“Okay, thank you,” Anthony said as he hung up, sighing. He had business calls even on weekends. His work seemed to be the only thing that kept him a bit motivated at that point, after what had happened the day before.Anthony’s morning was going a bit slow. It had been a literal struggle to get himself out of bed. He had looked forward to a weekend with Ollie, but his plans had been put on hold after Helen had acted up the day before. He had called and texted to apologize but his mind wasn’t settled yet.He wanted the seemingly dreadful weekend to be over as soon as it had begun, as he sat on his balcony, with his feet up on a stool, peering at the city’s view in the distance. It all felt like an all too familiar sight- he finds a lady, only to have Helen ruin it all. What exactly did she want from them? He was desperately out of ideas of what he would do with his weekend, forcing him to resort to making an unsuccessful attempt at returning to his long-forgotten musical hobbies. He
“Why did you actually bring me here?” Max finally had the guts to ask the question that had been on his mind but was continually stopped by the flow of the moment. The part of him that wanted to enjoy the moment kept silencing the rational part of him that wanted to come out of that bout without any hurt.“Why did you come?” Debby asked, smiling in a teasing manner that brought a wave of regretful emotions running through his bewildered mind. Indeed, why had he come?Max had no answer for that. He just sat staring at the small table at which they had been sitting. He had interrupted their smooth easy-going conversation with his question, which he was regretting at the moment.“You seem to be missing something, Max.” Debby finally broke the ice that was trying to settle over their conversation. She seemed like she had been enjoying their conversation, and she still was. “Someone, maybe.""What now?" Max looked up at her, a bit bewildered by her insinuation."Or rather, you're scared of
"Thank you," Kylian said as he took the bags of clothes from the smiling housekeeper. He had done a little online shopping to make up for the clothes he had forgotten in the car."Anytime sir," his English was a bit shaky, but at least understandable. His smiles seemed fabricated, which Kylian believed to be either from the hotel's policy or the huge tip he had gotten from him.Kylian shut the door, as he examined his spoils of war. He hoped that they hadn't gotten his size mixed up with some other inappropriate ones. Even if they did, he hoped it would be some bigger size, as he had a sore displeasure for tight clothes.He stood in front of his mirror, meticulously watching how each piece of clothing fitted on his body, wondering what impression it would leave on Chloe. He grew nervous with each moment as the moment he had been anticipating was drawing closer and closer. He would actually be meeting Chloe, away from all the eyes in New York.The flight had brought him in in the early
Max was beyond furious. What the heck was actually going on? Had the whole trip to Abu Dhabi been some perfect hoax to get the both of them to be all alone to themselves? “No,” he knew Chloe to be smarter than that. She didn’t show any signs of having anything to do with Kylian after the way their relationship had ended.Could Kincaid have been that foolish to trail her all the way from one end of the world to the other? He knew that Kylian could be obsessed with having things go his way, but never knew him to be that desperate over anything. It all went on to prove the profound effect that Chloe had on him.He had hung up as he couldn’t bear the unruly sight of the both of them together. He got up from bed as he tried dialing her number again, but he just couldn’t get through to her. Was this karma coming back at him for almost falling for Debby’s histrionics? If it was, he deemed it unfair, as it had come at him rather too quickly.A split second of reconsideration and some resili
“No…no way…” Emma trembled, clenching her phone to her chest and shaking in abject fright, as she sat up on her bed, her bare feet on the rug-covered floor, all alone at home, and all alone with her demons. They seemed to come in numerous droves.The consequences of her desperation seemed to take their toll rather too soon. She rapidly tried to dial his line again, but he left her hanging. She was immersed in an awful sort of frightful type of confusion.She was at a loss of who else to call, as the last of her so-called allies had suddenly turned on her. She frantically dialed her mother’s number, at least she knew that she would be on her side, even if she couldn’t do anything to help.“Hello,” she had probably roused her mother from sleep, as her voice sounded weak and faint.“Mom, I’m in trouble,” Emma said panicking, with her breath shaking along with her trembling body.“What is it Em?” her mother’s tone rose to a sharp vibrant one, void of any signs of fatigue or sleep, “Are yo
"What's the meaning of this Debby?" His inner instincts had told him it had all been a setup from the start, but his much stronger lustful intent had led him on to walk right into her trap in broad daylight.He vented out the seething furnace within him into voicemail as she hadn't picked up any of his calls. Just how many things were bound to go wrong that morning? First, it was Kylian showing up at Chloe's doorstep. Now it was Debby sending him a pic of the both of them sharing a seemingly romantic moment from the previous day.Max still wondered how she had gotten those pics. Had she been that desperate to get it done, even to the point of having someone to take the pictures in the background while she did her thing?It wasn't all coming out well. He had planned a peaceful weekend of rest, all alone in his home before prepping for his trip to Abu Dhabi the next day. Now he was thrown into an awful frenzy that he couldn't just shake off. For each moment those pics were with Debby, h
Sofia awoke, feeling guilty that she had let herself fall asleep in Diego’s room. Again.He hadn’t slept beside her, he hadn’t even been in the room all through the night. She couldn’t help but be suspicious about whatever move he made, still having in mind what he had done the day before. She had let her guard down and was paying a price that she wasn’t willing to pay again.She was still covered with the clothing he had put on her, and she was still nude under the covers- that made her awfully uncomfortable. Fortunately, she turned to her side to see a new set of clothes to replace the one he had ripped off her body in the heat of his sexual fervor.Beside her was a black gown which was a bit body-fitted, with some underwear. She couldn’t help but wonder why he preferred giving her gowns instead of other possible female wears- perhaps it could have been to give him easy access to her body whenever he wanted. That was the only possible reason that she could think of.Having no other
Kylian was soon lost as he realized that the Warner Bros. World had actually been a world of its own, which had him wondering how in the world he would be able to find Maya in such a park. He had heard a lot about the place but hadn’t thought it would live up to the hype as much as it was doing at the moment- he was literally overwhelmed.He wished he had some sort of tour guide to take him through the cold lonely world he found himself in. The air conditioners made it a literal cold world. He wished Omar could have been there to ride him through this one. He had already become that fond of him within their brief conversation. They had exchanged contacts before they parted ways.The memory of losing Chloe to Max forever was slowly creeping in again as he found himself all alone, watching families and couples troop in and out of different parts of the park. Her words and her gestures were soon replaying in his mind. “Oh come on…not now,” he hated having to sulk over anything that could
Chloe pushed the doorbell of the door where she once lived. It felt like ages she’d been at Emma’s doorstep. The number of calls and the text messages she had gotten at the wedding made it feel like it had been really something urgent.She’d had her doubts about making that visit. The last time she remembered, Emma had wanted her downfall so badly that she had gone to the extent of allying with dangerous criminals, even putting herself in danger in the process.After a while of waiting, she pushed the doorbell yet again. She heard some footsteps trotting steadily in her direction. She held her breath in anticipation as she couldn’t tell why she had been called out there.“Chloe,” Emma said, “You’re here.” She hadn’t expected to see her after all.“Yeah, I’m here.” Chloe’s eyes ran a quick subtle scan through her. Her wandering eyes were caught by the little bump in her belly. She was shocked as she hadn’t been told that part of the story. Max…come on. He had sadly left out that import
“I look stupid!” Ollie exclaimed in a mild tone of disappointment as she looked in the mirror one more time. “I look like a total goof.”“No, Ollie, you don’t,” Chloe protested as it had taken her and the costumier a considerable amount of time and energy to get her in that. “You look elegant.”Chloe looked over at the other girls on the bridal train as they silently complained about Ollie being way too vocal about her own complaints. And her dress too.“Elegant? Are you kidding me right now?” Ollie seemed like she’d never be satisfied, even though she was just a few minutes from walking down the aisle.“I’m not. Besides they’ve put in their best to give you the best, so it’s best that you just…” Chloe was out of words as she walked up to Ollie from behind, her tone becoming more and more hushed as he advanced. “Give them your best reaction. The dress is just perfect, Ollie.”The glistening white wedding gown had a very elegant flay. Maybe just too elegant to the point it puffed proud
Emma was getting uncomfortable in her seat. How had Kylian gotten his hands on all that? It was probably Francis, but how had he gotten to Francis?Her attorney was totally unprepared for that sudden twist in the case. It had been a walkover up until then. That woman’s testimony had them all dumbfounded— she, her mother, and her attorney. They were all thrown in disarray.“Emma, when did this happen?” Her mother, Amelia questioned from behind in a whisper. She had no answer that could appease her mother’s curiosity without implicating her as well. Her lips seemed to shut off their own accord.She knew she was about to face cruel music which she hadn’t rehearsed its dance steps. The look on Kylian’s face when he said, “It’s over,” almost made her lose it in front of the judge. She would be giving herself away before the case was over if she hadn’t gotten her act together.“You could have told me about this,” her attorney whispered faintly in a way that meant that she was really in big
"Don’t worry,” Kylian’s attorney told him not to do the one thing that his mind had been doing subconsciously since he’d set foot in the courtroom. “You’ll be fine.”“Sure I will,” he said, trying not to discourage his attorney before the grueling duel began. Either way, he wouldn’t be that much of a mess. Worst case scenario, he’d have to see Emma at their board meetings.“Kylian,” his mother called out from behind in a whisper. “Keep your composure out there, our fifty percent depends on it.”“Thank you, Mom, you’re doing such a great job at easing me of the pressure of the moment. Very commendable.” He said, harshly sarcastic.“Thank you, Kylian. Just don’t fuck this up for us.”He was a bit taken aback to hear his mom say the ‘f-word’ in public. “It’s really sad you called me just to tell me this.”“Now’s not the time to get in your feelings, young man. Go out there and get our family’s legacy. That’s all the pep talk you need.”As much as he hated it, she was right. He inhaled de
Max had his shades on as he walked through the construction site on the hot sunny afternoon.“The long-awaited upward progress has finally begun.” Mr. Singh mused as he was almost following all of Max’s footsteps throughout the site.“Isn’t it lovely?” Max replied with a smile. “Feels like we started just yesterday.” He was glad that it had been all running smoothly despite him being occupied with all the many personal challenges that he somehow managed to see himself come out on top.“It sure does.” Mr. Singh seemed like he had a default positive response for everything he had to say. It had Max wondering if he’d ever get to see Mr. Singh mad, even just once. He itched to see that moment, except that it didn’t have to be on the job that he was doing for him.Max believed that it was all because of the remarkable presentation that he had put forth. He strongly believed that it was still speaking for him up until then. He hadn’t questioned his moves and followed him with blind trust. H
Ollie picked up her phone and dialed frantically, “Did you hear about Alejandro on the news?” The report on the news seemed untrue, and she assumed that Chloe hadn’t seen it yet. “Alejandro has been arrested on numerous charges?”“Yeah, I heard,” Chloe said, unalarmed like they hadn’t lost one of their biggest potential partners after they had set quite a huge part of their budget plans around him and his cash, especially. “He’s been arrested.”“You know what that means?” Ollie still believed that she wasn’t getting the full scope of the impact of that news in particular. “What’s going to become of our plans and all?”It took Chloe quite some time to get a sigh out from her end of the line. “Well, we are going to figure something out, Ollie.”What? She meant to ask but swallowed it in as she sought a much better response but she couldn’t find any other, that forced her to say it out anyway, but more softly and politely that didn’t make it seem like Chloe had said something unreasonabl
“It’s on the news, Chloe,” Max stared at the TV screen in wild wonder, calling out to Chloe who came running, “They finally got him.”“Businessman known as Alejandro Navarro has been finally apprehended by the forces on charges of illegal drug trades, manslaughter, sex trafficking…” the TV presenter went on and on with his many dirty deeds.“Damn, he’s got quite a lot going for him at the moment.” Max remarked as he reclined on the couch, “Good thing they got him. There could’ve been trouble if they didn’t.”“Yeah,” Chloe said looking on in anticipation, “Nothing on Diego yet?”“Wait for it.”“Alongside the underground drug lord, the notorious gangster, Diego Gutierrez was also found in the building. After much resistance and shots fired, the swat team was able to break in and apprehend the two men and a few other survivors from the heated exchange. Two hostages were found in the basement of the building, a male and a female, suspected to be victims of his trafficking crimes…” The pre
It was the D-Day of the raid. Gray couldn’t deny how nervous he was, but he had to what had to be done. His heartbeat surged forcefully with each stop and turn of the vehicle.Most of all, he hoped the resistance they had predicted would what they’d be faced with. He’d heard stories of how vicious the Mexicans could be, and he didn’t want the mission to be a continuation of that tale.“Alright,” he finally got the courage to speak up amid the men in the large trunk of the van, he was about to attempt to make them not feel what he was feeling. He took out the large tablet that had the blueprint of the building.“The operation is simple.” He didn’t believe it was, but he had to say it anyway. “First, we surround all possible exits of the villa, which include the main gate, the back gate, and one other hidden gate on the Eastern side of the fence…”“Second, we ask Alejandro and his men to come out peaceably. If they don’t, which they most probably wouldn’t, we first hit them hard with so
Kylian tapped on the door, hoping that he’d somehow made it to the right door, following Maya’s directions to her place.The block of flats had way more homes than it appeared to have while viewing it from the outside. One could easily get lost in there. It had him wondering how the inhabitants kept from mistaking another door for theirs.He tapped yet again. He heard some faint footsteps approaching the door and expected to see Maya’s dazzling face. He could hear hands working desperately at the lock and that made him brim with anticipation.Finally, he thought, till the door opened for him to see a tall macho man with overgrown beards and tattoos scattered all over his body. The shock from seeing the stranger made him almost unable to speak. He had heavy rock music pounding in his apartment.“Can I help you mate?” his deep voice could make anybody’s knees buckle with frightful intimidation.“Sorry…I came to the wrong door,” Kylian broke out in an uncoordinated stutter, “I was lookin