“Let’s go back home,” she spoke after lifting her eyes off her screen. I locked in the rage I felt inside of me and reversed the car back to where we came from. It pained me to see her this distraught about something that we both enjoyed, but the idea that she pinning the entire blame on me pained me the most. I drove back silently, not shooting even a glance her way.
Once in the compound, she dashed into the house and went straight to her room. I walked over to the bar and poured myself a drink, gulping it down my throat in one swerve. Jacque approached me to notify me that dinner was served but my stomach could not handle any more weight than it currently was.
I followed Charlotte’s tracks, disappearing into my room with a bottle of Bruichladdich in my hand. I planned on forgetting the day’s events even though a part of me wanted to keep the memory of Charl
I stood in the doorway, my eyes still welling with tears. There was no response from the gate to let me through as I had left my access card behind when I left for New York. I stood at the gate for an hour, waiting patiently for someone to let me in. The security system at the apartment was tight, only granting access to the tenants with entry cards.Terrence was either not in the house or he did not want to let me in as I had pressed the bell intermittently but to no response. I had left multiple messages on his phone which were still automatically going to voicemail, and till now, I was yet to get a callback.I sat outside on the dusty pavement, ignoring the glares and hushed whispers of the passersby. I pulled my knees to my chest and buried my face in the space between. The helplessness I felt mixed with the jetlag weighed on me heavily, but still, the only
I was in the office earlier than everyone, optimizing every chance I got to distract my mind from thinking about her, or anyone else for that matter. The clock hanging on the hallway wall indicated that it was half past six in the morning which was the earliest I had ever been at work.I opened my laptop and went through the tasks that I had failed to do because of my hangover yesterday. Luce had rescheduled all my meetings leaving me with only two for the day as the rest were spread out through the week.I downloaded some of the attachments she had sent over to my email for approval, signing them electronically before I sent them back. I was about to call Luce for confirmation of some of the business deal proposals that I saw on our dashboard but hesitated as I had not switched on my phone for fear of more ambush from Vivian.I sat still, waiting for Luce to come to the office instead. This did not take too long as she was the first to walk into the office before the clock ticked 7 a
It had been two days since Charlotte moved in with Rita, and still no word from Terrence. He had neither reported back to the office which left Charlotte feeling guilty for breaking his heart to the extent where he missed his job. She was in no hurry to return back to work, choosing to rather wallow in her misery on Rita’s couch. Charlotte had left a couple of voice messages to Terrence hoping to rewrite her wrongs, but he was yet to reach back to her. “So, hate to be the bearer of good news when you are mourning,” Rita began one evening from work, “But, I got the invitation letter to London!” she squealed, galloping in excitement towards Charlotte. she leaped on the couch with joy, making Charlotte bounce up and down, a faint smile on her face as she watched her best friend live her dreams. “Yay!” She sat up on the couch, joining her best friend in celebration. Her eyes had grown tired of shedding any more tears, forcing her to put the troubles of her love story aside, and selfles
It had been two weeks since Terrence and I parted our ways. I had reported back to work, even though things were still slow as we were working our way back to the top of the publishing sector pyramid.Kerrington had managed to recruit some of the old employees who worked in the company before, and with most of our journalists back on the streets, we remained hopeful that things were bound to start spiraling quicker in no time.I was all alone in Rita’s loft for the third day since her departure to London. We had face-timed seven times already as she shared every joyous moment with me since her arrival. I had not dived into the details of her job placement offer as I did not fashion savvy and hence, the details did not turn on a bulb in my head.My dark clouds were slowly fading away as I settled into the new p
Mr. Manning had always insisted on his daughters practicing the rules of Ikigai throughout their lives. He would inspect the food they consumed, tally in the liters of water each of them drank, and even forcibly get them out of their beds at the crack of dawn to join him in his early morning exercise routine despite their loud lamenting.The fear of losing his daughters was evident in his eyes, but unlike their distant mother, he never looked at them through the lens of all the miscarriages they had experienced, but rather saw them as two brightly-faced girls who were a gift for all those who had died. His only hope was to live long to enjoy their company, and all that was going well until the doors of death began knocking at his door.The first time that Mr. Manning experienced fatal chest pain was three years ago at his house. He had witnessed the
The weekend was over in a snap, giving me no chance or space whatsoever to grieve about my fight with Rita. I had stayed over at my parent’s house helping Jenny take care of my father who was slowly recuperating. The doctor had insisted on bed rest for him, leaving us to take care of any business that he was unable to oversee by himself.Jenny and I sat outside enjoying the cold breeze of the evening. She had heard about all the events that had happened to me recently up to my fight with Rita which she witnessed, and her empathetic skills were close to non-existent, but still, I appreciated her keenness in listening to me.“You know that Lucas really loves you, right?” she broke the silence, at last, giving me a chance to exhale and quench my thirst. The sound of the crickets filled the atmosphere as the neighborhood grew quiet after her quest
The second quarter was coming to a close which meant that work was piling up as reports and proposals had to be approved before time was up. Everyone in the office was running helter-skelter to ensure they got the reports on my table before my impatience turned to rage.I avoided staying at the office the rest of the month as I felt nearly choked by people’s presence around me the entire time. Since Mark was back from Amsterdam, I left him in the office most of the days, preferring to stay in my home office for the sake of my sanity.Thoughts of Charlotte were staying rent-free in my mind, occupying the rest of the brain area that did not constantly think of the Benjamin Company. I had gotten advice from Mark weeks ago on fighting for her, but every time I thought of reaching out to her, something inexplicable stopped me.Not only had she occupied my mind during the day, but Charlotte Manning was also in my dreams all night as my brain replayed our kiss over and over again, making me
Rita received an email pop-up from The Red Kent Fashion manager first thing in the morning, leaving her perplexed as she put the phone receiver down. She had ignored the messages from her best friend, leaving her wallowing in apologetic messages on Telegram with no reply.Silent treatment had been their way of punishing one another in their friendship, but this was the first time it had gone for over two days. It hurt her too, but she was not ready to forget the shame her best friend had caused her. Until this morning.Dressed ready for work, she diverted her Google map destination and drove down to Manning’s house where Charlotte now stayed. She needed to right the wrongs in their friendship, and a part of her could no longer pretend to not miss Charlotte.She missed her, dearly, and right now, she needed someone to guide her through how best to work with Vivian Kent. The email she had received was another invitation for an interview with the Kent Lady, and only Charlotte had mastere