"Hey," Jayden called as soon as his strides had caught up with Maria who was still moving with fury.Her steps turned into a shuffle once he reached for her wrist and held it firmly, pulling her to a halt, and blocking her path with his taller build."Let go of me," her command came through shaky breaths, her head slightly bent low."C'mon, we are not through with this acting thing that we have going on, right?""Let me go."Nothing came from him for a few more seconds until his sudden touch startled her into looking up, her teary blue eyes moving to the way his fingers adjusted the golden strands of her hair, a tender expression passing over his face, making her feel even weaker than before."How about we finish what we started and show everyone that not even one of them can stand a chance with Jayden Stanley's girlfriend," he suggested in a low tone that was filled with passion, and the words made her blink back at him as though she was just awakened from a daze.The movem
The water was cold, chilling her entire body like an icy hand. It wasn't pleasant, but the fear of any more harm happening to Jayden than he already suffered was all she could focus on now. It had her drowning herself deeper in its merciless coldness, her body swimming with speed to reach the bottom, following Jayden down as her vision blurred with panic.He had been unconscious since the moment she had found him submerged, after several attempts to keep himself afloat. She reached nearer, grabbing under his arms from behind right before his body landed on the ceramic base, and began to swim them both towards the surface. During her strenuous swimming, her blurry vision found two new bodies jumping into the depths of the water, coming towards them with a determination to help, which made her gasp in relief; she had barely reached the surface yet her muscles were already crushed with fatigue. She knew it was her fault for jumping into the water impulsively to save him, but
Maria woke up with a yawn, stretching her arms above her head and letting her hair slide over her face as she rolled to the other side of the bed. It felt like she had just gone to sleep, but when she looked at the clock beside the bed, it showed that it was already the beginning of another day. She had been tossing and turning restlessly for what seemed like an eternity, the incident of the previous night playing vividly in her mind and keeping her up half the night.The whole night she was trying hard to not replay the kiss in her mind. Even when she did close her eyes for some brief periods, she would always find herself staring at Jayden's face before knocking him into the pool. That stupid, random kiss that should never have happened. She still had a lot of questions for him concerning why he did that, but whatever it was, it definitely wasn't out of affection.She wished a fairy could appear from the blues and wipe that memory from existence because she wasn't sure she
The question was definitely something Maria didn't expect from the madame. It surprised her, making her heart skip a beat before it was pounding inside her chest. A nervous tickle moved down her spine, making her gulp thickly. Involved? It certainly sounded really bad if the woman put it that way. "Involved...," She began hesitantly, before clearing her throat to finish her statement. "That's impossible." "Really?" The woman raised a brow, not looking entirely convinced. "I was surprised to find you at the hospital last night, but the matter on the ground made me not bother too much about it, or ask you concerning that. Well, I got to learn that you came as Jayden's date and that you two...kissed." Delia spoke slowly, watching Maria with an expression of intrigue. The words brought Maria's heart a jolt of shock, abruptly and without warning. She gasped, staring back in disbelief, and wondering how in the world was the woman able to deduce all those information so accurate
"Are you ready to go now, Miss?" The chauffeur's voice interrupted the silence lingering in the estate, his brown eyes looking towards the blonde lady standing before several guards guarding the main entrance she had just walked out from.It seemed his request was successfully delivered to see the doctor nodding her head quickly in response, her lips curving in a smile as bright as her flowery dress. The lady began to move only to be stopped by the sound of a different car driving into the property, making both Maria and the chauffeur stop in place to turn their gazes towards it.The vehicle that entered the driveway was a flashy white limo, and it looked familiar to her narrowed blue eyes. Without a doubt, she identified it as the vehicle Jayden had used in playing his undercover kidnapping stunt from the previous night.It seemed the young master was back from the hospital, and she was curious to validate this suspicion. Her chin raised above the convertible, her eyes peep
He smiled to himself, drumming his fingertips eagerly against the refined table the moment one of his men announced that the documents he requested had been prepared."Here it is, sir." His secretary bowed slightly, stretching out a brown envelope that Justin received hastily as if there was an itch on his palms and the paper was the only cure to it."Every detail we could get about Ms. Patterson is in it. Her home address, occupation, age, education level, phone number, marital status, social media accounts, and email address. All the basics are in there, sir." The lady added, gesturing for him to open the folder and have a look at what he had gathered about her.Justin breathed out deeply, satisfied with what his eyes were scanning. His attention was almost lost in the newly found information nearly forgetting his secretary was with him. His smile widened when he saw the phone number in digital black digits. 'Told you I was going to get your number one way or the other, dear pretty
"Mr. Stanley," she called for his attention again, the forth time and got predictably ignored. So much for being the kind persistent doctor. "Proud-ass." The amount of frustration pushing her buttons forced the wrong words right out of her mouth. It came out more like a murmur and she didn't expect it to get his hard-earned attention. He peeled his eyes from the laptop seated on his laps and directed his straight into hers. That moment, if there were actually more tectile senses connected with the way looks work, she probably would have been rushed to a hospital by now, diagnosed with chronic injuries from dagger eyes. Or the heartless man before her would have just let her die without bothering the emergency agency. "Wh-What?" She questioned the look on his face when she could no longer handle the tensity. "What did you just call me?""So, you were hearing me, just being your normal self a jer..." She almost called him names again and immediately cautioned her mouth by bitting
Maria slowly travelled her eyes upwards so as to meet with the said prick whose face held little touches of mischief around the corner of his eyes and then drove it towards her small hand tightly held captive in his bigger ones. "Mr Sta-Stanley, I am afraid you are overstepping your boundaries." Damn, where was her breath when she needed it? As expected, that frail admonition of hers wasn't enough to keep him away and it seemed it had the opposite effect when he began the wall-lean moment by completely blocking any form of escape with his taller figure, his other free hand resting against the wall, right beside her exasperated head. "Mr Stanley," her voice this time around sounded a bit on the intimidating side, determined to make him know that she wasn't willing to play such flirtatious games with him or whatever he was at. "What's the problem?" A shocked gasp escaped from her lips when he began to adjust the golden strands across her left cheek and was more bowled over with his re
"Jayden!" Delia called out vociferously, stomping her heels irritatedly as she stepped closer to her son. Jayden turned a little, and lowered his gaze at his mum. She looked enraged and whatever reason causing the almost visible fumes soaring above her head was something he didn't care about. "What just happened between you and the doctor?" His mother questioned, pointing a fake nail towards the direction the mentioned person had passed. His brows moved up a little as he figured his mother was among the onlookers Maria was referring to. "What is what?" He questioned, his brows lowering back to position against flat eyes. "You two...t-two just kissed!" "Let me be." He stated dismissively and turned to walk away. Apparently, he wasn't in the right mood to talk to anyone, especially topics that included his pathetic rejection. "I'm talking to you Jayden!" Delia berated, yet her unconcerned son ignored her. "Are you having an affair with your doctor?!" She quizzed, her words
Her red sneakers led her into the building and halted her quick strides before him. "Good morning, Mr Stanley." She greeted, finding his standing figure with her eyes. Turning quickly, he looked up to see the woman who have been occupying his mind lately. His eyes ran over her, realising how much he had missed her even though she was only away for a day. "Good morning." Maria repeated, halting his wandering stares. He twisted his lips slightly to a displeased sneer, noticing that she was yet to drop her unfriendly vibes. "How was your night?" She questioned, stepping closer to his chair. "Terrible." She fluttered her lashes at him, clearly showing how surprised she was to get a honest reply from him. He was always very secretive about his migraine attacks. "Terrible?" She returned his words with lowered brows. "Yeah.""Was it an attack? Please tell me every detail about it." Her notebook and pen was out already and her blue eyes gazed at him attentively. "Yeah.""How many min
Jayden laughed bitterly, staring at his half-naked reflection in the mirror. He bent against the sink and took some of the running water, splashing the cold droplets against his face. He repeated his action, meeting his face with harsh water. It seemed more like he was punishing himself. Slapping his face continuously without giving himself a moment to breathe. The more he thought about how Maria had been treating him lately, the more miserable anger dominated his entire self. "Arrrg!!" He exploded and slammed his two fists against the sink so hard his phalanges almost crushed into pieces. Sadness forming as boiling fury was spiking through his veins. He planted his wet palms on the mirror and focused his gaze on himself. "Why?" He queried with his brows lifting higher. "What exactly doesn't she like about us?" he added and laughed again, realising that a girl was turning him into a professional soliloquist. She had infact changed him into something else. He was almost losing his s
Ted glanced at the lady sitting beside him and her bottled up attitude happened to perturb him. "Hey," he called out softly and she met him with dull eyes. "What's wrong? I know something is." It was obvious. "Nothing much." Maria shrugged, taking her eyes back to TV which she wasn't even paying attention to. "Mood swings, I guess.""Mood swings?" He repeated and then she nodded curtly. "Are you on your period? You have some pain?" He loaded her with several questions immediately and shifted closer to her. "Uh?""It's not that, Ted. And stop talking about my period so freely like that." She responded in a low tone, and she sounded like someone surviving on her last energy. "C'mon, man. Then tell me what's wrong. We have been watching TV for good two hours and in silence. It's so unlike you. And what's with the gloomy face all about?""Do I have to smile all the time, Ted?" She rubbed her eyes and returned an indifferent gaze at her favourite TV show."I do not mean that but still...
The double doors opened and Jayden's face lit up to see the lady walking into his room, in spite of the fact of causing him a sleepless night. The smile he was about giving out immediately went back into hiding when he noticed the odd vibe bounding out of her. A serious expression distorted her face with her usual smiling lips falling into a straight smile. Her face held no glint of humor And she seemed she had come to work for business and business alone. "Good morning, Mr. Stanley." Even her tone was thick with a professional accent. He wanted to reply to a morning greeting for the first time but she was too quick to say something else."I'm afraid I won't be spending much time with you today sir. I have an appointment with my boss later in the day. We will do a quick check up and then I will be out of your hair."Jayden stared at her as she walked closer to where he sat in the mini living room. What's with the formality? Weren't they passed that already? Apart from that, everyth
"Don't cry.... Don't cry," She muttered to herself and fell on the couch with a thud. Crying because of a man would definitely be the last rule she would break. After-all, she had broken every laid down principles she made for herself, and crying because of a man would render her defeated. The more she thought about how cheap she had become, exposing herself, acting like a slut and playing hickey-dory with a rich guy, the more anger took over her soul. She was angry with nobody but herself. She had destroyed whatever she stood for; professionally, ethically, you name it. Why had she of all females acted like one with no dignity. What could have gotten into her? It could have been any other guy. It could have been some guy who wasn't her patient or someone who wasn't engaged to another female. She would never be Ashley even though the universe flip ten times over. She broke her last rule eventually, her cheeks flooded with streamy hot tears as she cried because of a man. Each year d
He peeled his chocolate eyes from the monitor and directed them at the blonde lady whose attention was deeply fixated on a large potrait in his office "You have a crush on my dad?" His asked, folding his arms with his lips crooked a little. His question was supposed to tease her but her body language happened to be too serious to stomach some jokes. "Your dad??" She asked, glaring at him with crushed brows. He simply nodded, finding her reaction odd. That dazed expression was the usual kind of look he got whenever people realised he was Jayden Stanley or that his father was Helbert Stanley. But she was Maria, his personal doctor to be precise, who already knew who he was already. "What's with that look?" He asked, switching on his second laptop to work on something Daniel informed him about. "Didn't you know that?" He added, chuckling a little bit. Maria returned her eyes, staring at the stern looking man in the picture. "Well... I didn't know this was your dad. I mean I have hear
The dining room seemed too exquisite for a home. But it was okay and unchallengeable. It was the home the Stanleys and situations of such were considered normal. It was her first time coming to that particular part of the vast mansion and it was all thanks to Mr Grumpy who surprisingly decided not having breakfast in the room he usually locked himself in. A maid rushed in, approaching the both of them with a concerned look. "Good morning sir." She immediately voiced after throwing her head down into a bow. "You dismissed the meal brought to you sir. Is there something you didn't like about the meal or would you like us to prepare another kind of dish?" The woman furthered, and slowly looked up at Jayden for a reply. "No," was the prompt reply from her superior."Si-Sir?"Jayden looked away, walking past her with his steps targeted at the dining table. "He could have just said he was having his breakfast differently," Maria muttered, shaking her head at his retreating figure and won
"And then he said he likes me? With an emotionless tone and dead pan looking face? Who confesses to a lady like that?!""And what did you actually do?""What do you think I might have done? Picking up my cellphone to make a fake call and hold the call throughout the drive home just to avoid the awkward conversation? Yes. That was what I did.""So let me make a summary of what you just told me.""Okay?" "You both relationship is becoming weirder of late. You guys also kissed but you don't know what it means to him, although you think it's a drunken mistake. And now he told you he likes you but his confession lacked the required emotions needed to buy his words. And besides all that, before all that happened, he already attempted flirting with you numerous times including kissing you during a time you both pretended to be lovers.""Yes, yes, yes. O boy, you are so attentive.""And now you are completely confused if he is messing around with you again.... Or maybe not."She nodded again