CAMILLAIt was useless feeling sorry for myself, I thought.The lighting in the club was low as I stepped in with my friend, Bella.“Not bad” I murmured.“Told you” She responded triumphantly. “This is what you need to get over him. Nathan Clark is an asshole and should dump him in the dust where he belongs”I wanted to correct her that he wasn’t an asshole, he was merely disturbed but I did not.I was not here to sympathize with him or even think about him. I was here to have fun and that is what I am going to do.I was putting on a red dress and it complimented my eyes way more than I thought it would.“Come on, we should get a drink” Bella pulled me to the bar.The bartender winked at both of us and then asked what we would likeIt was at the tip of my tongue to say nothing but I was at a club, wasn’t I?“Sex on the beach” I announced.Bella turned to me, surprise in her eyes. I was pretty sure she thought she would have to force me to drink.“I would have the same” She told the ma
CAMILLA “Good morning.” I started at him, unsure of exactly what I was looking at. Then it hit me: the smell. Warm and savory, the scent of something cooking drifted through the air…eggs, maybe toast. It was so out of place… he was out of place here. I moved, the motion sending a fresh wave of pain through my skull and a queasiness to my stomach. I groaned again, slower this time, trying to steady myself. “Morning,” I mumbled hoarsely, my voice barely more than a croak. He was standing by the stove, his back to me, a pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. His shirt was untucked, the fabric clinging to his broad shoulders in a way that made him seem even larger than usual. In my tiny kitchen, he looked impossibly big, like he didn’t belong there, yet somehow…he fit. “What are you doing?” I asked, my voice weak but laced with confusion. Nathan glanced over his shoulder, his profile catching the morning light. His hair was a little messy, like he hadn’t bothered t
NATHANI was stalling.Her apartment had grown quiet except for the rhythmic ticking of a clock on the wall, but I stayed seated at her table, watching her stack dishes in the sink. My car was fixed. My excuse to linger here was gone. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to leave.She moved with a confidence that was uniquely Camilla. She wasn’t trying to impress anyone…least of all me…but damn, she did. I traced the curve of her spine with my eyes as she walked back into the living room, her bare feet soft against the floorboards.I should have been thinking about Eleanor. About Trish. About Alicent. About the cold-blooded satisfaction I would feel when the truth about Eleanor’s death finally saw the light of day. But all I could think about was how Camilla and how I should be apologizing to her.“You’re awfully quiet,” she said, sitting across from me, tilting her head to study me.“I have been accused of worse.”She rolled her eyes. “You are always like this. Mysterious and brooding. You wou
CAMILLAAfter the previous day encounter and the kiss… I wasn’t sure I wanted to be on the same team with Nathan.In all honesty, I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted.My lips still tingled from the memory of Nathan’s kiss, and yet, the feeling did NOT settle in the way I expected. It wasn’t the passionate rush of desire or the warmth of something more. No, it was an unsettled ache, a reminder that whatever this was between us was anything but simple.I stared at the ceiling, my mind spinning in a hundred different directions. My thoughts kept circling back to that kiss.Why had he gone and kissed me?The last thing I needed was to get caught up in Nathan’s mess, in whatever internal struggle he was going through. I could not afford to lose myself in him. Not again. He had kissed me, and now I had to decide whether to let it go or pull back before things went any further.I dragged myself out of bed, staring at the clock—7:00 AM. My meeting with Nathan was at 9:00, but I had a hundred t
“The deal is simple, I need a healthy woman who will bear my child and in exchange I shall take care of her, everyday and five years after she must have conceived my child.” Jason said simply, his blue eyes boring into her.She kept her eyes down, giving him access to her defining features.“Look at me, I need to know if you are pretty enough and I want to know your blood type and blood group. Do you know them off the top of your head?”“Errr…yes, I know them” She said still looking down.“I asked you to raise your head, I will not repeat myself again.”What kind of nuts had his secretary allowed into his office, did she not know that he did not have the time for such nonsense.The girl slowly raised her head to look at him, she was pretty alright, if you liked them chubby.Jason stood from where he sat behind his table and walked over to her, a hand snaking out to her chin.“Not bad” he stated, running his eyes over her features. She had full, very kissable lips and her eyes… what wer
Elizabeth was led into one of the most beautiful house she had ever seen in her entire life. It was furnished with taste and exuded class and affluence. The person who had ushered her in had taken one look at her shabby dressing and decided she must be one of the homeless on the streets always begging for some change or food. It wasn’t until she had stated her business and mentioned the name of the secretary that she had been escorted in to wait. Elizabeth gazed around the house, she was awed by how many antique furnitures were present and effectively clashing against the modern equipments, it was almost like they were involved in a game of tug of war.“The mister shall see you now.” The lady whom Elizabeth guessed to be the housekeeper said to her and led her into a small, also classy office.He was already seated and flipping through some papers in front of him. Elizabeth thought for a moment if those were her replacement, should she fail to either give him an heir or agree to th
“You what?” Elizabeth’s friend, Mara screamed at her.Elizabeth after much deliberation had told her friend about the surrogacy thing and also that she had just botched the one job she had to do to take care of her dying mother.“You can’t be serious, I mean you talked about it at the club and I just assumed it was the drink talking cause we were both drunk but actually going through with it?”“I went alright, met the man I am supposed to have his baby and even went over to his house, it was almost settled. After nine months I am to be paid $80000 and then taken care of for five years after. Do you know how wonderful that is?”“Liz! Being a surrogate is a very big decision, I can’t believe you made such decision without telling me and how do you think your mother would feel when she hears you had to get pregnant to foot her bills, she would blow the roof down. Come on, this isn’t you talking.”“Well it is not going to happen ever again because I yelled at the man in question, you know
“What do you mean by you will be going away?” Darren, Elizabeth’s brother inquired as he watched her type away on her laptop. He could hardly understand why he had to be the one to take care of their mother at such young age, no offense or insult intended but he had his own life ahead of him and he could hardly imagine himself being bound by his ailing mother. To him he felt it was his sister’s job to take care of her and ever since their father had died some years ago, she had been doing that just fine without his help.“I need to go work to get money for her treatment, Darren. You just have to be with her for some months and I will be back. This is really important to me and it is literally the only thing that can get us out of this level.”“What kind of job is it? You know I am playing for the local football club and I just recently got selected to represent at the international level. I cannot botch this, coupled with the fact that I have school and a life.”“Who do you think is w
CAMILLAAfter the previous day encounter and the kiss… I wasn’t sure I wanted to be on the same team with Nathan.In all honesty, I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted.My lips still tingled from the memory of Nathan’s kiss, and yet, the feeling did NOT settle in the way I expected. It wasn’t the passionate rush of desire or the warmth of something more. No, it was an unsettled ache, a reminder that whatever this was between us was anything but simple.I stared at the ceiling, my mind spinning in a hundred different directions. My thoughts kept circling back to that kiss.Why had he gone and kissed me?The last thing I needed was to get caught up in Nathan’s mess, in whatever internal struggle he was going through. I could not afford to lose myself in him. Not again. He had kissed me, and now I had to decide whether to let it go or pull back before things went any further.I dragged myself out of bed, staring at the clock—7:00 AM. My meeting with Nathan was at 9:00, but I had a hundred t
NATHANI was stalling.Her apartment had grown quiet except for the rhythmic ticking of a clock on the wall, but I stayed seated at her table, watching her stack dishes in the sink. My car was fixed. My excuse to linger here was gone. Yet I couldn’t bring myself to leave.She moved with a confidence that was uniquely Camilla. She wasn’t trying to impress anyone…least of all me…but damn, she did. I traced the curve of her spine with my eyes as she walked back into the living room, her bare feet soft against the floorboards.I should have been thinking about Eleanor. About Trish. About Alicent. About the cold-blooded satisfaction I would feel when the truth about Eleanor’s death finally saw the light of day. But all I could think about was how Camilla and how I should be apologizing to her.“You’re awfully quiet,” she said, sitting across from me, tilting her head to study me.“I have been accused of worse.”She rolled her eyes. “You are always like this. Mysterious and brooding. You wou
CAMILLA “Good morning.” I started at him, unsure of exactly what I was looking at. Then it hit me: the smell. Warm and savory, the scent of something cooking drifted through the air…eggs, maybe toast. It was so out of place… he was out of place here. I moved, the motion sending a fresh wave of pain through my skull and a queasiness to my stomach. I groaned again, slower this time, trying to steady myself. “Morning,” I mumbled hoarsely, my voice barely more than a croak. He was standing by the stove, his back to me, a pan in one hand and a spatula in the other. His shirt was untucked, the fabric clinging to his broad shoulders in a way that made him seem even larger than usual. In my tiny kitchen, he looked impossibly big, like he didn’t belong there, yet somehow…he fit. “What are you doing?” I asked, my voice weak but laced with confusion. Nathan glanced over his shoulder, his profile catching the morning light. His hair was a little messy, like he hadn’t bothered t
CAMILLAIt was useless feeling sorry for myself, I thought.The lighting in the club was low as I stepped in with my friend, Bella.“Not bad” I murmured.“Told you” She responded triumphantly. “This is what you need to get over him. Nathan Clark is an asshole and should dump him in the dust where he belongs”I wanted to correct her that he wasn’t an asshole, he was merely disturbed but I did not.I was not here to sympathize with him or even think about him. I was here to have fun and that is what I am going to do.I was putting on a red dress and it complimented my eyes way more than I thought it would.“Come on, we should get a drink” Bella pulled me to the bar.The bartender winked at both of us and then asked what we would likeIt was at the tip of my tongue to say nothing but I was at a club, wasn’t I?“Sex on the beach” I announced.Bella turned to me, surprise in her eyes. I was pretty sure she thought she would have to force me to drink.“I would have the same” She told the ma
NATHANThere was nothing to say as I dropped Camilla off at her home.I waited until I was sure she had gotten in before I headed in the direction of my mother in law’s house.I pushed in Christian’s number, my teeth gritting as it rang.I was furious.I did not want to admit I was more furious at myself than anything.“How did your date go?” Christian’s asked as soon as the phone line clicked.“Send me the name of the witness” I grunted.“What is wrong?”“Send the name, dammit”“You need to calm down, Nathan. Where are you going?”“To settle this once and for all” I told him. “Now send the damned number to me”I hung up before he had the chance to say anything or convince me to back away because I would not.I drove way above the speed limit, stopping only when I had gotten to the mansion’s gate.It brought back memories of family dinners where I had to defend Eleanor over and over again. Where snide remarks about the reason I was with her reached my ears and she said nothing about
CAMILLA“I did not think I was ever going to see you again, Camilla” Sarah smiled as soon as I entered the restaurant.She wagged a finger in Nathan’s direction, shaking her head at him.“With the kind of food you sell? I will be coming in here for a very long time” I smiled back.Nathan and I took our seats and waited.She had a queue as usual and I could not help the smile as I glanced around.“You would have watched your father kill me” Nathan commented.“I admit that would have made me feel better for a bit” I told him.He appeared shocked but I could tell from the way his eyes twinkled with delight that he thought it hilarious.I had not expected he would go over to my parent’s house especially seeing as I wasn’t there in the first place.My father however had called me when he arrived with a gun to his head and asked if I wanted to see him. I had hesitated just for the fun of it“I deserved that”“Yes you did” I agreed.“Thank you for coming here with me”I nodded once.Sarah dr
NATHANI was pacing like a fucking clown.I was expecting Camilla at the office today to discuss the project that we were involved in together and I could not help the restlessness coursing through my body.I wasn’t one to be this nervous about anything.“Deep breaths” I told myself, trying to go along with my instructions but to no avail.So much so that when my receptionist announced her presence, I had worked myself into a frenzy.My breath caught in my throat as she walked in, her eyes taking the room before settling on me with stark clarity.What had I been thinking? I thought.Starved of attention?Who was the blithering idiot now?“You look well” She commented, taking the seat in front of me.“You look beautiful” I murmured.She paused, her eyes meeting mine.Sparks flew, that was for sure.“How do you feel?” She asked instead.“Much better. Thank you for attending to me yesterday. For even accepting the phone call from me”“Of course, I am not a demon even though I do hate you
CAMILLAI stared at my ringing phone with Nathan displayed boldly as the callers ID.What the fuck did he want?I however put it to my ear, my heart jumping at the sound of his voice“Camilla, I know you can hear me” He rasped“What do you want?” I asked.“To talk” He answered.His voice appeared tortured… like there was something wrong with him and for a minute I was concerned before my head overrode my stupidity.“Concerning the project-” I began“Not concerning the-” He sighed, his voice trailing off.“I need you” He muttered softly that if I had not been paying attention, I would have missed that simple statement.“Mr Clark” I stopped when I heard his labored breathing.“Is something wrong with you?”“No, its nothing… I just need to speak with you”“Nathan, what is the matter? You sound distressed”He chuckled and then I heard him cough in the background“You are not concerned about me now, are you?”“This is not a joke, what is wrong with you?” I asked again, feeling panicky.He
CAMILLAMy father drove us straight to the house and I did not argue nor say anything when we arrived and my mother enveloped me in a hug.“Oh baby” She crooned.“I am okay” I reassured her“Come on in”I inhaled the familiar scent of home, my muscles relaxing.“I am going to bed” I announced.Their words fell over themselves as they agreed immediately to my request.My eyes closed as soon as I fell on the bed. I did not want to think of anything, I did not want to begin to analyze the anger in my heart directed at one person in particular.When I finally opened my eyes, it was noon.I made my way downstairs and was met with the searching eyes of both my parents.“Are you okay, baby?” My mother asked.I took a seat beside them.“I am not some fragile child you have to be worried about always, mother” I said.“You are my child and I have every reason to be worried about you” she countered.“I am going to be fine” I told her.My father said nothing but I turned to him anyways.“I have d