AMELIA"I'm sorry," I muttered and pulled away.Damian nodded politely but said nothing. I felt my face flush in shame. Damn! I was such a fool. What had I been thinking, attempting to kiss Damian? He had made it quite clear that he wanted no form of physical intimacy with me. Why couldn't I reason or act responsibly around him? It was just that he had sounded so kind, so sincere, and pissed at what Noah had done that I had allowed myself to imagine that we were about to have something romantic. Damian looked everywhere in the room but not at me. I felt annoyed at myself for causing him this much embarrassment. No doubt, from now on, he would be extremely wary of coming close to me whenever I was in an emotionally vulnerable state.I clambered off the bed, wanting to get as far away from him as possible so I could stew in my shame. Then I just stood there as I recalled being in my room. Maybe I could escape to another part of the house. Damian sensed my distress. He got off the bed
DAMIANWith a tired grunt, I pushed the laptop away as my phone rang. The call was from Amelia. I frowned. Why was she calling? Wasn't she in the house? Glancing at the time, I concluded that she had to be indoors as it was very late. Was she calling about the Noah incident again? Maybe she needed me around to talk her out of her mood. Shame that I couldn't comfort her better."Amelia?" I said into the phone.There was no answer for a moment, and I thought she had accidentally dialed my number. Then, I heard the sound of a car zooming past. A scream followed this in a voice I instantly recognized as Amelia's. The scream had me sitting ramrod straight."Amelia?" I called, clenching the phone tightly, worry and panic trying to swamp me. "Amelia, what is going on?"And then I heard something that sent a chill up my spine.A male voice spoke in a low growl, "Stop screaming. You can't get away. Screaming will only make it tough for you.""Please. Please. Let me go. I beg you. You don't wan
AMELIA"Hi," Damian said tentatively as he walked into the living room."Hello," I said, hurrying and making space for him on the couch.He chose the couch farthest from me, and I fought the brief flare of annoyance. I understood him better now. He had endured my hug last night, but it would take him much more than twelve hours, maybe even a lifetime, to heal from his mental and emotional scars."How do you feel?" he asked quietly as his eyes roved over my face and body. "Better. Much better."And I actually was. After forcing down some food and taking some painkillers last night, the aches in my body had reduced and were almost non-existent now. An ice pack had helped reduce the swelling on my face. All the evidence of last night was my slightly bruised lips and tiny cuts, which I was sure makeup could cover."I can see that." He nodded in satisfaction. "Slept, okay?"I shrugged. I had a restless night. My mind had replayed last night's incident in my sleep, and I had had a nightma
AMELIA"And what the hell do you think you are doing?" I yelled as the salesman handed Lucy a pen to sign the papers.He looked up in surprise. "As you can see, I'm attending to a customer. So just hold on, and I will be right with you after I'm done attending to her."He came to stand beside Lucy and pointed at a dotted line on which she would sign."Oh no, you don't!" I hissed. I stalked forward, snatched the documents away, and flung it to the floor.Lucy sprang to her feet immediately. "What the hell are you playing at, Amelia? Why are you aggressive?”I ignored her and addressed the salesman."You will attend to me at once. I will not tolerate disrespect from you or anyone for that matter."The salesman began to turn red in the face. He pointed towards the exit. "Lady, I think you have to leave. You're causing a scene."Lucy laughed long and loud, cackling like a witch."You heard him," she smirked and inspected her painted nails. "Beat it. Obviously, this establishment is for a b
AMELIAI was bored out of my mind. Leaving with Damian was like living alone. I could barely notice his presence, and even when I did, all I received was a grunt. He was just impossible to bond with. I left my room for like the tenth time that morning and wandered around the mansion. With nothing to do and nowhere to go, the only option left was to laze about the house, sleeping or eating perhaps and doing absolutely nothing, which I most definitely did not intend to do.And so, at a few minutes past noon, I took a stroll on the streets close to where I lived. I absorbed the sound of traffic and the sight of people hurrying, going about their business.The sun was high in the sky but not overly hot. I had decided not to take the car because staying in its air-conditioned comfort sort of separated me from the rest of the world, and today, I craved that feeling of inclusivity more than anything else.And then I spotted a small cafe. There was something quaint about it, something that a
AMELIAI heard the front door open, and I was out of my seat in a flash. "Hey, Damian. How was work today?" I asked as I fell into step beside him, smiling with a cheeriness that I didn't feel and hoping this time he would thaw towards me. "Very well," he replied dryly, as usual. He kept walking, his eyes fixed as always on the stairs. Talk about being rude! I tamped down on my annoyance. "My day at work went pretty well, too," I offered. Besides the brief flash of annoyance that crossed his face whenever I mentioned the cafe, he gave no further indication that I had spoken."Have you already had dinner? I can make you something," I said in a last-ditch effort to get him to say something. "Don't bother," was the response. He stopped and turned to look at me for the first time when I began to climb the stairs after him. Up went that annoying brow. "Did you want something?" he enquired. Yes! A little friendly conversation for a start. I yelled at him, but only in my head. He
AMELIAI was so mad. I couldn't recall ever being this pissed in a long, long time, maybe except for the time when Noah had embarrassed me at the mall. I stole a glance at Damian, who was driving much too fast. It would serve him right if the cops ordered him to pull over and give him a speeding ticket. I could clearly see that his cheek was reddened where I had slapped him. My fingers curled. I did not regret hitting him. Not one bit.Finally, he drove through the gates of the house. Before he brought the car to a stop, I scrambled out of it, relieved that at some point during the drive, he had unlocked the door. "For heaven's sake, Amelia!" I heard him growl from behind me. "At least let the damn car stop first."I took a few steps forward, retraced my steps, slammed the car door as hard as possible, and was satisfied to hear him gasp in surprise. There! I heartily wished something inside had gotten broken. It's good that it was Damian's favorite car, too. I spun around and march
DAMIANI could not concentrate on work. I saw Amelia’s face wherever I looked: in the files I was supposed to be going through, on the screen of my computer, in my head, everywhere. I shoved my fingers through my hair and swore under my breath, irritated and angry with myself. I didn't tolerate this sort of behavior from anyone, especially my staff. I always put my company first and gave a hundred percent at work. Yet here I was, doing the same thing I loathed.My body craved Amelia's, and I wondered why she affected me this way. I had been with dozens of other women, all exceptionally beautiful and stunning, but I had never craved them the way I did Amelia. I was like a young, inexperienced boy who couldn't get enough of a woman's body. Amelia and I had made love so many times last night that I had lost count, yet all I could think of was kissing her again, hearing her moan softly, and lying in bed with her all day. I had managed to drag myself up from bed to work. Thank goodness th
AMELIA FIVE YEARS LATER "Yay! Pancakes! Mum made pancakes!” The excited shouts... or screeches were followed by the sound of running footsteps. I sincerely hoped they were not... But of course they were, I thought in mild exasperation. Lily and Liam came racing towards me on their little feet, their eyes much like Damian's, fixed on the plate of pancakes I held. "Hey! Please slow down, guys," I called when Lily, still running, looked over her shoulder and screeched excitedly when she saw Damian. Damian was chasing them with Liam's favourite stuffed animal. "Slow down! Slow down!" I called more loudly as the twins approached me. “You’ll hurt yourself if you keep running around!” At the same time, they got to me and clutched my dress, giggling. I glared at Damian, who gave me a boyish, unrepentant grin. "Liam! Lily!" I said, turning my attention back to my kids. "How many times have I told you to stop running in the house? And Damian-" "Yes, sweetheart?" "You ar
THREE MONTHS LATER DAMIAN "Oh, come on!" I muttered to myself as, for what felt like the umpteenth time, my fingers slipped on my silk tie. I had tied knots, dozens, even hundreds of times before. But this time, I couldn't even manage to tie a decent one. I knew what the problem was, though. Apart from the fact that my hands were sweaty, I was anxious and nervous. Seeing as I had gotten wedded once before, one would have thought that I was used to the whole process by now. This time was the first time, in a way, the first phase of my new beginning with Amelia. "My wife," I said aloud, pausing to stare at my reflection in the mirror. A smile lifted the corners of my mouth. The word 'wife' did have a nice ring to it. Amelia was still technically my wife, but today, she became mine for real, not only in name. And it wasn’t like our first wedding, which concluded in minutes and was void of any emotions. "Hey!" I flinched a little and turned to the door, then shot an irr
THREE MONTHS LATER Noah's head throbbed. It banged like the world's noisest drummers were having a nonstop concert in it. His eyes felt like they were going to bulge out of their sockets as he walked-no- stumbled his way out of the bar he had been getting wasted in for hours. "Out of my way, you," Noah growled, shoving someone out of his way. "What the- Watch where you're going," the man he had pushed shouted. “Such a fucking asshole.” If only everything wasn't spinning so fast, Noah would have gone back to plant his fist in that asshole's face. It might have made him feel slightly better, hurting someone. Hate burned within him. He hated his life. He hated this noisy, shitty bar he had chosen to get drunk in. He hated every freaking thing. Eager to get some fresh air, Noah hastened his steps the closer he got to the door. He had just gotten outside when he lost his footing and- THUD! He fell on his face, gasping for breath, inhaling the smell of dust on the cold f
DAMIAN I looked up the stairs, checking to see if she was heading down the stairs. She wasn't. Not yet. What a surprise she would get tonight, I thought. With what was no doubt a goofy smile on my face, I touched the ring safely nestling in a box deep in the linings of my pocket. It felt like lead was there, a pound of it. I felt my smile slip a little bit as I thought of what this night would bring. I was nervous as hell about proposing to Amelia even though I was entirely sure that she would not refuse me. I wanted to do it right. I wanted the moment to be perfect for the both of us. Sighing, I willed my lips to speak the right words when the time came to declare my love for her, to ask her to marry me. Perhaps a simple 'I love you. Will you marry me?' would be best. Or not. The direct approach wasn't always the best, especially in romantic situations. "What are you shaking your head for?" Amelia asked in a voice I could detect the humour in. I raised my head to lo
AMELIAWith a slightly shaky hand, I pulled out a handkerchief and dabbed at my sweaty brow. I had been taking deep, steady breaths for the past few minutes, but it had done nothing to alleviate my nervousness. I didn't think any woman had been this nervous to tell the father of his child that she was pregnant. Damian was unwittingly making my nervousness a hundred times worse the longer he stayed away. What was he still doing up there anyway?I straightened and straightened the placemats on the dining table for what felt like the umpteenth time. And then I heard his approaching footsteps and immediately stood straight. "Where's the food?" Damian said cheerfully, standing just inside the door and looking around. "In a- in a minute," I said. "I wanted you to come down first. I didn't want your food to get cold."I stumbled into the kitchen and stumbled back out. My hands trembled so badly that I almost dropped a dish cover on Damian's foot."Sorry. Sorry," I apologized as I caught i
AMELIAI turned my head a little to get a good look at the wall clock and saw it was just a quarter past eight. Good. I nodded. The gossip show would start soon, and I was amped for it. I adjusted until I was very comfortable in my seat and took yet another bite of popcorn. On the big television, an ad for a new washing machine was being aired, and then my phone pinged, signalling that it was time for the show. I grabbed the remote and quickly changed the channel. Just as I did, the familiar soundtrack of the gossip talk show came on.The words 'STRAIGHT TALK WITH MILES' popped up on the screen in bold caps. The message grew more extensive and slowly faded into the background. What appeared next on the screen was a live studio in which was seated a tall, youngish man, very much like Anton in looks. I immediately recognized him as Anton's friend in the talk show biz, the one who was going to help me dig up dirt on Noah, the one who was to talk about Noah today on his show based on a
AMELIA Noah got to his feet seconds after the initial surprise of my rejection had worn off. Luckily, I was already walking to the mall as fast as possible. When I looked back, I saw him coming after me. I increased my pace but managed to get into the building with Noah right at my heels, his face as red as a tomato. Red with rage. "Stop him," I said to the first security personnel I saw. I pointed to Noah, who was quickly approaching the mall's entrance. That man is after me. He wants to cause a scene. Make sure he doesn't get in here. Quickly!" Thankfully, the security guard didn't ask any questions. He just nodded to his colleague on his other side. They hurried to Noah and intercepted him before he could get to the door. "I'm sorry you can't go in, sir," the guard I had spoken to told him and turned back to glance at me. I nodded, indicating that I was content with their actions. Noah was too busy staring at me even to notice that one of the guards had his hand on his
AMELIA "We'll see soon then, Mrs Donovan." I blinked and once more, turned to focus on Engineer Sam who I had quite a lengthy meeting with. His team was hanging back a little, deeply engrossed in some conversation about the amusement park project. "Yes of course," I replied, with a glance at my watch. “I have somewhere to be. Good bye.” I was barely focused during the meeting, my mind drifting to all the things in my schedule. There were several other things I needed to do. As I left the project site, I waved absently at Sam who walked off with his team as I dug out my phone to call Rose. "Ma'am," she said when she picked up. "Are you stopping over by the bakery today?" "No. I'm afraid not. Do you have your notepad with you?" "Always." "Good. I got a call some hours ago from the office of the CEO of Sharecare. He's celebrating the 10th year anniversary of his company soon. He wants us to handle the cakes and the event in general. So what do you think?" Rose reele
NOAH I stopped typing on my computer long enough to adjust the shirt I was wearing. I felt uncomfortable as I tugged the fabric, feeling unusually small in my shirt. I sighed, a deep, weary sigh. That was what came of a reduced appetite, worry, many late nights of staying awake thinking of how best to get a lasting solution to all the problems I had been having. I made a mental note to myself to eat more and hit the gym before my enemies noticed my weight loss- if they hadn't already. I hoped they hadn't. There was nothing as aggravating as a well timed news headline to set the sharks at my door. Sitting here, I could just picture the sort of headlines those news vultures would print. BUSINESS MOGUL NOAH CARTER GOES TO PIECES FOLLOWING RUMOURS OF BANKRUPTCY. I clenched my fists, and found myself already getting worked up over the imaginary headline. Recently, a lot of news had been circulating around me. I would be damned before they printed something like that about me