"You're still here?" Damien paused in his tracks as he sighted Alvarez standing at the exit of the office building. Damien had a late meeting which had lasted nearly three hours, and after that, he had stayed to finish up a project he had abandoned for a while now. Although he had eaten a few hours ago, he still felt quite hungry, and what he planned to do was go home and find a way to relax after eating. His bones felt cramped as well. Alvarez smiled at his best friend from the door, “Well, I'm head of security, remember? And you're the owner of this company and my boss. If you leave late, so do I.” He chuckled and Damien narrowed his eyes, laughing at the same time, "I can't tell if that was accusatory or affectionate.”Alvarez shrugged with a wink, "Whichever you want it to be. It’s up to you.”"Asshole.” Damien shot back. They both burst into laughter at the same time, and as they both walked out of the building and towards the car park, Damien looked back at his friend, “Drin
Damien folded the last of the shirts he had taken out of the closet, neatly into the small traveling bag on the bed. The time for his flight wasn't long now so he needed to get a head start. He wasn't packing a lot of things, just enough for a few days and when he was done with the shirts, his eyes skimmed through the room to check for anything else he might be missing. As he began to zip up the traveling bag, his phone vibrated in his jeans pocket. Praying silently that it wasn't work related, Damien slipped his phone out and smiled a little when he saw it was his mother calling. As long as it wasn't work, it was fine and also it had been a while since he'd heard from her. "Mother.” He greeted, zipping the bag with one hand and then carrying it to the corner of the room, "How are you doing?""Hey, honey.” She cooed from the other end, "I'm okay. I just wanted to hear from you. Are you good?"Damien flipped through the documents he had procured from his bottom drawer, his left han
KATHERINEKatherine wrinkled her nose, sighing as the airport taxi dropped her at the hotel that had been reserved for her. It wasn't the usual five-star hotel she’d have wanted, and everything looked disgusting to her, but she decided to endure it. After all, her future depended on all this she was doing, and it was only for a few days. Soon she would go back to her paradise, satisfied and fulfilled. Her men had booked this hotel because it was the closest to the town where Madison lived, and the thought of lodging at the much better hotel and then driving hours to get to this town was not appealing, so she had decided to make use of what she got. She had gotten the details of Damien's flight earlier, so she decided to take a flight ahead of him. She wanted to get here before him as it would give her time to survey the surroundings, and know exactly what she was up against. Her men had been investigating for weeks and they had come up with very useful information, but Katherine
"What the hell?” Damien yelled into his phone, his fingers clenching in anger. He couldn't believe what he was just hearing. The one thing he thoroughly despised in his life was disappointments of any kind, and now that it concerned something so important to him, he felt like combusting with fury. What nonsense?"I-I'm really sorry, sir.” Nina, his secretary, stammered from the other end, her voice breaking as she continued, "I contacted them this morning and that's when I got the info that all flights had been canceled due to some maintenance concerns by the airport, so I decided to call right away and inform you."Damien raked a finger through his hair, a hiss escaping his lips.He had planned everything already, packed everything he would need accordingly, and even cross-checked all the details of the investigation with his private investigator. He was ready to leave in two days time, and now this? He gritted his teeth in anger, "How long will this maintenance take? Have you any
KATHERINEKatherine tipped the third glass of tequila to her lips, swallowing the contents of the glass cup in one gulp.She slammed the glass down on the table again, and slid it over to the bartender for another refill and he poured the drink all to obligingly. She had promised him a good tip, so he would definitely do as she ordered. She needed this alcohol. It would drown her frustrations away, and make her stop thinking about a certain cranky bitch getting on her nerves amongst other things. After she had found out where Madison lived and worked, she had finally decided to go into the city to lodge in a better hotel. She couldn’t keep staying in that mold looking hotel more like motel, and worse still the building reminded her so much of Madison’s dilapidated house.Try as she may, she just couldn't stop herself from feeling irritated at the dingy hotel, and so she had ordered her men to drive her into the city and now she was much more comfortable in the new hotel room. After
Damien took one look in the mirror, and smoothened out the lapels of his coat, as he checked to make sure he was ready. When he decided he was ready to go, he picked his phone and car keys off the table and exited his bedroom. He would have asked his chauffeur to drive him, but he didn't know how long he would be staying there and Damien wasn't a fan of making people wait for long doing nothing, so he decided he would drive himself. He had finally taken up his mother's offer on having dinner with her and he was on his way there. After his flight had been canceled, he had nothing important to take care of and so he had called her to ask when she would be free to have dinner. She had been so excited that she asked him to come the next day, and he wasn't even there yet but he already had this feeling of nostalgia for his mother's cooking. He resolved within himself that when all of this was over, he would make out more time to spend with his family. It felt like he had been so busy
"So… did you like it?" Gina asked, smiling widely at Madison as they both packed in freshly baked bread into open cartons and moved them to where it would be taken for further transportation. This was the first time they had been placed to work in the same station, and Madison was a tad bit elated. The only time she got to see her friend was during lunch breaks, or after work when they would walk home together, but now it was so much nicer working with her. At least she had someone to talk to while simultaneously doing her job, and as usual Gina was lively and fun to be with. Madison laughed at her friend's expression, “Ah, don't get ahead of yourself now.” She teased, "But I won’t lie yes it was simply delicious. I have never had better potato porridge in my life!" She exclaimed, quickly placing a hand over her mouth when she realized her voice was quite loud, and someone could overhear them. Gina knowingly smirked with satisfaction, "See? I told you you'd love it. You're welcome
Damien checked his watch as he walked into the private air strip. He still couldn't believe a week had passed so quickly. It flew by so fast that he barely noticed, and this was because he had spent most of it with his family. After dinner with his mother the last time, she and his sister Layla had begged and convinced him to stay for a few more days, and he had agreed because he had nothing important to do.It had been a while since he spent quality time with them, and he didn't regret his decision to stay back one bit. Frankly speaking, the last week seemed to be the most fun days he'd had in months.At his large apartment, when he came back from work he would just sit around with nothing to do, but with his family, they had kept him on his toes and busy always and he had enjoyed every moment.He had felt human again, and even though he returned home few days later he still missed them, cherishing the time they’d spent. Now he vowed he would always make time to go see and spend s
~ They were drawn to each other in ways they had never experienced. It wasn’t a coincidence but an undeniable fated connection. Because when their hearts first collided, they knew their soul was already infused together. ~SOME MONTHS LATER “No way…” Madison’s hand shook as she held the white pregnancy test stick in her hand, her jaw dropping as she stared at the result she was seeing.Her hands shook heavily, and as beads of sweat flowed down her face, she began to walk away from the toilet and back to the bedroom she and Damien shared.“This has got to be a dream.” Madison muttered to herself, a tear falling down her face as she gently placed the stick on the table and continued to stare at it, but she could not comprehend what she was seeing.Her eyes closed; she tried to tell herself that, indeed, her eyes were playing some trick on her, so she had to close and open them again, but when she did… The pregnancy stick was still there.Showing two positive lines, indicating that she
“Are we there yet?” Madison queried, her hands flailing about in the air as Damien kept leading her to somewhere unknown, his hands covering her eyes.“Almost…” He chuckled heavily, and she just groaned lightly.She hated this suspense, and whatever it was, he wanted to show her it had better be worth it cause she was running out of patience.Discarding the worrying thoughts out of her head, Madison instead decided to use her sense of hearing to grasp the knowledge of where she was at the moment since she could barely see a thing.The light sand, which buried her feet now and then as they walked, signified that they were either at the beach or some park. It was the beach! She could hear the soft billowing sounds of water waves from afar, and with the cool evening breeze blowing past, carrying with it the scent of murky dust, she knew her assumption was right. But which one in particular? She wondered, and again why had Damien brought her to the beach of all places?Her curiosity soo
"I'm confident that everything will be fine." As they drove to the hospital, Damien kept assuring Madison, his hands intertwined with hers. It was as if he could sense her anxiety and the nagging reminder that she might get some bad news today. She'd avoided going to the hospital for years after being treated there when her child died. Since then, she'd vowed never to set foot in a hospital building to check on herself, regardless of whether the situation was critical. But, with Damien's constant words of encouragement and kisses on her knuckles every minute, she was doing her best to remain calm. They'd agreed to go to the hospital to be safe after she'd expressed concerns about not being able to have children, among other things. Damien, on the other hand, had suggested going to the hospital so they could both get some checkups and talk to the doctor. His suggestion was good, and she could use it... "What's going through your mind, my love?" Damien's voice jolted Madison out
“Morning, princess.”Madison groaned, her eyes fluttering open as Damien’s loud greeting roused her from her slumber.“Go away.” She mumbled, eyes still closed as she turned sideways on the bed, intent on continuing her sleep, but he just wasn’t having it.“No, I won’t. Wake up, princess.” He said again, using his hands to nudge her shoulders again, and she let out a frustrated hiss.“I think I can handle you calling me ‘princess,’ and the word alone will make me wake up. You know I like it.” She mumbled, hands rubbing at her eyes as she tried to gain consciousness of her surroundingsDragging the blanket with her, Madison pushed herself into a sitting position against the headboard, yawning and stretching.She looked over to where he was standing, and her lips fell open when she saw he had a tray in hand.A tray of food? What was in there? She began to wonder, but she didn’t need to think much because, soon enough, the smell of freshly fried eggs, bacon, and pancakes filled the air,
The moment Damien placed his lips on hers, Madison knew she was lost already.Finally, after her fears and worries, she was doing this. She was going to enjoy tonight, and since it was their first time since whenever, she just had to bask in it.Closing her eyes and letting out a hum the second he placed her on the soft king-sized bed they shared, Madison’s left hand wandered to his hair, gripping the strands tightly. She moved forward to deepen the kiss, feeling his hands also moving, and she let out a sigh when his thumb caressed the bud of her puckered nipple.He was still kissing her. Their tongues lip locking lightly, and every move he made sent warmth rushing through her body and made her heart race. Suddenly, Damien pulled back and smiled softly at her before placing a gentle kiss on her neck, and she heard him whisper, “Fuck Maddie. Your scent… it’s driving me crazy and… I’ve missed you so much….” He trailed off, his voice shaking as if sobbing and the sound tugged at her he
“Sure, I’ll come visit.”“We will come visit.” Damien chimed in, throwing Madison a wink, and she just laughed softly.His hands wrapped possessively around her waist, Madison leaned further into his arms, sighing satisfactorily as she bade her family goodbye.Watching as everyone got into the jeep Damien had provided to take them home, she continued waving at the moving car until finally, the vehicle was out of the mansion’s heavy gates, and it was just her and Damien standing outside in the cold.It’d been a long night, filled with eating, drinking, and dancing, and now it was all over, and as much as she had not wanted the event to end, she was rather grateful.She was tired, and she could do with some sleep as it stood. “Hey, lovebirds.” A familiar voice called behind, and they both turned back to check.It was Alvarez, and he was coming down from the mansion's stairs, bag and suitcase packed already, and Madison’s brow raised immediately, the sleep at the corner of her eyes disa
“…I still have a lot to say, but this toast would be incomplete without my late father, Mr Daniel. It’s so funny how everything that happened all till this day is somehow intertwined with the events of the past. I can’t say the memories are worthwhile, but then everything happens for a reason, and I know that wherever he is right now, he would be watching us with love, admiration, and pride. I am also proud, not because of my achievements or everything I might have gained in these past few years. But because of what I became after all these incidents. I would never have imagined this scenario, but I am grateful for it. This enmity and malice between our families have been long gone, but we still have to look out for each other, especially when the situation gets tough. However, it can only get better from here. That I know!” The sound of applause filling the room as Damien continued his speech had Madison’s lips quivering, and she fought the urge not to cry.The way he spoke was so e
“Hello, mother.” Damien smiled ruefully, his arms wide as he embraced Mrs Connor, and she dutifully fell into his warm hug.“Son…” She began, “You look so good and strong already. How are you doing?“ She queried with a raised brow, and Damien chuckled all the more.“I’m doing fine, as you can see, thanks to Madison.” He finished with a wink, and the pretty older woman laughed heartily.“Come in, come in,” Damien said again, his hands outstretched as he led her into his modest abode.Kissing her on both cheeks, he allowed her to wander in and turned to face the rest of Madison’s family.Her father, brothers and their spouses were all present tonight for the reunion party and from the look of things, there was going to be a full house.However, Damien reveled in it. He was more than happy that they’d all honored the invitation, and knowing that this dinner event would usher in many more to come, his eyelids twinkled as another waning idea flickered into his thoughts.“Hello, brother.” M
“I’ve been trying mother’s cell phone, but it hasn’t been going through, father. Where is she?” “Hello to you too, Maddie.” Mr Connor greeted, and Madison sighed, rubbing her left hand on her forehead. “Afternoon, father. How are you doing?” She politely asked, a smile flickering on her lips as he replied “I am doing okay. Better than ever. Your mother went to the grocery store nearby to get some things for dinner tonight and….” “Why is she still going out on her own father?” Madison abruptly asked, continuing, “Damien’s made sure she doesn’t have to worry about all these. You both… I mean, the household staff he hired should be able to….” “You know how stubborn your mother can sometimes be, and I couldn’t object. She wanted to go out and get the things she needed specifically. Just leave her be.” Mr Connor said, and Madison could only jet out a worried exhale. However, hearing her father’s cheery voice lifted her heart enthusiastically, and tears pooled at the back of her eyes.