I don’t know what it was about Amelia that made me resent her very presence. Deep down within me, I knew that it was way beyond trying to put up a perfect act as a perfect partner for the rich, young prodigy.But I was beginning to own the character just a bit too much, and sadly, a sense of ownership had slowly begun to creep in with every passing moment. I had to stop, as I could see the shock that had come on Dolph’s face. “Tamika…” Dolph called out my name to break the spell of silence that was settling over the sudden encounter. I turned to him, expecting to see a shocked expression or that of disapproval. But then, he had a slight smile on his face. “Let’s get going, shall we?” Dolph replied, making sure that his smile got the message across to Amelia. “There’s nothing for us to talk about, Amelia.” He took my hand again and turned to the car with all his guards still around. “We have caused enough stirs for one day. I guess we can close the curtains here and now,” he whisp
“No…” I said, as I felt irritated by that pink dress that Tamika had put on, though it was among the ones I had bought her. By that time, I already knew that nothing he would wear would ever impress me in my fallen mood. But then, I kept fighting the guilt of having to take it out on her, as she had been one of the contributors to it. If she had known how things had gone down between me and Amelia, then she wouldn’t have even thought of uttering a single word when I was having one of those down moments. And by ‘those moments’, I meant moments where I would suddenly zone out into the not-so-distant past where I had met Amelia for the first time. I had been all bright-eyed and innocent back then, only to have my heart dashed into pieces along with the high expectations I’d had of her. It was all just so…“Are you messing with me right now?” Tamika asked with a groan that expressed her frustration. “I have tried six dresses on now. Don’t tell me that you cut my sleep short just to pu
I looked with dissatisfaction through the glass window of my office to the view of the city beyond as that seemed to be the only thing that thrilled me in my office and my casino as well.With my back turned on my desk and my gaze facing the view outside, I let go of all my worries for those few couple of moments. I knew that I would be caught up in the worries again as soon as I turned back to face that desk. But somehow, I drew comfort from the fact I had made contact with Randy, Tamika's ex, and that he was willing to work with me on the undertaking that I had suggested to him. That gave me just the slight ray of hope that I had been looking out for.I wasn't sure what it was, but I was sure that there was something wrong with the sudden elopement between my younger brother and the famous Tamika Fisher.He had it all— the looks, the money, the status, the charisma. But then, I was sure that those weren't enough to get him a woman as wonderful as Tamika Fisher was. To make it all e
“Seems like this is the best year yet,” Aaron said, as he walked up to me from behind and kissed me on the neck before reaching for the cookie jar in the cupboard above. “What makes you think that?” I asked looking back at him, as he mouthed a cookie. “Hey, easy on that. You're trying to watch your weight, you know.”“Yeah… I know,” he said, almost sounding like the cocky twenty-year-old hotshot I had fallen in love with, nearly a quarter century ago. “I'm just going to have a couple of bites and that would be it.”“Ugh…” I couldn't stand him munching on those extra calories as it made me feel guilty. “Well, Dolph is about to get married, and I'm happy for him.” Aaron smiled as he gave his unrelated excuse, which had me thinking.“That's why you want to gain a few calories, huh?” I asked as I recalled my last meeting with Tamika. It had been a few days since we had met, and I recalled seeing a slot of her trends online. “Of course,” Aaron said, as he shut the jar. “I have never bee
With Robert came thoughts of my past which I had desperately wanted to get rid of. I noticed that his smile slowly faded when he spotted me standing beside Dolph. He was probably feeling as awkward as I was. “Hello, Dolph,” he said, as he put his smile back on and shook hands with Dolph. “Such a pleasure to see you here, with your…”“Here's Tamika,” Dolph said introducing us both, as I hoped Robert wasn't going to make things awkward by telling him that we already knew each other. “Tamika, here's Robert. The brain behind the team that's going to make you famous again.”“Oh… nice to meet you, Randy,” I wasn't new to putting up acts, and that made it much easier for me to act calm in those few awkward moments of pretending not to know the man who had dated my sister but had wanted me instead.It was all a weird story, and I hated the fact that I could recall every detail of it perfectly. It all began with him coming over to our house one day. “Hello,” he had said, with those eyes that
Dolph suddenly walked in when I was about to give the harshest reply to Robert, whose very presence was getting on my nerves with each passing moment. It felt like the air was just stiffened with him around me. But then, I was soon distracted by the seemingly troubled look on Dolph's face. Normally, I wouldn't give a hoot, but at that point, anything would do if it could get my mind off of Robert. “Dolph… are you all right?” I asked, as the loving and caring wife-to-be that I was trying to portray at every slight provocation. It seemed like he had received some sort of bad news from the phone call. “I'm sorry, but I've got to run. Something important came up at work and I got to handle it right now.” Dolph sounded like his mind was already made up. “I guess I would have to leave you to Robert, so you could both finalize plans of what you want to do.”“What…? No…” I said, in abject refusal, almost sounding rude and rebellious. Immediately, I regained my composure and continued in a
“What the heck are you doing here?”It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that I was staring at Tamika's annoying ex, who just didn't know when to quit. But then, I didn't have a problem with that. I was only concerned with what he had come to Dale's office for.“If it's not the trending Dolph Martin, who else would it be?” Randy asked rhetorically, as he was staring me in the eyes. He almost seemed like he was consciously fighting the feeling of intimidation around me. “Well, I also happen to be the one your girl left you for. And fortunately, I can now see why. It's unbearable standing around you. But unfortunately, I have to stand and ask what exactly you are doing here.” I loved the reaction I was evoking from him. “Sadly, you're not in charge here. You can't call the shots here…” Randy was even more annoying in person than I had expected. It had me wondering where Tamika had put her so-called high taste when she had fallen for this fool. I didn't know why I just co
It had been quite a day of drudgery as I had never been so glad to be back in Dolph's home which I had never thought I would ever get used to. That day was an exception, as I had been left alone in the terrible predicament of being all alone with Robert. “Ugh…” I said, as I just couldn't come to terms with the fact that I had spent that much time with Robert in the same room. It was quite one of those uncomfortable moments which one would like to forget in a hurry I made for Dolph's wine cellar, as I hoped to drown out my thoughts in a good drink. But then, I had a second thought about anything alcoholic as that had been what got me into my current predicament in the first place. With that in mind, I slowly took my hand away from the cold sweating bottle of Chardonnay. But on a third thought, I just needed to get Robert out of my mind as soon as I could. That was the best I could do for myself at that point.“Come here, baby…” I said as I took out the bottle, and stared at it one l