Was it cowardice? It that what this was? She had run away yet again, and she did not let the tears fall until she was in the air, on yet another expedition to London. She should have been happy that he was alive, she should be glad that he is awake, but what she felt was nothing close to relief, it was dread. She wondered if she would have probably felt better if Shannon had given her condolences instead. "I wasn't expecting you back here anytime soon." "Neither did I." MJ thought out loud as her eyes focused on the ticking of the clock on the wall. It was irritating but also had a calming effect on her, she was counting the minutes until her meeting with Liam for updates on his latest mission. "Jorge is awake," she confessed. "That's good news, not so?" Blair prompted, her eyes piercing at MJ through the dark rimmed glasses. "How does that make you feel? The last time you were here, you received a call about the shooting." MJ fiddled with the sleeves o
He did not leave. Kyle Davids never left her last night. For the first time in years, she had the comfort she had so badly needed for so long. Being in his arms as she wailed and him telling her that it was okay reminded her of how she was all alone, she had no one by her side. Kyle Davids had said a lot of things last night, but most of what he said about her was nothing but the truth. She was yet to confirm everything he said about her father, she refused to believe that her most favourite person in the world, the only man she admired and worshipped, was the monster Kyle made him out to me. She was scared, she was afraid of what she was going to find out because the idea that she had wasted all the years of her life and missed out on family was solely based on a fairytale did not sit well with her. If any of what Kyle said was true, how did she go about fixing things? Her family was distorted, and she was partly to blame for it. Sasha was not yet
Kyle thought he could go for another hour cooped up in the guestroom after taking a shower, but it proved difficult to ignore the smell of freshly brewed coffee and a combination of different food aromas, not to miss the angry growls of his stomach. His forehead creased as the door to his room opened, and he turned around to be welcome by Sasha’s horrified face as she quickly backed away and shut the door. Kyle sighed, continuing to button up the sleeves of his white shirt. He had no change of clothes, but luckily for him, the washing machines and dryer in this house, as old-fashioned as they were, still worked. He had handwashed his clothes and left them in the dryer while he showered. Perks of living a bachelor life even while he was married, he could do anything for himself from doing his laundry and ironing it, and cooking when he was not lazy. One thing they had in common with Logan was their love for the kitchen. After some time, there was a knock at the do
They say a woman holds a knife by the sharp end, but for Lola Leibrandt, it felt as though the knife had pierced through her hand and aimed straight for her heart. She was bleeding on the inside, but she still forced herself to fight to the end. Nobody saw her pain, everyone expected her to be understanding all the time while they continued trampling all over her like a piece of gum stuck under a shoe. She had to endure her husband throwing Montana and their son in her face these past few weeks, and now she was forced to understand that Montana was the mother of David’s son. She had to slave herself to make them ‘feel at home.’ In whose home exactly? She breathed heavily as she clutched at the edge of the kitchen counter with a knife in one of her gloves hands. She breathed in and out, trying to even out her breath, and she used the back of her free hand to wipe the sweat on her forehead. Lola placed the knife down, took off the gloves, and washed her hands,
London was the centre of her heart for most of her life, it was a secret hideout, a place where she never felt she needed to pretend to be someone else or spend all day trying to make her place in other people’s heart, it was her home away from home. It was funny because she spent half her life in Cape Town and half her life there, however, a few weeks in Cape Town, and London now felt foreign to her, like she did not belong. She stood in front of the tall building, staring up at the logo at the top of the building, Billings Corp. She was parked in front of the building, leaning against the car in her casual disguise; a pair of jeans and sandals, a yellow flowery off-shoulder cropped blouse, and a summer hat paired with dark shades. MJ kept thinking about what Blair said, she remembered how she had confessed that the company was never her vision, that it was only her legacy on paper. The company was and had always been Alastair’s vision and MJ just made it possib
He rotated from side to side in his chair, twirling the pen in his hand while staring blankly at the wall in thought. He was just sitting there despite the chaos erupting in his company, he could not bring himself to think of solutions. It seemed giving the companies money to compensate for the lost goods that never left the African soil was not enough, they wanted answers, they wanted their goods. Logan was in a hurdle, the stock in the containers at the harbour would not be enough to fulfill everyone's orders while others would get their goods in abundance. He could easily buy everything from scratch, however, even if he could, it would take months for his team to rebuild even better and bigger ships. It would be a while before his company got back on track, moreover his reputation had taken a blow with everything that has been happening these past months. There was a long way to recovery. "Did you hear what I said or should I repeat my question?" Log
MJ laid on her bed in the hotel room, facing up at the ceiling with her hands resting on her lower abdomen and her hair sprawled on the sheets above her head, her black eyes gleaming with excitement and wonder. Everything was ready for tomorrow night, her dress, her shoes, her purse, and her hair had already been done, she would just have to do a few touch-ups tomorrow evening. But those were the least important things, tomorrow was a huge night, Aaron Jr had really tipped the scale with this idea of hosting a party for his father. It felt like everything was finally falling into place. Liam was on standby with Sienna, Sasha was also on board, MJ could only hope that no one backed out and she prayed every guest she asked Aaron to invite would be there, especially Javier Mendoza. She still could not believe he was married to Sienna, his marriage to Samantha’s sister felt like a downgrade. She sighed loudly and tilted her head, her eyes landing on her pho
The trio collected at their favourite table at the cafe, they were glad that the place was running again and they were even happier to see Mrs Dos Santos slowly easing back to her old self. The quietness of the morning was exactly what the three women needed, Lola needed to get away from the house, while Mosetsana and Natalia could use the peace and quiet before starting their day at the office, things were hectic, especially now that Logan was barely around, and it did not help that Lola was also starting to be scarce. “When are you returning to work, Lola?” Natalia asked, obviously wishing she could take a break from work. “Not anytime soon, guys. You are going to have to miss me a little longer,” Lola said, she knew it did not matter how long she stayed away from work, Logan always had someone to stand in for her and he would never fire her. “I have so much to deal with at the moment. Anyway, how are you guys coping since the explosion?” Natalia and Mosetsana
What was the definition of hell? Was it a place, a person, or was it reliving the same nightmare over and over again? For Javier Mendoza, it was all of the above.Javier Mendoza was forty-five this year, and in a few weeks, it would be thirty-two years since the massacre, thirty-two years since he lost his parents, and that was something that he would never heal from.Rodrigo and Reina Dos Santos. He could never forget those two names, they were the root of his nightmares, and for years, he had dreamt of the day he would exact his revenge against them for murdering his family. Since the night of Aaron McEnroe Senior's party, he had been reminiscing about how he was going to get back at MJ, he imagined all the ways he could punish her for everything she had done to him these past few days. However, it was nothing compared to what he felt when one of the girls, Naira, told him that they saw someone that resembled Reina Dos Santos at the hospital.He could not believe what he was hearin
She barely made it out the front door when a loud scream pierced through the night like a wounded beast on a full moon, pained, angry, and desperate.Her feet were like jelly as she leaned on the door, gathering her breath as her chest rose up and down laggardly. She stood up straight and exhaled, switching on her phone before striding to her car, where two of Logan's guards were standing."Will you be able to drive home by yourself, Miss?" One of them asked.MJ gave him a small smile. "I'll manage, thank you," she said, accepting her car keys from the second guard. "Drive safely, Miss," He said with a slight bow before they both walked away.MJ got into the car and released a deep breath, leaning back in her seat. Her phone vibrated on her lap, but she ignored it.She could not believe she confessed all that to him without falling apart, especially when that was the first time she ever shared her experience out loud with another person in years, not even her therapist. She was rel
He was falling deeper way too quickly, but for Logan Parker, this was nothing new to him as MJ made it out to be, it was like continuing from where they left off all those years ago. He loved her even more than he did back then, and he was prepared to love her even more each day.Name his second favourite thing in this world after design, and it would probably be her kisses. Well, he enjoyed kissing and just being in her presence. It scared him, but he loved it.Funny how he swore that he would never let a woman to get close enough and put himself in that position again, having someone holding all the power to either build or break you and he had given that power to MJ Billings did they he declared his love for her it was a cross he had to carry for eternity. He was afraid of losing himself to her but mostly and he was also afraid of losing her.So have we decided what we are going to cook yet? MJ look up from the magazine she was reading they were currently in the kitchen and Logan
There was a point back in the beginning of their relationship, where David had been eager for Lola to be a housewife, and became quite insistent after they got married and had their first child.Lola had thought about all the benefits of being a stay-at-home mom, but she had also thought about the freedom she would lose if she chose to sit at home and spend his money than making her own. Years later, when their relationship reached an all time blow, her decision to work turned out to be the best decision she could have ever made. David lost his way and gave in to the party life, friends, alcohol, women, spending money like he was eating candy on Halloween; and in the midst of it all, he forgot about his family.Now felt like the perfect time to take him up on his offer, there was something satisfying about watching someone doing everything around the house. Her mother-in-law had moved back with her husband, she had insisted on giving them space to bond. As if she could ever dream of
That was what she was, she was pathetic. Whatever made her think she could trust him again?MJ was embarrassed to say the least. Her mind was replaying Kyle's face like a broken record. He saw it, he realised where Logan was going and he was relieved when she asked him to stop the car on the side.She had also started to recognize the road signs and side buildings from the time she went to see Shannon, and she realised where they were headed. Or in particular, where Logan was speeding off to.He was going to see her, he was going to Lola's house.She did not want to jump to conclusions, but she could not help feeling like he was making a fool out of her again. She could not understand when she became so insecure, a part of her wanted to go home and forget this happened, but the bigger part of her wanted to know what he was going to do there.She hailed a cab and hopped in."Where to, Miss?" The driver asked. "I don't know the place that well. But just drive straight ahead, I'll direc
She was amazed at how she managed to stay calm throughout all these months, considering what a mess she was. Last night was the ultimate straw, everything Samantha had said was as if she was reading straight from Jorge's diary, except, he never had one.Sonya had dedicated all her life to him, she gave him everything even when she had nothing. For the first time in years, she was not ashamed to admit that she hoped marrying Jorge would save her from her pending poverty, even though she never loved him because of his wealth before. If anything, it was the only thing she hated about him since they met back in highschool because he attracted crowds, and especially, women. He had quite a streak when she met him, he was a badboy as many would put it, a heartbreaker, someone who slept around and toyed with girls' hearts. It was an instant turn off for Sonya, he chased after her for months while she continued giving him the cold shoulder, until eventually, he charmed his way to her heart, a
Kyle Davids paced back and forth as he waited for the nurse to report back on Jorge. There was no way he could have been discharged, MJ would have told them.And there was no way Jorge could have suddenly risen to his feet and run for the hills, Sasha was losing her mind.He thought they were over this whole story about her father, but clearly not, and Logan had given her yet another reason to keep looking.Jorge was a jerk, that was true, but he was not that devious.Kyle's eyes shot up when he saw the nurse returning with company - the doctor, a few residents, and another nurse."Doctor, is everything okay? Did something happen to Jorge?" He asked.Why had he not thought of that before? For all he knew, Jorge was in the morgue. The man was probably dead."Are you a family member?" The head doctor asked.Not really. Kyle wanted to say, but he thought against it. "Yes, Doctor, he is my brother-in-law. I'm engaged to his sister," he said instead, laughing internally at his blunt lie."
Cameron Parker had not expected to see Sonya Smith anytime soon that morning, but his bad cooking was all it took for her to finally leave the comforts of her room that morning after he had left a tray of food at her door. It could not have been more than fifteen minutes before she came down with the tray in hand and placed it on the kitchen counter.For Cameron, it was as if he was seeing her for the first time, her lean and slender body was adorned in a gray silky pair of pajamas, her shiny black hair laid down, and her flawless skin radiated even more when she gave him a faint smile,“Your cooking is terrible,” she had said in a soft voice, nodding at the untouched tray of food.He flashed her with a smile. “Oh, well, I guess I am lucky to be standing under the same kitchen with the greatest chef.” Sonya blushed, and he laughed. “You are always welcome to prepare something else,” he suggested.She shook her head. “I’d rather not. I’m not hungry.”“How are you feeling? Everyone’s be
Samantha was never a conscious sleeper. Which was ironic because she always slept so peacefully, not even bothered by the ghosts of the people she killed.She loved mornings too. Her days always started on such a great note. She had had such a beautiful dream, it left her beyond elated. She did not want to shift from the position she had assumed on the bed, she laid on her stomach with one knee in an angle as she replayed the dream in her head over and over again. It was a warm summer day, the sun felt soft and warm under her feet. There were flower petals everywhere, and she was adorned in a white dress that covered her feet and swept behind her as she walked down the aisle leading to where Jorge was standing next to a priest at the pedestal. If felt like she was in a fairytale, her Prince Charming was finally hers and he looked as handsome as ever in a black tuxedo, and he was wearing a huge smile as he watched her, tears glimmering in his eyes.Everything was perfect and even be