It took Nicole about an hour to get to the address she texted and now she sat listening to the woman talk and she regretted coming here, it was waste of time, she should have gone to see Aron instead, she had canceled on him for this."What?""You heard me right, Rafael and I are happy together, don't come and ruin it you had your time and it has ended, move on already and stop holding on to the last, as you can see my baby already did,""Your baby?"Nicole asked, she damn well knew Rafael was no baby."Yes, Rafael is mine now, or do you need proof? There are so many everywhere just like well or why else would I be at his place at nine pm?""You guys are dating?"Nicole asked she knew her questions were dumb, knew she shouldn't be asking since she already knows the truth but the lady was acting like a dummy so she was just playing along."Of course we are, and we might get married soon, Rafael has been hinting on it, I guess my baby wants us to be legal real quick, I don't fancy marri
"I am sorry I couldn't meet up the other day, I had so much to do,"Nicole said while sitting across Aron."It's fine, I understand that you are a busy lady now with all the things that you have to do, I was surprised when you said you wanted to meet up with me, I understand,""Yeah, thanks Aron, how have you been?""Being good, I think I am going to cancel the exhibition for good, I don't think I will ever find a good place for it, I already postponed because you know why and if I do again, I don't think anyone will have interest anymore so it's best to cancel,"He said, he looked sad about it, she felt bad for him, he had paid for an auditorium but it turned out that the person he paid to was a scammer, he couldn't use the hall and he couldn't get his money back, that's why she wanted him to use her gallery, the space was big enough and it was an actual gallery, it will benefit her too and it will draw people to her, so win-win."There is no reason to cancel Aron, you can use my pla
She dialed his number and waited for him to take the call. If he doesn't then she will text him, it was up to him to show up or not."Hello? Nicole?"Wow, he didn't delete her number at least."Hi, Rafael, yes, it's Nicole, happy holidays,"She said in greeting."Thank you, so what's up?""Hmm, I don't know if your girlfriend told you, but I called before,""Girlfriend? Who?""Your girlfriend, Josie, I called before and she was the one that took your call, sometime last week, well I don't know if she told you what I told her,""I don't recur, maybe she forgot, what's it about?""It's about the hotel,""The hotel? I already told you it's yours, I am not taking it back,"He said firmly."I am not asking to take it back, I am trying to tell you that I plan on opening up for business by Friday and I would like for you to be there,""Huh, does it matter if I come? Just do your thing, I am busy so I have to go now,""Can you at least think about it? It would really be nice if you come aroun
Rafael sat in his car watching the guest go into the hotel, there were a lot of people, as he expected, but he couldn't bring himself to go in.Nicole had called him two days to Christmas to inform him about it, he hadn't given a straightforward answer so if he doesn't show up, she might not think much of it, Christmas? It was hell, compound with the fact that he still wasn't able to come to an understanding with the Mining stuff and then his Christmas being the worst ever, he hated the holiday season, have hated it since he was a young child, even before his parents passed away, this year, he had thought it would be different, that he might finally enjoy the holidays with family but his plans were crushed months before Christmas, on Christmas, he had been at the office all through, Josie had invited him to have dinner with her but he turned her down, after the stuff that happened at his house with Josie, he tried to keep his distance from her so that she won't get the wrong ideas, he
"She is not my wife anymore,"He corrected."Not to me though, she is still your wife in my eyes and your heart, honestly dude, let's make up with her, I am not saying get married again instantly, no, you can start from scratch, meet her, become her friend and start building that relationship again, you have all it takes,""Is that what you are doing with Armani? You are making her uncomfortable,"Rafael said shifting the talk from him, he wasn't going to get back with Nicole."Well, this wasn't about me but yes, that's what I am doing, she playing hard to get but I am not going to give up,""I just said you are making her uncomfortable,""Well that means it's working, anyway, I am going to make her mine again, not that I kiss and tell though but we did share some hot moments a few days ago, you know,"He said smiling brightly, Rafael rolled his eyes, if only he could say the same for him and Nicole."It will be nice if you take my advice and just you know do something instead of runn
Nicole looked around the huge auditorium, it was bigger than she thought, the hotel was bigger than she thought and she didn't even know how big it was until she got here today, which was the day of the opening, she had the place cleaned but this was her first time coming here, it has been her dad and Gavin that has been doing all the works, she was just here as the owner today and it was her first time, she felt like she was robbing the real owner, she hoped he will show up today, he hadn't called her back and when she sent a text to remind him he didn't respond."Time to go get ready for your speech, Nicole,"Natalie said, coming to stand beside her."This place is huge,""I know right? It's bigger than I thought, have you seen the hotel? I wonder just how much it took to get this done,"Her sister said in awe, Nicole had no idea either, she knew it was more than she was told, it had to be more, it was too big and beautiful."Is he going to come around?"Natalie asked, she knew who
"See, he just hates me,"She cried."Nah, I am sure he doesn't,""I shouldn't even be crying over him, now my make-up is ruined and I still have to go say goodbye to the guests,"Nicole said getting up to look at her face in the mirror, just as she feared, her make-up was ruined to the point of no repair, she decided to wipe it all off and go say goodbye to the guest with her bare face.It took quite a while before the last of the guest left after the ceremony ended and she stayed till everyone had left, she wasn't alone Grace, Natalie and Aron stayed with her, and when the last of the guest left, she bid the staff who already started working goodnight and turned to her sister and friends."Thank you, Aron, you were so much help,""It's nothing really, I am glad I can help,"He replied, the more she got to know Aron, the more she couldn't find reasons to doubt his loyalty, he is kind of controlling but that was it, in all he was a nice guy, not just her kind of guy."Grace, you too, t
"I am tired, what the fuck do these people take me for?"Rafael yelled, this was not the way he wanted the year to end, it was not going according to his plan, how hard was it to just approve the damn thing."Sir, calm down, we just have to I keep calm to get what we want, you know the way people in power act, we can't let them get to us, that would be giving them what they want,"His lawyer said, Rafael understood what he meant but still he was pissed, he met with the governor three times already, there was no problem, yet the department of mining and mitigation is refusing to give their final approval, he was this close to just going ahead with his works without getting their signature, all they need to do is a sign, he already agreed to their ridiculous rules and regulations and had everything they asked for, every safety precautions, Every damn thing and yet it was just a day to the end of the year, no today was the last day of the year and still no answer from them."I understand