Paul sat at the counter of the dimly lit bar, fiddling with the drink in his hand. He had been sitting and waiting for Kenneth for almost thirty minutes and was really losing his patience.
The two women at his home really bothered him. Victoria had tried to get him to lay with her so many times that he believed she got tired and stopped. He saw the hurt in her face each time he rejected her and it bothered him, leaving him feeling awful about deceiving her, but it had to be done. He had to marry her or risk losing the company to his cousin, whom he absolutely despised. But he was happy that she was making an effort to be close to Stephanie, who has avoided him ever since Victoria showed up.He pulled his phone from his pocket and began to dial Kenneth’s number when he felt a pat on his shoulder.He shoved the phone back into his pocket, sighing as he saw the familiar face. It was Kenneth.‘I thought I was going to grow grey hairs here waiting for you, ’ He said and Kenneth chuckled lightly.‘Whiskey’ He told the bartender,before levelling his gaze at Paul. ‘You look stressed,what’s up’ he asked.‘I am stressed’ he blurted out firmly and Jason sighed as he took the glass from the bartender,taking a sip.‘Victoria stress?’ he questioned ‘Women stress’, Paul confessed,remembering all the women and how they each troubled him. Victoria,Stephanie,his mother and his recently hired personal assistant who was dumb and incompetent and who he is beginning to regret hiring.‘Women trouble?,that’s funny”,he remarked,oblivious to the gravity of Paul’s situation. “I thought you said there wasn’t another woman” he said and burst out laughing.‘It’s not funny man’‘Of course it is. You have women trouble,that is funny’ he pointed out and burst out laughing again. ‘talking of women,what happened with Stephanie,you promised to tell me’Paul sighed and braced himself for his friends reaction to the news he was about to drop.‘She’s carrying my child and she now lives with me’ he said finally after a long silence.Kenneth stared at him unblinkingly for some passing seconds before he burst out laughing.Very funny man,’ he said grinning.Paul sighed in frustration, ‘does it look like I’m joking here?’he sneered.Kenneth snorted and chuckled again, ‘you’re either joking or insane’ he quipped,taking another sip of his drink as he wondered whether his friend was on drugs.Paul raked his hand through his hair in aggravation and downed his drink in one shot as he proceeded to narrate everything to Kenneth,from when Stephanie told him about her pregnancy to Victoria finding out,stressing on how dire the situation was.Kenneth gaped intently at his friend as his laughter faded into disbelief.‘Man!,you fucked up big time!,Stephanie...she’s hot,I myself just noticed ,but you don’t plant your seeds in women like her!,they aren’t to be kept,they’re just for the moment’ he exclaimed,feeling extremely sorry for his friend’s situation.‘I know that,but I have to keep her in my house because of the baby,I can’t let anything happen to her or the baby!’ he said and Kenneth sighed.“By keeping her in your house?!” He exclaimed incredulously.“Have you seen where she lives?,in a dump!,you’d wonder what she does with all the money she’s been paid. And I can’t let a child of mine grow up in that filth” he exclaimed.‘I really don’t know what to say,just don’t let Victoria get angry,she’s your ticket to keeping your company, ‘he advised . Just then his phone rang and he glanced at the caller id before muttering a curse. ‘I have to go man,I’m sorry,let’s catch up later’ he said and dropped some bills on the table before leaving Paul pondering on his complicated situation.Paul sighed before he too got up,dropped some bills and left. =================Stephanie was sitting in the living room watching a soap opera when the door opened,it was Victoria and upon seeing her,she muttered a greeting and made to leave for her room when Victoria stopped her.‘Are you leaving because of me?’,she questioned softly and Stephanie shook her head in denial. ‘Then let’s go shopping’ she said as she literally dragged Stephanie out to her car.‘I don’t like your outfits,they’re tasteless,” she said on the way ‘and you are fat!’ she added with a smile and chuckled. ‘don’t worry, we’ll find your fit,you’ll love it. I want you to look beautiful that day’‘What day?’ Stephanie asked and Victoria laughed again and whispered ‘My engagement party’ she chuckled again ‘Y…your..engagement’, she stuttered,she had been dumbfounded when Victoria had introduced herself as paul’s fiancée,and now engagement?. Her heart clenched in her chest,she knew she could never be with him but him being with another woman in front of her would really hurt her. He was an assshole,but she still liked him.‘He’s going to propose on the day of my family’s fundraising event,he wants it to be a surprise,but I already know,don’t tell him though. Anyways I would love it if you could be there for us’ she rambled on and Stephanie totally blocked out her voice as she felt her heart shatter to pieces.She felt a hand waving at her face and then she realised it was a smiling Victoria. Victoria who had been acting kind towards her since she came to the house. Who was she to even have feelings for him?,A lowly woman like her?.She glanced down at her belly,remembering that this had happened because she wanted to fulfil her fantasy,but of course it wasn’t enough.She smiled back at Victoria and even with the painful revelation,she replied calmly,masking her true feelings.‘Yes,why not,i’ll be there’‘perfect!’ Victoria beamed in happiness,everything would fall into place very soon,she thought.They soon finished shopping and stopped by a restaurant for lunch before heading home.‘Why don’t you tell me about yourself,I want to get to know you’ Victoria asked on the way home.‘Well,there’s nothing much to know about me,I’m an only child and I lost my father before I was born....’ she was still saying when Victoria suddenly cut in.‘You never had a father growing up?’ she gasped in surprise and shook her head in pity. ‘That must be why you got pregnant for paul!’ she exclaimed and Stephanie looked at her in surprise,suddenly getting angry.‘What do you mean by that?’‘Well you see,according to research,girls who grow up without fathers tend to become females who become attached to someone stable,most times—someone’s man and in this case,paul. He must be the most stable man in your life’ she said as she pulled into the driveway.Upon stepping out of the car,she turned to Stephanie who was still in daze, ‘Was that insultive?” She questioned,peering at Stephanie’s face before continuing, “The thing is that I don’t want you to have false hopes when it comes to paul,he is too soft,you shouldn’t think you’re special because you’re carrying his child,he just loves things that are way beneath him,things he can’t have’ she said the last part with disgust and Stephanie looked on in shock,how dare this woman talk to her like this. It wasn’t her choice staying in the house,if possible she would leave quickly,she wanted nothing more than to leave.Victoria made to leave but as if on second thought,she stopped and turned to Stephanie, ‘I’m not mean sweetheart,you seem like a nice person so i’m being kind to you too,but if you don’t trust me,ask him who Helena walters is’ she said coolly and went inside,leaving Stephanie still in a trance.A day before the fundraising event,Stephanie came back from Ciara’s house feeling a bit uneasy. She had told Ciara everything about the incident with Victoria and they decided to find out about the woman named Helena by themselves instead of asking paul. She feared what she would hear. She had never heard that name but it did sound familiar,like she's heard it somewhere before.As soon as she arrived in her room,she plopped down on the bed,trying to rid herself of the gnawing feeling in her belly. She groaned when a knock on her door prevented her from doing so. It was probably Victoria or the cleaning lady. After that incident,Victoria hadn’t even bothered to talk to her at all and frankly,she preferred it like that. She knew Victoria hated her but what was she to do?,she was here against her own volition.‘It's open’ ,she called out,easing herself upwards. The door opened and she sighed upon seeing who it was,she definitely wasn’t expecting him,it was paul.
Theresa Costa was a woman who hated nothing more than embarrassments, but what she had experienced the night before was something she totally wasn't expecting.She had pleaded with The Ross’ to not call the marriage off, that it was just a small issue and her son wasn't in his right senses. The Ross’ had angrily left the ceremony and she had paid her most trusted bodyguard to make sure that news didn't spread about what had happened that evening.That night, she tossed and turned as she thought of what she and her husband had worked for, going down the drain because of her son's stupidity. If it were another woman, she might not have been this bothered, but it was Stephanie! A common personal assistant! A nobody!It was just too much for her to believe and as soon as it was dawn, she got up and dressed up. Her maid, Cara glanced at her, wondering why she had put on a very dark lipstick. She knew the woman she served and she knew that her lipsticks were worn according to how she felt,
“I’m pregnant” She said in the calmest voice she could muster with her blue eyes looking everywhere else but his. Paul Costa’s grey eyes shot up to the woman before him, easing his back onto the chair in his huge office. The Woman has been working for him for the past six years since he became the executive director of Costa Incorporation. There was something different about her this afternoon, perhaps it was the way she styled her hair or the Color of her eyes, He had never seen her without her glasses. That was probably why she seemed so different. Heck! It could even be the perfume she was wearing, it was jasmine. Paul couldn’t remember if her hair had always been this black or her eyes this blue. He wasn’t sure if any of those things were attributed to the difference he saw in her, But then, he had never paid any attention to her, all he knows was that she could do her job right, she was the ‘perfect assistant’ and that was why she still worked for him after 6 years. Stephani
“Excuse me, sir?!” Stephanie’s eyes shot up as she stared at him,gasping as she realized what he meant. He was offering her such a huge amount of money to get rid of the baby, her baby!!. She was not prepared for this at all, She shouldn’t even be here but here She was,being told to kill her baby for a fee,a huge one. She thought the best thing to do after finding out about her pregnancy was to let the father of the baby know, She didn’t think about his reaction and the fact that He wouldn’t be too pleased to father a child with her or could even deny the pregnancy. A highly respected multibillionaire like him could suffer from such scandal and this would have a huge effect on the company, stock prices will go down. Of course,the best way to prevent that was to not father a child with her,therefore,the baby must be terminated. But she loves children, she had always wanted children of her own with a man she loves and She is about to have a child now, with a man she is head over he
It was around 8:00 a.m. when Paul Costa strode into his office building. It was a huge building, the headquarters of Costa incorporations, in the very Heart of New York. He was wearing an Armani suit and a blue tie, he looked as handsome as always and had a smile etched on his face. The moment his foot touched the marble floor, everyone fell quiet. Nobody was expecting him until 9:00 a.m. and they certainly didn’t expect to see him smiling, it was strange. He never smiled, he was always scowling and frowning. People parted as he made his way to the elevator, they had the notion that his smile was dangerous. He went all the way up,to the top floor. He walked past an empty desk, where the personal assistant should be, and noting her absence he nodded. Immediately he got into his office,he reached for the telephone and stopped after seeing the letter across his desk. “Dear Mr. Costa, You are to sign the documents in the envelope under this letter. You also have a conference call wi
“Work stress?” He asked, noting the worry etched on his friend’s face. Kenneth smith has been Paul’s best friend and close confidante since childhood. He knew all about Paul’s problems and “sexcapades”. Paul nodded his head in disagreement, and Kenneth chuckled lightly. “Ross?” He asked,knowing how Paul felt towards his intended marriage to Victoria. “There is also that,” Paul said with a sigh,dropping his glass on the table. “There’s nothing you can do about that one” Keneth said with a soft smile, “besides,i heard she’s good down there” he added again and that caused Paul to look at him with a murderous glare. Victoria’s adventures weren’t a secret and apparently that did not bother his mother as she was hell bent on him marrying her and acquiring Ross incorporation. “Thought you didn’t care about that,” Keneth said and raised his hands defensively. “But really,why can’t we do anything about it?” Paul asked and Kenneth looked at him puzzled.“Do what?” He questioned,looking co
Paul was furious,he never expected Stephanie to be this difficult. He was stressing himself too much over her issue,he didn’t know what else to do. She outrightly rejected all his offers and what really baffled him was the fact that she had nothing and yet acted like she had everything. She was like a stranger!,perhaps he’s never really known her. After their last conversation where she told him that she’d terminate the pregnancy,he didn’t know what else to do. He doubted the possibility of her actually going through with it,but he knew better than to provoke her any further. He wanted her to terminate the pregnancy at first,but she insisted on keeping it and now that he also wants her to keep it,she’s threatening to terminate it!. What the hell was wrong with this woman!He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. “Goddamit! Stephanie!”he yelled out aloud and laid on the sofa,trying to clear his head of the events of the past days. He would figure something out,he always do
Stephanie lazily opened her eyes, wincing as the harsh light in the room scorched her eyes. She was trying to remember where she was , what she doing here and more importantly, why she felt so weak. “Steph?” A familiar voice called out and she wrinkled her face in confusion. It was her boss. What was he doing here??. She fully opened her eyes to see her boss looking at her with —concern?. Was that really concern etched on his face? She blinked. “Can you hear me?” an unfamiliar voice said and she realized it was a doctor, she didn’t see him before. Her eyes widened almost instantly when she realized what had happened. She had fainted!!!. Her throat suddenly felt parched and everything came rushing back, her mind only on one thing, her pregnancy. “M.mmy…my bb..bbab..bab..y” she croaked out hoarsely. “Stephanie, listen to me. The baby’s going to be fine and you are going to be too!” Paul stated pulling her hands into his and squeezing it lightly, his eyes reflecting reassurance.