It was around 3 p.m. London's time when Anita Simmons arrived at Billings Corp., three hours before closing time. She was in her gym clothes and had obviously not planned on coming in today. "Good morning." Meryl greeted sarcastically, and Anita just rolled her eyes.
“Good afternoon, Meryl, and how are you?” Anita retorted with a smile on her face.
Meryl frowned and looked up from the file she had been pretending to be working on the moment Anita walked into the building. Anita was unusually sweet today, not that she was not sweet at all, but she and Meryl were always exchanging cheeky comments. "You look unusually happy today," Meryl commented, a small smile ghosting her face.
Anita just chuckled and shook her head. "Is Mr Billings here?" She asked, and Meryl scoffed.
“He left early in the morning, say…8a.m.? Some guy named David Botha came to see him, and they left the building together. He asked me to cancel all his meetings and app
"No woman in her right state of mind would speak to you the way those two women did unless you screwed them." Cameron Parker commented as he settled down on the couch in MJ's office. Cameron was a thirty-year-old man who still got into a lot of trouble. He looked like a troublemaker, and anyone who had eyes could never miss that fact about him. He was wearing black skinny jeans, a white silk shirt, white Timberland boots, and a long silver chain hanging around his neck. His dark black hair was a mess, and his lips were set into a pout. His grey orbs snapped to Jorge when he did not reply to his comment. "Shit! You screwed them both, didn't you?" He asked, but Jorge did not answer; he just sighed and plopped down on the couch. David Botha yawned and looked at his watch while standing on his feet. “I should probably get going. I have an early flight to Australia tomorrow morning, so I need all the rest I can get.” He said, rubbing his eyes. “It’s damn hard
MJ had just arrived home after touring around the city with Liam, trying different foods. She was calmer than she was earlier, and it was all thanks to her driver and bodyguard.By the time she got to the apartment, she was exhausted and did not want anything at all besides sleeping, but all that faded when she remembered the boy she had met last night. Chad. She wondered if he had found the jersey and the money she left him. She had totally forgotten about him and hoped that Mr Brown had not found him sleeping in the storeroom this morning.She took off her high heels and changed into white baggy sweatpants and a short-sleeved oversized T-shirt, and then she tied her hair into a messy bun. She left the apartment and walked to the storeroom, only to bump into Mr Brown who was just locking the door. " Mr Brown." MJ greeted in a firm voice."Missy! What is a young lady like you doing up here alone at this time of the night?" The old grey-haired m
Chad did not know what to say. He just stared down at his plate and played with his food. If she was once a street kid, then how did she end up here? He wanted to ask but instead, he said, “Your place is nice.” He looked around the sitting room.“It was about 13 years ago. I was 15 then and had just started my grade 10.” MJ said with a faraway look, and Chad paid all the attention to what she was saying. “Everything was going fine; I was happy and felt like nothing could ruin my happiness. I was madly in love with this guy. He was a tutor at our school, and was one of my brother’s friends.” She said with a blank look and swallowed a lump in her throat, but the softness in her voice gave her away. “Everything was perfect until that day when everything turned upside down.” She shook her head and sighed heavily. “After that, it was one problem after another and running seemed to be a better option at the time beca
"That went well," MJ muttered to Liam. They were currently seated in an old building in the abandoned city. It was past twelve in the afternoon, and they had been there since morning. "They look happy, and they love their new clothes," MJ said calmly as they watched the children move around the hall, looking, sharing, and showing each other their clothes. When they arrived outside the apartment building, Liam was already waiting. At first, he was a bit sceptical about Chad and kept asking him questions. He was trying to figure out what MJ was doing with the boy; he asked him to take them to where they stayed, and then Chad took them to where he and the other street kids spent most of their time, and to MJ and Liam's surprise, it was the abandoned part of the city. Chad reasoned that it was the only place they were free to do as they pleased without someone to call the police or security at their mere presence. Chad knew the place inside out. He knew what
After his intense argument with Meryl, Jorge had a lot of thinking to do. He had messed up a great deal in the last twenty-four hours and had no idea how to fix his mistakes. It was not going to be easy, especially with the two women, Anita Simmons, and Meryl Anderson; they hated his guts after he fooled the both of them into sleeping with him, based on empty promises. Usually, he would not have any regrets after screwing a woman, but these two women were different; they happened to be close to his sister, and if she were here right now, he would never hear the end of it. Unfortunately, MJ happened to have a ‘soft spot' for them, which led to her banning him from the head office in London, and if by any chance he happened to be in the building, he made sure to steer clear of their way.Over the years, it had proven harder to avoid Meryl since she was the first face he saw when he walked into Billings Corp. With Anita however, it was a lot easier since he would cal
Cameron Parker just stood there and stared at the floor. Jorge Billings was on point. “Are these men the reason for the rift between you and your brother?” Jorge asked. Cameron sighed and ran a hand through his hair. This was not something he wanted to talk about, especially after discovering what his brother had done to him; he was hurt when he found out that Logan wanted him locked up in prison. All his life, Cameron had looked up to his brother; Logan was always the better man that he was. Unlike him, by the time he was ten, Logan knew what he wanted to be. Cameron never knew what he wanted to do with his life; he dropped out of school and lived off his parents’ money. However, after a while, his father got tired of sponsoring his rendezvous and lavish lifestyle. Cameron was the type of person who moved with time; he bought every new shoe design Adidas or Nike has ever released, and he advanced with Samsung mobiles. He was not the type of a guy to wear
She was going to drive him mad- in fact, she was already succeeding. She was late again, and she was not answering her phone. Just like the day before, Natalia was there to give him a bored look; she did not understand why he was acting the way he was for the past two days. Logan was angrier than usual, and it was all because of May Smith. Natalia still could not understand where the problem was; she was disobeying and disrespecting him in his own company, but she would not be the first person to do it. Under normal circumstances, he would have fired her, but right now, she doubted that Logan was in his right state of mind. "Logan, this has gone on for too long now; you need to get your shit together," Natalia said, earning herself a glare from Logan, but she just rolled her eyes. Natalia was about to say something when the office door opened, and ‘May Smith’ walked in, in all her glory. She was wearing a long black dress that reached her ankles a
Logan did not understand what was wrong with him; he was not usually this angry and reprimanded himself for letting May Smith get to him, but the woman was inveterate. However, that was not why Logan was angry. He felt guilty for throwing his brother to the wolves, and the worst part was that he was not doing anything to redeem himself. A part of him told him that he should get Liam out of prison, but another part of him told him that this was the only way Cameron would grow up and stop being irresponsible. Logan sighed and washed his face, and then stared at his reflection in the mirror. Logan could not deny that he was good looking- he knew it, and everybody else knew it. His good looks were the reason why he changed women more than he changed his tie and handkerchief. He had a reputation of a “bad boy” - a player; he slept with a different woman each day and threw them like trash after that. Women ran after him, so why would May Smith be any different? He
She could not remember the last time she felt such an adrenaline rush; it set her body on fire as excitement coursed through her veins.The apprehension she felt before, dissipated the moment she realised that she was basically alone on the top floor of Logan Parker's house. Who knew what secrets this house held?She still remembered Logan's house from her childhood years and back when they were dating. There were many rooms, but she knew where the important ones were; including his study, office, and his bedroom – the perfect places to bury his secrets and important information.From what she remembered, there were no cameras; hopefully that was still the case. She surveyed the house until she found his room, and as expected; it was locked. Logan never trusted anyone when it came to his personal spaces, especially since he was a heavy sleeper.MJ found his office, and strangely, it was not locked; it seemed as though he was
“Yes, that’s right!” Carmen laughed. “I know who you are.” She smirked. “Darn! You had us all fooled, you smooth bitch!” She continued to laugh, placing both her hands on the table for support, feeling proud to have MJ Billings at her mercy. At least that was what she thought.She had no idea what MJ Billings had in store for her. “And I underestimated you.” MJ said, sitting up straight. You have it bad! MJ thought.Carmen was willing to do anything to keep Logan that she did not realize the mistake she had made, but even if she did, it would have been too late. Not only did MJ Billings have leverage on her now, she practically had her life in her hands. But like the snake she was, MJ kept quiet, preying on her like silent venom.“And I proved you wrong.” Carmen said proudly.MJ studied her. She was a fair girl, beautiful beyond doubt. She was wearing a short brown b
“You don’t have to go, you know.” Jorge said worriedly to MJ.“I am going; Carmen invited me.” MJ said while applying a maroon lipstick on her lips. "The least I can do is honour her invitation." She pouted her lips, making sure that she applied her lipstick well.“But-” Jorge tried to argue, but she cut him off.She turned around to face him. “Jorge, we are the Billings, and we don’t-”“Disappoint.” He heaved a sigh and finished off for her.They were currently in MJ’s room, preparing for Logan and Carmen’s engagement party. MJ was wearing a long maroon cocktail dress that reached her toes, and white heels, and tied her curly hair to the side.Jorge, on the other hand, was wearing black skinny jeans, a black shirt, and a grey jacket.“Ready?” Anita peeked through the door, grabbing both their atten
The next morning was different. The Billings' residence felt cold with silence and tension. No one knew what to say. Everyone had to be careful of what they said. They were all currently seated in the kitchen with the exception of MJ."Mm…Jameson, since you are working now and earn better, you can build me a house like this, just to have a kitchen like this one." Antonina said, trying to break the silence. Jorge's house was very huge; it was a double story beach house. They had a sitting room, a lounge, a dining room, a very spacious kitchen that could accommodate the entire royal family and still leave enough space for movement.“Sure, Ants.” Jameson replied quietly.“Jorge, did you get any sleep at all?” Reina asked.Everyone could see that Jorge had not slept at all. He spent the rest of his night, or rather a morning, going through his CCTV footage. Anita had found him sitting in his office, stari
“Shannon!” Reina scolded in the background, but Shannon just laughed.“Haha, you are such a wimp!” Shannon’s laughter boomed through the phone and Jorge closed his eyes.“Oh! Jorge, please don’t mind her; she’s a bit high right now.” Reina said. “MJ is home, she just needs some rest.” She said tiredly, and Jorge sighed in relief.“Thank you, Reina. I’m on my way!” He hung up and was about to leave when Logan stopped him.“Hey, what’s going on?” Logan asked.“May is at home!” Jorge said impatiently.“I’m coming with you.” Logan said tiredly.“No!” Doctor Becker and Jorge answered in unison as if trying to hide something, taking Logan by surprise.Doctor Becker cleared her throat and continued, “Miss Smith needs some rest; a lot of res
Jorge rushed into the hospital and increased his pace as he approached the reception desk, his heart hammering hard against his chest as he imagined all sorts of outcomes. “Hi!” He greeted breathlessly. “My name is Jorge Billings; I’m here to see Miss Smith!” He said anxiously.The receptionist nodded and typed on the computer, and then she fixed her glasses and looked up with a small smile. "Mr Billings, please follow me." She left the desk and led him through a long passage. The sight of nurses and patients and the smell of the hospital made Jorge feel uneasy. Netcare Christiaan Barnard Memorial Hospital was a place that held some bad memories for him and MJ.This was the place where his sister was born, the same place where he was told that his mother had died when he was seven, the same place where he first held his sister in his arms.As if sensing his tension, the woman spoke up. “Your mom was such a ni
“I can’t do this anymore, Thuso. The wait is killing me.” Logan said and sat up from his office couch. He was still in the same clothes he had worn the previous day after work; black tracksuits. He had slept in his office at Parker’s Enterprises after another fight with Carmen. “It has been over 36 hours, that’s a day and a half. That’s almost two flipping days, and there’s still no sign of her.” He said with a broken voice. His eyes were puffy and he looked drained. “I don’t know what to do anymore, I feel like I’m losing my mind!” He growled and pulled on his hair.“We will find her, boss.” Thuso reassured him.“When?” Logan laughed bitterly and stood up. “Maybe this is my punishment. I should have told her the truth. Now she is still out there, probably being tortured and…” He trailed off and held his head.“Logan, y
Logan Parker did not want to hear anything at all. He did not want to listen to anyone. All that he wanted was to find MJ before anything could happen to her. It had not been long since her kidnapping, so chances were that the kidnappers were still around. They could not have gone that far since the police were contacted immediately and we're currently searching for the car.Logan suspected that the same person that tried to run MJ over was the same person that kidnapped her. His main lead now was the tinted car that was spotted on the CCTV footage, but it was not enough. Jorge had told him that May was missing and that she was kidnapped from Sonya’s apartment. His story was not convincing, but Logan decided to use what he had.Being a man of power and authority, Logan Parker managed to get SAPS to set roadblocks as soon as possible. All roads were blocked. From entrances and exit points of Cape Town and Western Cape to harbours and airports.
“Hey, Anita! It is Jorge again. I was just checking if you had heard anything from MJ. Please call me as soon as you get this message…” Jorge said into the phone. His hair was wet and he looked like he just got out of the shower. He was wearing blue jeans and a blue shirt, which was tight around his body, and the sleeves were neatly rolled up, giving his big and fancy watch a better view."Hey, Jorge!" Anita and the Dos Santos women budged into the house with a handful of shopping bags. He sighed in relief and walked towards them. "Wow! You should never go shopping with these two; they made us go from door to door." She sighed tiredly as she placed her bags down, and then she plopped down on the couch and took off her heels.“What the hell happened to your phone? I’ve been calling you all day long!” He shouted, frustrated.Anita sat up straight, and the two women who were busy mingling stopped what they were