Valerie’s eyes speculatively scanned the scene below. Chase walked to the car, his chauffeur escorting him. The chauffeur opened the door for him and he got into the car. Finally, the car took off until it was out of sight. Valerie hurried to the bathroom. Feeling refreshed after her bath, she put on a stunning, flared midnight blue satin dress, and complemented it with a diamond necklace. She hung a handbag over her shoulder and stood in front of the mirror. As she admired herself in the mirror, she realized Chase had been sincere, her beauty shone.Politely rejecting the chauffeur, she drove herself, going against Chase’s instruction to never go out without one. This time, she had to do this alone. An hour later, she knocked on Chris’ door. Then again, with no response. She was about to turn back to go, when she heard what seemed to be footsteps, becoming louder and louder as he approached the door, then as he unlocked the door he mumbled, ‘Visiting at ten in the morning without an
Chris was unquestionably, immensely in love with Valerie. Wrapping his arms around her, enveloping her in his arms made every fibre of his soul vibrate, and a desire to protect her would clench him. He saw her in his dreams constantly, even when he still lived in the deception she had passed on. He saw her everywhere, even though she was only in his head. He wished more than anything else that he could relive one more time the moments he had spent with Valerie, chatting, laughing and listening to her silly haunted mansion stories. He reminisced the way she moved, her curves swaying seductively, making his blood rush. Her smile would brighten his day and he missed her everyday.Nevertheless, that was far from the reason he strongly opposed her rapid, unthorough decision to get married to Chase. Chase behaved as his name sounded. He was a woman chaser. It never seemed he would ever get enough of them. Chase had his addiction to women. More clearly, Chris knew Chase as a womanizer. A re
Chase had noticed Valerie standing by the balcony, looking down at him. Something about that was off. He had his suspicions that Valerie might decide to meet Chris again. Something about that unsettled him. Sometime before, in their ‘confidential talk’ Tasha had made an astonishing revelation about Chris and Valerie to him. Tasha had revealed Chris’ fondness for Valerie, and that unsettled him more. He had deliberately went back home, after spending only an hour at work and his suspicions were proved right, Valerie was not home, and worse, he she had gone out without a driver. Chase felt quite certain that she had secretly gone to meet Chris, once again.He wondered if Chris and Valerie were secretly having a love affair. Tasha had also told him how Chris had struggled emotionally because of Valerie’s alleged death, when he had taken a leave at the same time Chase took his. Connecting the dots, Chase realized he had taken some time off work to take care of Valerie who was still in com
A week had passed since Valerie’s visit, and Chris had never heard from her again. He knew that after their previous heated conversation where she had misunderstood his intentions altogether, he may never hear from her or see her once more. Making a firm choice to severe all ties with both Chase and Valerie, he made a decision to give Chase the 5% share back, that he always felt was taken away from him. Sincerely, Chris felt that was true. Although legitimately, he was the owner, the fact that they were twins meant they had to be equal, and he wanted to make things right by doing the needful. Perhaps Chase would finally let go of the bitterness he held in his heart.On a Thursday evening, Chris stood, his hand on the telephone. Hesitantly, he dialled Chase’s number. Chase’s phone rang and he frowned, immediately recognizing the phone number that was calling. It was the number from the Malvins residence where Chris lived. Chris had been living in the same family house they had lived th
She slammed Chase’s office door, startling him. Her attempt to disguise herself quite visible; a blue floral scarf covered her hair and forehead and black shades on her eyes. Her body was covered in a white long sleeve shirt , black gloves and a long, black skirt. Letting herself in, Chase looked at her, dumbfounded, still trying to figure out what dump hole she had crawled herself from.The receptionist trailed behind her, breathlessly. “Sir, I told her she needed an appointment first, but she just …”, she said trying to catch her breath.“It’s alright now. I’ll take it from here, you may go”, he assured. The receptionist turned away and left the scene. After fleeing in a guest’s car at the day of her wedding with Chris, he had not heard from her since then. For a few seconds, Tasha only panted in her seat without saying a word.“And then?”, Chase started, his arms folded as he leaned on the office table in front of her, curiosity all over his face. His sharp, unfriendly expression e
Valerie could barely recognise herself anymore as she gazed into the mirror. Her reflection revealed a stranger. Her hair once black and straight, now blonde and curly, cascading down her back in bouncy waves. Her make up too had become bold and flawless. Her nails impeccably manicured. Once she favoured simple, comfortable clothing but now, she would wear designer clothes and sleek dresses. “Just one last show”, Chase would always promise, but there was always another.In the haste of the wedding preparations, Valerie had intentionally erased Chris out of her mind. She had chosen to forget him, but she felt he wasn’t the only part of her life she had swept under the rug. She had forgotten how it felt like to be herself, she had missed the simplicity of life, like just walking on the sidewalk, or strolling in the park without the paparazzi running after you. Now, she felt as if she was slowly loosing herself in the process of being a billionaire’s fiancée.Her life was now plagued by
Valerie impatiently paced up and down the room. She was a mess; still in her pyjamas, her hair undone and her body quite sweaty. Chase had not been back from work since the previous day and she was sick worried about him. Her calls were going straight to voicemail and he was absent from work. By then, it was almost two in the afternoon and he hadn’t even bothered to text. She kept on praying that God keep him safe wherever he was.As she was about to throw her body on the couch, the telephone rang. A private number was calling.“Hello”, she answered, her voice filled with irritation.“Val, how are you?”, a voice responded. Immediately, Valerie knew who it was and her mind geared into an adversarial mode.“You! What is it?”, she yelled. “What do you want from me now?”,“Whoa! How did you even know it’s me?”, Chris said, his voice sounding cheerful, contrary to her menacing voice.“No one calls me that except you…so duh!What do you want,anyway?”,she asked.“I wanted to thank you for the
Right at midnight, as the mansion was filled with dead silence, Valerie suddenly woke up from her slumber. She recalled the incident that had unfolded earlier and tears trickled at the corner of her eyes. She had cried herself to sleep and now, she vowed she wasn’t going to start again.Still drowsy, she stretched her hand towards Chase. Still feeling her hand against the sheets, she knew Chase wasn’t there with her. Hours before during diner, an intense argument had erupted between them, but to her surprize, Chase had seemed not bothered at all. Perhaps, he had seen her asleep and thought they’d talk in the morning.Valerie felt her anger was justified. Chase had been excessively rude to her, he had to be the one to apologize. Valerie couldn’t help but feel something was off and…wrong . Why was her husband to be acting so strangely only five days before their wedding? “Had she done something wrong?”, she kept thinking to herself.One thing was clear. Chase must have had some unresolv
Valerie watched as Chris walked out of the office and banged the door behind him. She was unmoved, her eyes cold and devoid of emotion. All Valerie could think of was how immaturely Chris had misunderstood their sexual encounter the previous night for love. Her clarification was they were two starved adults and they had found a mutual ground. That’s all it was. Or that’s all she wanted to believe. Frankly, by then Valerie had grown much fond of Chris. She could feel her heart slowly creating space for him. Nevertheless her worry and fear made perfect sense to her. It had only been a few months since she had gotten over Chase, and she felt unprepared to give her heart to another once more. She didn’t want to be quick to give in. Valerie wasn’t ready for the attention, the complications and the possible betrayals and heartbreaks love came with. She admitted Chris was good, better than Chase, best of them all and she too could not have enough of him. Whatever the misunderstandings, she kn
Valerie’s half-open eyes took a glimpse at the clock. It read half past nine. Alarmed, she jumped out of bed. A note by the bedside caught her attention. She grabbed it and read, while her lips revealed a gorgeous smile. It read: Take a day off. You’ve been thoroughly… occupied. “How naughty!”, she mumbled to herself.Although she knew Chris would allow her a day off, she had a presentation she badly had to prepare for. She hurried out of Chris’ bedroom and rushed to her own. Rushing to the bathroom, she took a warm, quick shower. Afterwards, she moisturized her body and reached for the first clothes her eyes fell on in the closet; a grey formal, pencil dress and black loafers. She paced down the staircase, hurried to the garage and hoped into a Mercedes-Benz CLA. She sped off , headed to Global Nexus Company.As she drove off, her mind drifted to the previous night. At first she had been embarrassed by the office encounter, but her body still shook with intense desire, she wanted mor
Chase sat on the polished, exquisitely made bar stools in his mansion, barely able to hold himself. He looked at the bar, his sight blurry, searching for another strongest drink there was. Unanswerable questions swirled in his mind, “Why does Chris always have a way to take everything that is mine? Why is my twin brother so wicked? Why is he snatching my woman away from me?Fairly though, Chris wasn’t taking Valerie from him. Chase had messed up big time, treated Valerie like trash and was quick to discard her. Now he understood more the depth of her pain, seeing the one he desired in that ungodly position hurt him to the core. “So is this how Valerie felt when she found me in the act with Dora? Did the pain have to hurt so bad?”, he wondered. He’d been unapologetic, he’d snapped at her, reminded her that his house was his and he could bring anyone he wanted to. Still, Valerie had been willing to make things right.However, he went on to break up with Valerie and chose Dora, but all t
She gave him a light, playful slap on the cheek. “What was that for?”, she asked, feeling shy like a child caught stealing sugar. She quickly put on her shirt, and wiped off the sweat on her neck.“I’m not sorry”, he confessed, as he buttoned his shirt.“You need to know your limits, Mr Malvins”, she said firmly, her face straight, picking up her underwear and skirt from the floor.“You mean the same Mr Malvins whom you have just shared the most orgasmic moment with? You don’t have to pretend, it’s all over your face I know you like what you just did”, he said. Valerie laughed, looking away. She went over to her desk, pulled the chair and threw herself down.“I think we need to draw a line over there to divide this office in two. No one crosses over to the other side. Strictly business”, she suggested.“That is so juvenile”, he said as he followed her to her desk. He stood behind her chair, holding her shoulders as she was sitted.“You have been planning on this haven’t you?”, Valerie
The sudden realization that she was five months pregnant with Chase’s baby was undeniably a bitter pill to swallow for Valerie. Nevertheless, with time Valerie accepted her fate, acknowledged the baby growing in her womb as her blessing and had nothing to do with her failed relationship with Chase. Chris had been a pillar and good friend. As she had commenced work as Chris’ Personal Assistant a month prior, she was relieved that his bond with her hadn’t attracted media attention. For some reason, she had opted to share the office with Chris. Perhaps it was because she felt more secure with Chris, than the rest.One morning as she took a break, she switched off her laptop, and walked her way to the edge of the room. Chris heard her stilettos clicking on the marble floor. He sneakingly shifted his sight to her, and watched her bottom swaying seductively. After the sneak peak, he raised his newspaper again, trying not to get caught.Looking at the high rise buildings, Valerie took a deep
An hour later Chase opened the door. He was stunned and his eyes narrowed.“ What do you want?”, Chase asked, his eyes blazing. “You are not going to use her baby as leverage”, Chris declared, letting himself in and closing the door.“Oh, so now that you’ve ruined Tasha’s life, you think you can swoop in and play hero for my baby mama?” Chase sneered, his voice dripping with venom. “ I ruined Tasha’s life? That’s news to me!”, Chris said, letting out a loud, piercing laugh.“Oh, so now Valerie’s sent you to do her dirty work, huh? How pathetic. She’s got you dancing on a string, and you’re just a mindless puppet eager to please her. Newsflash, Chris, you’re nothing but a doormat for her to wipe her feet on. And I’ve heard you’re treating her like your personal trophy, polishing her ego and feeding her insecurities. How cute. Take my leftovers brother, go ahead. You’re welcome to the trash I’ve discarded. Enjoy being her second-hand man, her Plan B, her consolation prize”. As soon as
Dora finally flew back to Colombia. Gradually, the media’s attention shifted away from Chase and Valerie’s fiasco to whatever latest scandal there was, some celebrity’s album release or trending show, much to Valerie’s relief. Hiding from the world in Chris’ secluded mansion, she felt safe and serene. She finally put her failed relationship with Chase Malvins behind her. She knew that eventually she would be able to face the world again.Valerie would often vividly remember the day she stepped into Chris’ mansion, from Roosevelt hotel. Her gaze had fallen upon the wilted Orchid, once her beloved favourite. “You stopped watering the Orchid, didn’t you?” she asked, a hint of accusation in her voice. Chris had shrugged, guilt in his eyes. As days turned into months, Valerie started to notice a shift in Chris’ behaviour around her. He would often find excuses to spend more time with her, seeking her opinion on everything from his business decisions to his favourite TV shows. But it was t
A week had passed since Dora and Chase’s disgusting lovemaking video had gone viral. By then , every sane human being thought Dora would be somewhere, hiding her face in shame over what she had done. However, on the contrary of everyone’s expectations, Dora was enjoying the attention the media was showering on her. As often as she could, Dora would deliberately make a public appearance, and enjoy the cameras clicking at her, news reporters running after her.Finally, the day everyone had been waiting for came. Karen, the best presenter was to interview Dora over her love affair with Chase.“Dora”, she started, “…everyone can’t help but wonder how you still manage to show your face after …no offense but a disgusting, despicable, shameless act. Dora rolled her eyes, her fingers running down her hair.“What’s so shameful about having a sexual intercourse?”, Dora asked.“But with a man who is about to marry another woman in four days?”, Karen asked. Dora just gazed at her and shrugged, un
Just then, Chris swiftly changed the subject. “So just be strong friend. Time is like a river. You can’t touch the same water twice, because the flow that has passed will never pass again, so enjoy every moment of life”.“What was that?”, she asked, surprised at his words.“Oops! Forgive me, I just can’t help but become poetic in this garden of …”.She burst into laughter. They both now felt tired as it was running late. Chris accompanied Valerie to her hotel. “ I will just put you to bed and l will be out”, he promised. Valerie sat in bed, then it was time for Chris to go leave, but he kept on moving about.“You want to tell me something?”, she asked.He looked at her, surprised. “It shows?”, he asked back. “Well, I was wondering if I could spend the night on the couch”, he said, hesitantly. Valerie said nothing.“You won’t even know l am her, I promise”, he said.“And why would you leave the comfort of your home for a small uncomfortable, hotel couch?”, she asked, she had been aston