Logan had never been so conflicted before in his entire life, except for one time back when he worked as a tutor in highschool.
It was matric farewell for the class of 2004, and he had asked MJ to be his date, but he never picked her up due to an unexpected turn of events.
He had been with Lola and Jorge earlier during the day when Lola started to get chest pains, and they had to take her home.
Later at night when he was about to leave his house to fetch his date, Lola's mother called him and told him that Lola was not waking up. He panicked and sped off to her house immediately and when he arrived, he found her unconscious on her bed with her mother placing a damp cloth on her forehead.
When Logan asked Mrs Leibrandt how long Lola had been out, she told him that since they dropped her off earlier. Logan freaked out and asked her why she did not call an ambulance, and Lola's mother broke down. He calmed down and dialled 112 for an ambulance, but two hours passed before it arrived.
When the paramedics arrived and they asked Mrs Leibrandt a few questions, that's when Logan learnt that Lola had a heart condition and she had a heart attack a few hours ago. When asked why she did not call an ambulance, she could not answer.
Lola was rushed to the hospital and Logan drove after the ambulance and stayed at the hospital until he was sure that Lola was stable. After seeing her that night, he went to the matric farewell, though late, and he sat alone at the bar and drowned himself in alcohol after finding out that Jorge had left.
The next day, he found out that MJ was hospitalised too and she refused to see him. That was the last time he had seen or heard from her, and before he knew it, Jorge stood panting at his doorstep and told him that MJ had run away from home. That was the last time he saw her, and when she returned thirteen years later, he did not know how to approach her because he knew he was perhaps part of the reason she ran away.
He wanted to let her know that he knew who she was. He could never forget the face that haunted his mind and heart for the past thirteen years, but the moment he opened his mouth to say her name, the words died in his throat. He stared at her and all he saw was a shell; her body was rigid and her eyes were almost lifeless, and he realised at that moment that maybe this was not the same person who he knew thirteen years ago.
Yet, he kept her around waiting for a moment where he would see something in her that reminded him of the old MJ. But each day was worse than the other, and he became acquainted with the new MJ; taking in her hard face, her hollow eyes, her sardonic smiles, her devious smirks, her cold voice, her emphatic language, and her unsympathetic soul. MJ was heartless and vengeful, and when he walked in on her and Carmen, he did not think that something must have gone down between them until it was too late and Carmen rolled down the royal staircase, and before he knew it, he was back to the night of the farewell party and he sat there helpless as they waited for the ambulance.
Three hours had passed and almost everyone had left except for Jorge, Doctor Becker, Lola, and Demi. Thuso had taken his wife, Mosetsana, home; and Natalia had to leave because of the coming storm. The Dos Santos women and Jameson left after Logan's fallout with Antonina, and Anita scored herself a lift from someone at the engagement party after MJ left alone with the car.
"Caroline, I still think it would have been better if we drove to the hospital." Logan said and ran a hand through his hair.
"We can't, it is not safe for her or the baby, my biggest fear right now is that she might have fractured her neck; she needs to be handled with care," Doctor Becker said as she continuously dialled numbers on her phone. "There is no signal." She threw her phone on the couch and sighed.
Silence fell once again and everyone stood in anticipation. Loud footsteps echoed from outside, and the door burst open, revealing a drenched Jorge with paramedics running after him with bags and a stretcher.
"Sorry we are late, there was a number of accidents on the way, and then the storm just caused an immense traffic jam," One of them apologised as he came forward and squatted next to Carmen. He did the normal routine; checked her pulse and then asked what happened.
Doctor Becker explained what happened as Logan seemed to have lost his voice.
"Is the baby going to be okay?" Logan asked as they put Carmen on the stretcher and strapped her in with her neck balanced.
"We can't tell until we see the sonogram, especially since there is no sign of bleeding. Come with us, we will check once on the ambulance."
They carried Carmen out of the house, trudged through the drenching rain, into the ambulance, and Logan entered after them along with Doctor Becker.
"Jorge and Thuso, please follow behind with one of the cars," He said before the ambulance doors closed and they drove out of the compound.
"She's going to be okay, and so is the baby," Doctor Becker assured him as she put on her synthetic gloves. She switched on the sonogram in the ambulance and took out the gel before she started to strip off Carmen.
She gently removed Carmen's leather jacket and unbuttoned the flowery dress from from the top. She had just reached below the breasts when she noticed something unusual. Her breath clogged in her throat and she swallowed hard.
"Caroline, why did you stop?" Logan asked, and she shook her head.
She already knew what was going on, but against her better judgement, she continued to unbutton the dress as she watched Logan's movements from her peripheral vision and his tense figure confirmed to her that perhaps he had an idea of what was happening.
Her hands stopped below Carmen's false stomach and everything went south, including her own heart.
"Logan–" she tried to reach his hand but he shook his head furiously, hot tears burning inside his eyes, but he refused to let them down. He could not believe that Carmen had deceived him. "I'm so sorry, Logan." Doctor Becker whispered sadly.Logan watched Carmen's body, his eyes glowering in pure hatred. His saliva got clogged in his throat, and he gulped it down and looked up to meet the stares from the doctor and the two paramedics at the back, and his gaze hardened.
"Stop the ambulance." He muttered, and Doctor Becker stared at him as if she had not heard clearly.
"Logan–"
"Stop. The. Ambulance." His face paled as if he had been exposed to the cold for hours without an ounce of warmth.
One of the paramedics knocked on the window connecting to the front. "Stop the ambulance!" He shouted over the noise from the rain and looked at his fellow paramedics in panic.
"Logan, it is raining outside. Can't you come with to the hospital and then Thuso can pick you up from there?" The doctor asked worriedly, and Logan glared at her, causing her to shift uncomfortably.
The ambulance slowed down and packed on the side, and Logan did not waste any time jumping out of the vehicle.
Doctor Becker stuck her head out and panicked when she noticed that they were parked in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by trees only. She cast Logan a worried glance but he did not pay her any heed as he walked back in the direction they came from, his figure slowly getting swallowed by the rain and darkness.The storm was heavy. Driving was impossible. Others waited for the storm to calm down, but others just wanted to drive home and get it over with as water flowed through the streets like a river. Most people feared for their lives remembering the flood that had occurred earlier in the year, taking people and cars with it.MAITLAND, Woltemade Cemetery in Cape Town looked like one of those graveyards in horror movies because of the storm, but it was not that bad when you looked closer. The only thing that made it bad was that in those graves laid people’s loved ones who passed away from different causes. But maybe it was also good because some people found healing where their loved ones lay, that is where they preferred pouring their hearts out, and some found pleasure and joy in cleaning the graves now and then.The water from the heavy rain flowed recklessly through the ground, some flowing into the few graves that were yet to be used. Despite the inte
Days and hours of aimlessly driving around could never suffice to the amount of pain he felt inside.Carmen's pregnancy stunt was the last straw before he realised that everyone around him had deceived him.MJ Billings, Sonya Smith, Shannon Botha, Jorge Billings', Lolitta Leibrandt, Jameson Petersen, David Botha, Reina and Antonina Dos Santos, Demi, and finally, Carmen. Not to forget MJ's secretary.He was blinded by the thrill of having his own family that he did not want to know where or when it happened. He did not even bother to recall all the times he spent his nights with Carmen and he did not see a bulge in her stomach, or check the details on the scan she gave him a few nights ago.He never loved Carmen, neither did he hate her before, but now he despised her. He hated thinking about her, but she was plucked to his mind like a tumour and no amount of medicine could cur
MJ didn't know who to trust anymore. She couldn't even trust herself, so how was she going to trust anyone else?"MJ!" She sat up abruptly at the sound of her brother calling her name. Had she been sleeping on the couch? She turned around to find Jorge standing next to the couch, where she was seated. "How long have I been sleeping?" She asked, looking around her while stretching her arms."I don't know, I just got home and found you here. Are you okay?" He asked with a glass of Scotch in his hand. He was wearing a grey three-piece suit, a jacket on his shoulder and his shirt rolled up. MJ remained quiet and smoothed over her dress. Jorge sighed and sat down next to her. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked, but MJ remained silent. "Were you crying?" Jorge asked.MJ's head snapped in his direction, but he remained unfazed, taking this chance to study her face. Her eyes were puffy, and her nose re
Sasha-Lee Van der Merwe was never the one to play by the rules. She liked playing dirty, and that was how she rose to the top of the table as a journalist. She was not just dirty, but she was damn good and that was why she could never ever run out of a job.At least that was what she thought, until Logan Parker got her suspended a few days ago. She had it coming because no matter how dirty she played, she had to remember to be professional and avoid throwing jabs and personal attacks against their subjects. The day she published the article about Logan Parker, Kyle Davids, and Snegugu; she knew that she was going to get called into her boss's office, but she also knew that he would not fire her, because despite everything, she was good at her job.However, she was no longer sure about her future at Dinange after her boss replaced her with her biggest rival. Dinange was her last option around Western Cape, and after everything she
At exactly 1a.m., MJ arrived at the beach house in a new dress. It was a long blue strapless dress she had bought after someone spilled coffee on her blouse. Walking into the house, she threw her handbag on the couch and took off her heels. She walked to the kitchen and opened the fridge, retrieving a bottle of still water.She gulped down the water until it was half, and left the bottle on the counter before she went back to the sitting room and plopped down on the couch. She leaned back on the couch and closed her eyes, rubbing her eyelids. Heaving a long sigh, she tilted her head to the side, facing the kitchen doorway. When she opened her eyes, they were glassy, cold glassy, looking ready to be relieved.If she had any tears to shed, she would as her mind travelled back to a few nights ago, on the 3rd of May 2017. Coming back to this house was the last thing she'd expected to do after that ordeal. Memories of that day were st
Life IS a roller coaster. It takes us up and down. It made you happy sometimes, and left you asking questions like ‘why me?’ most of the times. But that is just life; it is unpredictable, unreliable, and greatly unfair.24 hours. A day. Many things can happen within 24 hours. Time goes on; it does not stop or continue just as we wish. Sometimes we wish we could go back in time and prevent something from happening, but who are we to do that? Someone once said, ‘time is free, but it is priceless. You cannot own it, but you can spend it. Once you have lost it, you can never get it back.’ Neither of us can stop time, but we can use it to make up for our mistakes and heal our wounds.The Dos Santos women and Anita were seated in the waiting room at the hospital, waiting for updates on Carmen’s condition. They were the only people that had bothered themselves about her; everyone else had developed hatred t
Her Monday had started well so far; she had arrived at work in time to open the building even though she had to take a taxi since Anita was not around to pick her up from her apartment anymore.After taking off without notice, Jorge and Anita had sent through an email informing Meryl that they were coming back today from Cape Town trip.The day after dinner, Anita arrived to work wearing shades and she completely ignored Meryl. It was obvious that she had been crying, and that proved to Meryl that Anita did not leave her apartment because she had nothing to wear; she left Meryl’s apartment because she wanted to go home and cry alone.Meryl had been trying to call her to tell her about her encounter with Javier that night and what she discovered, but her phone was off, and she was ignored her the entire day. When Jorge finally arrived, they left the office, and went on to work outside o
At least 72 hours had passed and there was still no sign of Logan.Jorge had asked some of his best IT experts to track him down the same way he had done with MJ. He and Thuso had sent out a search team, and had gone to all the places they thought he would be, but he was not there.They had just returned from their search, and were currently at Jorge’s, looking completely exhausted.Anita came down the stairs, wearing tracksuits and takkies. “Any luck?” She asked as she headed to the kitchen.“No!” Jorge said tiredly.“This is so unlike the boss to disappear without trace.” Thuso sighed.&ldquo
Everyone had a different opinion on what the greatest moments in life are. From someone reaching a certain, graduations, having a first child, getting married, or buying a new car... Those were great achievements if one came from nothing, but that was never the case for her.She came from a well-off family, she never lacked anything, and by the time she reached the age of eighteen, she had already begun paving her own path in the world.The greatness she had come to embrace, was standing tall in front of her enemies, with the knowledge that she would ruin them. Samantha Grayson loved the thrill, the threats, the blood, and the chase; and nothing excited her more than facing new challenges.She always wondered what it was about Cape Town that had Jorge running home every other week besides the skirt he left behind, but after finding out about MJ's kidnapping and recent events, she knew she wanted to see it for herself.
Logan thought he knew what had gone wrong, but as each day passed, he ran out of ideas of what might have happened. But from the way Cameron had urged him to investigate the matter, he was keeping himself under control from bursting out in anger.He had thought of all possible reasons why MJ ended up in hospital that night, but no one backed him up. He remembered that Reina and Jorge were there that night; he tried to talk to them then, but they did not give him answers.Everyone was telling him that it would be better if he asked MJ himself, but after everything she put him through, he did not want to speak to her or see her ever again. And if it were not for his brother's persistence, he would not have reached out to her, especially after she was openly hostile when he called her.He could still remember how her voice reverberated with hatred when she asked him where he had gotten
After the cryptic message she received the other night, Sasha was never able to sleep again. She spent all night trying to imagine what could be in store for her, and every time she closed her eyes, she saw MJ damaging her face.By the time her alarm rang the following, she was exhausted; the only thing she remembered about that morning was saying goodbye to Demi.She remembered going to Beaufort West in a meter taxi, to the address provided by MJ Billings, and she remembered finding the house and someone opening the door for her, and that was it. She had no memory of the person or how she ended up in the house, she just woke up and found herself tied to a chair drilled in a deep, empty pool located in what looked like an underground parking lot.Her clothes were taken off, and she was left in only her underwear.The place was cold, there was no heat coming
MJ knew she never made the best decisions under rage, but that never stopped her.The anger was nothing new to her, but the pain that came with it was brutal. She thought she had played Logan, that she had the upper hand all this time, while she was the one who fell straight into his trap.He used her most vulnerable side to deceive her, because he knew her past would always haunt her.She wondered what he would do if he knew the rest of the story, she remembered telling Blair how she feared how Logan would look at her once he knew her darkest truths, but now she was more worried about what he would do instead; would he device another plan to deceive her?The first thought after leaving that restaurant was to call Blair and tell her what happened, but she did not want to feel vulnerable again and find herself confessing things she feared to admit even to he
As much as Logan had anticipated seeing MJ Billings again, he did not expect it to be so soon, especially after their last conversation on the phone. He was convinced that it would take months and a miracle for her to make another stop in Cape Town, and he was okay with that.He knew she was back over a week ago, but thought it best to stay out of the way, because he feared that she would catch on to the guilt in his eyes.The day she walked into his office with Sonya marked a beginning of a new era in his life, one too many times he was convinced that perhaps they could look past their differences and their past and start afresh, he believed they could be happy. But if their issues remained unresolved, they would never move forward.It was even worse now with the mess his sister got him into, not to mention that he led to Jorge's attack.He could see that it was
The last thing Logan needed at this point was to interact with other humans. Antonina respected that even though be was in her home, but his brother on the other hand did not understand what it meant to give someone some space.Antonina left early in the morning to get the café ready for its opening day, while Logan decided to go to work late, he was not even ready yet.It had not even been twenty-four hours since their movie night, and Logan was not ready to face him again.The first time he saw that footage, he was devastated, he felt hurt and betrayed. He still wished he had not opened that video after Jackson gave him that memory stick, but curiosity got the best of him.Antonina's house was the best hideout, no one knew he was there and no one would ever guess that he was there. At least that was what he thought until Cameron showed up on his doorstep
Logan arrived in his home tired. It was around 8p.m., he had made sure that he was the last one to leave the office especially since it was spring and days were longer. He always left his office at 7p.m. when the sun set.Nodding at the butler as a form of greeting, he entered his house and walked to his sitting room, and his steps faltered as he took in the picture in front of him, and his blood boiled. Dirty dishes were on the coffee table, unfinished food and food crumbs covered his table. There were dirty socks on the large couch and empty cans covered the floor. "CAMERON!" He barked as he took heavy steps up the stairs.He dropped his suitcase and jacket on his bed before he strolled out of his room to continue the search for his brother. "CAMERON!" He barked and pushed Cameron's door harshly, causing it to bang against the wall, and then he froze at the door, pursing his lips together. Cameron jumped out
The place was quiet.Too quiet for her comfort.She tried to open her eyes, but something restricted her from doing so. She had been blindfolded. She tried to move, but her arms and legs were bound.She tried to think of a solution, but nothing came up. For the first time in her life, she felt stupid. She felt useless.All her life, she had proven to be able by herself. She had proven that she did not need anyone to achieve her goals, neither did she need anyone to come to her rescue, especially men. However, on the contrary, it was quite the opposite. "Jorge!" She whispered, her voice inaudible from fear.She took a deep breath, the smell of urine and dirty water hitting her nostrils and causing her to cringe and choke on her saliva. She coughed, the process not helping at all as she tried to stabilize her breaths. Oh, Jorge! Whe
As usual, Parker's Enterprises was busy. The ground floor was packed with employees moving up and down. Mosetsana and Natalia stood behind the reception desk, but had a new companion. It was a young looking coloured girl, probably around 20. She had shoulder-length black hair and big brown eyes. Unlike the two other women, she was very active and fast, and spoke too much. First day at work, and Natalia and Mosetsana were already tired of hearing her stories. "I'm just gonna take these to Mr Parker." She said hastily and hurried to the elevator.Natalia buried her face in her palms and groaned. "When is this day ending?!" She whined and looked at Mosetsana who just sighed and gave her the tell-me-about-it look."Thank God, it's lunch time." Mosetsana said and started packing her things. Natalia just sighed and nodded. She placed her elbow on the desk and leaned against her arm, staring at the door boringly as some of her col