worth discussing."Seriously, those idiots are beginning to piss me off," he murmured aloud.*****Grace sat down at her desk with a heavy thud. She couldn't shake off the happy faces that greeted her after leaving the boss's office. It seemed she wasn't the only one growing tired of Susan's attitude, and a fellow staff member walked over to her.“That was amazing! I never knew there was someone who could talk do
****“I want that new intake, Grace Bush, or what is her name, fired this instant,” Lora demanded as she stormed into Mr. Creed’s office in a fit. “Who the hell does she think she is? We pay her salary, for crying out loud,” she slammed him again.Noah looked from Secretary James to the raving Lora. “What do you mean?”"Ah, she attacked Susan last night, and right now she is in the hospital going through surgery.”“What nonsense!" James snapped.“Yeah, that is nonsense; there is no way she would do something like that,” Noah said in disbelief.“Really, then what do you call Susan’s situation, Noah? The state she was in last night was a total mess. If I hadn’t taken her to the hospital, she would have died,” Lora roared in anger.That is pretty serious. “James.” Noah turned to him,“Yes, boss.”“See if Miss. Bush is on sit.” Although it’s a little hard to believe, he can’t just take whatever his cousin was saying.“Seriously... You are going to send for her? Are you saying that my word
**** Five years laterGrace sighed as she stared at her rounded belly in the mirror. For the first time in her life, she felt pure joy.Reflecting on the past, despite the rush of their marriage, they took their time with the preparations, thanks to Noah’s mom and hers. Both of their mothers chose the house they eventually bought.A year into their marriage, she became pregnant and gave birth to healthy twins, a boy and a girl. Although she was initially scared, her family was there to suppor
One more chapter to go.Dear Reader,As I turn the final page of Perfect Love, I want to express how much your journey alongside these characters has meant to me.This story was about exploring the idea of love in its purest form, amidst the imperfections of life. I hope it inspired you to believe in the beauty of love, even when it’s not perfect.Writing this book allowed me to delve into the intricacies of human emotions, and I’m grateful for every moment you spent with these characters.Thank you for allowing me to share this story with you. May the essence of Perfect Love lingers in your hearts long after the last word.With all my love,Clara J. Stari
***Grace watched Noah hurry upstairs. Excitedly, she brought out her phone, but then it suddenly buzzed in her hand, snapping her back to reality. It was her mother calling—perfect timing.With a deep breath, she answered, “Hey, Mom,” she said, trying to keep her voice steady. “How are you doing?”“I’m okay, honey, everything is fine. What about you? Is everything okay with you, dear?” her mother’s concerned voice came through.Grace smiled, tears of joy and anxiety welling up in her eyes. “Yes, Mom. Everything is just fine. I have some wonderful news...” She began to say."That went well." Came a sudden sharp voice, cutting her off.Grace jumped up from her chair, her phone slipping from her hands in shock."Jesus Christ!" she exclaimed, turning to see James. "James? What the hell? You’re still here?" she questioned, shaken.She had thought he left when she didn't hear his voice anymore.James was dumbfounded by the question and just stared at her for a while before speaking. “You a
***Grace smiled as she kept glancing at Noah’s mother sideways.Although they had both talked about a few things, Grace hadn’t expected their relationship to improve to the point where they were smiling and happily chatting, or even cooking together. This was someone who once didn’t even want to see her face and had fought against her presence in the company and with her son.Someone who would’ve gone to any lengths to end her relationship with Noah, and now she was smiling and having petty conversations with her?Grace shook her head slightly, still amazed by the change. She couldn’t help but feel a bit of hope that maybe, just maybe, things would continue to get better—at least until she and Noah got married.Mrs. Vera, noticing Grace’s sideways glances, chuckled softly. “What’s with the looks, dear?”Grace blinked, caught off guard. “Oh, nothing, just... surprised, I guess.”Vera’s smile widened. “Me too. I don’t remember cooking being this fun,” she said.Grace nodded slowly. “Me
~~~~Noah and James exchanged worried glances as they walked through the open, kitchen door, bracing themselves for the worst. But the scene that greeted them was far from catastrophic.A few shattered glass plates lay scattered across the floor, a small pool of water spreading out from them. Grace, with a cut on her hand, was hurriedly picking up the broken pieces. His mother stood nearby, her face a mix of concern and irritation.“Everything alright?” Noah asked, stepping cautiously into the kitchen.“Just a minor mishap,” Grace said through gritted teeth, her voice steady despite the cut. She flashed a reassuring smile. “Nothing we can’t handle.”Mrs. Vera moved closer to Grace, squatting on the ground. “Let me help you with that,” she said, stretching out her hands, but Grace gently pushed her away.“No, it’s okay. I can take care of it. You might hurt yourself,” she said with a cornered look.“Oh,” was all Mrs. Vera could say.Irritated, Noah snapped, “But you are hurt.” He reach
***Later, Noah and James pulled up with a truck full of groceries. Grace saw them and grinned. "Wow, it's more than I expected," she remarked.Noah chuckled as he hopped out of the truck. "We might've gone a bit overboard, but better safe than sorry, right?"James, lugging a heavy bag of vegetables, nodded. "Yeah, we figured it's better to have extra than to run out in the middle of everything," he said as they walked into the house.Grace laughed. "You two are something else. I hope you didn't clear out the whole store."Noah winked at her. "Only half of it. We left some for the other folks."Grace shook her head, still smiling. "Alright, let's get this stuff inside. Dinner won't cook itself."Hearing him, Grace smiled. She and Mrs. Vera had already worked out some things, so she was confident. She turned to Noah with a wide grin. "You'll be surprised.""About what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow."Nothing," Grace said, brushing it off as she inspected the vegetables James was carryi
***Noah stared at Grace in disbelief, while James laughed uncontrollably at his expression.The way she was speaking, so assertive and unwavering, sounded like his mother, and he didn’t like the feelings that came along with it. Ignoring James' laughter, Noah turned to Grace.“You really want us to stay here?” he asked, still reeling. He had assumed she was joking, but the determined look in her eyes made it clear she meant every word.“Yep,” Grace replied, walking over to the kitchen, guided by the maids present.“And why the hell would you want that? There’s a big, comfortable house waiting for us, and you want us to stay in this gloomy place?” he demanded, following her into the kitchen. “Yes,” she answered firmly, turning to inspect the kitchen. Despite being swarmed with maids, the pots looked unused. She walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, finding it empty. She turned shocked eyes to Noah. “What does your mother eat?” she asked out of nowhere.The question caught hi
***After an hour of driving, they finally arrived at the Creed mansion. And what a mansion it was. As she stared at it, Grace wondered why it was even called a mansion; the place was as expansive as her entire neighborhood. It would probably take a day or two just to walk through it, she concluded.They drove into the compound, and judging by the way the guards and maids were acting, it was clear Mrs. Vera Creed knew they were coming.Without lingering outside, they went in. Noah seemed to be in a hurry, no doubt eager to get it over with, and Grace felt the same way.But the moment he opened the door, a heavy slap landed on his face."What the—" Grace began, but Noah shot her a look, signaling her to stay silent. He sighed as if he had been expecting it."Good to see you too, Mother," he said with an air of resignation, walking in.Grace, still stung by the harshness of the slap, bit her tongue and followed him inside, as did James.
***Grace took a deep sigh as she stared into space, her mind a mess. "I can't believe I'm going back to New York, or that Mother allowed me to go just like that," she breathed out.Noah took a deep, happy breath. He, too, was finding it hard to believe that the woman of his dreams was coming with him. "Yes," he managed to say, kissing her hand. "I love you," he whispered in her ear."And I love you too," Grace replied."Are you hungry?" he asked after a while."Yeah, thanks for asking," Grace replied with a smile."Sure, love." He called one host on the plane, and after a short wait, a mouthwatering snack was served.Grace devoured it without wasting any time, and he just laughed at the way she was eating.Now fully settled, she turned to him. "You never told me what happened between you and your mother," she said suddenly.Stunned, Noah turned to Grace, unsure whether to laugh or be serious. "You really do have a knack for knocking people out of their comfort zone," he said, shaking