Denise laughed softly as they entwined their index fingers, a symbol of a pinky promise. Then, Olivia walked to his couch and sat beside him, feeling uneasy. The nightmare she went through by sleeping with a man before their marriage was still fresh in her memory. Denise looked at her and asked, “What are your plans for our honeymoon. Where and how long.”She smiled and said, “Let it come as a wedding surprise from you. Any plan you make will be all right by me.”“Wow! You are putting me on the spot.”Olivia smiled and remarked, “I trust your judgment. I know you can come up with something nice.”Now, she saw some semblance between him and Louis for the first time and considered it as an act of God. Then, she crawled to his side of the couch and rested her head on his thighs before he looked up to his face. Denise looked into her eyes and announced, “I'm planning sixty days of honeymoon. Can you withstand it?”She sat up and cupped his face with her hands before she gave him a pass
At the Bailey Native HomeWhen Nichole returned to her apartment with her family, Arthur settled down to have a talk with Julie about Olivia.“Julie.”“Yes, Father.”“I want to believe that Olivia must be a well-behaved girl. Am I right?”She gave her father a warm look before she spoke, "Father, that is an understatement. I had known her when she was growing up, and she is from an excellent home. I was thinking of arranging a blind date for her and Louis. But as you can see, it will never be possible again.”“You are right. But she is still part of us. Denise is also your brother.”“You are right, Father.”“I am excited to see all of you settling down with your spouses. After Denise, the next and last would be Louis, and I'm sure it won't be long before he would settle down.”“Yes, Father. But before him, there is someone that should settle down, too.”Arthur, who was amazed, asked expeditiously, “Who?”Julie looked at him and announced, “Father, it is you. You need to settle down wi
“Mom and Olivia, we will meet at the registry. Daniel, see you later," Freya, who brought her son earlier, said.“It is all right, Auntie Freya. See you later."“Thank you, Freya, for bringing Daniel earlier. I hope to see you and your husband later.”“Yes, Mom. He is getting ready. Daniel, bye.”“Bye, Mom.”The affable Daniel was withdrawn when he saw many strange faces at his grandmother's place. He became clingy and would not leave his grandmother's side. When Olivia noticed that, he called his attention, “Daniel, meet my niece and my cousin.”He looked at her questioningly and ignored her. He felt that she was sharing her love between him and her niece, who was the same age as him. Olivia, who could not get up from her seat because the hair stylist was working on her hair, had to persuade him.“Daniel, my Page Boy, come and give me a hug quickly so we can join Uncle Denise at the registry. He will be cross with us if we keep him waiting.”Instantly, Daniel was scared because he
They had enjoyed peace and harmony as a family, and any wrong move could affect the children and grandchildren adversely. So, she never bothered to honor him by replying to his message. Nevertheless, she carefully organized the bride and her train and led them to the registry.At Arthur's Apartment.“Father," Julie called out and her fifty-eight years old father looked up.“Yes, Julie," he answered.“Look at the time. We should be on our way," she informed him.“Oh! Let's go, then.”Arthur and his beautifully dressed daughter got into his car and he turned on the ignition. Before they drove off, he looked at Nichole's apartment and discovered that she had gone. He concealed his disappointment and asked, “So, your Mom has gone?”“Yes, Father. You don't expect that they should still be at home by now. Do you?”“Not at all. She is an excellent organizer who would not want to arrive late at any event.”“You are right, Father.”He had hoped that they would go in convoy. While Julie would
The doctor walked out with the speed of a cheetah, like a man who was about to lose a precious son. The problem on the ground had bonded him with Louis beyond the staff and boss relationship. However, he walked to the car park and gave him a call, but to his chagrin, his phone was off.“Mr. Bailey, please, don't do what all of us would regret,” he mumbled and rested on the door of his car.Currently, the couple, who was smiling happily, was ready for photographs with relatives and friends.“Congratulations. I'm so happy for you, Denise and Olivia,” Mr. And Mrs. McGregor complimented and hugged the couple.“Thank you, Mom and Dad,” they responded simultaneously.Thereafter, other family members followed suit in the congratulatory wishes. When they began to pose for photographs, Mr. Bailey inquired, “Where is the best man?”The other family members who sighted Louis when he walked into the registry began to look around and testified, “I saw him when he walked in.”“He was here. I saw hi
At that time, her husband collected the phone from her and interrogated John further, “John. It is me. Phil. What kind of car did he drive?”“Good evening, Mr. Anderson. He did not leave with any car. He parked my boss' car, picked up his belongings, and left.”“Okay. Thank you, John. Bye.”At that instance, the lunch was over, and the guests were gone. Olivia's parents, and relations had returned to their hotel, hoping to return to Seven Oaks the next day. Phil had to take over the search for Louis from his wife, who was distressed already.“Baby, you have to be strong because of Mom and Dad. You know they had lost people close to their hearts in the past. Don't bring this until we get to the Native Home. Okay?”She pouted and answered, “Okay dear.” Meanwhile, Arthur had sat with Nichole in the registry and during lunch. He was happy in his propinquity and wished that it should continue. He was carefully searching for Nichole. When Julie walked up to him.“Father, we should be on o
“Left for where, please?” Nichole cried out.“Mom, calm down, please,” Julie, who had just heard that Freya had contacted Denise's staff members, advised her. Then, Arthur looked at his distressed daughters and lover with empathy. He stood up and advised them, “It had been a hectic day for all of you. I think you all should rest. Phil, kindly come with me.”“Where are you going?” Nichole anxiously inquired with concern.“To look for our son,” he answered.He walked to his study while Phil followed him silently. After they took their seats, Arthur called Dr. Quain. He suspected that Louis could have been involved in an accident, and the shock made his phone fall off his hand. When the call connected, the doctor greeted him, “Hello, Boss. How many I help you?"He ignored the formalities and went straight to the point, “Dr. Quain, is there anything I need to know about my son, Louis?”Now, the doctor vacillated between providing him information about his son, which his profession deman
She smiled broadly and announced, “It is all right. You can go on. I will join you soon," and tried to walk back to the kitchen.“We will wait for you,” came the incongruous voice of Arthur. She walked to the kitchen all the same while they waited for her. She did nothing and walked back immediately. Against her wish, she sat on the only available seat. They had their meal silently on the surface but under the table, Arthur's legs would not allow hers to rest. She maintained her cool and ate cheerfully while Arthur rubbed her legs with his. All the same, he kept his promise and fed Daniel alongside his mother. Before now, Nichole would have been elated with Arthur's love advances when she was desperately flirting around him. Now, she had lost interest and replaced the love she had for him with detestation.At Seven Oaks - Bailey International Conglomerates' ClinicDr. Quain returned to Seven Oaks Clinic after he excused himself from the marriage ceremony. He could not concentrate on
At The BarracksBrown arrived for the meeting at 7 AM. As the head of his family, he knew what to expect from the other Family Heads but he was prepared for them.“Good morning to you, our Patriarch,” he greeted him“Good morning, Brown. How are you?”“As you can see, I am good. What about you?”“I could not catch a sleep last night because of today’s meeting.”“It is expected. We cannot run away from our responsibilities.”“You are right. If those before us had run away from theirs, who knows where we would have been by now.”“You are right.”At that point, the scumbag, Stephen, walked in and greeted them, “Good morning, our Patriarch. Good morning, my Family Head.”The two elders did not bother to respond to his greeting nor glimpse at him. The Patriarch ordered without looking at his face, “Wait in the hall.”“Thank you, our Patriarch,” the momentarily repentant Stephen said, walked to the hall and took his seat. He watched the family heads trickling in gradually before the Patria
Denise paused and looked at her innocent face without responding, but she continued, “Are you still mad at me?”“Eat your food first,” Denise responded and kept feeding her. She took two more spoons and stopped. “I am okay. Thank you,” she sobbed.Unfortunately, Denise failed to respond to the situation. He was angry with the woman that he must save her life.‘I have to concentrate on saving her life first. I can get angry later,’ he advised himself and smiled. He scooped the food and then urged her, “Sweetheart, I don’t think you are okay. Just take more spoons and you will be okay.” Olivia saw it as an opportunity to strike a bargain with her husband, and she quickly asked, “Answer me. Are you still mad at me?”Denise smiled and asked her too, “Can I ever be mad at my beautiful Angel?”(Peck)She gave him a dampened smile and wiped the teardrops that trickled down her cheeks with the back of her hand. Denise was emotional at that point. He dropped the plate and the spoon on the
Now, he gave her a call for the second time. The phone rang several times and timed out.“She must have gone to sleep,” he concluded and went to sleep as well.At the Tourist Center.The Officer was happy with the changes in Jude’s composure. His youthfulness radiated as he was constantly happy. The moisture that usually gathered in his eyes whenever he wanted to speak was not there. He enjoyed making music with his piano rather than watching the television. When the Security Officer got to his room that afternoon for his lunch, he observed that he spoke freely with him; more like a relation than a stranger.“How is your day going, Jude?” he inquired.Jude smiled, paused from the keyboard, and responded, “My day is going well, Sir. And you?”“Fine. Your lunch is here.”“Okay. Thank you, Sir. How about the boss?”“The boss is good. He sent his love.”“Oh! I hope I will meet him soon.”“Yea! You will meet him sooner than you can imagine. Just relax.”“It is okay, Sir. Thank you for your
The clerks noticed the same attitude and were astonished. Without looking back, she walked to the car park, got into her car, and drove to the gate. She stopped and got out of the car. The Security men were surprised to see a woman who was raging a few minutes ago walking solemnly to their office. Quietly, she picked up her phone and drove away.‘What must have happened? Who is the President of the Bailey International Conglomerates?’ She mulled over and drove on. Nevertheless, she never considered calling Stephen, neither was she aware that she narrowly escaped the police arrest. Now, Denise had sent for the Security Officer who drove to the Admin Block after Lorene drove off.“You called me, Boss,” the officer stated.“Yes. Why did you call the cop on that woman?”“I did not call the cop, they just came.”“How? What do you mean by they just came?" Denise furrowed his brow and asked him.Incidentally, the security officer was not aware that Denise was not in the picture of the arra
At the Gate.‘He would be surprised to see me,’ she fantasized and parked. She honked with the confidence that she would not be turned back anymore. Then, the Chief Security Officer, who had seen many of her types since the previous week, walked up to her by himself.“Good day, Ma’am. How may I help you?” he asked her politely.The new face she was seeing for the first time looked more mature than the security guard who had embarrassed her the previous week. “I wish to see the President,” she said confidently.Now, the CSO observed her again and inquired, “Are you on an appointment with him, Ma’am?”“Yes. He must be expecting me. Please open the gate. I want to avoid keeping him waiting,” she made clear.The officer locked eyes with her and then declared with a mockery smile, “I see. Sorry, Ma’am. The President is not on the seat.”Just like anyone would be, with a surge of hostility and violence, she got out of her car and began to rant, “What do you take me for? A kid? After int
Under the present circumstances, Stephen’s head could not process the information he got at the same time. From the stranger’s speech, he grasped that he was aware of the issue at hand. Then, he looked at the two elders and inquired, “Oscar’s wife?”Stephen, whose purpose of visiting his Patriarch was to find a solution to the river of problems that was drowning him, had just discovered another problem.All the same, he had to straighten things out, “I don’t have anything to do with Oscar’s wife. I ….”However, the Patriarch and the Family Head thought that his explanations were lies and aggravated his already bad case. The Patriarch rose from his couch with his military demeanor and the might of the Patriarch of the Bailey’s family and thundered. “I will not hesitate to throw you out of the barracks after the soldiers have court-marshaled you if you think you can dance on our intelligence.”Now, Stephen was aware that he had screwed up and that making excuses would cause him more t
At the Barracks The daily drilling of the young soldiers, which Gen. Bailey looked forward to every morning, took place at 6 AM and lasted for one hour. As a matter of routine, he was in his studies, reading through the dailies after his breakfast, when he got the email from Barrister Guidance. He quickly read through it and was timorous. “Has Stephen gone nuts? How many women does he want to have at the same time?” The nonagenarian Patriarch asked while cold sweat formed on his forehead. He went through the mail again and discovered another serious point.“Accusing Arthur of using Nichole as a nanny is an insult that her children would not take. No wonder Denise was distraught during the meeting,” he thought.At that point, he got a call. He looked at his phone and discovered that the caller was Brown. He took a second look at his phone and vacillated between picking up the call and ignoring it. Shortly, the call timed out.When he was about to concentrate on his emails, he got a
After their breakfast, they prepared for work and got out of the house at once. Then, Lorene stopped him off.(Peck)“See you later, Love,” Stephen said and got out of her car.“Bye. Love,” she responded and drove off to the hospital. It was quite unfortunate. Stephen had devoted his love to her, who possessed all the attributes he needed in a wife, but she was in love with Arthur Bailey and not Stephen Bailey. “This is good. With a wife like Lorene and her friend Evelyn, I will have a blissful marriage,” he mumbled before he boarded a chartered taxi.Then, he sat comfortably in the back seat. While he was approaching his house, he turned on his phone to transfer the payment for the ride, but an epiphany occurred when he saw the different breaking news popping up on his phone. He punched on one of the news and saw his resort as a heap of rubble. Then, he looked at it critically to confirm that his eyes were not misleading him. When he confirmed it, he rested on the headrest of the
The other Family Heads attacked him at once and demanded, “Why did you not ask her son before he left?”Now, Zoey could not help but laugh. To defend himself and maintain his dignity, the Family Head explained, “I was about to ask him, but before I looked up, he had gone.”“Coward. You knew nothing but to insult and push a fellow Family Head," Brown blurted out and the Family Head rushed at him, but he was restrained by the other Family Heads. Then, the Patriarch ordered, “Go home, all of you. The meeting is over.”They began to file out one after the other, still barking and yelling at each other. Then, Oscar shouted, “Zoey, get into the vehicle and let us leave here.”Zoey glared at him and got into the car. She did not relent in rubbing it in his face, “Can you shout at me, Oscar? You could not raise your voice when it was necessary.”Oscar, who was used to such berating, ignored her. He turned on the ignition and drove off.At The Tourist Center After Denise got out of the cal