Tina’s POVA buzz went through the hall at Simon’s retreating form,‘The idiot, he successfully put a bounty on my head’Hushed whispers go around and people glance at me in unbelief.They were probably wondering how insignificant me was able to grab the attention of a whole Simon Valero.I take one look at the shock on Miss Debra’s face and feel like telling her that she got it all wrong, if only to put her out of her misery. ‘He probably wants me to pack my bags and leave quietly’ I feel like yelling at them all.‘What are you waiting for Miss Tina, shouldn’t you go after him’ she recovered enough to remember she was supposed to be a manager not some hormonal teenager pining after the male species.‘Today is still a long way from ending’ I mumble under my breath but I rise from my desk and head to the door.Adam gives me a thumb up as I head out.I get to the elevator and wait for it to arrive.While waiting I think of how to act, the approach to adopt when dealing with Simon.Shou
‘The weekend’, I breathed fresh evening hair as I arrived at the playground.It was a Saturday evening and I had planned to meet Bella at the playground so Ajax and her daughter could have a fun time, while we catch up.My first weekend as a corporate worker. I enjoyed the bliss of my weekend being free whereas at the restaurant I would have had to take one shift. I was thoroughly prepared to enjoy my weekend.I take another lungful of air blissfully rid of my nose mask. In the park everyone was engrossed with their kids so nobody would pay attention to me.I run to hug Bella while Ajax rushes to the swings with Bella’s daughter.‘Careful’ we both call out to our children.‘It’s been soo long, how has work been?’ Bella embraces me again.‘Work has been fine, what of the restaurant, how was your morning shift’ I ask ‘The restaurant was busy as always, but enough of that we both know how the restaurant is, tell me about your company’‘Don’t forget to include your granite faced ex-husba
Walking in through the glassy entrance to trove drove tremors through me, there was the lingering frustration that Simon was existing in the same building as I was, which brought about the fact that I could run into his icy figure at any point in time.I scanned the lobby for his granite face, once, twice while waiting for the elevator to arrive.Ding, relief coursed through me, thank goodness executives took a different elevator or there would have been the possibility of us riding the elevator together.Just the thought of us being in the same cramped space had me balling my fists in anger. The fact that he had this much effect on me, that just the thought of him drove series of emotions through me was another annoyance.I walked into my surprisingly quiet department and went straight to my desk. I had expected it to be noisy but everyone was busy working. Even Adam greeted me with only a wave and went back to staring at his system.I guess the excitement of the merger and meeting
‘Smile brightly, don’t think of the past, he’s your boss, you need this job’ walking to Simon’s office I had this mantra playing in my head on repeat.I had to survive this presentation without blowing up, I was in my workplace as Simon had so threatingly reminded me ofI relaxed my hands that had balled into fists rumpling the printed report. I smoothen it out and go through it again.Thank goodness it wasn’t much seeing as Trove was not a company with a lot of press.It shouldn’t be that hard to explain a ten page report to him.‘Breath in, breath out’ I knock loudly on the door and walk in after his muffled ‘come in’His head was buried in papers and he didn’t even look up as I walked in.I clear my throat.‘A minute’ he holds a finger up without looking at me.I stand there awkwardly shifting from foot to foot.My smile was still plastered on my face and I refused to break my resolve. I refuse to be angry.He raises his head and my smile falters,‘What did I say about refusing to
‘Mum, that man looks familiar, I think I know him’ ice broken, I turn towards Adam who has his face scrunched in concentration. ‘He’s my boss, dear, you’ve not met him before’ Adam looks at the TV once more, it had shifted to a different news. He shrugs his shoulders and continues eating finishing his food. I go back to mine glancing at Adam to see him finishing his too, I guess his suspicion had died down seeing as there was no picture for comparism. If one looked at both Simon and Ajax together, it was hard to miss the uncanny resemblance in their inky black eyes, the slant of their nose, the shape of their lips or in their small cat like ears. Coupled with the fact that I told Adam we had history, it won’t be hard for him to put two and two together. Even if he didn’t ask me it won’t be hard for him to go make his own findings, I hoped beyond hope that I had not done the wrong thing by telling Adam that I had history with Simon. ‘You’re not done eating? it’s getting la
“Shock, confusion, disbelief”, a torturous mix of emotions rush through me. The murmuring continues, spiking to full volume as everyone turn their eyes towards me waiting for my reaction. Where before they fixed me with shifting gazes, pretending to be busy with something once my eyes met theirs, they now stared at me openly. Open, unmoving gazes fixed on me like hungry wolves waiting to pounce. Obviously, the conversation had been going on for a while. I scoff wondering what brought about the ridiculous thinking in the first place. Even if Simon got me a million dollars worth of jewelry, it won’t even touch my hands in the first place talk less of finding its way to my neck. ‘It’s not your business where she got the necklace, it’s like you’ve all got nothing better to do’ Adam glares at all the unflinching, unmoving gazes. ‘There’, I snap out of my confused daze, I place a palm and Adam’s arm. ‘It’s true, I saw you on Monday clutching it in your hand when you left hi
Simon's POV You could almost hear my teeth grind from the hard set to my jaw as I walked back to my office. ‘The gal of that woman, privately dissing me even among a group of people' My mind goes back to her eyes on me as the sarcastic words rolled out of her mouth. Her eyes, watching me, expecting a reaction and gloating when she got what she wanted. I chided myself for reacting at that exact moment, I just successfully confirmed the underlying meaning in her words. I get to my office and run my hands through my hair, pacing about the office in slow strides. My mind travels to the cause of the problem in the first place. ‘Why, at this time, why did she leave me open to humiliation by the hand of this annoying woman' Taking out my phone from where it was stuffed in my pocket, I raise I to eye level, staring at the screen for any message from Sarah. I look to our chats, check my messages, emails but I’m met with the same crushing disappointment that I had always be
Tina’s POV.The walk to Adam’s office was not as nerve racking as it always had been, I was in high spirits.Even the ding of the elevator was musical, I was still basked in the triumph of a few minutes ago.Considering the sarcastic statement I threw Simon’s way, I expected a withering look before he left but small victories are also welcome.The fact that I was able to get that amused smile off his face was blissful enough.Thank goodness I had gotten that part when Bella talked about the gossip tabloids she had read about Simon. She called it ‘knowing your enemy’ but I had put it off as her enjoying gossip.Now I was thankful at the chance I had at actually knowing my enemy.She had constantly talked about Simon’s declining love life that it was hard for it to not have stuck.I’m almost at Simon’s door when I see Adam walk out, fuming.Anger rolled of him in waves as he his fists clenched and unclenched repeatedly.He glares at the door like he was trying to burn a hole through it.
Then I’m marching away from him, stomping back inside, away from cool evening air and the ellipse pool that reminded me of our stolen moments together,With relief I find that Simon doesn’t follow as I hear no footsteps from behind me.As I move back up the stairs, my stomp gradually reduces into a walk, red clearing from my vision,My shoulders are slumped again when I get to the room that had my son in it,Unbelief crowds into my head, realization dawning on me.I push open the door, to see Ajax occupied with one of the numerous action figures on the shelves, ‘Let’s go home', his face falls, but he gets up, lifting toy Spiderman with him,I walk in, picking up his bag, and hitching it on my shoulder then I hold his hand in mine,‘Aren’t we going to say bye to dad', Ajax pauses and looks up at me as we walk out of the room,‘I said bye to him already’, I pull at his hand and he follows nodding.We walk down the stairs and my heart stops when I see Simon standing at the foo
‘Your son', I scoff loudly, repeating his words.‘And what gave you the notion that he your son',‘What makes you so sure', my soles scuff tiles as I start pacing the length of the yard, letting some of my pent up anger leak out through my steps,‘Really Tina', he calls my name, and the displeasure in his words match mine,‘Are we really going to sit here and debate Ajax's paternity’, his voice is gruff, dropping lower with each word,‘He’s not', I shake my head from left to right as I pass Simon’s front repeatedly in my pacing,‘You told him yourself’, it rises again, ‘Ajax confirmed it', he grabs my hand again, forcing me to look at him.‘Even a child!!’, his face is all hardness, jaw clenched and grinding, as he punctuates the word,‘Even a child can see that we're father and son', his voice is gruff, as he finishes and his eyes darken, stormy orbs in a face of fury.I try to turn away from him, to turn away from his fury that infuriated me further, and continue pacing.
The door swings shut behind me, The noise of my sneakers hitting cement as I rushed along the driveway echoed in my ears,Drowning out the sound of the grass swaying gently in the evening breeze, louder than the sound of birds chirping from the trees,I side step the water fountain without so much as a glance at its sculpted glory,My eyes rests on those large double doors, that separated me from my son, willing it to disintegrate,Instead it does something different, swinging open, parting slowly, revealing Simon as I stomp up tiled steps.The large smile on his face was nonexistent to me, his arms open wide in greeting a momentary confusion as I sidestep him, pushing into the mansion, My heart was beating too fast in my chest, my footsteps echoing too loud in my ears for me too even regard him,To even do the simple task of asking his reason,So I ignore him, turning laser-like focus on finding my son and getting out of this largeness that had me feeling like I was drowni
Air got sucked from my lungs, like I just received a strike to the gut,‘No', I shake my head as my grip on my phone tightens,‘That can’t be true', my head keeps turning from left to right in unbelief as the click of the call ending sounded.I take the phone off my ear, bring it to the front of my face,‘That can’t be possible’, my brain felt waterlogged, my ears clogged as the noise of school children fades out.The only sound around was my heart, beating like the tick of a clock, resounding in my ears, echoing in my head,‘No', I shake my head again and call his school teacher,‘She’s probably mistaken’,‘There was no way he could be with Simon', My fingers shake against my screen as I scroll through my contacts,The first call goes to voicemail, ‘Pick up for Christ sake’, I swear under my breathe, dialing her number again,‘Could it be Adam?’‘But he would never refer to himself as Ajax’s father’, my mind swirls as the phone rings on, no sign of it being picked up.
By the time it was lunch my head was on a spin, on a whirlpool of frustration, I sat still, my hands folded in my lap,but my heart was on fire, my mouth burned like I was chewing on hot gum.The heat bled onto my palms, drawing sweat, that I wiped repeatedly against ash-gray pants, ‘At this point, I will never be able to tell him', I mused as I stared at the dark streaks my hands created, the creases from repeatedly fisting it's fabric in my hands.‘If only he didn’t smile those face splitting smiles whenever our eyes met’‘If only he didn’t look at me with such affection in his eyes'‘Maybe it would be easier to tell him if I wasn’t risk….’,‘Where should we eat today’, my musings get interrupted and I look up at him.We’d been so absorbed with each other the last week yet anytime my eyes met those ones shining with affection, a wave of unfamiliarity courses through me, a war between elation and fear ensues.‘Let’s just order in', I hide my surprise, the battle raging in
Time moved slowly, sluggishly, like my heart,It's sound, a turbid rhythm in my chest, like wading in mud water, dragging my head through varying degrees of shock,Of all things I anticipated, expected, planned for, this was the least of them.I didn't even think it possible, it was not a scenario I saw happening, My eyes watch, sluggishly, same as my heart at the teardrop that track Ajax's cheek trailing onto his lap.‘He's dad, isn’t he?’, he says it again, and my head rears back in a whiplash.The fact that he repeated it, a statement this time, proved the extent of the situation, it was a testament to how much of a mess I was in.‘Why is he not here with us?'‘Did he do something bad?', ‘Is dad a bad man?’, with each question, his voice raises, bordering on hysterics, fat tears rolling down his cheeks.‘Why don’t you want me to meet him?', he asks again, yet my mind travels, trying to pinpoint what could have given it away,I had been very careful to never mention the
For a moment I considered coming clean, telling him the truth of a son he never knew about, but the fear in my heart was stronger,So I chew slowly, bidding my time to formulate something believable, something that wouldn’t allow the serious expression his face had taken into something darker.I tried to formulate something that would allow me to keep this warm bubble we had built around ourselves,A bubble I was not keen on letting go off so soon.My head was a mess, strung between telling the truth and fumbling for lies,I had thought I was over this, relief had filled me when I found that he didn’t hear Ajax’s name fro Lisa's lips.I finish chewing and keep the smile on my face, deciding on the easy way out,‘He’s no one you should be bothered about', it was hard, dismissing my son as someone unimportant, yet it was easier than risking him taking Ajax away from me.I hoped it would be enough for him, my reassurance would be enough to quell questions he was suddenly keen on
Relief floods my insides and I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding in as the bell jangled, signifying their exit.‘I’ll be back in a minute', standing up, I head to the table they just left, clearing the pile of coloring books and crayons.Head chef had been so nice, allowing Ajax and Lisa in the restaurant for as long as they liked, but it won’t be fair to hog a table after they were gone, so I clear them up heading to the back room and placing them with Bella's things.I catch a glance of Cathy’s befuddled expression as I enter, knowing she would have pelted me with questions if she wasn’t attending to a customer.Stepping out, she’s done and I take a deep breath waiting for the maelstrom to begin.‘That’s Simon Valero right, theee Simon Valero', she draws closer to me and I stare, patiently nodding as she fires,‘Only son and child of Alicia Valero?, heir to SM group Simon Valero?’, her voice pitches with the last question and I finally use my words.‘Yeees', ‘To
‘You know you have to stop looking at the door whenever a customer walks in, you’re no longer a waitress', the sound of Bella's voice trickles to me, sounding at the back of my mind,Her statement was inconsequential in comparison with the drop of my heart to the pit of my stomach, the look of horror making a home on my face‘You're a…..’, she trails off as she follows my line of sight to the source of my predicament,‘Uh oh!’, she exclaims,Simon had walked in and was currently looking about the restaurant, a relaxed air about himI drop my head between my hands, hiding behind my hair, hoping he hadn’t seen me.‘That’s very fruitless, he has seen you already', I glance up again and my eyes meet eyes that lights up immediately they meet mine.‘What in the world is he doing here?’, I whisper yell, asking Bella and she shrugs,I quickly smoothen out my face, wipe horror off it as I face a smiling Simon sashaying towards me.My eyes turn towards the corner where Ajax and Lisa we