Five years ago“When are you settling down, Lucas?” Aunt May asked me for the umpteenth time as she walked around my mansion. She opened every door that was built inside and peeped in every crevice, clearly on a mission to find something that would deter her from ever stepping foot in my house again. But Jacque had ensured every tile in this house was sparkling clean of my sins and crimes. I was Aunt May’s good old boy.“Aunt May,” I cried out as I followed her steps carefully. “I will settle down when I need to settle down. Right now, my head is just in a different space.” I defended myself. Barely did Aunt May ever fail to remind me just how alone I am. Whenever she visited me in New York, she would exaggerate the size of the mansion and how no number of staff would ever be enough to fill the void inside my heart. I knew all that, I just did not wish to remember.“Mmh,” she scoffed quietly as we entered my room. “I am not saying that you need to find a wife and tie the knot immediat
“You have arrived at your destination, sir, and ma’am,” the captain alerted us as soon as the ship came to a standstill. I looked around in amazement, feeling elated about the next few days that would free my mind from the noisy buzz of the cities.The island that Lucas owned was enormous, the green area extending to form an almost complete circle of land. Most of the land bore large trees with sparse palm trees lining the edges of the island. On one end of the island, a wide villa stood strong and independent, overlooking the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean.Lucas alighted first as he bid the captain goodbye. I accepted his help alighting the ship and walked beside him, enjoying the feel of the warm sand in between my toes. The villa had a design similar to ancient Roman architecture, and the road leading to the entryway was paved with white crystals of sand and decorated with shells. Flowers blossomed around most of the trees, coloring the earth with their petals.I was unsure o
The dolphin scare from a while back had seemed like the perfect escape sent from above to run away from the anxiety that was quickly crawling up my skin. I knew deep down from the first moment I had laid my eyes on Charlotte that I wanted her to be with me until we were old and ugly, but the thought of saying the right words in the right way at the right time seemed to be choking me. Unlike the wish I had to get swallowed by a Caribbean reef shark before I messed things up, all we got is an adorable dolphin to welcome us to the island.I had planned what seemed like the perfect engagement ceremony for Charlotte, something I hoped she would appreciate. I had received help from our families and friends, and out of all of us, Jacque had done the most in ensuring all the people were in the right places at the right time.Jacque had contacted the best chef in George Town who happened to be his friend from culinary school in France and had him prepare exotic dishes for us to use while at th
“Bitch!” I shouted at Rita when I entered the room she had chosen for the staycation at George Town. “You couldn’t give me a heads up that you were coming to the States?” I asked, my surprised voice laced with immense enthusiasm and a bunch of indescribable emotions.“Okay, first of all, honey, surprises don’t work that way. If I had told you about me coming back, I am pretty sure you would have connected the dots pretty fast, you and your incredibly smart brain cells,” she said as she hooked her swimwear on the cloth hangers.“And secondly, Lucas bribed us all with first-class seats and the joy of zucchini tart and fine whiskey made me forget to contact you. I am sorry boo, but have you slept in the Emirates’ silk pajamas? You will never dream of reaching home,” Rita said, her eyes lighting up as though she was reliving the moment once again.“So much for nothing will ever keep us apart,” I said sarcastically as I helped her arrange her skin care products in the bathroom.“Babe! Don’
“How do you feel now, soon-to-be Mrs. Benjamin?” Lucas asked Charlotte as they walked down the coastline towards the other end of the island. Their hands remained interlocked throughout the entire walk, and they barely stayed two feet away from each other.“Well, Mr. Benjamin, I already love it here,” Charlotte responded with an enthusiastic tone. “This must be the first surprise I am actually in love with.”“Yeah, Jenny warned me severally,” Lucas said with a chuckle. “Well, you have always been the woman my heart is in love with, so I had to make everything perfect for you. I will always try to make everything perfect for you,” he added.Lucas pulled Charlotte closer so that his arm was on her shoulders. Charlotte snaked her arm around Lucas’s waist and they walked that way until the ocean calmed. Then they turned to go back home.“Where would you like to have our wedding?” Charlotte asked. She felt Lucas’s body stiffen in her touch as a light gasp escaped his lips.“Oh, wow! Well,
“Take a picture!” Rita pleaded with me. I gave her a stern look through my Bvlgari sunglasses, clearly not willing to update a world of strangers on my newly unlocked level of love and ecstasy.“No!”“Why not? Don’t you want to preserve the memories?” she asked. My face had a quizzical look on as I listened to her. To me, Rita was not making any sense. I looked over at Jenny and Abby, seeking backup, but it was no use as the two were busy online watching different birth procedures. Abby had disclosed her wish for a homebirth which Jenny was skeptical about.“I don’t need the whole world to know that I am engaged. It will be of no benefit to either party,” I insisted as I returned my gaze to the fashion magazine in my hands.“Not true! Think about all the ladies that would kill themselves to become you,” Rita added. I shot her another sharp look, surprised at the words she was trying to frame positively only to fall headfirst.“I don’t want to motivate anyone to be suicidal, Rita. I ha
Spending time with Mark and Anthony was all I needed to exhale all the stress I had been feeling lately. We had created a brotherly bond over the past few days that we spent playing on the beach and scuba diving early in the morning, and I could not wait to see how the next two days would unfold for us.I watched as Charlotte ran back to join the rest of us in the ocean. She swam all the way to where I was and devoured my lips hungrily. I could sense something was wrong, and as we kissed; I swam back, farther from the rest of the group.“Are you okay?” I asked her, concerned. She opened her mouth but no words left her lips, leaving her to only nod in response.“Baby? I need to hear you say it. I need to know you mean it.” I told her. Charlotte had often before suppressed her emotions, preferring rather fight her demons all alone. Now that we were together, for an indefinitely long time, I needed her to let me in, fully. I wanted to be there for her more than anything else. I watched a
“Hey lovely Kent family, welcome once again to my I*******m live. I am excited to host you here once again with the newest and juiciest news in my life. Aww, thank you @mrharry for your sweet comment, sending love and light back to your darling,” Vivian Kent bubbled in her I*******m live. “@vivreignsforever, I see you! To answer your question, yes, my fashion company is doing great! Couldn’t be any better honestly. We are thriving until the end because that’s the only way Kents do their work. I shall send you a free package from Red Kent just because you sound like a sweetheart. Mwah! “So, I came on here to inform y’all that I have moved on from my last breakup. It was quite embarrassing for me, to be honest. I had dumped Lucas a while back but I could not understand why he would go for someone lower than me. I mean,” Vivian laughs, “everyone knows that when you break up, you are meant to do better. That’s the only way to hurt your ex. But it seems your favorite billionaire did the o