JACKSON~•~I wasn’t very comfortable with Kimberly meeting George. It was obvious he didn’t have any good intentions towards her. If he did, he wouldn’t have fired her from the only job she’d ever gotten in her life.However, I knew she didn’t like him so that wouldn’t be a problem. I just hoped it wasn’t another plot of Paige’s. Besides, she and George were working together now.As instructed, I waited over at the cafe opposite the bar. I ordered a cup of coffee and watched the building across as though I could see anything.I looked at my watch on my wrist and sighed when I saw that it had only been five minutes since she went in. How was I supposed to survive over here for another fifty-five minutes? I should have insisted on following her inside.Bored already, I brought out my phone from my pocket to see if I had any emails to respond to. Before I could even unlock the phone, I saw a shadow fall over me.I didn’t bother to look up and the uninvited guest sat down on the chair be
KIMBERLY~•~I was taken aback when Jackson suddenly turned the car around, heading back to the direction we were coming from.“Jackson!” I yelled, my eyes wide as I wondered what he wanted to do. “What are you doing?”Jackson didn’t respond and just continued driving at a faster speed than usual.“Please, Jackson, don’t do anything stupid. It’s most likely a bait.”At those words, he spared me a glance. “I told you, didn’t I? But you insisted on meeting him anyway. Are you happy with yourself now?”I stared at him incredulously. “Are you blaming me for him kissing me?”He didn’t answer and just clenched his jaw.“Turn back around, Jackson.” Jackson pretended like he couldn’t hear me. “Jack!” I yelled. “Either reverse the car or drop me off right now.”For a moment, he just continued driving like I didn’t say anything, but he eventually pulled over by the side of the road. I looked at him with my mouth open. Did he really want to drop me off? Was getting back at George instantly that
KIMBERLY~•~I had woken up this morning to my business license but I couldn’t even be happy about it. Jackson had warned me that meeting with George might be a trap and indeed, it was.I let out a sigh for the umpteenth time that morning as I continued staring at the article on my laptop screen. There were two pictures; one of me and George kissing and the other of Paige drinking from Jackson’s cup of coffee. Both pictures appeared romantic and the heading hit the nail right on the head.‘REKINDLED LOVERS SEEN WITH THEIR OLD LOVERS. WAS THEIR RELATIONSHIP A SHAM?’We had thought that by not reacting, we wouldn’t be playing into their plan but we thought wrong. The plan had been to put us in a compromising situation and capture the scene. They were sick. I didn’t know what they intended to achieve from this but it was affecting Jackson’s stocks.It hadn’t been more than five hours since the article and the stocks were plummeting already. I was frustrated and didn’t know what to do. I
KIMBERLY~•~I never thought a day would come when I would be involved in a press conference to explain the matters of my life to outsiders, but here it was.Society was brainwashed into thinking they had a say in Jackson’s life and since I was connected to Jackson, I had to face the consequences of their backward thinking too. Every little thing in Jackson’s life had his stocks falling and rising as though he was selling his personal life to others.That was beside the point. I was nervous. The press conference could go two ways; either they believed it or they said we were fabricating lies. I could only hope I didn’t say anything that further affected his company.Jackson placed his hands on my shoulder, massaging slightly. “Don’t be tense. They can’t hurt you.” He reminded me.I let out a deep breath and turned to face him. “Yeah, but they affect our lives directly or indirectly. I don’t want them to keep writing hurtful things about you.”Jackson arched an eyebrow. “You’re not con
KIMBERLY~•~Surprisingly, the press conference was effective and all the blind supporters of Paige and George started to turn on them. It pleased me more than I cared to admit. I never thought a day would come when I’d be okay with George being blasted by the public but he clearly didn’t give a fuck about me so why should I care about his feelings?While George tried to restore his image, Paige was still silent. It seemed like she didn’t even care about what was going on even if she had more to lose. George could go back to California and try to block New York’s news from getting there. He could go back to being the perfect lawyer.Either way, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to strike.I stood by the door with the cops as we waited for Paige to open the door. Because of Jackson’s influence, the cops allowed me to tag along for Paige’s arrest.When she took too long to open the door, I rang the doorbell again. A few seconds later, I heard slow footsteps and soon, the door was pu
GEORGE~•~I fucked up badly.I had told myself I wasn’t petty enough to ruin Kimberly’s career because of my heartbreak yet I was stupid enough to drop all my pending tasks, leave California, and come to New York to make a fool out of myself.I didn’t even know what I was thinking. When I answered Paige’s call at first, I thought her request for me to represent her was audacious. I cared about Amelia and she was asking me to defend her against Amelia, but over time the devil reared its ugly head and I found myself packing up and booking a flight.Kimberly and I might have broken up because she was still in love with her ex-husband, but that wasn’t reason enough for me to betray her like that.As if the betrayal wasn’t enough, I went ahead to set her up, kiss her, and capture it on camera. That was too low, even for me. I didn’t hate Kimberly. Jackson was the one I hated and while I didn’t care about his stupid company, my actions directly impacted Kimberly’s life. I had thought I did
KIMBERLY~•~ According to Jackson’s sources, George had left New York and Paige was all alone. I wondered if he had truly backed down or if this was another one of their schemes to take me by surprise.Either way, Paige wasn’t going to get out anytime soon and I was going to make sure of that.Now that Paige was helpless and alone behind bars, Jackson was making preparations for my party. I didn’t know anything about planning parties. The only activities I’d ever organized were Amelia’s birthdays and even then, the guests were never more than five.Jackson invited an event planner so I didn’t even have to do anything. I merely answered questions the planner had about my preferences and left the rest up to her.“It’s kinda unfair that we’re starting up a firm together and you’re the only one having a party,” Reiya said as she popped a grape in her mouth.I chuckled. “You’re very much welcome to join.” I shrugged. The party wasn’t my idea in the first place. It was Jackson’s idea and s
KIMBERLY~•~Thanksgiving was my second favorite holiday. There was something about families gathering at a table to eat that made me feel at peace.For the past five years, I wasn’t able to celebrate Thanksgiving as I liked. It was always just me and Amelia. Reiya had to be with her family and George had to be with his, which was why this year excites me to the point that I offered to do the cooking for Thanksgiving. Of course, Caro was going to assist me.It wasn’t just our immediate family. My parents and Jackson’s parents were going to be here. I didn’t like the idea of Emily coming around but after Jackson made his father cut down her allowance, she had been pretty obedient. It was crazy that the only thing that made her behave was the hope of getting her allowance back. It was going to be dinner for nine people and I was more than excited about it.Caro and I spent the whole day cooking. Jackson offered to help but after I yelled at him more than three times for doing something
KIMBERLY~•~“Go home, take a bath, eat and rest.” My mother told me when she came to visit me in the hospital. I hadn’t eaten nor showered in twenty-four hours and I couldn’t even feel the effect. I was just too focused on Jackson that I was numb to every other thing happening around me.I shook my head. “I want to be here with him.”“Kimberly.” My mother called out sternly. “You have to be in a good condition to take care of him. He’s in a very fragile state and the smallest germ can hurt him even more.”I paused, considering that angle. She didn’t lie but I doubted I carried that much germs with me. I chewed on my bottom lip and looked at Jackson. He was still unconscious and wasn’t showing any signs of waking up yet. I didn’t want to leave but I guessed I had no choice.Letting out a breath, I stood up and my mother smiled at me. She had called me earlier to go back home and rest but I simply hung up on her which was why she came here personally.I turned to leave but paused. “You
KIMBERLY~•~“What is going on?” Mr. Clarke asked, bringing both our attention to him and his wife.His wife, on the other hand, looked appalled. “How dare you slap my daughter? Her brother is lying in a hospital bed and you dare to slap her??”At that moment, I didn’t give a fuck what they thought about me. Emily wasn’t just a spoiled brat. She was evil and thoughtless. She had gone too far and I would slap her again if I could.I laughed humorlessly. I hated that we were creating a scene right in front of Jackson’s hospital room but there was no helping it. “Go on, Emily. Tell them what you said to me.”Emily stayed quiet, holding her cheek.Since she wasn’t going to speak, I was going to do it for her. Thankfully, there were no passersby to spin a story on the situation. “She said she didn’t know Jackson would drive my car and it was supposed to be me and on that bed.” I spat out bitterly. Even if I didn’t want to explain my actions to her parents, they had to know exactly what the
KIMBERLY~•~Even after surgery, Jackson still didn’t wake up. I was worried as hell and my eyes were red from crying. I knew accidents happened to any and everyone but I never imagined Jackson would be lying down on the hospital bed, unconscious.His surgery was successful. Well, successful in the sense that nothing went wrong during the process and he didn’t die. I stayed with him in the hospital all night, unable to sleep. By the next morning, everyone in New York knew about Jackson’s accident and I was getting so many calls at once.I had already informed his family of the accident and they would be arriving this morning. I had also received a call from Reiya and after answering her call, I put my phone on silent. People called a lot whenever there was bad news and it irritated me a lot.There was a knock on the door and the door opened to reveal the doctor. She smiled warmly at me. “Good morning, Mrs. Clarke. I’m here to check up on the patient. If you could please step out of th
KIMBERLY~•~It had been an hour since Jackson left to go get tampons but he still wasn’t back. By now, the kids were dozing off while I was still up waiting for Jackson.When I called his number several times and he didn’t answer, I started to get worried. I was still on my period though, which was why I went upstairs to search through the closet to see if I had a menstrual cup. I didn’t like using them, but I had no choice.I tucked the kids in and went to the bathroom to do my business. When I was done, I started calling Jackson’s line again and it still wasn’t going.Fuck. We should have exchanged locations after getting back together.I was calling for the seventh time when Jackson finally answered the call. “Jackson! It’s taking a long while just to get tampons. Where are you?”“Is this Mrs. Clarke?” I heard a feminine voice ask and I could feel the hairs on my arms rise. “Yeah, who’s this?”“I’m a nurse at the city hospital.” My heart dropped at those words. “Mr. Clarke was in
JACKSON~•~Despite being six years older than my sister, I grew up with her after all and she hadn’t changed a bit, which was why I could tell that she was raging inside.I had thought that with time she was going to develop a brain and start acting like an adult. I thought she was going to be civil with Kimberly even if she didn’t like her but clearly, I was wishing for too much.I didn’t want a wedge between me and my family but she was too damn insufferable and it was pissing me off.She glared at me hard but I merely arched an eyebrow, waiting for her response. She had already ruined the mood at the beginning and she was making things even worse. I needed to shut her mouth with duct tape or something.My mom laughed awkwardly. “Don’t be rude to your sister, Jackson. She came here to celebrate Thanksgiving with you.”I chuckled humorlessly. This was exactly why she still behaved like a child. My mother was there to pardon her wrongdoings. In fact, she made her feel like she didn’t
KIMBERLY~•~Thanksgiving was my second favorite holiday. There was something about families gathering at a table to eat that made me feel at peace.For the past five years, I wasn’t able to celebrate Thanksgiving as I liked. It was always just me and Amelia. Reiya had to be with her family and George had to be with his, which was why this year excites me to the point that I offered to do the cooking for Thanksgiving. Of course, Caro was going to assist me.It wasn’t just our immediate family. My parents and Jackson’s parents were going to be here. I didn’t like the idea of Emily coming around but after Jackson made his father cut down her allowance, she had been pretty obedient. It was crazy that the only thing that made her behave was the hope of getting her allowance back. It was going to be dinner for nine people and I was more than excited about it.Caro and I spent the whole day cooking. Jackson offered to help but after I yelled at him more than three times for doing something
KIMBERLY~•~ According to Jackson’s sources, George had left New York and Paige was all alone. I wondered if he had truly backed down or if this was another one of their schemes to take me by surprise.Either way, Paige wasn’t going to get out anytime soon and I was going to make sure of that.Now that Paige was helpless and alone behind bars, Jackson was making preparations for my party. I didn’t know anything about planning parties. The only activities I’d ever organized were Amelia’s birthdays and even then, the guests were never more than five.Jackson invited an event planner so I didn’t even have to do anything. I merely answered questions the planner had about my preferences and left the rest up to her.“It’s kinda unfair that we’re starting up a firm together and you’re the only one having a party,” Reiya said as she popped a grape in her mouth.I chuckled. “You’re very much welcome to join.” I shrugged. The party wasn’t my idea in the first place. It was Jackson’s idea and s
GEORGE~•~I fucked up badly.I had told myself I wasn’t petty enough to ruin Kimberly’s career because of my heartbreak yet I was stupid enough to drop all my pending tasks, leave California, and come to New York to make a fool out of myself.I didn’t even know what I was thinking. When I answered Paige’s call at first, I thought her request for me to represent her was audacious. I cared about Amelia and she was asking me to defend her against Amelia, but over time the devil reared its ugly head and I found myself packing up and booking a flight.Kimberly and I might have broken up because she was still in love with her ex-husband, but that wasn’t reason enough for me to betray her like that.As if the betrayal wasn’t enough, I went ahead to set her up, kiss her, and capture it on camera. That was too low, even for me. I didn’t hate Kimberly. Jackson was the one I hated and while I didn’t care about his stupid company, my actions directly impacted Kimberly’s life. I had thought I did
KIMBERLY~•~Surprisingly, the press conference was effective and all the blind supporters of Paige and George started to turn on them. It pleased me more than I cared to admit. I never thought a day would come when I’d be okay with George being blasted by the public but he clearly didn’t give a fuck about me so why should I care about his feelings?While George tried to restore his image, Paige was still silent. It seemed like she didn’t even care about what was going on even if she had more to lose. George could go back to California and try to block New York’s news from getting there. He could go back to being the perfect lawyer.Either way, I saw this as the perfect opportunity to strike.I stood by the door with the cops as we waited for Paige to open the door. Because of Jackson’s influence, the cops allowed me to tag along for Paige’s arrest.When she took too long to open the door, I rang the doorbell again. A few seconds later, I heard slow footsteps and soon, the door was pu