AMELIA"We are almost done, madam. Would you like to see it now?""Of course."As I left my office, I gestured for the man to lead the way."Please, watch your step," he advised as we moved around the bakery.I was already doing so. I moved slowly, carefully stepping around the bits and pieces of paper, paint, glue, and tools littering some parts of the floor. Workers moved around the place, hard at work on the alterations I wanted. I nodded in satisfaction when I saw the wallpaper they had put up in the showroom. The place looked warmer and more inviting, exactly how I wanted it to be.I never imagined that Damian would buy me a bakery. I didn’t think he paid any attention to what I liked, but he surprised me. "Everything is perfect," I told the worker. "Oh, and... have you moved those equipment to the positions I want them placed?"He nodded. "Yes, they have been moved.""Excuse me, ma'am," the security guard murmured apologetically to me while sidestepping a man carrying a stepla
DAMIAN I snapped my fingers impatiently at my secretary. "Reread it," I said as I continued to move around the office.Her brief glance at me hinted at her surprise. Then, she began for the third or fourth time to read to me the reports on the progress of the bullet train railway project that we were handling. "The engineers say the project is expected to take a minimum of..."Again, I stopped paying attention to what she was saying. Her voice merely droned on in the background. I had tried reading the report myself, but it had been so damn hard to focus, and so I had enlisted the help of my secretary to read it to me. It had made no difference because my thoughts had kept on straying.Since getting the contract for the railway project, I have focused all my attention on the project's success. I knew, as did anyone with half a brain that the successful execution of this project would pave the way for more projects in the future. Still, the real reason I spent almost my every waking
AMELIA My heart stuttered for a second as I smelled his perfume and felt the sheets slowly peel off me. "Damian," I whispered because we were in the dark, and it seemed only fitting to whisper in the dark. "How- when did you get in here?" My last word ended in a groan as I felt him plant a burning kiss on my back. I tried to turn, but his body was pressed against my back. "Sssh," he whispered. Damian swept the sheets onto the floor. His hands slid underneath my nightie. He wrapped one hand around my waist, and the other made its way to knead my breasts. He tugged on my nipples and rubbed them between his fingers. "Damian... please..." I moaned. "Hush now," Damian murmured, his lips close to my ear. This was torture: the constant mood swings, the attitude he gave me and the unsure feelings he planted in my head. Yet, I wanted to kiss him. I wanted to touch him, but his arm prevented me from moving an inch. And then suddenly, he flipped me over until I was lying
DAMIAN"I guess we have covered everything, right?" I asked, looking around the table at my business partners. "We sure did," Matt said, and there were murmurs of assent from the others. I began to gather up and arrange the files in front of me. The other men started to talk amongst themselves. From beside me, Matt stifled a yawn and patted his tummy, which was scarcely concealed by the suit he wore. "It's been a tedious meeting. I'm starving," he said.I smiled at him. "Hold your horses, Matt. We'll soon be on our way for our usual business lunch in a few minutes.""Hey, Damian," Chris, three seats away from me, turned to me. "Yes?" "I heard your wife owns a bakery now.""Yes," I replied. Most of the other men in the room had stopped talking and seemed to be waiting for me to say something more. "She's making quite a success of it so far," I added.I quickly turned away and began stuffing the papers into my suitcase, hoping that would put a stop to the questions about Amelia. T
DAMIAN“I hate what you do to me,” the words kept replaying in my head repeatedly. But what hurt me the most was the look on her face when she said that. I didn’t want to hurt her. I didn’t. Leaning back in my chair, I stared and kept staring at one of the plaques that decorated the walls of my office. It had a considerable amount of words written on it, outlining a series of mottos people were supposed to live by, but what my eyes kept getting stuck on was the word 'admit'. That word called to me. I sighed. With every day that passed, I was beginning to admit to myself that I had never enjoyed sex as much as I did with Amelia. She was like a virus in my blood, some sort of drug that I couldn't get out of my system. Had I thought that having sex with her the second time would rid me of my craving for her? That was a laugh! In retrospect, I would say that going back for more had even worsened the situation. It would be liberating to have someone to talk about this to, someone who wo
AMELIA "Ma'am, there are some people here to see you," Ashley said, hurrying up to me while on my way into my office, and I felt my stomach drop with anxiety. My palms began to sweat. I felt a myriad of emotions- nervousness among them. Was it Damian again? I could feel my cheeks heating up. Goodness! I really needed to get a grip. At this stage, I would never be able to maintain my composure whenever he was around- something I badly wanted to learn how to do. He always seemed to shake my every thought whenever he was around me. I could barely think for myself or even hold up to the promises I made to myself. "Is my-" I paused and spoke again, trying to frame my thoughts into words. "I mean, is it-" I stuttered, but Ashley seemed to know what I was trying to say. She shook her head. "No, it isn't Mr Donovan... or his friends. They are-""Some other people?" She nodded. "Okay."I shut the door of my office more firmly and went over to the showroom. I stopped at the threshold and
AMELIA "You came here straight from the bakery?" Damian's quiet voice nearly made me jump off the couch in surprise. As I did every time I came home, I flopped down on the living room couch and began to massage my aching feet. Damian was never in sight when I returned. He specialized in always keeping out of my way except for the few occasions when we got thrown together, and he couldn't keep his hands off me. I had expected him, as usual, to be holed up in his room or his study, as he always was, so I didn't notice him sitting on one of the couches. He raised his brows when I did not answer and put away a book I suspected he had not been reading. He had the air of someone who wanted to get something off his chest. "Er- good evening, Damian," I answered, wondering why he was suddenly interested in where I had been. He inclined his head in response to my greeting and repeated his question. "Yes, I came straight from the bakery."He glanced at the clock. I followed the direction of
DAMIAN I was oddly tense, and I didn't know why. Or maybe I did, and I was trying to shelve my feelings. Perhaps if I didn't acknowledge them, they would fade away. Beside me, Anton was droning on and on about all he had gotten up to with the Paris model, now in his employ. Anton, naturally, was an excellent conversationist and a good storyteller, and usually, I would be neck-deep in his stories, laughing and asking for more details. But not today. "Hey, Damian. Are you even listening to me?" His enquiry brought me back to the present. I nodded and forced my facial muscles to relax into a smile. "Of course I am," I replied. "Go on. And the fashion shows you went to? Did you get any new design ideas?" I had said the right thing. Anton's eyes lit up in excitement. He continued talking animatedly, waving his fork about and jabbing it in the air sometimes to emphasise his point while I tried to keep an interested expression on my face. And then she came into the room,
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