*Andrea*“What are you doing here?” I asked.“I should be asking you that. This is my father's house, so what are you doing here?” I stood rooted to the ground. Why was Lucas suddenly here? “Well, I…” he brushed past me and walked inside. I followed behind him. “So, mind explaining to me why you are here?” He asked, crossing one hand over the other. Only yesterday had I rejected him again. Who thought we were going to be meeting here like this? Especially now that I wanted to speak to Alejandro. Sigh.“Cat caught your tongue?” Lucas yelled, and I flinched. “Are you stalking me now, or have you come over to look for me? Don't tell me you regret what you did yesterday.” I wanted to scream no and tell him I would never regret that, and if given the chance, I'd do it over and over again. But I held my tongue in my mouth.“Come on, say something. What the fuck are you doing here?” He asked again; this time, he sounded more angry than the first time.“Well, I…” I racked my brain, tryin
*Andrea*Alison held me close to herself as I cried. “He said it's over. He said he doesn't want to see me again.” I cried. Smearing her shirt with my tears. I still don't know how I got there.I remember being thrown out of the house by two guards. Nora had smiled at me and told me never to come close to her family ever again. She had won. It's not the fact that she said those mean things to me that got to me.In fact, I could barely care about her. What made my heart shatter into a million pieces was the fact that Alejandro didn't forgive me. He didn't want to listen to me.“Alison, what should I do?” I pulled away from her hold. She still has her hands around me, though, refusing to let me go for a second.”Give him some time. He can't be angry at you forever.” She said.I wanted to believe her, I wanted to think that this was a phrase in my life and my relationship with Alejandro.But I knew it was not. Alejandro is a man of his word. He doesn't say things he doesn't mean. So
*Alejandro*I sat in my bed; on one hand was a bottle of vodka. I drank directly from the bottle. My room was a mess. Bottles of different alcoholic beverages are laid on each corner of the room. How did this happen? How come I am having to go through this pain again? I have forgotten it for a long time: the heartache, the betrayal, the pain of losing your favorite person.Tears rolled down my eyes. When I had broken up with Clara, I felt nothing like I feel now. Not much pain or heartache, in fact, I felt relieved. So why can't it be the same with Anna? Even my divorce didn't shake me so much. I still carried out my job then, but now, leaving my room was a nightmare.I have been inside this room for over a week.Drinking. I placed the empty bottle on the floor close to my leg. I couldn't believe she was no longer in my life. Of all the people who could manipulate me, Anna was the last person. I wanted to call her and tell her that it wasn't all over. I wanted to forgive her, b
*Andrea*I refused to believe what I had just heard. No, Alejandro can't be moving on from me already. What about our child?“You should tell him about the baby. Trust me, he wouldn't leave you alone if he knew about the baby.” Alison advised. Last night, I thought hard and long before I made my decision. So here I was, in a cab, looking desolate. I stared out of the open window.My eyes were glued outside. I knew the driver stole glances at me. He must have a lot of questions, like how a young girl could look like this. I managed to comb my hair, but I knew that was not enough. As the car sped across the street, I kept clenching and unclenching my hands. Would it have been better to send him a message or call him? But then, I've tried and have been unable to reach him. Or maybe I should have written a message to him and sent one to his office. Different thoughts crossed my mind. I didn't even realize that we were in front of his house until the driver said, “We're here.” I paid
*Andrea* LA was no different from Florida, if you ask me. Well, aside from the fact that I am jobless. It has been three months, and I have not been able to get a job. This has made me question my decision to come here greatly Maybe I should not have come. My hands reached for my stomach, holding the little belly bump which was slowly becoming visible. It wasn't that I wasn't being invited to job interviews or anything, I have never been able to secure a job. There were always excuses; it was either I was not qualified, or they thought I could not handle the job since I was pregnant. I sighed for the hundredth time as I allowed my eyes to wander outside the windshield of the cab I was in. The driver sent me a weird look from the rear mirror. I inhaled sharply as we got close to my destination. I had an interview today. The cab soon pulled over in front of Nexus Company. I stood in front of the tall building, trying to capture every inch of it with just my eyes, but that seemed i
*Andrea*“Dave,” I called, surprised. It has been so long since I last saw him. He was equally surprised to see me. Although we may not have been friends, we had spent a reasonable amount of time together.“Anna?” Dave called my name. He looked the same, his blonde hair falling on his face. “What are you doing here?” His eyes seized me, up lingering on my stomach. He raised a brow, and I tried to smile. “I'm sorry you have to see this, sir. I was just telling her to leave, so we can say she is just about to leave,” the lady said.She was still hell-bent on sending me away. “But I did well; you didn't have any issues with me until you noticed I was pregnant,” I said in my defense.Dave's eyes moved from me to the lady as we spoke in turns. “You sent her away?” He asked. “Yes, sir. She is pregnant, and we can't hire a pregnant woman for the job. She passed the first interview, but there's no saying she will even pass the second.” The lady said.“So you mean she is compatible for th
*Andrea* It was my first day at work, and I had woken up late. My morning started with a scream that woke Alison, who was lying on the couch opposite mine. We had slept in the sitting room. There were remnants of what we had eaten last night. “What's wrong?” Alison asked, her eyes still heavy, her hand brushing the hair out of her face. I leaped up, “fuck, I'm late.” I said and rushed to my room, ignoring the headache I felt banging my head. I brushed and bathed immediately. Alison was still in the sitting room by the time I rushed back. It was already 10 am and I was yet to get a cab. I rushed into a cab that had been stopped by a young girl, yelling sorry behind me. I tried to steady my breath to come up with an excuse, the perfect one but I couldn't. My heart beat widely within my chest. How did I end up in this mess? Lucy was not going to be pleased. The cab came to a stop and I stepped out after paying. The golden sun shone from above. I walked into the office. Peo
*Andrea*“What problem?” The man next to the projector said, his round-rimmed glasses resting on the bridge of his nose.“well that is…” I pointed to the design. “That is mine.” “What gibberish are you spitting out, Andrea?” Marian asked with clenched teeth. “Well, I…” The stares I was receiving were too much.“She must be mistaken. Let's proceed with the meeting. It must be really hard to work as a pregnant woman.” The meeting continued as it should. There was nothing I could do about it. After the meeting, Marian called me into her office. “What was that all about?” She asked.“That design was mine,” I said.“So?” She asked.“Why did you lie that it was yours?” I asked, anger coursing through my veins. I felt mad. “You want to take credit for the work?” “Of course. It's mine.” I said.“You should be grateful I chose yours. I made a few modifications to the design. You should have noticed it is not as plain as it was when you submitted it.” She said.That was the first time Maria
*Alejandro*We were at the airport, dropping Lucas, Alison and Williams off. Williams was heading back to Florida and Lucas was traveling to attend the conference and manage the company's branch over in Florida. Fortunately, Jane had been able to get it postponed and since I'd already promised Lucas he could attend on my behalf, I wanted to keep my word. Alison, of course, was going with Lucas. She'd already said her home was wherever Lucas was. Everyone was expecting them to get engaged any day now."I'll miss you, auntie Alison," Austin said, trying his best to hold back his tears. Alison picked him up and gave raining kisses all over his face. Watching them tugged on some unknown part of me. Alison had become a huge part of Austin's life. Whenever Andrea and I couldn't have him with us, he was always with her. I couldn't imagine how they both felt now that she was moving temporarily.She kissed his cheek for the last time before letting him down. "I'll miss you too buddy," She sai
*Andrea*It had been a few weeks since I'd gotten back from the hospital. Nora was dead, Lucas was recovering and Austin and I had gotten some semblance of peace back in our lives. I'd managed to convince Alejandro to have a talk with Williams and it was the most difficult thing I had ever done. Alejandro had refused to speak about him for days, always asking me to please change the topic whenever I brought him up.And I had. Every time.As much as I had wanted them to make peace, my loyalty lies with Alejandro and I had never wanted to force him to do something he wasn't ready for. Fortunately after a few more days, he'd loosened up and we'd had the conversation. He'd kissed my head, letting me know he would never go back to being buddies with him but he was willing to make peace just for Lucas. They'd met at a restaurant a few days later.Alejandro had not wanted him in the house.Alejandro had given me a summary of how the talk had went. He'd made Williams understand that they coul
*Alejandro *I held onto the stretcher as the nurses rolled Andrea away. The stainless white walls and strong stench of disinfectant were the last thing on my mind as one of the nurses hurriedly called the attention of a doctor. I fisted my hands helplessly when the doctor asked me to wait outside, watching as they rolled her into the room. I brought my fist to my lips, shaking my head and trying to control my rising panic.I lowered myself on the chair in the waiting room, tapping my feet impatiently on the floor. I hated hospitals. It was filled with such sad people. A woman pushed a man on a wheelchair passed me. Kids ran around the waiting area, oblivious to what was actually going on. It wasn't hard to imagine what I looked like. My hair was a disheveled mess and sweat clung to my skin.I looked at my watch. It had only been two minutes since Andrea had been in the room but it felt like an hour. I stood up and paced around the hallway , unable to continue sitting in one place. Ho
*Andrea*I was pulled forcefully along the rough ground barefoot. My clothes were torn, and because they held my leg, walking became hard. But I bared all of it, hoping I would get through this. “Make her walk faster; we must make sure the piranhas have dinner on time.” Nora was in front, leading as they dragged me. “You don't have to do this, Nora. Don't do this,” I said. I can't imagine my son living without his mother. He had just gotten his father back after five years of living without him, and now Nora was about to make him lose his mother. I didn't want to watch this; I just couldn't.“Shut your mouth, or I'll make you shut it,” Nora warned. “We are close to the lake; you Should save that strength for the initial struggle; oh lord, it will be so fun to watch you.” She let out a laugh, and I wanted to run a dagger through her mouth and cut off her tongue.We soon reached the lake, which had a small bridge and railings. We stopped. “Nora, we don't have to go this far,” I said
*Andrea*I don't know how Lucas came here. But what shocked me the most was that Nora could have him tied like this next to me. One of the men had hit him hard on his head, causing him to lose consciousness. My heart tightened as I watched Lucas groan in pain before dropping to the floor. How could a mother be this heartless? What bothered me more was that it was Lucas who was here. Alejandro should be the one here, not Lucas. I had left through a place where, though it was dark, there was still a CCTV camera there, so why was help not coming? When I saw one of the two men with Nora carrying Lucas up, I asked, “What are you doing to him?” To Nora, I said, “he is your son, so why are you doing this to him?” I expect her to yell at the man who had hurt Lucas and to go pat her son; that's what I'd do. That's what every mother would do. But at that point, I had forgotten that not every mother would kidnap and threaten someone with a gun.It didn't take long for Lucas to regain his co
*Alejandro*The night has to be the longest night I have ever had. I looked back to the early hours of that day. Things had gone well; we had all been happy. All I had to do was to divorce Nora and get back my life. Andrea and Austin. But who would have thought that I would lose both of them that same day? I would never have imagined. I did all I could to find them, but everything led to a roadblock. It was frustrating. But I had to put up with it. I wasn't going to lose hope. I know I can find them.I don't care if I have to flip the earth over. I will find them. I spent the night watching one footage or another, checking everywhere I could, and getting the police involved. Alison didn't sleep either, and neither did Lucas. The following day, when he left to get a few things for us, I stepped into one of the empty rooms, and for once, I felt tears gather in my eyes.I didn't allow them to fall, and I will accept that it may take longer to find them.I was to meet with the inspec
*Andrea*Austin stood still, not moving, “Momma,” he called. From the corner of my eyes, I could see that Nora was trying to stand up.I wasn't going to allow that. I leapt on her and held her down. “Austin, please run. Don't worry about mama. Go and get help for momma.” I yelled, and he ran out of the room.Nora struggled under my hold, but I kept my grip on her tight. I would not allow her to move. Never. Not until Austin was fully out. She pushed me away and aimed for the door. But I hit her head hard with my hand, sending a blow across her head that made her go back on her knees. I don't know how far Austin can go, but I knew I had to keep Nora down so she wouldn't call on her men for as long as I could.I walked to the door, but before I could step out entirely, she pulled my hair and dragged me into the room, “Go after the child, go after the child.” She kept shouting while trying to stop me from running. I couldn't see what was going on behind the door as she closed it, but
*Andrea*It felt like I was dreaming. My mind kept retracting back to the entrance. We had just stepped in, and he had run after Alison. I could still see Alison walking towards me alone. When she said she didn't see him, we went ahead and searched for him immediately. At first, I thought he was just being mischievous as always and promised to scold him in case of further occurrence. But after searching the restrooms and the hallway and not finding him anywhere, I began to feel uneasy. Then we had to search around the hotel. I searched outside; maybe he had run out. But he wasn't outside. After searching for over twenty minutes and not getting any sign of him, worries finally sipped into my heart. I couldn't hold back anymore, and tears began to roll down my eyes. I called Alejandro immediately.We'd been searching for over two hours, and he had yet to be seen. When Alejandro told me that he had been tracked, I wept; that meant my son had been kidnapped. He had been taken away.
*Alejandro* I had just stepped out of my car when my phone rang. I picked up the call immediately when Andrea’s name appeared on my screen.I had been delayed as a result of traffic. Lucas got out from the other side. “We are here, Andrea, sorry just give us…”“We can't find Austin,” her voice rang out from the other end. I removed the phone from my ear, stared at the screen, and placed it back. “We can't find Austin. We came together, but he's gone. He's not in the restaurant. I don't know where he is. We've been searching over thirty minutes…” she was breaking down. I stopped on my track, my entire mood flipping.“What do you mean?” I began working, taking large strides. “When? How?” She didn't respond; she just kept sobbing. Noticing my change, Lucas asked, “Dad, what's wrong?” I ended the call, “Austin has gone missing,” I said, running towards the entrance like a madman.I didn't mind the curious stares I received immediately after entering the hotel.I looked around, but A