Ian and I met at The Alternative Ritz, a bar on the outskirts of the city with a daily live band. I was wearing a hot red figure hugging dress and red heels. My hair was styled, and fell in waves on the sides of my shoulders. That was all thanks to Leah who lectured me on putting effort to my appearance for dates.
If it was up tom, I would just wear a clean shirt and jeans plus sneakers. Maybe that was I was still single. I literally didn’t try to look sensual or romantic. Only one guy in the office had expressed interest in dating me but then again, there was only a handful of men there. The place was overflowing with estrogenic and progesterone energy which was not a bad thing but it killed all my office romance dreams.
“You’re lucky to have survived that mess,” he said. “I have never been in a shooting before but it sounds quite scary to be involve in one. I’m so sorry you had to experience something like that.”
“Thank you,” I said. “Thank you for being here. I’m glad you called because I really needed someone to talk to.”
“You could have called me. The man doesn’t always have to call you know.”
“I know but we have only known each other for a few days. I’m still quite shy you know.”
He laughed. “Yeah not really. Besides, there is nothing for you to be shy about. I’m just some regular guy looking for a good woman to spend time with.”
I smiled. For me, he was no regular guy. He was special and I was going to treat him as such. For a long time, no one, except my friends from work had treated me the way he had, despite us knowing each other for such a short time. Maybe fate had brought us together.
He came into my life just when I needed someone to hold my hand, someone whose shoulder I could lean on. Someone I could celebrate my joys with, and face suffering with. For a long time, I had dreamed of my knight in shining armour. Looking at Ian’s smiley face, my smile even grew. I hoped he was the one I had been waiting for all along.
“You’re very beautiful, Lilly.” He said. His blue eyes were shinning. “What am I gonna do when I return to my dingy old town. I haven’t known you for a long time but I think I will miss you a lot. I wish we could spend all our days together.”
You know those moments when everything just feels right? This was one of them for me. Ian and I were connecting effortlessly. We didn’t have to force or try to create chemistry because it was flowing on its own. It was like I had known him forever.
I had to pinch myself every now and then to remind myself that it was real, and I was not dreaming. A totally handsome man with a kind heart was talking to me, confessing how much he would miss when he was gone.
“Are you real?” I asked. “You’re way too perfect. Handsome guys are usually jerks.”
He laughed. “I know. Some of them have spoilt the reputation for the good ones. But wait you think I’m handsome.”
I laughed, shaking my head. “Come on. Don’t tell me you’re one of those ‘you don’t know you’re beautiful’ types.”
We both laughed. “This is why I will miss you so much. How do you always say the right things?”
“I don’t but some people just make you say the right things.”
I was not such a smooth talker around everyone. There were people who actually thought I didn’t talk at all because I had nothing to say around them. And then there were those who thought I couldn’t shut up because I said too much when I was with them.
People bring out different parts of us. Ian was bringing out the best part of me and I was loving it.
Ian nodded. “Wow.”
For a moment there, I saw a bit of discomfort. It disappeared as soon as it came so I inwardly scolded myself and decided I would keep my tongue in check. If I spoke too much too soon, there was a possibility that it would send him packing.
“Would you like to get out of here?” he asked. “I know much cooler place. It’s a club called Rave. Good music and lively crowd. People here are old and boring. We have talked, now it’s time to have fun.”
He was right. “Okay, let’s go.”
When I stood up, I realised i was feeling a bit tipsy already. Normally that was my cue to go home, but that evening I wanted to have fun with Ian. Besides, he would be leaving soon and I wanted to enjoy the moments while they lasted.
His car had a hint of strawberry scent. It was not what I expected in a man’s car but it was great. I loved it. It made him even more perfect. A man who was not trying hard to be seen as a masculine was great. It was clear he was comfortable with himself and his masculinity.
I paid no attention to the road as he drove, because I was deep in thought about how the night would end. Were we going to go our separate ways or was there a possibility of us ending in bed. To be honest, it had been a while since I had been with someone and the alcohol had not made things better when it came to my urges. Deep inside was a small fire that I knew would explode if Ian touched me. There would be no going back as that would bring all my defences down.
The car stopped.
“Where are we?” I asked Ian, rolling down the window. Peering outside, I didn’t see anything I recognized. The panic button in my brain became activated and I turned to face Ian who was texting someone.
“Not very sure if I’m on the right track. Just texted my sister for directions.”
“Yep, right place.” He said after his phone lit up with a text. “Let’s go.”
“Is it a secret club or something?”
“No, the club is not here but my sister is. She’s at the reception of this building.”
“Alright.”
“I’ll get your door.”
I smiled and waited.
“Had no idea you were such a gentleman.”
“Now you know.”
We walked into the building. It was only when I reached that I realised it was a bit desolate but there was noise coming out from one of the rooms. It seemed there was a party going on.
“Most people use the back door to enter this building,” he said.
“Why, what’s wrong with it?”
I may have imagined it but I felt a light on my face, as if someone had just taken a picture. Ian called his sister and went to towards the window, leaving me there, standing alone. The receptionist was staring at me so I raised eyebrows at her. She just shrugged.
“She’s upstairs.” Ian said
By now, I was getting a bit suspicious. I shook my head. “I’ll wait for you here.”
“Okay.” As soon as he left, I walked out of the building. Suddenly, I felt someone pressing a cool cloth to my nose. I inhaled and soon felt my body getting limp. Before long I was out cold.
When I woke up, I was in an unfamiliar room. Sitting up, I looked around. There was a bed with blue sheets, and a table next to it. My bag was on that table. Grabbing it, I opened and saw all the contents inside. Everything was intact. I sat back and tried to rack my memory.Ian. Where the hell was he? Most importantly, where was I? I pulled out my phone and unlocked it. 10missed calls from Leah. What the hell. I dialled her number immediately. She didn’t answer which made me panic even more. My clothes! They were nowhere to be seen and I was wearing a blue nightdress I had never seen before. My heart was pounding as I tried to remember how I got there. All I could remember was leaving that white building. Shit. How did I become so stupid to trust a man whose surname I didn’t know. I had finally done it, gone crazy and made a mess of my life.It was already ten am and I had no idea where to get clothes. I dialled the phone on the table but no one was answering. What the hell was this
I stabilized a few minutes later. There were pictures of me on a full page, all kinds. Me entering the so called whore house, me kissing two men, dancing with men and women. There was one of me in bed with a man but thankfully I was still wearing my clothes. That was the only saving grace.“What is all this?” I asked. An ache had developed in my head. I could process what I was seeing. This was no doubt the worst thing that had ever happened to me. I thought of my relatives, who were probably glad they kept their distance from me.I ripped the paper into pieces.“That will not solve anything.”Why, why me?I think it’s Jake Rylland,” Leah said. “I don’t know why some random guy would do this to you and hire a reporter to document it.”“That sly bastard. I only reported what was true about him. I should have reported the kidnapping. If I do now, they will say I’m trying to ruin his name because mine is ruined.”“That’s not the worst.”“What could be worse than that?”“I think you might
It was like I was floating out of the building. It felt as if I was not really there and my mind seemed to be lost in some unknown dimension. There was a bit of dizziness disturbing me, but I felt stable enough to reach home without collapsing on the way. A taxi passed by and I did not bother to stop it because I wanted to walk. Home was over two kilometres away. I decided to walk until my legs gave out.My mind was shut out from almost everything around me. Everything that had happened to me was a mess in my blurred mind. Vehicles cruised past, people passed by, I bumped into some of them because of my disorientation. Life was going on normally for most people, except me and probably a few others with disturbed minds. At some point, I was just staggering along the pavement, pushing myself. I got weird looks from people who probably thought I was homeless and hungry or crazy but didn’t care. The good thing about my job as a newspaper and magazine reporter was that most people did no
I stayed home the first two days after my suspension. I could have stayed for longer if not for the loan I needed to repay. Although it was possible to buy a new TV and computer at some point, I didn’t want to let go of the ones Miles had taken. He had even gone with my hard drive which was really inconveniencing but motivated me to look for the money.Leah offered me what she had, only a quarter of what I needed. The money I paid was a lot considering how serious the crime was.Hailey had kidnapped her daughter from her ex-boyfriend’s place, after stabbing his current girlfriend who had refused to let go of the girl. Hailey was in the wrong because she and the father had shared custody. She was supposed to be with the child during the weekdays. That Saturday, the father had picked up the child a usual. They were together but he ended up being called for an emergency meeting at the school he taught at. He left the child with Carly who actually had no problem with de and always treate
“If you want a drink or anything to eat, find it in the kitchen. You should have called me before you came because this is a wrong time. I have to get to spa. My man is arriving today so I guess you know why I have to go there.”“Why do you have to go there, mommy?” Amy asked.“Yes, why? Hailey.” I asked, raising an eyebrow.My sister rolled her eyes and walked into the bedroom.“Mommy doesn’t like to answer my questions,” Amy said. “I don’t know why. Do you think she hates me?”I pulled her closer. “Oh no, of course not. Some questions require answers that children may not understand so it becomes hard to answer.”“My teacher explains something when I don’t understand.”“Well darling, teachers are trained on how to deal with children. They know better that the rest of us. Don’t worry about it. What are you watching?”I could not tell the child that her mother was a b!tch who only cared about herself. It seemed losing one child had not taught her to treasure life with the living one.
“Lilith Hellman.”I turned to see the owner of the voice that had just said my name. He was a black man of average height and great looks. He was smiling heartily while holding a margarita on his hand.“Hi,” I said. “Who are you?”“Kyle Munther,” he said. “I’ve been watching you since morning. Okay, that came out wrong. I’m not a stalker. I work as a lifeguard here and just finished my shift. Been seeing you move from one activity to another, as if you can’t find one that matches your mood.”Well, he was right about that. My mind was all over the place, and I couldn’t find anything to make me happy.“How do you know my name?” I asked. “I don’t think lifeguards are provided with the names of every person who comes to this beach.”“I got to know you from twitter. You’re that reporter who wrote about Jake Rylland. I worked part time in one of his hotels so I kind of keep up. I liked the man.”“Of course you did. So why are you talking to me? I know you must have read what The Blue Paper
“Why are you so inefficient?” I yelled at Jenny throwing the files she had just submitted at her. She backed away and let them fall to the ground, enraging me. “Pick them up.”She knelt down and started gathering the papers that had scattered all over the room. “Why are you so fvcking slow?”Annoyed, I stood up and strode out of the room. The employees at the outer offices quickly turned away but I could tell they had been staring at my office with alert ears trying to capture what was said.“Get back to work,” I yelled at them. The room immediately fell silent which annoyed me more so I decided to leave and go home where there were no annoying people. I could be alone. That stupid woman was at it again.I thought I had managed to shut her up for good, but she was like an annoying fly, kept coming back even though it was clear it wasn’t wanted. This woman was making me feel so incompetent I felt like going to kill her with my two hands. Not many had been able to resist my orders in t
Things were going better than I thought. My blog had blown up within a few hours of uploading the first post. People have become extremely greedy for drama and gossip on social media. A lot of people talk about how much they hate drama but when it happens, they eat it all up. For a lot of people, their most regular source of drama is social media and television. Everything concerning the rich and famous is fascinating and everyone is interested in having their opinions of them seen. Everyone judges the rich and famous, even people who are doing worse things.My case was no different because it involved a man who was rich and famous. There were those who believed me, and more who thought I was a loser trying to profit off Jake’s name. At that point, I was almost inclined to believe them as I didn’t know what to think anymore. It was like I was becoming obsessed with Jake Rylland. I thought of him when I woke up, during all my waking hours, and when I went to sleep. The only thing lef
LillyIt was a beautiful, sunny afternoon in the pack. The birds were chirping, the flowers were blooming and we were was strolling along the winding path. Jake and I were enjoying the serene ambience and talking about the future. We approached a fountain and I stopped walking to observe it.Suddenly, Jake dropped to one knee.I gasped.“Lilly,” he said, looking up at me, “You’re the most amazing woman I’ve ever known. You make me happier than I ever thought possible and I can’t imagine spending the rest of my life without you. Will you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”My eyes welled up in tears and I took his hand, helping him to his feet.“Yes, yes. I will marry you.”He slipped the exquisite ring on my finger.“I promise to always love and cherish you, and to make you the happiest woman in the world,” he said, kissing me softly on the lips. We then embraced before devouring each other’s lips. It was only after we pulled apart for air that I saw a photographer and my friends a
Lilly.I nervously clutched my bad as I walked through the white corridors of the station. I was led to a small, windowless room. I sat down at a table and waited, my heart pounding in my chest. After a few minutes, Jake was escorted in by a guard. He looked tired and pale but still fairly good.“Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual.“Hey,” he replied, his voice barely above a whisper.We sat in silence for a while.“I didn’t do it,” he finally said. “I could never do that to my own mother. She was driving me crazy but not once did I think of killing her.”“I’m sorry about what happened.”“Do you believe me?”“I don’t know. I find it hard to believe most of the things you say.”“I’ve never lied to you.”“You said you loved me.”“I love you. I never stopped.”“But when we broke up, you ran off with another woman. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. I just wanted to… I don’t even know why I’m here. Whether you killed your mother or not is not my business.”“I did not kill her. I’m many things
Lilly.“Johnny Knightley,” I said. Leah was watching me in silence as she ate an apple. “That’s the man who fooled me. He made me fall in love with him and ruined my life.”“Are you surprised? He’s Jake’s best friends. Birds of the same feather blah blah blah.”“How did I not know about him all that time I was doing my research? I get that he was away in some small town but I’m really surprised that his name did come up.”“He has a nice name, actually, better than Ian.”“That’s not helping.”“I pity that beautiful girl. Imagine falling in love with such a person.”“Well, maybe she’s as stupid as I am. I mean, I fell in love with the one who started the plot. Johnny was just helping his friend out, but Jake created the idea.”Seeing Jake and Johnny so happy had opened the wounds that had been just about to heal. When I saw them, I felt so much pain that I couldn’t stop myself from lashing out even though I knew my boss was right outside. I had thought Athena would be mad when she found
Jake.Although my father and I lived in the same city, we never spent a lot of time together. We did not have a lot in common. He was not very business savvy and had little interest in running the family business which was why he couldn’t wait for me to become old enough to handle everything. As soon as I took over, he decided to move to a quiet area in New Jersey and continue with his scientific research. I liked to think of him as a mad scientist. One of the reasons I didn’t like being around him was that he was always talking about science. After separating from my mother, he met some science teacher of his age and they started living together. They were both crazy about science since they even had a lab at home. Since my mother was driving me crazy, I had decided to go and see him because he was the only one who could understand what I was going through. He was the man who had married the devil, so he had idea what being a son of the devil was like. “I don’t understand why you
Jake.Johnny had been right. The sandy haired woman with wide and sharp eyes was quite the looker. The photo I had seen before did not do justice to her in a way. She was way more beautiful and warm in person, especially when wearing a casual red dress and heels. Her hair fell down the sides of her face in beautiful curls and her smile could melt the coldest heart. Had I met her first, I would have totally taken her.But Katarina Hayes belonged to my friend Johnny Knightley. Johnny and his beautiful girlfriend had decided to come to New York for a vacation. He also wanted to show her everything the big apple had to offer. As his best friend, I was one of those things. I was happy because they had come at a right time when I really needed a friend. Everything was driving me up the wall. Now that my best friend was back, I was starting to feel better.“So Katarina, do you see yourself living her or do you like your town better?” I asked. Katarina smiled. “That’s a hard one. I like my
Jake Some years back, I arrived at my first ever apartment, not far from the University of New York where I was to study. A lot of my high school friends had joined the same university and I had lived in New York my whole life so it was not a big change. It was like being home away from home. The only difference was that I was nineteen and had a kind of freedom that my parents had never allowed me before. I could do whatever I wanted.At Castle apartment building, I met James Milner. James Milner was your typical jock. He looked like those thirty something year old men who play teens in movies and series. He had a muscled body, pretty face and was the quarterback of the football team. My family was rich, but James’ family was crazy rich. While we were of new money, he came from old money. The riches had been in his family for generations and generations. James did not have to work for anything. James was in his last year of college, older than me but he took me under his wing. We qu
Lilly.“I think someone is stalking me,” I told Leah a week later. I had just sat down at the diner where she had been waiting for me after leaving work early. Walking from the office to the diner, I had felt that someone was watching me. Even in the morning when I arrived at work, I had felt it. I called the officer in charge of Kyle’s case and he confirmed that Kyle was still behind bars. “Are you serious?” She asked before closing the book she had been reading and placing it on top of the table. I glanced at it before turning back to her.“Yeah.”“Are you sure you’re not worrying too much about Kyle?” she inquired. “Maybe it’s the stress making you hear things.”I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I’m very sure that someone is following me.”“Who do you think it could be? Kyle’s still in jail, right?”“Yeah.”“Maybe Mrs. Rylland is having you followed. Maybe she found out about your little tryst with Jake.”I looked around the diner. None of the people inside it looked suspicious.
Ashley’s POVOf course I was not pregnant. I had made some stupid decisions in my life, but I was not that stupid. I only lied to Jake out of boredom, to see what he would say. I needed an excuse to see him and possibly seduce him. Since I had slept with almost everyone in my circle, I needed fresh meat.The door opened and Richard Eyck walked in. He was a 60 year old real estate billionaire I had been in and off and on relationship with for some time. What I liked most about him was that he never cared how much of his money I spent, as long as I gave him what he wanted. The best thing was that he always finished so fast.“Hey baby,” he said.I faked a smile. In the past, age had never really mattered to me but after being with young and energetic Jake Rylland, older men did not seem fun anymore. I wanted someone like Jake. I wanted Jake.There were a lot of men who looked like Jake, and had the kind of money he did. Most of them were total jerks. But Jake was different. Sure, he coul
Lilly.He looked so peaceful as he slept. He was perfect even in the morning when I looked like a ghost with a birds nest for hair. Jake, on the other hand, looked like an angel. But, he was far from it, and I had been full to let him in despite knowing that. He was the second worst male devil I knew, first being Kyle.I kept making the same stupid mistakes. But, I was done. No more. Reaching out, I shook Jake awake. He opened his eyes, and smiled when he saw me. “Good morning, baby.”“You need to leave now, Jake.”He frowned, sitting up. “What’s wrong?”“Just go. I can’t do this. I can’t pretend that everything is okay after what you did.”A few minutes after we broke up, he had gone off to Catalina Island with a woman that wasn’t me. If Jake thought I could act like that never happened, it meant he thought I was a total idiot. I was tired of being a fool for a man. “There are so many things I need to tell you. I can explain everything.”I shook my head, not wanting to hear it. “Ja