Zeke hummed as he sat in the back seat of the car which was headed to Elena’s company.He shook his head in rhythm, glanced at the brown envelope beside him, and smiled.He did not doubt that Elena would accept this proposal.“Drive faster.”“Yes, sir.”As the driver increased the pace, Zeke removed his phone from his pocket and began to look on the internet ‘What to do to make a woman forgive them?”Amongst the many answers, he shook his head at them and only thought of the flowers.“Find a flower shop around.”__________As the car pulled to a stop in front of the company, one of the guards by the entrance rushed over to his car, opened the door for him and he got out of the car.Zeke adjusted his collar, and carried the bouquet of flowers in another hand and then the envelope in another hand.He walked to the entrance without answering any greetings as all that was on his mind was Elena, he entered the premises fully.===The secretary led him to the door and when they got there, s
Wondering if he should go to them and disentangle them from the hug that was getting too long already, Zeke slammed his palm on the table and forced a loud cough.Shortly after, Elena broke the hug and stared at the man who gently moved his hand from her waist and dropped them on her shoulders.“Oh, my God, what is this glow coming from you?” He teased and pinched her cheek.“Oh, please, Ramon.”“I am serious!” He laughed.On the other hand, Zeke rolled his eyes and hissed. What was funny?How much he wished he could go over there and slap the stupid laughter off that man’s face.“Well… if you say so,” Elena shrugged.“You didn’t tell me you were coming!”Ramon laughed again. “I guess my surprise worked.”“When I heard that you were outside, I chose not to believe it because you could be pulling a prank on me. You are good at that anyway.”“I came with mum and dad,” he smiled.“My parents are back?”“Yeah. I went to Qatar to meet them.”When Elena had moved from the US six years ago,
“Let’s talk,” Ramon took Elena’s hand in his and turned towards the door.As he took about three steps with her, Zeke charged at them, grabbed her other hand, and then pulled her to himself.“What are you doing?!” Elena yelled and snatched her hands from both of them.“I should be asking you that, Ms. Baskerville,” his voice was soft, and nothing like he looked.“What?”“We were in the midst of a meeting before this…” he swallowed, refraining from using a cuss word.“Before this man barged in.”Elena exhaled, glanced at her wristwatch, and then said, “Meeting was initially by two. Let’s have it by then. It’s not two yet,” she smacked her tongue.“What? You literally just agreed to have the meeting before he entered!” He protested as he dropped his eyes on Ramon who sneered at him softly.What?What was that man doing?Who was his friend?Does he look friendly to him?Zeke’s brows snapped together in nothing but disgust for Ramon.“And now, I am saying that we would be having it by two
“What is he doing there?” Elena drew her brows together as she tore her eyes away from his direction.“I told you that man is a psycho. Forfeit whatever you’re planning and let go, please Elena,” Ramon exhaled.Elena shook her head, patted his hand that was on the table, and then stood up.“I will proceed with it.”She glanced at her wrist watch and it was two pm already. “I have to return to the office. Do you need my help to get around?”“No, I can find my way to the house,” he said and stood up too.“I will see you later, right?”Ramon nodded his head and then patted her shoulder again. “Take care.”“You too.”Elena turned to exit the premises and as she got down, she ignored Zeke who had already moved away from the window where he was ‘stalking’ and was already standing by the entrance.“What are you doing?”“What do you mean?” He asked as he walked behind her.Elena shook her head and then increased her walking pace while the man trailed behind her.As they entered the elevator a
“SOMEONE TELL ME THAT I AM DREAMING, PLEASE!”The scream that circled around the house from Brenda, Zeke’s mother, got Chloe rushed over to her and then Jeremy who had just returned home.“What is wrong?” Jeremy frowned and settled on the couch.“She is back!”“Who?”“Elena! Our daughter-in-law!” She screamed.Chloe swallowed and hissed before she turned around to leave. “Our? Don’t be ridiculous.”“Did you say something?” Brenda asked as she kept her eyes glued on her screen.Chloe rolled her eyes. “You could have said something like 'ex-daughter-in-law', you know?” “But she is… hold on, did you know she was back?” Brenda drew her brows together“Did literally everyone in the country not know that she’s back?” Chloe smacked her tongue.“You would not blame a woman who only knows about the latest TV series, would you?” Jeremy drawled in a sleepy voice.“Are you talking about me?” Brenda frowned.When Jeremy did not answer and only looked away, Brenda moved over to Chloe and resumed.
“Arrrrgg!”She screamed as she smashed another glass cup against the television of her room again.“How dare she do that to me?!”It’s been a week since the incident between her and Elena had happened but Camila had still not moved past it yet.She drank every day, screamed, and cried till she slept.She was not sure if it was the slap that anguished her. It definitely was not.She hated that her ego was ruined in front of her only one enemy.Maybe what she was still expecting was Elena from six years ago.The dense lady that she could trample on.The lady that, even before she found out about her and Zeke, could give her her eyes if she so much wished.Elena was a naive person, at least to her.Before she found out about the incident between her and Zeke, the lady had a different aura from what she had experienced the previous week.She was calm… awfully!Should she talk about the different gifts that the lady always got her… which she had never gotten her anything as small as a pen b
“Dad!”Elena rushed into her parents’ embrace as soon as she entered their room and closed her eyes.“Oh my, Darling,” Karina, her mother patted her back.They stood still in their position for a while before she disentangled from the hug and then took glances at them.“Did you two plan on not coming over here again?” She asked with a fake frown and her parents laughed.“You can’t blame us. It might be long, but we later realized that it is better to have fun than to work,” Raymond, her father, said and they both laughed.Her parents always acted as if they were newlyweds. Their travel out of the USA literally proved that the two of them only had fun, traveled, and did nothing related to work.Maybe it was their relationship that got into her head that she thought she could have the same thing with Zeke six years ago.She grew up in a loving home, unlike the few conglomerates that she knew where it was all war and fights.She had the best relationship with her mother, sister, and fath
“Then, fucking break up with her!”Ryan yelled with the life in him and dropped his hands on the armrests rather dramatically.He closed his eyes as he imagined Zeke’s eyes on him and then sat upright again.“You kept nagging about her. It shows nothing but how tired and irritated you feel for her already. Do you love to be miserable? Fucking end this stupidity and move away from her!”Zeke swallowed and leaned back comfortably. He pressed his lips together and scratched his forehead while he lowkey regretted that he told Ryan anything.It was a Sunday, and a day he should be resting and not even thinking about anything since all he did the last few days was think! But no, Ryan chose to come over to his house and he could not help but tell the man everything that was going on just like every time.“You don’t love this woman anymore. It is very evident in your eyes, and that is for the better if you would ask me. So, just break up with her. It’s enough.”“Camila is crazy,” he finally s
“How did you know this?” She asked as she moved the duvet from her body.“I overheard Grandpa and Aunt Ariana talking about it. I am certain, Mother. Go and save our daddy. He will die!” He cried out.She looked at Natalie who looked quite panicked like her brother but said nothing.~~~MEANWHILE…“How dare you two play this kind of game with me?!”Ray and Ariana turned around instantly at the sudden holler of Karina and then pressed their lips together.They were talking about the possibility of Zeke still being outside in the rain or not and Karina had overheard them.“Mum… we can explain,” Ariana shook her head and waved her hands at her mother.“Explain? Explain? Are you kidding me?!”“Karina.”“Are you saying that Zeke had been kneeling in front of our house for the past… two days? What am I even saying? This is the third day!”“He is just putting on a charade!” Ray snapped.“A charade? Really, Ray? That is not for us to judge, I have told you!”“Let him be. He will get tired and
“Is he still there?”Chloe rolled her eyes and nodded her head in response as if Jeremy who just asked the question was in the car with them.The man had left after waiting with them for a while and it was just her and Ryan in the car.It was past ten in the morning. THE THIRD DAY. And while they were in the car, they munched on shrimp crackers and talked before Jeremy’s call came in.“He is,” she finally answered.“So, you and Ryan are there… watching him?” He chuckled gently over the phone.“Come back here, please… and talk him out of this. It’s been over two days already.”“Did anyone see him again? Aside from Ariana?”“No one has been out of that house. And even when Ariana returned about four hours ago or so, she didn’t spare us a glance! That lady, I can’t believe she could be like that to us.”“I wouldn’t blame any of them, trust me.”“You should, Jerry! Those people are being cruel!”“Your brother treated them wrong, so it was only right that they retaliate that way.”“But thi
Before he stepped out of the car, he dialed Jeremy’s number first and then waited for the man to pick up which he did after the call was almost ending.“I hope you are calling for something very important. It’s so early in the morning, dang it,” Jeremy hissed.“There is a problem,” Ryan exhaled.“Good, I love to hear that. What is wrong?”“It is Zeke. You need to leave everything you are doing and come over here, right now. Please.”“What is wrong with Zeke?”Ryan glanced out to look at his friend before he answered Jeremy and a long silence ensued.“Share me your location,” he said and then dropped the call.After he ended the call, he placed a call across to Chloe too, and then explained the situation at hand before he finally stepped out of the car.He moved over to Zeke, palmed his forehead, and then dropped his other hand on his waist.“W… what in the name of madness is this?” He moved to his front, leaned down, and then lifted his chin up with his hand.Staring down at his frie
“Is he truly outside?” Karina rushed to her husband as he entered the room and he swallowed, entering fully.“I have told him to leave. He is leaving already,” he answered and then looked around the living room.“Where is Ramon? I ran into him outside the door here.”“He has gone to see Elena,” she replied.“Was he truly on his knees?”“You worry too much, Karina.”“Answer me, Raymond.”“Do you think that man has what it takes to do that?”He knew so well that his wife would not agree to the fact that he had left Zeke on his knees outside their mansion.“Honey, I really think you should stop interfering in their business.”“Whose business?” He feigned ignorance and settled on the chair.“Elena and Zeke. Raymond, they are not children.”“You are not honestly rooting for them again, are you?”“I am in support of whatever Elena chooses. I can’t make decisions for her and you need to know that too.”“In the past, you were against their union! I should have listened to you.”“That was beca
“Who did you say is asking for Elena?”“A Zeke Russo, sir.”Ray drew his brows together and turned to look at Karina who sat on the couch away from him.“Don’t let him in.”“Raymond,” Karina called him softly.“Let him return to wherever he is coming from or you will be losing your job!”The gateman bowed and then rushed out back.Delivering the message to the man in a rather harsh way, he closed the gate and returned inside.“Something happening?” His partner asked him as he returned inside his quarter.“The man outside. Boss said he does not want to see him in this compound or I will lose my job.”“Wait, really?”“I am telling you,” he exhaled and then settled on the chair in front of the big screen.“W… what is he doing?” He stuttered as he watched the screen.The other man rushed to him, drew his brows together, and then parted his lips.“Is that what I think it is?”“He is on his knees?” The gatekeeper asked rhetorically and then stood up hurriedly.___________“Hey, are you craz
“Take, one more spoon,” Elena patted her daughter as she took the last spoon of her food and after the girl collected it from her, she cleaned her mouth with a handkerchief and then leaned back.“Are you full?”Natalie nodded her head and then turned to look at her plate where Nathan had dropped a piece of meat in.She raised her brows, smiled gently, and then picked it up.“Thank you.”Nathan watched her sister chew it completely and then asked. “Do you want more?”She shook her head and then instead pulled off her cap. “See, my hair is starting to grow.”Nathan stared at her head where he could barely see a strand and then chuckled. He pulled off his cap too, bowed his head, and then showed her his. “Mine too.”“But…” Natalie tilted her head. “I can’t see any hair there.”“Same. There is no hair on your head either.”They dropped eyes on each other, and Elena pressed her lips, thinking Natalie had taken offense at his comment when her facial expressions literally went unreadable.Sh
“So, you’re not going? Really?”Zeke ignored Ryan totally, his head buried in his laptop and the man shook his head. Ryan exhaled and collapsed in the chair opposite Zeke and palmed his face.“Your daughter… Natalie is getting discharged today and you really are not going there?!”Still, he was mute. Maybe if Ryan peeped to check what Zeke was typing continuously on the keyboard, he would see that the only word he kept typing was ‘Natalie.’“You know, you are an asshole, right?”Still, he was mute.“She is leaving the hospital today. It means she is hale and healthy already. It means she can move around freely and you can meet her as you please, you know?” Ryan reminded him.When Zeke did not answer, he leaned closer, pushed the laptop shut, and then hissed.“What are you planning? I can swear that you are not busy and you were typing shit right there.”“C… could you see them home safely?”“Dude, that is your duty, not mine!” Ryan snapped with creased brows.Zeke nodded his head, exh
Elena looked out of the door for the umpteenth time and then sighed before she returned to stab a piece of apple in the bowl in her hand.“Give up. He’s not coming,” Ariana breathed out.“Who?”“I know you are waiting for Zeke.”“I am not!” She denied and Ariana nodded her head.“Besides… how did you know he is not coming?” She asked.“It’s been almost a week. He left without telling you and has not returned since then. He didn’t call you either.”“Something… might be wrong with him,” she shrugged her shoulders off.“Something like? Chloe was here and she didn’t deliver any bad news, so, what something?” Ariana asked.Elena sniffed, bit her lower lips, and then turned to look outside again.She did not want to admit that she was worried, but deep down, she knew she was.He was supposed to be here…He had promised he would be by her side till Natalie got discharged.He left that morning and had not returned since then.He didn’t even call her!She suspected so strongly that her father
“Did something happen?” Ryan asked Zeke again. This time, he had pulled the car gently into his compound and had followed him out of the car.Zeke had kept mute the entire time in the car and even though he and Chloe had thrown random jokes, or started random conversations with the hope that he was going to join, he kept mute still.Still, Zeke said nothing and made an entrance to the big door of his house.“No, I am certain something happened. What is wrong? You said you were going to stay for a while. You said you wanted to see your daughter.”“Ryan…” Zeke finally exhaled and swallowed.Entering the living room fully, he turned around, dropped his eyes on the couple, and then palmed his forehead.He was keeping his feelings bottled up. He felt like he wanted to cry.But, he was a man and he should not cry, right?But, fuck that.He had little regret in his life, but this…?He would forever regret it.It was something he could have controlled. He did it anyway. He thought it was the