NICHOLAS ONE WEEK LATER I stared straight through the woman standing opposite me, feigning interest as she delivered a speech about something likely unimportant and not worth my attention. I had mastered the art of appearing like I was listening over the years that I had been working in business. I sighed as my financial advisor placed a hand on her jutted hip and inhaled a sharp breath before she went on. I ran a finger over my bottom lip as I wondered for a moment if this week would ever draw to an end because of how long it had stretched out for. It had been really draining, even much more than ever, yet nothing particularly eventful had occurred. Well, that was if I was excluding the inevitable, which was the end of Ophelia and I's relationship. I tried to dismiss my thoughts of her as soon as they came to my mind, but still, just as I had expected, the feeling hit me: the miserable and undeniable pain I always felt deep in my chest. It had been there since last week and it ju
NICHOLAS l looked deeply into her eyes as I asked about her passion for writing and reading, searching for something, anything behind them that could enlighten me, but she gave nothing away. She didn't give off a vibe like she had been hurt in her life. She was perky and confident and talked freely for minutes on end about her college and work experience, but I had a feeling that it could just be a facade. Kind of like the way I was.My laptop repeatedly buzzed with notifications as we spoke and eventually, I was forced to press the mute button; a very dangerous thing for someone with my power to do. Soon I noticed the professional wall she had built up for herself finally began to crumble. She started to look uncomfortable, as she began to shift her weight from side to side, and her eyes were barely even hiding her anxiousness. Why was she so skittish? I wondered.With an apprehensive sigh, I shut my laptop. Her eyes were wide and alert once more as I placed my elbows on the tabl
NICHOLAS I was dripping with sweat and coated in dust by the time we headed back to the car. It turned out that the plot of land Brian mentioned was literally a plot of land with grasses, mud, a few dying shrubs and nothing else. I genuinely didn't think that those types of barren and undeveloped plots still existed in the metropolitan area, but lo and behold, there it was. I also noticed that the unexpected humidity of November was clearly not agreeing with me, but after downing a few bottles of water, I eventually managed to look decent once more. I realized now that we would have to build the entire warehouse from scratch if we were to pursue this deal, but Cole knew as well as I did, that we had a large amount of money heading our way, anyway, and it was owed to us by Ms Taylor's extravagant assistant, so it wouldn't be damaging in the slightest if we did so. Never break a contract with Kendrick Incorporation if you knew what was good for you. Well… unless you were Ophelia Mor
NICHOLAS Ten days. I waited for ten whole days. I was more restless by the hour, I fired more people by the minute and I broke more things by the second. In fact, everything was absolute agony for me. But I managed to go through it all. I forced myself to wait until her special day. November 20th was her birthday, and that was something I easily remembered from her resumé. And that day was also today. I sat fidgeting in my car for at least half an hour before I finally found the courage to drive to her apartment. I arrived much sooner than I would have liked, clutching onto the gift I got for her for dear life as I left my car. God, I hope she likes it, I thought.I knew that it made up for nothing, and I wouldn't even blame her if she slammed the door in my face the moment she saw me but I just couldn't show up uninvited and with no gift. I had everything I wanted to say to her in my head for days now, but it all vanished the moment her tell-tale apartment door came into view. I
OPHELIA "Right, and that is all?" I said, somehow shielding the hope in my voice well enough that he didn't detect it. There was another moment of silence, and I realized that I was still holding Nicholas's present in my hand so I stared at it. Why would he even bring me a present? I asked myself."Please open it," he said and I noticed that his voice was quiet and pleading. I glanced up. "Then I will leave." "Fine," I agreed.A flicker of a smile appeared on his face, and my heart fluttered in response. Wow, it was still there. "Ophelia!" There was a pounding on the door and I let out an irritated sigh before I spoke to Nicholas. "Stay for the gift opening, and then..." I trailed off as the thought of him leaving my life once more brought pain to my heart even after weeks of coming to terms with the end of our relationship. As he nodded solemnly, I finally opened the door and stepped into the living room once more. Everyone's eyes were on us as we finally joined the circle fo
OPHELIA “Are you sure?" "Yes, Rianne," I repeated one more time as I wiped at my nose and tossed the tissue down the toilet. "They were really happy tears?" she asked.I paused for a moment, staring at my puffy face in the mirror with something close to disdain before I spoke. "Well, more like shocked and happy tears at the same time," I said.She sighed and placed her hands on her hips which were very visible in the skin tight, silver dress she was currently putting on. "Well, now I feel bad for kicking the asshole out," she said and I giggled, and the action was very refreshing after crying. "No, it is okay,” I said and she raised an eyebrow, clearly not believing that as I cleared my throat and hurriedly readjusted my dress before I followed her out. "Why do you still have your coat on?” she enquired, and I made a comment about not really having a spare moment to take it off before I finally stripped it off and she gasped.She waggled her eyebrows as I hung it up with the rem
OPHELIA The second I felt him getting a hold of his emotions again, I built up the courage to speak. "You are staying here tonight. I have missed you too much to let you go home," I muttered as he nuzzled into my neck, still sniffing. His vulnerability underneath that controlling demeanor would forever disarm me and that made me to forgive him instantly. "Plus we need to have a talk about how a thousand times better than you doesn't even exist," I added.I felt rather than saw his smile as he slowly straightened up again. "You flatter me, Ophelia," he remarked. "No, you flatter me. How much did you spend on this necklace?" He rolled his eyes and I said, "I am serious, I need to know for your birthday." "I think this is the one thing I didn't miss about you. Your inability to accept a gift," he said and I flushed. "If it was a handbag or a gift card, maybe I would let it go. How much did it cost?" I asked and he flipped me off."Fuck off," he groaned but I could tell it was pl
OPHELIA The sun shone through the cracks in the curtains, and they shot directly onto my face. Gradually, I forced my eyelids open, fatigue weighing me down as my bedroom greeted me in all its scarcely decorated glory, considering that I had never really bothered to accessorize it. Eventually, I peeled myself out of the duvet, last night's nightmare forgotten as I realized that something else was weighing me down and it was Nicholas's arm. It was draped over my tank top clad stomach and pinning me down to the mattress at the same time. I grinned from ear to ear as I looked at him. I didn't think I had woken up this happy in a while. My stomach grumbled much to my surprise because usually, any sort of stress or sadness always made me to lose my appetite, and last night's nightmare certainly covered that. I tried to shuffle down the bed, sliding my legs against the sheets to do so. "No, no, no," a deep raspy voice echoed from beside me, and that made me to halt my actions. Nicholas
NICHOLAS Two hours later, we were sitting in my bed, swaddled under the covers with a random movie playing on the television. Our legs were tangled together with her cheek was against my chest, and there were plates of unfinished food around the dresser beside us. Usually, the mess would have been bugging me but right now, there were more important things on my mind. Currently, it was watching Ophelia’s face break into laughter every time something funny happened on the screen. Her hair was usually in the way, but when I did glance down and saw her chuckling softly, something powerful ignited inside of me. I loved seeing her smile. Infact, I needed to see her smile. It has become as essential as food and water to me and I had never been so captivated by someone before in my life. She noticed my stillness and tilted her head up to glance at me. She was silently asking me what was wrong, but I couldn't think of a single cheeky remark, not even a joke to hide my true intentions. Her
OPHELIA It took me half an hour to find him but when I did, I somewhat wished that I hadn't. He was sitting on a bench outside the hospital entrance, and I realized that he often resorted to these when he wanted no one to find him. My heart was pounding in my chest as I gazed at him from afar for a moment. I could immediately tell that there was something wrong with him. He was curled up with his head in his hands and even from across the street, I could see that he was shivering. When I got closer, I realized that it was not just from the cold because he was shaking with sobs. Infact, his body was wracked with them."Oh, Nicholas," I whispered and raced up to him as fast as I could. He tried to stand up but not before I grabbed his hand to pull him back down. The sound of his harsh breathing as he roughly wiped his tears away was the only sound on the desolate street surrounding us. “Talk to me," I pleaded. Alarmed, I tried to place a hand on his face but he shifted away. "Don't
OPHELIA I walked through the admissions foyer of the hospital and Rianne's mother was waiting for me at the entrance. After greeting her warmly, I immediately asked her if Rianne was awake yet, although deep down I knew that it was a long shot because she probably would have texted me.It still hurt to hear that nothing had changed since she left last night. I tried not to show my disappointment on my face though. "She may have come to overnight. I haven't seen her yet today because I was waiting for you." I smiled at her thoughtfulness before she continued. "So is your other half coming today?" I pursed my lips at her question and she read my expression immediately. "Don't worry about it, dear. He did seem a little uncomfortable yesterday. I am sorry if it was because of me." "No, no, it wasn't. He should be here soon. He is just at work right now." "Oh?" She looked at me inquisitively as we walked side by side through the Accident and Emergency unit."Where is he working? I am
OPHELIA I woke up with a start, struggling to catch my breath as the vivid pictures from my nightmare slowly faded from my mind. I couldn't help my frustration when I realized that this was the second one I had had in the past few days. I really thought I was over them. When I glanced to my left, I could see that there was already light outside the wall-sized window. Where did Nicholas go? My eyelids were heavy so I clearly hadn't slept long enough to catch up on sleep entirely, but it was disappointing nonetheless to know that he must still be working. I got to my feet, deciding to go and get some water since my throat was abnormally dry. I walked into the kitchen, surprised to see a new bag sitting on the floor next to my own. I recognized it as Nicholas's suitcase, and I automatically assumed that someone must have found it in our villa in The Bahamas and delivered it here. Maybe Shane arrived in Washington and brought this bag with him? Both bags were unmoved from in front of
OPHELIA "Nick. Hey, where are you going? Nicholas!" I caught up to him and eventually, he accepted that he couldn't ignore me any longer and hesitantly turned around. "Why are you leaving?" I asked him."We can come back when she is conscious," he replied ."I don't understand. We waited for hours to see them and now you want to leave?" He looked at me and I realized that he was breathing harder than usual. His eyes were wide and his face was abnormally pale. "Can we just… go? Please?" His voice was trembling and suddenly, I blanched, realizing that this may be much more than I thought it was. "Ohh, okay. But please just tell me what is going on." I hurriedly signed us out at the front desk and scuttled after him. The front doors slid open as we left the hospital, and I was thankful that the sun had risen in the time we had been inside. The cold was still biting, but it was not as harsh as it had been earlier. "It was difficult for me to watch them together," he finally said
OPHELIA The clock continued to tick mockingly on the wall opposite us, marking time passing painfully slowly. It was only the end of November, but it was already viciously cold in the waiting room as if it was already full-blown winter. Maybe it was just my imagination, but I felt as if I was freezing to death, even as I was with Nicholas's jacket on and his arms were wrapped around me. Minutes became an hour, and an hour becames hours. I had lost track of how long we had been sitting in the waiting room by the time a doctor appeared, asking if we were here to see Rianne Thomas and Dave Hank. Rianne's mother and I jumped out of our seats, both with expectant expressions on our faces. Nicholas stayed back as the doctor introduced himself, and I thought he was probably wondering if he would even be allowed to see them because he wasn't direct family of Rianne's, or even that close to her. In fact the last time I checked, they hated each other's guts. "Hi, I am Doctor Nathaniel.” T
OPHELIAIt must have gotten considerably colder in Washington while we were away, because the few cars parked by the hospital had a layer of thick white snow on their roofs, and the ground was coated with icy mud. The moment Nicholas parked the car in the deserted parking lot, I was ready to unbuckle my seatbelt and bolt to Rianne's side. I already felt terrible that we weren't here sooner but hopefully, her mother would understand because we were halfway across the world when we were informed of the accident. Nicholas seemed to sense my predicament because he turned to me the second we were no longer moving. "Go," he said and I smiled gratefully as I scurried out of the car and up to the towering hospital entrance. I could see Nicholas's figure reflected in the glass of the front doors. He was looking slightly less calm and collected than usual as he walked in behind me. I, on the other hand, couldn't seem to breathe as the place we were suddenly dawned on me. The last time I wen
NICHOLAS Eventually, she detached her lips and smiled lazily at me before she opened her mouth to speak. “You don't know what I want to do to you right now," she whispered as she sat up and began to plant small kisses on my neck. I must have been too preoccupied with trying to unzip my jeans to notice the way she sucked and nibbled harshly on the skin just below my ear for a little too long. “Nice.” Her tone was proud as she kissed the tender skin one final time. Just then, I froze as what she just did suddenly dawned on me. "You did not just give me a hickey," I bit out but she just grinned widely at me so I went on, "You have got to be kidding me. I have important meetings coming up." She continued to smile, and it was beyond contagious as her hand landed on my boxers. She rubbed the material over my bulge as I nuzzled my head into the crook of her neck. "I am sure I can make it up to you," she said and that same smile was still on her face. "Oh, I am sure you can." My voice
NICHOLAS I soon grew tired of the silent driving. I really thought Ophelia would have broken and spoken to me by now, but I guess I didn't realize just how upset with me she was. Out of instinct, I reached over and brushed the hair out of her eyes, but she only stiffened at my small display of affection. My hand found hers and I pulled it to my lips so that I could kiss it tenderly with my eyes still on the road as I steered with one hand. She didn't snatch it away, which I guessed was a good sign. So I dragged my kiss down to her knuckles and wrist next, feeling the softness of her pale skin beneath my lips. She still didn't show any emotion, as she kept on listening to whatever song she had playing on her phone. I put her hand back in her lap in defeat, resting my arm on her thigh instead. I waited a silent minute or so before I couldn't help myself any longer. Then I began to rub the skin on her leg just below the hem of her dress. Cautiously, I made a move to slide my hand fu