“So… how did it go with you and Helen? You look like you both ended up having a fistfight or something.” I noticed Dolph looking slightly demoralized as he walked in through the front door. “What happened?” He said nothing until he walked to the sofa where I had been sitting and contemplating what Tara and her mother had been up to. It was hard to imagine what part of my past they were going to dig up. But I forgot all about it as Dolph looked like he was about to give up on the whole thing and that looked like it was more of an issue to our cause.“Dolph…?” I asked, trying to pry his mouth open to tell me how bad it went. “What happened?”“She was one of my exes and it feels like our past is going to make her hate to be a part of your success,” Dolph said as he took off his Rolex. “For some reason, I saw this coming.”“The show has been booked already…” I felt my heart sink into my stomach as I imagined how cruel the interview was going to be at that point. She would bombard me wit
I had thought it over and I had decided I would agree to meet Phil at the place he had specified. I felt like I was playing right into his hands with every move I was making, but I had no option but to comply with every word of his warnings which was still ringing loud and clear in my ears at that point.“If you refuse to comply with any instruction I give you, then your career will come to a quite abrupt end like you never existed…” Those cold words kept me going against the way my ego wanted me to go and that made it hard for me to get myself together. I was a literal mess as I sat at the table in the café where he had asked me to wait.My phone buzzed and that had me almost falling off my seat. Phil knew just how to play those wicked mind games, that left me paralyzed with fear. But then, I looked at the screen of my phone to see that it had been Randy calling me. I breathed a sigh of relief and then some deep breaths afterward to regain my composure before speaking to him.“Hey…
“Sure about this?” Dolph asked again as I was getting ready for my meeting with Helen. “Remember she doesn't meet with her victims before the day of the show, especially when it's this close. We have like six days to go now.”“I am sure about it and I'm sure it's not something for us to be bothered about.” I was confident as I got ready to step out of the car to meet innumerable uncertainties which I had signed up for. “What’s the worst that could happen?”“Well, she could cancel the interview, and probably destroy your career with a couple of tweets.” Dolph had me scared with that part of Helen as I wished he had told me of it earlier. “And you're just saying it? Jeez, Dolph…” I was suddenly under the weight of an inexplicable pressure that had me melting. “Goodness…” I tried to take the weight of the pressure off me with some deep breaths and heavy exhalation. “Why are you suddenly less confident than before?” Dolph kept a serious face even though he sounded like he was mocking me
I was enjoying the feeling of taking the fight right to where Helen was. The puzzled look on her face was simply priceless, and it had me wanting to relive that moment over and over.“Wow…” Helen finally said something as I was almost becoming scared that age would call off the whole meeting. That moment was becoming even more uncomfortable with each passing second and it had me thinking all sorts of things.Without any forewarning, Helen let out a slight chortle which led to another chortle which was a bit louder, then into a full-blown laughter. She laughed so hard and that had me confused.I waited for her to stop the laughter, but then, she didn't want to stop as she went on in a way that made it clear that it was going to take quite a while. “What's so funny…?” I asked, hoping that would get her to stop, but she erupted in even more vigorous laughter which now had me confused. “You…” she could barely speak through the laughter. “You're so…” she had her finger pointing at me as
The car ride to the office was quite a lonely one as Tamika was not beside me. I had long swallowed my pride and agreed to myself that I was beginning to get used to her company and a moment without it was quite uncomfortable, if not unbearable.“No…” I said to myself as I was trying to get myself to disagree with the part of her absence being unbearable. I was determined to convince myself that I could still live without her. I had been living my life before we got together, and that made me even more convinced that I would surely be able to survive with or without her. There was no room for vulnerability, as letting her know about my feelings would quickly put her in control of everything. That, I wouldn't allow to happen.The car pulled over in front of the casino, bringing the ride to an end. At that point, I was trying to push every thought of Tamika out of my head as I wanted to deal with my chaotic world. “That was quick…” Michael said as he walked into the glass front doors
The day had been quite a rollercoaster ride for me as I had been through the most demanding moments of my life at that point. Helen had proven to be a challenge that I would have to overcome if I would ever make a peaceful reappearance on air. I could only hope that Dolph's prescription would work out perfectly for my current predicament as I walked in through the front door. Dolph was seated on his usual spot on the sofa and that made it easier. The look on his face said a thousand and one words all at once and that made it quite hard for me to approach him. I was almost thinking it was his disappointment in me that made him look like that. That made me feel like tiptoeing into the house or coming in through the back. “You're back later than I expected, Tamika.” He was staring at his phone, which was something that he hardly ever did. It was beginning to give me a lot of concern as I was trying to get a clearer picture of what was happening.“Yeah… I went to see Julia to speak ab
I had been sitting in my office with my head down as I was in deep thought. There were a lot of memories still flooding into my head, even long after Tamika had left my office. It was hard figuring out who to be mad at— Tamika, for using the story of my past against me, or Dolph, for telling her about us in the first place. It was hard keeping it together as I felt betrayed by Dolph who had leaked it all to her.“Keep it together, Helen…” I said to myself. No one had ever made it through the iron armor around my heart, but Tamika had done that it made me angrier than I had expected. How could she…?I had to admit to myself all over again that I missed my time with Dolph and that I had been in love with him. Even worse, there were still some subtle hints of jealousy in my very being. It made me feel bad, but then, I just couldn't deny that I was feeling jealous at that point. There were a lot of things I had wanted to do with Dolph but I didn't get the chance to, as things happened t
“What's going on?” Ellery asked as she was uncomfortable with the prolonged silence that had taken over the phone call conversation. I was silent as I was still trying to figure out what exactly he meant with all that talk on a sudden call.The fact that Dale dared to call me to tell me that had me feeling quite salty. But then, I wondered why he was thinking I was in search of revenge. More importantly, I wondered why how he had found out that I was even having anything to do with Dolph at the moment.I guessed he hadn't changed from the nosy fellow he had been since the time I knew his brother. I was going to get to the bottom of whatever it was that was going on between him and his brother.“Hello… Helen?” Dale asked, as my silence was becoming above normal. “Are you still there? Don't tell me I scared you already with my words. You're Helen Duran after all and you're supposed to—”“What are you talking about, Dale?” I asked, still trying to work my way around what his intentions
"And yeah... I'm going to pay him a surprise visit..." I decided that as I was on the phone with Julia while trying to get out of bed. "That would spice things up as we would get to make out in his office...""You are naughtier than you sound on the radio..." Julia remarked as she was laughing hard over the phone with some music playing in the background. Soon enough, I was in the car on my way to the office. I was sure that Dolph was bound to be happy if he saw me showing up there. I was happy that I was going to be putting a smile on his face at that point. The air was simply cool all around me and it felt real good, much cooler than it would feel on a normal day. There were a lot of things that had me feeling like I was about to have a great day as I was about to make it all happen right there and then. I wanted to recreate the memory of the night that we had in his office on the night of the anniversary. There were just too many things that had me feeling like that moment in hi
"Hey, Dolphy..." I said as I was soon walking towards him with a walk that I made as seductive as possible. It seemed like I was about to face one of the most unimaginable moments that I would ever be in. Dolph was looking like a helpless prey in my hands at that point, as he was reeling from the effects of the drug he used to be so hung on. That moment had me wondering what exactly I would be up against in the next couple of moments as I was soon seeing the desires that were burning up in his eyes as he seemed to be sizing me up right at that moment. "What… are you doing here?" He sounded like he was out of breath like he was being eaten up slowly by a disease for which the only antidote to it was my body. There were a lot of things that had me feeling like I was about to be eaten whole. "Are you all right, Dolph...?" I asked, knowing that he was far from all right as he was looking to get his hands on me. "You don't look all right to me... you're looking like you are about to l
"Hello, Tamika's husband…" Michael reminded me of the title my mom had given me back then as I was driving to my office. It was bad that I had been called that by my mother, but then I wasn't going to tolerate that at all from Michael. "Call me that again and you're fired…" I said jokingly as I soon had the casino in view. I didn't know what it was that made everything seem much more beautiful after I had gotten married. That was my first time stepping out of the house after I had gotten married, and it was feeling quite awesome. The look of that ring on my finger was quite exhilarating each time my eyes came to where the steering was. It was almost hard for me to understand how I had been able to get it all to work out to the point where I got married to Tamika. There had been a lot of hindrances, but somehow we were able to get out of everything. "So, what's up? How's the newer couple in town holding up?" Michael asked as he was sounding like he had just woken from a long, event
"Are you sure it's that important?" I just didn't know what it was that made me feel cynical about Dolph's decision to go along with the visit to the office. He had just gotten married two days ago and there he was, suddenly trying to head back to the office when he was meant to be in bed with his wife. "It's not like important important, but I won't take long, I promise. Just need to get some files and I will be back with you, hun…" Dolph said as he went on with dressing up. He was dressing casually to the office in a bid to convince me that he wasn't going to stay long. But I still wasn't convinced by any of it. There were just too many things that had me feeling like I couldn't make it past those few moments without him by my side. It was hard for me to understand what exactly I would be doing all alone in those few moments that I would be all alone in there. "Tamika…" he said, as he put his arms around me after turning away from the mirror that time around. "You know I'll miss
I couldn't deny how lonely it felt, having to watch everything happen from the confines of my solitude which was eating me up slowly as I was almost losing it from watching the clips of Tamika's wedding online. It was quite a hard sight to behold but it ailed me greatly as I believed that all of this was meant to have happened between me and Ava. But that bastard Dolph had taken my place by her side and it was simply the hardest thing to watch. I just couldn't stand the sight of it. The jealousy had me burning up badly like I was having a fever. At first, I wanted to act cool and pretend that I was happy for her and all of that. But the pretentious act wasn't working as I had thought she wouldn't be happy with anyone else besides me. There were a lot of things that had me feeling like I was being mocked and made fun of with all those pictures and videos of them floating all through the net. It felt like she was trying to show me how capable she was to find happiness in the arms of
"But they just got married… how could you possibly be thinking of doing something that would cause them to split immediately? That's simply unfair." Amelia's words sounded like mere lip service to me as she almost sounded like she was just trying to show that she still had a conscience which was alive and breathing. Like she didn't want the same thing. "Quit acting like you were so happy with seeing that my brother had you replaced with her," I said, hitting her hard in places that I knew she wouldn't recover easily from. She was quite an egotistic one and I knew it was going to take way more than talk to get her to believe that the plan would be in her best interest as well. That would take a lot from me, but I didn't mind if that would be the case as long as she would end up agreeing to my request. It was hard for me to think of what I would be able to do at that point. "I understand, but still…" she paused a bit before restarting. "Are you going to make yourself come in betwee
It had been a refreshing moment being in the shower with Dolph, up until the moment he had made mention of the way we had met. It had me feeling awkward and it ended up ruining the entire moment for me. I wondered just how long all of that would go on. It was almost beginning to look like things would never get back to normal ever again. From that moment, I decided that I would be staying away from my phone and every external connection, as that had been mainly what had caused all of that. If I would stay away from Dale and all of his lies and frame-ups then I would surely regain the sanity I once had before have took it all away from me. "Let's just be happy…" I whispered to myself as I was about to leave the mirror which I had been staring at for the past couple of moments. I was feeling my confidence as it waned with each passing moment. It was bound to be another moment of putting up fake smiles for the cameras. It was almost like I would be airing on a show where I had to
I stood there in the shower, as I was breathing heavily as I had just dodged a major bullet from all that had just happened to me at that point. A lot was going on in my head as I was trying to figure my way out of that mess. It was hard to stay put that time around as I was realising that the effects of that drug in my system were about to cost me my marriage.That moment had me feeling impatient to go and find out what I had to do from Dr. Meyers. It almost felt like I couldn't do anything from that point onwards. It almost felt like my predicament was the most hopeless of all. There just weren't any means of identifying how I could be able to stay away from misbehaving until we had a lasting solution to that. There were no words to describe just how miserable I felt at that moment. All that our union was hanging on to at that point was Tamika's trust in me. I felt the desperate need to get her to trust me all over again, as the trust she had for me seemed to be wavering with each
It felt like my world had suddenly stopped and restarted hurriedly as I stood there staring at my screen. What was that I was looking at? It was almost impossible for me to keep a straight focus at that point, as I wanted to believe that what I was looking at was some sort of strange, unreal reality.I could bet that Dale was giggling victoriously wherever he was at the moment. There were just too many things that had me feeling like I was about to lose my mind from just watching the video. I turned off the screen at once as I was looking to keep myself from falling apart right there and then. Why was everything popping up right there and then?For the next couple of moments, I forgot that Dolph was in the room and it made me feel like I was about to lose my mind from the pressure that was coming on me slowly. The words he was saying to his mother over the phone were simply breezing past me as I was simply trying to get my mind off the video I saw. That one hit differently as I had s