CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX “But Cameron is already doing a lot for me and my family; I couldn't.”“Hold on there a second,” I interrupted, freezing her mid-sentence. “Did you say Cameron?” I blink rapidly. “As in Cameron Stone?”She tilted her head and eyed me. “Yeah. Cameron Stone. The CEO. Your boss. Where’s your head?”Just then, the large oak doors opened, and the executives—including Cameron, whom I have learned to be the CEO—filed out. His eyes caught mine, and he winked. My heart plummeted. What did I say about office romance again?Manda giggled and touched me. “Did you see? He winked at me.” She said she was all goggly-eyed. “He’s the reason why I even bother sometimes—to be here—even when all the other things in my life stress me out.” I stared at her. I take it back; this woman is not innocent in any way. Cameron stopped midway to talk to two men, and I tried to pretend that he was not all my eyes wanted to look at and all I thought about. My eyes travelled to his perfectly firme
I ran away from work. I was a nervous wreck, so you would not blame me. I was shivering like someone who was diced in ice in the middle of Antarctica, and I knew I had to go. I left quickly, without seeing Cameron. I could not bear to see him again, not with how I was feeling. I could not trust my body not to betray me. I went home first. Darby had taken the kids to the restaurant, and I noticed that she had begun to move some of the things. We were not moving with everything, though. I told her that. We would leave most of the second-hand things we got from the manager and the thrift store here. Paula and Esther had insisted we meet for dinner, and I still had about an hour before I met them, and I still had to check on the kids. I took my bath and dressed quickly, then dropped by Darby’s restaurant to see the kids.“How are the kids?” I asked as soon as I entered the kitchen—Darby’s favourite space. I found the kids on a makeshift mat. Darby used pillows to support their backs, an
“Well, for one. You’ve been glancing around since you came in. This isn’t your kind of environment?” he asked. I shook my head as I took another sip of the Bourbon. “I go to the club plenty.” I lied. I hadn’t been to the club in more than seven years, but he didn’t need to know that. I glanced around again. “Just to keep an eye out for the girls.” I muttered. At least this bit was true. I did not have to feel too shy about lying.“You see, we were supposed to be having a girl night out. I kind of came late, and now I can’t seem to reach them.” I glanced around again. “They’re definitely in here, somewhere.”He pursed his lips, and I thought he looked cute. I must be getting drunk. Just one glass of a cocktail.“Well, they might be in one of the private lounges. Did you check anyone yet?” He smiled at me. I blushed. “Don’t do that.” I rolled my eyes. “And... it’s because I didn’t know I was supposed to check.” He laughed. “I think I just caught your lie. When was the last time you w
“Where did you sleep?” I had left Esther’s place early so I could check on the kids and prepare for work. I had woken up quite early and gotten out of her place almost immediately, and I estimated I still had about three hours to prepare for work and get there early enough. Darby was sitting on the couch when I tiptoed in, trying to stay as quiet as possible, and I had not seen her. Hearing her voice startled me, and I turned around slowly. I grinned. “I told you I was going to see the girls.” She stood up and approached me. “And you didn’t think to call to let us know you were not coming home?” She wrinkled her nose when she neared me and took one step back. “Lana! You smell very awful.” I began peeling the clothes off me. “I’m sorry if you were worried. I didn’t think, ”“Yeah. You never think.” Darby cut me off, and I saw that she was quite upset. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Darby upset, at least not at me. I winced. “You got us all worried; this isn’t something you will eve
The cry that came from inside was loud enough to bring down the building, and I was sure that both Andre and Cameron heard it loud and clear. Shit! I banged the door shut. I had left them in their tubs. I ran to their room and scooped each of them up to my waist. “You must have been scared mommy was not here.” I cooed. “I’m here now, here now.” I sang as I rocked them. The doorbell rang again, and I remembered that I had left two men waiting outside. I looked at the twins. “Daddy is here. What do we do? Do we let him in?”I rushed back to the door—the twins in my arm—and opened it. Cameron rushed to help me with one of the children, and I smiled apologetically. I turned to André and raised a brow. “What are you doing here?” I shot. I was not in the mood to pamper him. I was late for work, and my boss was carrying one of my crying babies. As if it couldn’t get more awkward than that, my ex is standing at my doorstep. I sighed. “Please come in. I’d like to shut my door and prepare f
Her eyes lingered on my face, and I almost smiled gloriously. I had asked the right question. Finally! “They have your nose.” I continued. And my eyes, but I did not mention that. It might upset her again. But truly, they did have my eyes. Had she been pregnant when she left? No. If she was, I would have noticed. But there were a lot of things that I did not notice about Lana. One of them was that I loved her dearly. Were the children really mine, then? If she had given birth to them nine months after she left me, then how old would they be now? How old did they look? I stole another glance at the kids. I couldn’t say these things. Were they his children? He did look fatherly enough. So she had shacked with him immediately; she left me then?I don’t blame her. As I said before, I was a jerk to her, and I hurt her. I closed my eyes. I hurt her. I was a fool. “I’ll drop the children at Darby’s,” she said, looking at the man. “Alright, I’ll drive. Let’s go.” The man offered. She smi
I needed to call Mrs. Sanders again. She had sounded so urgent in the voicemail I had received earlier. “We need to talk, Lana.” She had breathed into the phone. “Please call me as soon as you can.” And I did. I called several times, but no one answered the phone. What was so urgent that made her sound that way? Was it good or bad news that I was waiting to receive? My head throbbed lightly, reminding me of the shenanigans of last night. And the surprise I received this morning from both Cameron and André. I could imagine why Cameron had come there so early. Darby's storming off angrily this morning had hinted that Cameron had been there yesterday, and he was quite worried. It could be that he came to check up on me to see that I was fine before leaving for work. But Andre?Why had he been there? Why had he shown up this morning with the kids? I had tried to move his attention away from them or fumed at him so he did not think of them but me. But all the questions he had been asking
Andre’s POVI could not rest easy. I turned from one corner of the bed to the other and went down to swim in the hotel’s gigantic swimming pool—this thing could actually be used for the Olympics—yet I couldn’t seem to pin my thoughts on one particular thing. One of the reasons I came to this town was to see a lawyer—a very good divorce lawyer—who was going to rid Kathy of my life forever. And it was one of the things that bugged me. How had I thought that Kathy was ever better than Lana? Once Lana left and I married Kathy, I knew that I had made the biggest mistake of my life. Kathy was nothing like I imagined her to be. In fact, she was the complete opposite of my imagination, and I felt sorry that I had tried to make Lana fill the shoes of a woman who did not exist. Kathy was an obnoxious and extravagant woman. Lazy and needy. How could I not have seen all that? How could I have let the memories I had of her from seven years ago tear my beautiful marriage apart? We fell out of lo