"Hey Mandy," Jane called into her phone as she readied herself for the uncomfortable task of asking her friend if she was going to be able to watch stephanie today while she worked. "You do know you don't have to be so polite when you want to bring Stephanie over," Mandy teased as she heard her friend's pleading voice over the phone. Jane always felt like the little girl was inconveniencing the ladies and was increasingly skeptical about leaving Stephanie there. "I'm going to have to bother you one more time Mandy," She squeaked into the phone. "It's alright Silly, but you have to bring her by in the afternoon, I have to go pick up supplies this morning and I don't know how long I'm going to be there. You can hang onto her for a little while till I'm back, I'll call you," Mandy informed her. Jane knew better than to express her dipleasure at the fact that Mandy was not going to be around, She was already doing her a huge favor watching over Stephanie while she worked. She turned h
Jane's heart raced as she stood there, her gaze shifting between the two men in the room. The atmosphere felt charged, an unspoken tension hung in the air, and she found herself momentarily lost for words. She cleared her throat, gathering her composure, and met the gaze of the man who had asked the question."I... I'm sorry for interrupting," she began, her voice betraying a hint of nervousness. "Margaret told me to come here. I have a note from her."She held out the piece of paper she had received, noticing that both men exchanged a quick, almost imperceptible glance before focusing their attention back on her. The man who had offered her the job took the note and glanced at it briefly, his face betraying no emotion."Please, have a seat," he gestured to the chair in front of his desk. Jane hesitated for a moment before complying, her eyes never leaving his face. The other man, who was seated to the side, leaned back in his chair, studying her with an intensity that sent a shiver do
"You better open this door Jane, I know you're in there", the rough male voice screamed as he banged on the door violently. Jane was white with fright as she stared at the door, wondering just how long it would hold against the man's renewed assault.She slowly crept away from the door into her daughter's room, she was used to the drill by now, all the curtains in the house had been let down and both entrances were locked and secured with the bolts she had installed a few days prior, she hoped that this would be enough to keep them out.She found little Stephanie seated on the bed with her headphones on full blast as she enjoyed her kid's show. Jane had made sure that this was the case as soon as she had seen the suspicious looking men approaching through the window. The little girl smiled back at her mother totally unaware of what was going on, she was never going to turn down the chance to watch her favourite show and Jane knew this." Jane!", the voice shouted once more as its owne
"Wake up honey", a feminine voice chimed through the air as Andre stirred on the bed, a bit disgruntled that the sleep that had taken much effort to come was now being interrupted by his companion in the room." Wakey wakey!!", she continued, not wanting to give up her attempts at waking the sleeping young man. She seemed excited by what she had planned, she knew nothing of his reluctance."What is it Tanya?", Andre grumbled as he tossed the pillow he had been holding close to his body aside, his muscled body and his tattoos on full display as he tossed the covers from his body, he had not intended to be awake this early and had tried to resist any attempts to be woken, but this was Tanya, she always found a way to get what she wanted." What's all this?", he muttered, rubbing at his eyes as he sat up on the bed and looked around the room.The first thing Andre notices is the soft lighting in the room. Tania has arranged for dimly-lit lamps and candles to create a cosy and intimate at
"Mama!! Mama!!", the little girl screamed as she tugged at her mother's clothes. Andre was confused, he stood for a while, rooted to the spot as people had gathered outside the restaurant to see what was happening.The little girl was still screaming and begging her mother to wake up." Boss, is she dead?", Margaret asked, her hands were shaky, and the horror of seeing what had happened was spelt clearly across her face as she stared in alternation between the still body of Jane Moss, the single mother she had just met and her boss, who was yet to decide what he was going to do."I don't think it's real, probably some lowlife trying to earn some quick bucks with the press here and all", Paul walked up to Andre to whisper in his ear, putting a hand over his mouth to ensure that the press didn't make a meal of him trying to protect his boss." What do I do now?"Andre responded, still shocked at how everything had unfolded."Carry her into the car and take her to the hospital, play the h
Andre watched keenly as the men poured out of the stairwell into the garage, they looked every bit as menacing as they had when he had encountered them outside the hospital, he wondered what they could possibly want with the woman and her child. He wasnt going to let himself believe the bogus story that the man had told him about a debt and some sort of settlement. Paul's words kept ringing in his ears as he watched the men fan out into the garage, in search of the woman and her child. This looked like a very well choreographed play, the only thing stopping him from reaching a conclusion at this moment being the tears he had seen on the lady's face." Mommy, you're crying", the little girl whimpered in the back seat as she noticed the tears flowing down her mother's face. Andre stopped a moment to look at the lady in the back seat to see that she had pulled her child close and was now gently rocking the girl to put her at ease. He didn't consider himself heartless enough to ignore th
Andre couldn't bring himself to say anything, he had been hard on his mother for obvious reasons, but upon hearing what she had to say, he could only hope that she was speaking due the influence of whatever liquor she must have consumed, it had to be. He lifted his eyes to look at her one more time and discovered that she had passed out in the car seat, she lay there, unmoving and unperturbed in her sleep. The fact that she could fall asleep so soon after giving him such reason to worry was all the more reason for Andre to doubt what she had just said. He thought about waking her, but decided otherwise, he would wait until they were home to discuss this, this wasn't the time nor the place. He shifted his gaze from the sleeping form of his drunk mother to the buildings speeding by on the exterior of the chauffer driven vehicle, he allowed his thoughts wander through all that had happened today, it had indeed been surprisingly eventful. Almost everything that had happened today had su
Jane had wasted so much time with Stephanie outside today that they arrived home quite late, she did not know how to explain to the little girl that they were on the run from a loan shark and that her late father had been the one to put them in this position. The little girl adored her father and Jane didn't want to tell her anything that would ruin her impression of him. Anderson had been a good man when he was alive to the best of his abilities and like everyone else, he had his demons. She would not on account of them destroy the good impression his daughter had of him. Everything her late husband had done had been for the good of the family and even though she seldom agreed with his methods, there was nothing that could convince her that his intentions towards her and her child had any ill motive attached to them. Jane closed the door to their house as quietly as she could, looking outside repeatedly to ensure that they were not being followed as she set little Stephanie down ins