The cab had stopped right in front of the multistorey building. Alicia's grip tightened on her luggage and she got down, giving the driver a courtesy nod and watched as he drove off. She was scared. Felicia was really going to be mad at her. Who knew if she was even home? Walking into the building and climbing the stairs till she got to the third floor she stopped at the first door on the left. Her breathing was loud and her heart was thumping loudly. Heaving, she knocked. Footsteps shuffled with the flat and came towards the door. One! Two! Three! It opened. Felicia was in a bathrobe and had a facial mask stuck on her face. She had added some pounds and looked ever so beautiful than the last time they both saw. "Alicia, you're back!" Felicia couldn't contain her excitement and jumped on her friend, sending both to the floor, groaning and then bursting into laughter loudly. "SHUT UP!" Someone from the opposite flat shouted and both ladies ran indoors, giggling like the friends t
Michael was seated at the very front of the occasion. It was a decorated round table for two and he needed to make a good impression for his potential client by coming earlier than expected. It wasn’t even like they had started early. He had had the chance to mingle with a cluster of people, greeted those he knew here and there, and then went on to take his seat when the host had clinked his glass to begin his speech. The host was a man in his late forties with grey hair filled out on his head. Staring at the empty seat adjacent him, then his watch, he was beginning to panic. Where the hell was Alicia? If she had been here earlier as it was thirty minutes past eight, she would have read the host's expression and known exactly what he needed and how it would be of benefits with the company. She was that good with the job. Now, what exactly was the delay? Rising up to excuse himself as he wanted placing a call to her, all eyes fell on him. Great, he was the center of attraction. Off
There had been heavy traffic on the way.Michael hadn't spoken to Alicia all through the journey until the car stopped at the front of her apartment. It was five minutes past midnight at she glanced at her phone to check the time. "Be at the office by seven on the dot." Too much of trying to care for a man who was crying one moment and acting indifferent another time. Too much of trying to put him first instead of her own needs. She had gotten out of the car and not responded, walking straight into the building. She knew he was staring at her as she had not heard the car's ignition. The moment she turned back, the vehicle was already on the move and the windows wound up. Sighing, she continued her steps to her flat.She figured Felicia was already fast asleep after knocking the door several times, so she used her own spare key to get in. As expected, the small living room of theirs was dark and the curtains drawn. Felicia had retired to her bedroom. Alicia didn't even bother to tur
Alicia sighed and made the sign of the cross before stepping into Michael's office the next day. She had arrived earlier than 7am and had been surprised to see Sarah. Normal resumption time for every employee working in the company was 8am but having been Michael's PA, she resumed earlier than the rest and was astonished to see her colleague, the secretary. Their conversation had been brief with the greetings and questions pertaining how the weekend went. A chip in of rest needed, skating with her boyfriend and attending a friend's wedding, Sarah announced, bringing back the weight of the previous day's ordeal. "Mr. Dalton called me yesterday's night and i was shocked. He told me to come early and sort out some files for him. This morning he requested i send you in to him, immediately you arrive. I hope there's no problem as he sounds angry. I pray you don't lose your job." Alicia wanted to cry, so Michael had considered letting her go, calling another worker in the middle of the
Knock! Knock! Alicia peered up from her pile of work to seeing Sarah, poking her head into her office. Gesturing for her to come in and have a seat, Sarah did happily so. It was at that moment Alicia noticed she had deep dimples as she smiled. They were beautiful and they made her face glow. "Got chance to go for lunch?" Sarah hoped. Alicia rolled her eyes and pointed at the unattended files that were begging she took a look at them and went her way. Sarah placed a hand on Alicia's. It was her own way of reassuring the lady that everything was going to be okay even if Alicia was being tensed, as she had noticed. "You know what? I need a break. Let's go!" Alicia frustratingly slammed the file she was holding on the table and rose up instantly to her feet. Sarah had almost squealed when Alicia clamped her mouth with her hands, tilting her head to the door as to signify that Michael's office was close by. Instead, Sarah broke into a silly dance, earning a stifled laughter from Alici
The week turned into weekend and Alicia had a whole lot of laundry to do. Felicia was hardly home these days, running off to meet her love in distress, not bothering to introducing him to her by bringing him over the house. She was beginning to doubt their relationship. What if Felicia was into someone bad and was hiding and sponsoring him off?Selecting her clothes from the basket, she walked to the laundry room, soap in her hand. She had begun turning each clothes backwards and searching trousers pockets for anything at all. One’s luck would shine if money came out of it. It was in one of her jeans that she pulled out a card. 'Ella Dalton' was boldly written at the top and Alicia reminisced to when she had bent over for the woman to whisper as Michael stared on at them. She could not forget those words. "Don't let him have you without you putting up some barricades." And both women had chuckled.Snapping out of her thoughts, it had been what? A week and there days she had seen th
Monday came by as quickly as it always did."Happy one month anniversary, babes." Felicia called out as Alicia stepped out of the house, unresponsive to her congratulatory greetings. Her phone rang some minutes after. "Hey, girl!" She had settled on a sofa, ready to eat the food she had just microwaved and Alicia hadn't even bother to have some. She was always in a hurry, like the job was running away. "Hey, you!" Alicia sounded dull. It must have probably been the stress of having to wake up early and leaving the house at exactly 6am in the morning, every week day. What kind of boss did that to his personal assistant anyways? She was going to have to give Michael, The Prince Charming, a huge piece of her mind and tell him to cut her friend some slack. "You didn't eat?""Nah. I'm good.""You're sure?" Felicia was concerned. Her flat mate was getting withdrawn lately and they hardly spoke. Well, she for one was to blame. As she was always heading out at the slight chance to meet u
“Tell me the name of the motherfucker who did this to you and believe me, if I don't do worse to her, my name definitely isn't Felicia." Felicia couldn't stop foaming. From the moment Alicia had walked through the door with Sarah helping her as support into the flat, her heart had jumped at her flat mate's unrecognizable swollen face. She had been planning all day that she and Alicia should at least go out for dinner, immediately she came back and was so shocked seeing the outcome on Alicia’s face. Sarah had helped Alicia to one of the sofas and ran along, claiming she would be back later in the evening. Felicia had pestered the lady to give answers but Alicia had simply told her to run along and not keep Xavier waiting. Sarah had been shaking like a leaf, under Felicia’s questioning. What in the hell had happened?! Where had it taken place and why? Was all the questions she needed questions to. And who was Xavier? Who was this Sarah? And who was the bloody fucker that did that to
"Doctor, how is she?" Felicia ran up to the man in white coat approaching them. A nurse was standing right beside him. They were both of the same height and Felicia thought they would fit, if they were ever to be couples. What was she thinking when there was a more critical case staring right in her face. "According to the examinations we made and the test result that came out. She's suffering a mild concussion, having been hit hard on the head. She was jerking moments ago but we've seen to it. We don't know how long she'll be out cold but we know it's nothing serious." Both Felicia and Ella sighed. Alicia was going to be fine. Her situation wasn't critical. It was of complete relief. What was worrisome was how long she was going to be out, given the sedative injected during her convulsing state. Was she really going to be okay?"As for the man." The doctor added. "It was a miracle he was brought here on time, otherwise the internal bleeding would have been the end of him. We've su
Ella dashed right into the hospital. She didn't care if she was looking out of place or the curious look people gave her as she made hastily made her way to the nurse up desk. Her heart thumped greatly within. "My son! Where is he?" She slammed her hands on the slab, causing the fragile looking nurse to jump up. She was pretty and beautifully small. Looking at the old lady, the nurse's eyes lit up. The tag on her scrub read "Anita Smith". It was obvious she was newly employed or just transferred. It wasn't everyday one got to meet such a big woman who made impacts in the country. "My son! Where is he?" Ella asked again, snapping the young lady to reality. The nurse was just about to fish her phone from her pocket when the old but young looking woman snapped. Ah. Yes. Straight to business. She would ask for a picture later. Clearly her throat, she proceeded to ask her questions with professionalism. "Michael Dalton, yes?" Her mention of his name made her mind dart to how handsome
"WHAT'S GOING ON HERE?!" Michael couldn't believe his eyes. His own friend was kissing the woman he knew he liked! The whole scene was setting back to the last decade. Where his own best friend whom he had taken as his own blood brother had eloped with Diana. Why was fate treating him this badly? What had he done to deserve all that? Why were the women who came into his life striking him blows of smooching with people he was close with? And why were his friends betrayers?The two had broken away from the kiss, rather in reluctance and had faced him like they hadn't done anything wrong. Alicia looked at him with a disdainful sly smile, while Xavier couldn't even meet his eyes. The bastard! He had so trusted him that he had revealed a lot to him. His fist clenched. "What do you think you are doing here?" Another voice had come in place. Turning his head sideways, it was Felicia. The lady's face was unsmiling and she eyed him that it felt there was a monster in him that she hated. Or
"Oh, my God." Felicia had rushed up to Alicia, enveloping her in a hug. She had hurried hastily to the station the moment her friend had called that she had been arrested. If she had been told by someone that such a thing would happen, then she would have called the person a blatant liar. She had thought Alicia was playing a prank on her at first but when she bursted out crying, she had known for a fact it wasn't cruising at all. Why had Alicia been locked up? She hadn’t even bothered asking but had managed to comfort Alicia into giving the station's address. "Did they touch you?" Felicia looked all over Alicia's body, her eyes scanning for a single mark of beating or torture but there wasn’t any. The makeup on Alicia's face had mixed with sweat and dust, her bruises coming in full view. They were healing faster than expected though. Alicia sure had a good lot of white blood cells. She was strong and immune. "No." Her reply was dull. It was like she had lost all purpose to live
"Alicia! Are you there?" Eric called out. His voice was echoing as though he were now in an empty room. Someone was speaking to him in the background. "Oh, my God. Alicia?" Ella walked in. Alicia hadn't moved from her spot and she was now crying in silence. Ella stared from her face to the phone. Eric was continually calling out her name. "Hello?" Ella had picked up the phone which had now had crack maps all over, during it's impactful fall. Saved for the screen guard, she would have been left to change it’s screen afterwards. "Please, is my sister there?" Eric politely asked. It seemed he still had more messages to pass through but Alicia wasn't ready to move. The tears had blocked her vision and she was started to sniffle. What was it with the problems of her life?Glancing over at Alicia, Ella saw it must be a family issue. She could leave and let them get over with but Alicia wasn't looking herself. It was as if she had been dealt a heavy blow on the face, even if it had occur
“Good morning, Sir." Alicia stood and greeted from her desk when Michael came walking in. She had resumed as everyone else. Surely Michael would understand as he also came in late. He was looking from her desk with few files to her face, devoid of any injuries as they were covered up with excessive makeup. She still looked beautiful and it was worriedly surprising, seeing her there in the office exactly four days after the incident. "Aren't you supposed to be home. I thought i gave you a one month's leave." Michael uttered. His mind wondered as to why Alicia couldn't follow a simple order as pertaining to her recovery. She was always proving to be strong headed when all he was doing was for the benefit of herself and her health. And maybe for himself too. "I'm very much fine sir, thank you." She replied, looking him straight in the eyes until he was forced to glance elsewhere. Pathetic man! He couldn’t even look into her eyes because he knew he was guilty as charged, of what her ey
"Babes, i'm heading out to get groceries." Felicia called out from the living room. "Okay! Don't take long." Alicia had responded from her bedroom. A towel was wound around her, she had just come out of the bathroom. Staring at the standing mirror, she saw her swollen face had come down a little and it didn't even hurt like before. There were still visible scratches but it wasn't that bad. The injuries were beginning to heal and fast. Her once beautiful face was slightly disfigured with marks she had caused by herself. If she hadn't raised her hand on Diana and ignored her, she would have saved herself the trouble of spending her fat salary on treatment and infection. She had missed three days at work. She didn’t even know if she had a job anymore. She heard the sitting room door creak and closed. Did Felicia forget something? It would be to quick in less than ten minutes to get groceries and come back into the house. Even climbing of the stairs and back took ten minutes. What cou
"Happy birthday, mother." Michael hugged his mother from behind, whispering into her ears. Turning around to face her son, Ella's joy knew no bounds as she hugged him tightly before her eyes went searchingly behind him. Michael knew who she was searching for and it pained him to tell her the person wasn't coming after receiving beatings from his ex. How was he even going to explain it?"She won't be able to make it." He announced before she was able to ask. His mother's eyes were inquiring and he knew she suspected something was wrong. His mother was an owl, she always knew when something was up. "Ah, Michael!" An elderly man with an almost hunched back, approached them. He was grinning and his white teeth glistened in the florescent lights. The man had his right hand outstretched for a shake and Michael politely took it in. He needed to talk to his mother urgently as to know the profound steps he was needed to take to winning Alicia's heart back. He needed the man to go away and f
“Tell me the name of the motherfucker who did this to you and believe me, if I don't do worse to her, my name definitely isn't Felicia." Felicia couldn't stop foaming. From the moment Alicia had walked through the door with Sarah helping her as support into the flat, her heart had jumped at her flat mate's unrecognizable swollen face. She had been planning all day that she and Alicia should at least go out for dinner, immediately she came back and was so shocked seeing the outcome on Alicia’s face. Sarah had helped Alicia to one of the sofas and ran along, claiming she would be back later in the evening. Felicia had pestered the lady to give answers but Alicia had simply told her to run along and not keep Xavier waiting. Sarah had been shaking like a leaf, under Felicia’s questioning. What in the hell had happened?! Where had it taken place and why? Was all the questions she needed questions to. And who was Xavier? Who was this Sarah? And who was the bloody fucker that did that to