Rafael stared at the papers in his hands with a feeling of unease and unforetold jealousy, he heard about it, but he didn't know it was actually true, does that mean Nicole really moved on from him? He didn't like it, he didn't like what he saw at all, he hated the guy smiling at him in the photo and holding his woman's hand, the headline wasn't helping either, what do they mean Nicole's, new man? He was the only man Nicole had and no one else could be her man."You should have thought of that before,"The annoying voice in his head said."Just let me be, get the fuck out of my head,"He warned, he wasn't in the mood to listen to his subconsciousness, he looked at the papers one more time and closed it, they were wrong, Nicole wasn't dating the dude, she was just friends with him, she can not be over him, if she was she won't have allowed him to touch her again but she did."And you still don't remember,"The nosy voice said. Rafael wished he could remember but he had tried and tried,
"What's so funny?"Simone asked clearly offended by his laughing but Rafael didn't care."You, you are funny,"He said between laughter, he hadn't even told anyone except his workers, and legal team so how did he know about it and where was he when he was struggling to get the approval he needed to run the damn business, he would try and reply him as calm and professional as possible."How and what did I say that is funny?""Nevermind, Simone, wherever you heard it from that I now own a mining company, you should know from the source already that I have no plans of partnering with anyone, I don't need it, thank you,"He said and felt proud of how calm he was, he should have known this was why he was here, to leech off him and make some money from his hard works, all in the name of investments, if he was going to get investors, he would get people from outside florida and even the US, if he thinks of getting some here, he knew the right people to approach and Simone wasn't one of them,
"Well, this headline is something else don't you think?"Natalie asked Nicole, she nodded without paying much attention to it, she had to finish with this stretch as she needed to get the work done soon, she had other pressing jobs too, one of which was Natalie's friend's birthday present, she was already halfway done with that and hoped to finish it today."What are you talking about?"She asked."I am talking about this, will you spare a minute and take a look, they are portraiting you and Aron as a couple,"She said, that got her interest, so she looked up and took the papers from her. She hadn't had time to check the reviews from the exhibition, she had been busy with too many things to bother about It."It doesn't look so bad,"She said after she read through."Really? Why are you guys a couple now?"Natalie asked."No, we are not, we are friends,""I don't think that's what Aron wants, it is clear he has the hots for you,""Nah, we are good, we talked about it and there is nothi
Nicole drove down to her gallery, got everything she needed and the work she needed to finish, told her receptionist she wasn't coming back today, and got into her car again, she dialed Aron's number."What's up, Nicole?"Aron's voice echoed, it was obvious that he wasn't out of bed yet, dude was a lazy human because why else would he still be in bed at almost noon."How come you are still sleeping, Aron?""I am awake, how else would I be able to take your call, or do you mean to say I sleepwalk?""Whatever, I am coming over to your studio so better get off the bed, go take a bath and come open the door for me or I am going to break in,"She threatened."What the fuck? I am on break, I am not supposed to leave the house until I have to go drop work at the academy, don't make me leave the house so early,"He lamented, she rolled her eyes."Early? It's almost twelve, literally Fifteen minutes to twelve, who the fuck stays in bed to this time?"She asked, rolling her eyes."Me, me, I do,
Rafael sat in his car watching her work, how could she choose a space like that to work? She looked so beautiful while concentrating on her work, he had been here for over thirty minutes and he still couldn't gather the courage to get out of the car and go talk to her, she stood up and went to the enclosed part of the studio, he had gone to her gallery which he knew was already running from the photo he saw of her with that dude, he still wasn't over it and still felt like strangling the guy even though he didn't do anything to him, apart from the fact that he was the first person to use the gallery and she was boldly showing him off, she was also here at his studio, her gallery was way bigger and has a bigger studio where she could work, but when he had gone to see her there, she hadn't been there, he got her location from her receptionist who didn't have a hard time telling him because she knew he was her ex-husband, well at least he got the information he needed but then he found o
"He was just leaving,"He heard Nicole say. No, no way was he going to let her get rid of him like that."I am not leaving, I am here to talk to you,"He replied raising his voice to make sure they both heard him, the two of them shared a glance that made him feel like an outsider, he shook off the feeling, waiting for the dude to do the needful and get the fuck out, the man seems to take the hint."I will let you both talk, you can lock up after you Nicole,""No, Aron, you don't have to leave, we were going to leave together since your car is faulty,"Nicole said, she had concern in her voice, she was concerned about the dude, he hated it here, hated the feeling of jealousy that built up even more inside him."Don't worry, I can take a cab, looks like he has a lot to say,"Aron, Rafael hated the name, said and touched Nicole's hair, Rafael's hand-formed into a fist, the fucking dude didn't stop there, he pulled her closer, and Rafael could only watch."Are you sure about this Aron?"
Nicole, watched through the window to make sure he left before the came out of the inner part of the studio where she had escaped to, yes it was an escape, she could barely process that he has been here wanting to talk to her, she hadn't even seen him coming in, hadn't even heard his car sound, imagine how her heart had leaped when he had called her name, she had thought she was hallucinating or having a dream, she had blinked to be sure he was the one standing there looking so handsome when she had come back to her senses, she had gone to him wondering what brought him there and how he knew she would be at Aron's studio, how did he even know Aron's studio in the first place? She had all these questions to ask but when he had looked at her, she had forgotten, forgotten that she had to ask."Stop it, time to go home,"She said getting closing the windows and doors, she willed herself not to think about their not so serious conversation, she thought he had found out about the baby and t
When she got home, she didn't meet anybody, she suspected they would all be in their rooms and went to hers too, she took a bath and changed into comfortable nighties, after which she brought out her laptop to continue with the stretch she had been working on when Rafael had shown up, this particular stretch had a deeper meaning to her than all her other works, this was the continuation of something she started a while ago but hadn't been able to complete because of the unfortunate incident that had happened, she finally could complete the maternity art series that she started when she had been pregnant with her little angel who had gone back to heaven even before she was born, of course she wasn't yet at this step yet but she wanted to start the work again and do a better job at it, she already had the first three months and was thankful she hadn't done away with it when she had wanted to, that was thanks to Grace, who had told her she might want it back some say and that day finally