Derek soon found out that reuniting with Denise was not as bad as he had thought it was going to be. They had been friends since college, after all, and he had actually missed her.She also knew a lot of things about him and his companies, so having her around was good. His mother and sister were thrilled at this reunion, but Derek wasted no time in telling them that it wasn’t what they were thinking at all.She had to work with his company, and that was the only reason he was hanging out with her so much. Soon, he realized that he was simply deceiving himself. Despite everything, he still had feelings for Denise, which had to make him the dumbest man on God’s green planet.He kept these feelings firmly under check, however, and immediately tried to distance himself from her, but since they had to work together, it was difficult to stay away from her entirely.Denise for her part, seemed to regard him as just a friend and did not seem to have any romantic feelings whatsoever towards
PRESENT DAY The phone rang shrilly in the almost empty room, and Rooney, a one-time criminal who was very notorious for having committed several crimes in the past years, but somehow, always managed to get out of prison in record time, answered it on the third ring. “Yes?” He said into the phone in that gruff and gravelly tone that never ceased to make people afraid to cross him. “Rooney?” A female voice came from over the phone. “This is him. What ya want?” “Do you know who is speaking?” “I do. What ya want?” Rooney asked again. He had never been known for his warm or patient nature. “Okay. I just wanted to make sure. Listen, it’s time.” “Time for what?” “Time for what we discussed some months ago.” The female voice said. “Sure thing. I need my money before anything else, though.” “And you’ll get it in full and then some if you execute what I want perfectly.” “That’s good news to me ears. So it’s time for me to do it then? Do you want it to be done today, tomorrow, or some
"Great work today,” Steve said to Ava, slipping into the empty stool beside her and signaling for the waiter to come over.She was sitting in a bar close to her hotel and slowly sipping a drink while thinking about the events of that day.“Oh, hey! What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be resting after today’s hectic activities?” Ava asked him, noting how strong and handsome he looked and how good he smelled.A couple of women who were sitting close to where Ava was seated muttered excitedly to themselves, covering their mouths and giggling as they cast not-so-covert glances at Steve. He nodded and smiled politely at them before sitting beside Ava.“I was indeed about to go rest, but then I realized that I needed a drink, so I came down here, and lo behold, who should I run into but the very woman whom I haven't been able to get off my mind these past few days? God indeed works in mysterious ways.” Steve replied to her question, smiling mischievously at her, his pearly white
To Derek’s relief, Barry was admitted and stabilized within minutes of his arrival at the hospital. They were regular visitors at the hospital after all, so it was not always a hassle to get Barry admitted anytime he had a crisis.It was only after Barry was settled that Derek looked down at himself and realized that he was dressed in his pajamas. In his haste, he had neglected to change into more presentable clothes.Luckily enough, it was night, or rather early morning, depending on how one looked at it, which meant that he could quickly rush home and change into more presentable clothing before day.“I’m so sorry about what happened, boss. I came as soon as I could.” Jerome his bodyguard told him, coming up to meet him in the corridor of the hospital.Jerome was a huge and beefy man with a very stern expression, but he had a soft spot for Barry and always found time to play with him whenever he was less busy.“Ah, Jerome. You’re here. Thank goodness. How did you know I was gone?”“
The first thing he noticed was the small but scary-looking gun the other guy brought out seemingly from nowhere and casually pointed at him.The second thing he noticed was that this was no ordinary robber but a hardened criminal. The look in the man’s eyeswas cold and mean enough to freeze even the hottest parts of hell.“Get in.” The man told Derek, angling his head to indicate that Derek was to get into the open passenger side of the car.“What do you want from me?” Derek asked, stalling and trying to see if he could find a way to wrestle the gun out of the man’s hand.He wasn’t by any means a trained fighter or anything, and this man who was waiting impatiently for him to get into the car looked like one who fought and shot people for a living.However, Derek wasn’t about to just hand himself over on a platter of gold, so he tried again.“Is it money you want? I have tons of it and would be more than glad to part with some of it if we both just agreed to forget this unfortunate l
The film crew was having a quick break when Ava noticed that Denise was having what appeared to be a heated conversation with Derek’s bodyguard. Ava remembered the man from when she was married to Derek, and they had even been friends back then.Derek was nowhere in sight, which was just as well, because she wasn’t interested in seeing him, especially since for the past few days, she had been having conflicted feelings about her decision to continue to keep him out of her child’s life.“You have no fucking right to talk to me in that tone. It is not my fault that your boss is a deadbeat father who would leave his son bedridden in a hospital, knowing fully well that I’m working. Anyway, the boy has a nanny, not so? Well, get the nanny to stay with him. You don’t very well expect me to leave the set in the middle of filming.” Denise yelled at the man, whose expression remained impassive.“There always has to be some drama where this lady is concerned.” Steve, who was seated close to Ava
Derek had never felt so awful in his entire life. It felt as though his entire head was made of lead and that his mouth was filled with ashes. His head throbbed so bad that for several minutes after he came to, he simply remained in the same position in which he woke up, waiting for the pounding ache in his head to die down. It didn’t die down by any means, but he got used to it enough to crack open one eye and try to get bearing of his surroundings. He did not for the life of him, recognize where he was, why he was there, or who had brought him there. After what felt like an eternity, he was able to struggle into a sitting position, even though his head and body protested the movement every inch of the way. He soon realized why. There was a dirty makeshift bandage and sling covering the upper part of his chest and his right arm. No wonder moving into a sitting position had hurt so bad. He looked around him again, trying to get his bearing, but there was nothing to see. He was in
It took several days... Much longer than it was supposed to take, for people to realize that Derek had most likely been kidnapped. In the message that his bodyguard got that same morning of his disappearance, it had been stated that Derek was going to be unreachable for several days because he did not want to be disturbed. However, everyone who knew him also knew that there was no way he would leave his son so abruptly without giving instructions on what was to be done for the boy, or at least sorting his medical bills. “I can't believe this! How irresponsible can the man be? Who the fuck leaves a sick child in the hospital and disappears in the middle of the night when he knows that the boy’s mother is working and would not be able to come to be with him?” Denise fumed. She was pacing the entire length and breadth of the hospital room in which Barry was admitted and was constituting such a huge nuisance that Barry’s nurse had to ask her to step outside. The child looked very r
The day was bright, sunny, and cheerful, as were the people who were present at Derek's house to celebrate with him and Ava as they got married for the second time.The large garden at their house had been decorated beautifully and had served as their wedding venue. The two were the stars of the show, and they had eyes for no one but each other.They had just exchanged their vows again, to the thunderous cheers of their friends, family, and well-wishers.To put it more precisely Derek was the one with the friends, while Ava was the one with her family members present.Derek didn’t have any extended family members left, and neither did he want any. The family that he had built and was still building was more than enough for him.He had Ava, who was the best and most supportive partner that anyone could have, and with whom he was madly in love, and vice versa.He also had his beautiful daughter, Harper, who was growing up so fast and was so smart and well-behaved that she melted hearts
He led her back to his room, walked over to a drawer by the side of his bed, opened it, and brought out something from inside it.When he turned towards her and she saw what it was that he brought out of it, Ava gasped out loud.It looked like the black box in which her engagement ring had come several years ago.Derek had always had a taste for good things, and he had the money to support his taste.Thus back then, even when he wasn’t really into her, and was only marrying her out of pity, he had gotten her a beautifully crafted and expensive engagement ring.As he opened the box in his hands now and got down on one knee, she could see that it was the same ring that was inside it.He had kept it even after all these years! Tears sprung to her eyes, filling them as he professed his love to her and asked her to marry him again, promising to treat her right this time around and make up for all the lost years.“Yes, yes, Derek. Of course, I’ll marry you! There’s nothing I want more.” She
Ava wasn’t about to take any chances though. After hugging the living daylights out of Derek, while he hugged her back just as tightly, she insisted that they had to visit the hospital right then.“But it’s already late. Besides, I don’t think there's anything they can do or will have to do. We can wait until tomorrow to go there and celebrate this night instead.” Derek suggested, his voice rife with meaning as he threw a suggestive wink Ava’s way, but she didn't allow herself to be swayed.“No way in hell. We’ve waited too long for you to regain your memory to just take it so lightly now that it has finally happened. We’re going now, and that’s that!”“As Her Royal Highness wishes.” Derek joked, making a small, formal bow that made Ava smile.Yes, he was back. She could see in his eyes that he truly recognized her, but even better, he had the same look in his eyes that he used to have before he went to the conference and everything changed.The look that told her that he was in love
She picked up the papers with the slowness of a very old woman and scanned through them, her hands shaking.She was not surprised to see her name, as well as Derek’s name on the papers because she had recognized the papers the minute they fell out of the book.It was the same ones that Derek had handed to her on that night several years ago, which she had had no choice but to reluctantly sign, while crying her eyes out and swearing never to forgive him for everything that he had done to her.Except that he hadn't really done anything in the sense of the word ... at least, not in the way that she thought.Why on earth were these papers still with him? She had signed them and left that day without giving any thought to what he was going to do with them.Her signature was there on the paper, right where she had signed it haphazardly. In fact, she thought that she could still see a tear mark or two on the papers since she was crying when she signed them, but she couldn’t be sure since th
They walked in companionable silence to Derek’s room. Once they were inside the room, he led her to his walk-in closet where he had stored the journals, making sure to keep a respectable distance between them.Ava knew that it was because she had complained about the scent of his cologne, and now, she wished that she had kept her wide mouth shut.“It’s all in there. Here, let me look for the specific one you asked about.” Derek said, picking it out and handing it to her.“Oh, thank you. Are you sure that you don’t mind me reading it?”“Not in the least bit. I feel like I’d be doing the guy who wrote all that stuff a huge solid by letting you see for yourself all the things that he wanted to say to you for so long but was too chicken to say. He might want to kill me for doing it, but I think he’ll be better for it in the long run.” Derek replied, shrugging.“Okay then,” Ava said happily.Derek, for his part, suddenly became self-conscious. What if she thought that he was a sappy fool a
Several seconds passed, and then Derek rushed in the direction that she had gone.He found her in the restroom adjoining the living room. She was throwing up violently into the toilet bowl.Derek went over to her and moved her hair away from her face, providing support until there was nothing for her to throw up anymore.Once she was done, she slowly turned to face him. It was clear that she was reluctant to turn, andDerek remained immobile for a few more seconds before rushing after Ava.He found her in the restroom adjoining the living room, throwing up violently into the toilet bowl, and rushed towards her.He held her and moved her hair away from her face until there was nothing for her to throw up anymore.Then she slowly and reluctantly turned to face him, a fact that wasn't lost on him. In fact, she seemed to be inching awayfrom him so that there was a little space between them.He figured that it was because she had just finished throwing up the contents of her bowel and did
The next day, Derek arrived home from work with a huge bouquet of flowers for Ava and a smaller one for Harper. The two of them were in the living room, watching Harper’s favorite cartoon and looking all comfy and cozy. Their eyes lit up the moment Derek stepped into the living room, and this filled him with warmth. Harper in her usual fashion, bounded up to run over to him to give him a big hug. Her hugs were one of his favorite things nowadays, and he could never get tired of receiving them for as long as he lived. Ava, on the other hand, was more reserved in her welcome towards him, but she did smile at him in welcome. Her eyes were always cautious around him, which kind of made him sad because that emotion was definitely different from the one he wrote about in his journals after she warmed up to him. “Welcome home. Derek. What have you got there behind you?” Ava asked him. “Thank you. I got you both some flowers.” He replied, and brought forward the hand that was holding th
As the days passed and Derek's memory didn't return, he got more and more frustrated because it felt like things were at a standstill due to the memory loss.On the bright side, catching up with work wasn't difficult for him at all. In fact, it was one of the easiest things he had to deal with and he spent several hours a day at it while Harper was at school and Ava was trying to get back to work.Catching up with the rest of his life was what was difficult though. Nothing made sense, and so he had to go through all of his stuff, trying to find out more about his current than he already knew.He managed to find out a lot just by doing this. He had always been very organized and used to keep journals that documented his daily life.Apparently, he still kept these journals and they were all arranged neatly on a shelf in his library.He went through each and every one of them, trying to catch a glimpse of the man he now was. Going through them made him realize just how different he was f
She smiled at him and slowly came out from behind the chair. Derek had no idea for how long she had been hiding there, but it seemed that it had been quite a while.“Daddy…” She said and without warning, rushed at him and embraced him tightly with more strength than he would have expected a child to have.Derek awkwardly patted her back and embraced her too, not sure if he should pick her up, kiss her cheek, ruffle her hair, or anything like that.“How are you?” He asked her, wincing as soon as the words left his mouth. He sounded like he was having a formal meeting with some board of directors or something like that, not talking to a child.However, Harper didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she made his decision for him by raising her arms, indicating that he should pick her up.“I’m fine, daddy. The bad woman told me that you died, but I didn’t believe her.” Harper told him.Derek immediately did as she wanted and she rested her head on his shoulder in the sweetest gesture ever. To his