Hi, y'all, the next chapter is the last and final chapter for Hooked on Zero. I hope you have enjoyed the story so far. I would LOVE to see your take by sounding off in the comments. Much love! ;)
Chapter 51The plane taxied across the runway and deftly lifted in the sky. It was a beauty to behold, what with white and red colours glistening all over its body. The interior was even better. The cockpit sported state of the art dials and buttons, while the sitting areas had plush leather chairs and gadgets as well as many other attractions. A woman sat in one of the chairs peering down the lens of a camera. Her lips curled in a joyful smile. Every so often, she gasped as she sported a cloud. She turned to the man sitting beside her. "The clouds are so beautiful, they look just like cotton candy."Her smile was wide and beautiful, making it difficult for anyone to resist smiling back at her. The man only managed a slight tweak of his lips as he turned to spare the clouds a glance. Within a few seconds, he turned his face back to gazing at the television, where the map-charting of their journey was visible. His face, an unfathomable mask as he continued staring at it.The woman si
Chapter 52"Mia, wait!" Those two words stopped her in her tracks. By the time he got to her, she was shivering. He turned her round and stared into her green depths which had darkened with swirling emotions. He traced the lines and planes of her face, remembering each one of them like it was just yesterday. "Why?" He whispered. "Why did you do it?" He shook his head as tears slid down his cheeks. "Why did you disappear from my life without a trace?"A gasp slipped from Mia's lips. She didn't realize it but she was also crying. "I'm sorry!""Sorry?" Alex's eyes flashed with anger. "Where is he?"Mia's eyes widened and her bottom lip trembled. "W. . .w. . . who?""Chito, of course, who else?" Alex was shaking with barely repressed anger until Ciara laid a hand on his shoulder. He closed his eyes, released a sigh and opened them again. "Where is Chito?""He. . . " Mia swallowed a lump which had suddenly risen in her throat. "He's in school.""There's a school here?" Alex looked around wo
CHAPTER ONEAs I opened the swing doors, the smell of liquor hit me like a force. I stood for a bit taking in the scenery before me. Men and women from different works of life crowded the chairs and the dance floor. Some chatted amongst themselves, while others rocked to the beats from the live band playing on the stage.The bar, however, seemed to be in a different world of its own. All around it sitting on stools were men jostling for beer or whisky, while others threw back the contents from their bottles down their throats.It looked like a war-zone, except the prize was alcohol and there would be no prisoners.I smiled to myself. It was stampede night. All the stools around the bar had been occupied, but I needed to be close to the beer, so I headed there. I sashayed forward, my hips taking up a rhythm of their own."Hi!" I flapped my eyelashes at this guy with a port belly that could rival King Kong's. "Can I have a sea
CHAPTER TWOThere was a loud ringing noise that won't let up. It was so shrill and bothersome. Even when I rolled to the other side of the bed, it persisted. I covered my ears with such force, I almost busted my eardrums."Uhhhh! Stop that infernal noise."It stopped miraculously and I was able to breathe easier, but just when I was about to turn, it started up once again."Will you please stop your alarm clock, it's messing with my sleep." I woke with a start to see Chito beside my bed, hair mussed, eyes red and heavy from lack of sleep.Pity coursed through me. I was sure he had not been able to sleep since, and here I was messing it up. I rolled over and hit the off button on my bedside alarm. "Sorry, buddy, I thought I was dreaming. Try and get some sleep."I rolled to the other side, intent on catching some more shut eye, but after a few minutes of tossing and turning, I gave up and opened my eyes. I got out of bed and was sh
CHAPTER THREEI stretched tiredly in the back seat of my Lincoln Navigator, lulled by the movement of the car. I closed my eyes and tried to get some sleep. Just ten minutes would do, at least for now. As I closed them, I was plagued with visions of a pain-filled Aretha. She had not been able to sleep at all last night. She had tossed and turned, holding her stomach and groaning in pain. Even the strong pain killers given to her by the doctor had not worked. I felt helpless as I had sat beside her. I couldn't even hold her close anymore as her body temperature was through the roof.Her fever had broken sometime in the early hours of the morning and she had finally stopped clutching her stomach, but the worst was not over. As doe-eyed as I was and as much as I wanted it to be so, I couldn't hide away from the fact anymore.My wife was dying.The truth grabbed me by the hair and slapped me in the face. That was when the hysteri
THE DIAGNOSIS The call came in the night while I was fast asleep holding Aretha. It was one of those rare moments where she had not thrashed all through the night. I checked that she was still breathing and quietly slipped out of bed making sure not to wake her. It wasn't every day I got to have the luxury of holding her close, so naturally I was upset when once I got into junior's bedroom, I picked the call. "Hello, is this Mr. Moore?" The strange clinical voice asked. After revealing my identity to the caller, he introduced himself as doctor Rogers from Almond hospital. I had a flash back of a medium sized man in a blue scrub underneath a white lab coat. "I'm afraid the diagnosis doesn't look too encouraging, sir. Your secretary has blunt head trauma, five cracked ribs a fractured hip and a punctured lung. She might not last tonight. Even if she does, it will be extensive work to make her whole again; she will need physiotherapy to learn how to work again, she might or might not
THE FUNERAL Aretha's condition took a turn for the worse and I was called in by the specialist. One look at her and I knew she wasn't going to last the night. He left me alone by her bedside but all I could do was stand and stare. She was all skin and bones having stopped eating over a month ago. She lay asleep looking deceptively peaceful, but I knew that was only a ruse, for when the pain came, it was like an avalanche. I didn't know when my feet moved me forward and I knelt in front of her and caressed her balding head. She opened her eyes and in a moment of clarity, smiled at me. "I love you, Alex." I smiled through the tears in my eyes, happy she had recognized me, but a few seconds later, she closed her eyes and drew her last breath. "No, no, no, no, you can't leave me, you can't." I got a hold of her and shook her hoping she would wake and tell me 'surprise' like she used to do when she was hale and hearty. Unfortunately, that never happened. I broke down completely, sobb
AFTERI woke the following morning wondering how I had gotten into my bed. Memories of the day before assailed me and despair hit me all over again like a flower in full bloom.I closed my eyes as tears filled them. I was too damn emotional for a man. I squeezed my eyelids, feeling the pain flare up behind them. I sighed and opened them again. All around me, traces of Aretha had all but vanished. The matching golden filigree bedside lamps she bought, the two gilt high backed chairs in front of the bed, the pure cotton bedsheets she favored over the silk one's I preferred. Even her clothes, shoes and all of her ornaments, every single item, I had given to charity.They were a painful reminder of what was meant to be, but wasn't.My eyes widened when they fell on the curtains.Who in their right mind would agree to have sunshiny yellow curtains?Aretha, that's who.She had always loved the colour yellow. Not just any shade of yellow. It had to be the exact shade of the sun - yellow with