A deep painful grunt sounded from the man who kept thrashing about in his sleep. His mind, soul, and body were lost to the memory that ate him alive and he had no way of stopping it. No, he didn't even want it to stop since that was the only way he could punish himself for the cruel fate he had subjected the woman he claimed to love to.
"Will you stop screaming, Rio? The baby is getting frightened." The woman pleaded with him vehemently."At this moment, I don't really care, Sandra!" Rio screamed at her again, doing exactly what she begged him not to do. He took his clothes and went out the door despite the many pleas of the woman."No! No!! You can't go, Rio!!! Turn back!!!!" Rio Allen screamed in his sleep as he continued to trash about and sob like a little child whose candy got lost.The memory fast-forward itself and decided to settle at the turn when he had found his life shattered into a billion pieces before his eyes. That awful moment when she had died."Don't die!" He screamed with agony, holding out his hands to stop the disappearing image of the redhead woman who tormented his dreams every night. "Don't die on me." He said softly as he flickered his eyelids open.He grunted as he got up from his bed, clad in only his underwear. His upper body was naked and his taunt muscles made him look like a bouncer at first sight. He picked up a towel and stood in front of a mirror, wiping away the beads of sweat from his face.An alarm from his phone rang and he picked it up hastily.Death anniversary. The alarm read and Rio cursed loudly as he sprinted into the bathroom. In five minutes flat, he was out, droplets of water dripping from his freshly washed hair and body.In another ten minutes, his dark hair was neatly styled. He wore a plain tee and jeans, a dark shade of glass also covered his bright blue eyes. He moved out of the house and into the car. In another fifteen minutes, he was at a cemetery.He went straight to a burial tomb that had weeds already growing around it. The flowers left there had already withered a long time ago, leaving only the dry stems as a proof of its existence. He bent low and began to weed out the grasses himself after dropping a new bouquet of flowers on the grave.He couldn't believe that he had forgotten what that day meant in his life. How could he have forgotten the day he had lost the most precious person in his life? The one person that made his life so rosy that even the flowers were jealous?Or perhaps he had always forgotten about the day on purpose because of how guilty he felt for his part in her death. Sometimes, he wished that he could visit the past and undo the damages his anger and action had done. Perhaps, his woman would still be alive by now.***************Anita Dowell fingered her shoulder length red hair as she stared intently at the newspaper in her hands. To anyone else, she was simply reading some news the media had thought was juicy. But to her, the paper in her hands was the ticket to her successful career.As a 23 years old lady who had studied law at the university, she knew that her parents would start demanding that she show them the firm she was working at. Unknown to them, she had no interest in practicing the career she had chosen.She wanted to be a best selling author instead.And she would have if those blind eyes publishers had taken her two finished books to have given her the chance to at least prove that the books had potential. But no, they had the audacity to turn her away without even glancing beyond the first chapters.She would show everyone of them how foolish the decisions to reject her books were. The paper right on her hands was the ticket to getting her dream come true."Allen Publishing Corporation." She read out loudly and tapped the paper, "Rio Allen, just wait."She dropped the paper and picked up a blue scarf to tie to her neck. The scarf complimented her hazel eyes and red head perfectly. She whizzed around in front of the mirror as she thought about how shocked the owner of the publishing company would be when he saw her.She went out the door and got into a taxi. As the car took her to the cemetery where Sarah Allen, Rio's wife, was buried, she thanked her star that she looked exactly like the dead woman whose death anniversary was today.It all worked well for the plans she had in place. She just had to stage an accidental meeting with the owner of Allen Publishing corporation. She was sure that he would be intrigued by her look and then she could sob into his arms and get a publishing deal from him.And why? It would be all because she looked exactly like his dead woman."We're here, Miss." The driver announced to her a while later.She got down, paid for the ride, and disappeared to the cemetery. The place gave her hairy feelings but she shrugged it off, knowing that it was a little sacrifice for something that would forever change her life. She let her eyes roam around for the man who was the masterpiece of her plan. The moment she spotted him, she walked straight to where he stood.Rio patted his cheek when he felt something wet trickle there and realized that he had been sobbing. He cleaned the tears away with the handkerchief he took from his pocket before he bent once again and cleaned the dirty name plate.Sarah Allen, the name read."I can't believe it's been two years since you left me all by myself, Sarah." He finally choked out. "Nothing is the same without you here." He sobbed again.Anita went straight to the grave beside Rio and began to wail loudly. She didn't know who owned the grave and she didn't care. All she just needed was to catch the publisher's attention."How could you leave me alone? How could you abandon me too?" She wailed while beating her chest like her heart was in pain. Her red hair flew around in every direction her head turned to."You promised to stay with me. You promised never to leave me even for a second." She sniffed her nose. "Where is the proof of that statement now?" She continued.As she kept sobbing, she kept peeking to see if her acting seemed genuine enough to catch the attention of the man beside her.When Rio first heard the loud wailing sound beside him, he ignored the voice since he knew that the person was simply grieving for their lost one just as he was. But when the sound got even louder with each speech, he knew that the person was more in grief than he was for his wife.He turned his gaze to the person to offer a few words of condolences and he found himself attracted to the flaming red hair that kept bouncing about. When he realized that he was staring at the owner of the hair for longer than it was necessary, he cleared his throat and looked down again.Anita had nearly rejoiced when the man had stared at her hair for a while, only to be disappointed when he looked away abruptly again. Perhaps she had made a mistake by not showing the man her face? She nearly gave in to the urge but she wanted the plan to look accidental as possible."How dare you?! How dare you not stay true to your words?!!" She screamed again, this time, a little too loudly.Rio had had enough of the loud sound that promised to damage his ear drums if he didn't get away soon, so he stood up to leave the area. As it was, he already spent enough time wallowing in his self-pity and he could continue at home on his own.As he took three steps away from the woman, he found himself attracted to the red hair once again. Maybe it was because his wife had the same shade of hair color. But more than the hair, he knew that he couldn't just leave the grieving woman alone when he knew how hurtful those emotions could be.Before he could stop himself, his feet dragged itselves to where she bent, her face hidden from the world. "Are you okay, Miss?" He asked solemnly.Bingo, her plan finally succeeded and that too, with less effort than she thought it would take, Anita thought as she raised her head to face the man."Sarah?" Rio said and stumbled back out of fear.Rio stared in shock at the woman who had returned to her mourning for her lost one. It couldn't be, he thought to himself. Or could it?"Sa-Sarah?" He called out slowly.Anita smiled to herself before she turned around, "Who are you calling Sarah? My name is Anita," she informed the man.Rio couldn't believe his ears and eyes. He was sure that one of them was deceiving him. He stared deeply into the woman's eyes and that was when he saw that she had hazel eyes instead of the gray one his Sarah spotted."I'm sorry, Miss. I must have mistaken you for somebody else." He apologized but the woman didn't bother to respond and only just continued with her sobbing which had reduced and the occasional sniffing she did. "Stop crying, Miss." He consoled her."How could I not? I have no one else in the world now…" She stole a quick glance at the name and age of her supposed family, "...My uncle is dead." She finished, refusing to wish her father even a fake death.Rio crouched low to her, "Believ
Anita danced round and round her tiny apartment, her heart bubbling with joy at the success of the first step of her plans. True, she hadn't gotten a publishing deal yet but she knew that with the way the day had ended with Rio, she was on her way to getting one pretty soon. The other company has also rejected her work but she didn't mind one tiny bit, knowing that she already had the big fish in her net."Anita Dowell. USA today bestselling author." The smile on her face was huge as she envisioned the reality of her dream. "Oh, I can't wait until then!" She screamed and whirled around the room, whistling the tone from West life album 'I have a dream'."And can you tell me why you keep acting like you won the award for the best lawyer of all time?"Anita turned around in shock as she heard a voice say behind her. When she saw that it was only her roommate, Gracy, she relaxed her nerves."Won't you answer me?" Gracy asked again when her roommate resumed her joyful dancing steps."Very
It was early into the night, and the weather had a warm quality to it. An excited Mimie gazed into the vanity mirror before her. Her dark brown eyes reflected from the mirror and so did her unbelievably hot body. She was so beautiful and this, she knew. She also knew that beauty was power. You just had to be smart in using it to wield that power. A smile appeared on her lips. She was excited. She still couldn’t believe that she would be going on a date with Rio. It was her second chance to make him hers. Her last chance too, she believed. Though the last attempt to converse with him had failed woefully, she was determined to keep pushing. She sauntered to her closet, pulled the doors open and eyes all the dresses lined up. Making a choice, she grabbed a short red dress–something that screamed raunchy. She was intent on impressing Rio. She wanted too to get him to remember that he’d once complimented her singing. It still hurts deeply–his inability to remember it. She shook off the tho
Embarrassed, Mimie remained seated at the table alone. She ignored the prying eyes of others around and tried to calm herself. She was utterly short of words. She drove her gaze back to where Rio had sat. And how he’d dismissed her with his unkind words. This was the second time he’d abandoned her for that red-haired girl. Just because she looked at his wife, she was sure. She could feel tears streaking down her cheeks. Silent tears. But she made no vocal sound, picked up her purse and sashayed out of the restaurant. She couldn't let people see how much Rio had gotten to her. She sniffled lightly as she waved down a cab. She got in and held close to herself. Didn't Rio know that nothing could bring Sarah back? He was better off moving on from her.“Are you alright ma’am?” the cab driver pried into her emotions. She looked up at the rear view mirror. His green eyes appeared so worried. The tears on her face must have given her away. She’d been sobbing silently.“I’m alright,” she lied.
Ugggggghhh!!!Mimie screamed as she stamped her feet on the hard surface of the floor. This was something she did whenever she was upset. She was restless. Things were not going according to her plan. In her line of work, confidence and a strong aura was something that came naturally to her. She had always gotten her way with this, and she was used to this pattern. This was how things were meant to be but not this time. She had no idea how else to navigate through this situation."I've never failed and it will not start with Rio!". She made this resolve as she stared at a photo of Rio. The picture was probably taken recently, Rio's hard unsmiling eyes stared at her through the picture. He was everything she wanted in a man."What's the fastest way to get to Rio?" She asked herself.Yes! Mimie smiled as her eyes rested on the second figure in the picture. Rio's two-year old daughter. If she could win over his daughter then he'd naturally come to her."Time to get to work", she smiled a
Rio was smiling all through his drive back home. Anita was truly a different breed. She was funny and they had ended up spending hours talking about her book and similar story plots.He could not remember when last he had felt genuinely free with anyone. Everyone who came around him usually had an ulterior motive, wanting him to help them one way or the other but Anita seemed different.He liked the way he was feeling, nobody has ever made him feel this way since Sarah's death. Rio entered into the house, unaware of all that had transpired in his absence.It was pretty late so he knew Riley would be asleep already. He was anticipating his next meeting with Anita and was unaware of the smile that graced his godly facial features.Rio's mother watched as he entered the house smiling. It had been ages since she saw him smile like that. Not the tight, rehearsed smiles he used during interviews but one that showed he was happy for some reason. She couldn't imagine why but she was happy wit
Anita, came back to the house, threw her bag on the scattered looking bed and as usual made one of those her celebratory dance. She was so into her celebratory mood she didn’t notice when Gracy, her roommate entered the room.“I’m beginning to like this new mood of yours, I don’t get to see the ever worried Anita anymore”.Gracy said as she made way to drop her books on the table.Anita smiled at her response. Her dreams were finally coming to life. She walked towards the kitchen, grabbed a bottle of cold water from the mini fridge they had in their kitchen and in an instant she had gulped everything down her throat.That celebratory dance must have taken a lot from her, she joined Gracy in arranging the scattered looking bed after which they decided what they would be having for dinner.“Lets order take outs! Who's paying?” Gracy asked before she could finish her sentence.“Don’t worry I’ll handle it” Anita said, scrolling through the menu of the online burger store. I’ll be having
Anita was handed over to the police as soon as the policemen arrived. She was still in shock at how the expensive earrings ended up in her purse, and she was not a thief even her parents could vouch for her on this.Anita’s lifestyle was a simple one, she was not a high class lady. She was not a fan of unnecessary attention so she saw no need for those earrings. Many thoughts ran through Anita’s head on their way to the police station.What would her parents think if they got to hear of this?What would Rio think of her? This was messing with the plans she had been working with, One little mistake could cost her all and everything could be blown out especially if her parents come to hear of this.They would not only call, they would show their face and that would mean exposure of the undercover work she was doing to get her books published and become a popular author.They got to the police station and she was pushed out of the van that had picked her up.She was taken to the interrog