Camilla was officially on leave for three weeks.
The first two or three days of her leave, she would just be relaxing at home, getting things in order. While she was busy the first day, which was the day after she had spoken to Bradford, she received a text message. "Hi there, it's Bradford, I'm just checking in to see how you are doing!" he stated.A smile lit up on her face, "I'm okay," she responded."So what are your plans today?" he asked, "I didn't see you get on the bus this morning."She laughed, "I'm on leave for a few weeks," she told him, "you, keeping tabs on me now?" she couldn't help but chuckle. This man was so easy to talk with. She felt so comfortable speaking with him. When she spoke with him or read a message from him, she would get butterflies in her stomach, and her heart would race. She couldn't understand why he had this effect on her.Every day for the next 3 days, Bradford and Camilla would spend a few hours chatAs the first week of her leave drew to its end, Camilla was more excited about her new, up-and-coming venture. She was ready to absorb and take it all in. She sat for hours during the day designing a few different structures for her meeting that Friday with Bradford and his grandfather. After all, did Bradford really think the patriarch of the family was going to give his grandson full control while he was still alive?That Friday, Camilla headed over to the Hemmingway offices. As she entered the building, she was met by her cousin Tamara as Tamara was exiting the building. Greeting her cousin, she asked in a low, subtle voice, "What are you doing here?" After all, Camilla didn't want to let on to Tamara that she was well aware of her skanky antics with her husband.Tamara responded, "I had an interview with the managing director for the position of personnel assistant. What brings you down here?""I'm dropping off some documents, I have a meeting with the
That evening, after the children had gone to sleep, Steven confronted Camilla regarding her meeting with the Hemmingways. "Camilla, I don't know what you are doing, but having lunch with the Hemmingways is just unacceptable!" he shouted at her. "Why is that?" she asked, "it was a meeting I had to attend."Being in the realty business, Camilla often went to a luncheon with prospective clients in order to seal a deal for the sale of a property. This meeting would seem to be no different. However, this was during her leave. "Steven, I am on leave, yes, but if a client needs to have a meeting regarding property, I will still take time and meet with them!" she bit back, "what is your issue anyway?" questioning his judgement."I don't like the idea of you meeting with those people!" he stated."Are you jealous?" she asked sarcastically, "that's very rich, coming from you!" Camilla was so dying to open up her can of worms but held her tongue b
The weekend had finally arrived. Camilla wasn't particularly looking forward to the weekend. It was their seven-year wedding anniversary. They had originally made plans to go away for the weekend and leave the children with her aunt and uncle. In light of the constant abuse, Camilla had cancelled the trip but let the children still go away for the weekend.On Friday afternoon, Uncle Toby picked the children up at school with Camilla and then dropped her home. Steven was still at work despite saying he would get off earlier. The children were so excited about their weekend away.On arriving home, Steven pulled up in the car. Uncle Toby left with the children. "Kids going away for the weekend?" he asked. "Yes, even though our plans are cancelled, they were looking forward to going, so I let them go," she responded. Camilla was too exhausted to fight. "Okay," he responded, "what's for dinner?""I'm making steak and salads," she replied, op
After the whole embarrassing situation at the bar, Camilla had decided that instead of going with James and Bradford out, she wanted to stay the night at Michelle's but decided otherwise and went home. "Bradford, can you drop me off at home instead?" she said softly.Her heart was broken into a thousand pieces of glass shards. "No problem. We'll drop Michelle, then James, and then head back to our street," he said."Thank you," she responded.On arriving at her place, Bradford turned to her and asked, "Are you sure you want to go inside?"Calmly, she responded, "Yes, I'm sure.""Okay then, but if you have any problems, and I mean any problems, just message me, and I will come. It doesn't matter what time it is," he said."I'll be okay," she assured him, not wanting to lead him on in any way.She thanked him for the ride and walked into the house. The place was quiet, cold, and miserable. It was about as miserable as she
On entering the house, Camilla looked around, and the realization that her home would, from now on, only consist of her and the kids, hit her. She unpacked the groceries she had bought and went to the bedroom to take off her clothes and shoes and go shower. As she entered her bedroom, the reality for the second time hit her. Steven was gone. He had packed his clothes and toiletries as well as all other belongings and left just as she had asked him to do. As she was about to step into the shower, there was a knock at the door. "I wonder who this could be," she thought. Camilla headed for the door, and on opening, it saw her Uncle Chris and Aunt Ruby (Tamara's parents). She greeted them with a hug. They weren't extremely close, but they were not that distant either, and family meant everything to Jones's. "You're probably wondering why we are here!" her aunt said. "Not really," she responded, un-surprised that they came. After all, she knew that Tamara's brother would have told
That Sunday, Michelle and Camilla got up, cleaned the place, and started preparing food for when the children came home. Camilla had called her aunt and uncle and invited them to have something to eat with them as well, because she had something to speak to them about.When they arrived at Camilla's, the children ran into the house and hugged their mom. "Mummy, where's daddy?" Marshall asked."I will explain everything just now," she said.As if in tune with her mother's thoughts, Meghan responded, "it's okay, mummy, we'll be okay."Shocked at how mature her daughter was for her age, she drew them both into her embrace, "I missed you both so much," she tickled them, "now go unpack your bags and prepare your clothes for tomorrow. I need to speak to Uncle and Aunty quickly.""Come children," Michelle said, "I'll help you." Michelle was just like a real aunt to the kids. She loved them as her own. The kids went with Michelle and left Camilla to speak to her aunt and uncle. Uncle Toby lo
The weekend had gone by so quickly. Thankfully, for her, she had been surrounded by good friends and family. Her day started out as it regularly did. However, today, she was going to look at buying a car. She would, after all, need one. Back at Tamara's, Steven got ready for work. He and Tamara would have to figure things out now that her parents had cut her off from any financial services they had been providing her with. "Tamara, I think it's time that you also found a job, otherwise we may not make it to the end of the month," Steven said to her, putting his arms around her waist and kissing her deeply."I have been looking already," she said. Steven had thought that her parents would eventually come around.On arriving at work, Steven settled in behind his desk in his office. Matthew greeted him, and they spoke for a while. Matthew asked him about the weekend and their anniversary.Steven hadn't had time to catch up with his friend and tell him that he and Camilla had separated.
Steven had tried to avoid hitting a pedestrian. He hadn't seen the young boy, probably around the age of 15, running across the road until it was too late to slow down. His mind had been preoccupied with everything that had happened over the last few days.Steven had slammed on his brakes but lost control and swerved to the left and hit about four other cars parked on the side of the road. Thankfully, there were no occupants in the cars that he had hit into. Only Steven was in critical danger. The police, ambulance service, and the fire department all got to the scene pretty quickly. The paramedics got him out of the vehicle pretty quickly. The trauma to his head, they could not tell how much damage was done. The blood was pouring profusely. The ambulance rushed him to East Cheshire Hospital. Not far from where the accident occurred. Once there, he was seen by the doctors and wheeled straight into surgery.At 10:45 a.m., the phone rang. "Is this Mrs Middleton?" The voice asked."Yes,
While everyone else in Cheshire was getting on with their lives, Steven was facing medical complications. Having been rushed to the infirmary, the doctors ordered a battery of tests to be done, to confirm their diagnosis. Steven had been losing weight rapidly, constantly complaining about stomach pains as well as a persistent jaundice, simulating Cirrhosis of the liver. It took all of a week for the doctors to retrieve the test results. The verdict was in, and they had to speak with Steven."Mr Middleton, your situation is dire," the doctor informed him.Confused, he said, "Just tell me."Steven was not much in any frame of mind. "Steven, you are in the late stages of liver cancer tagged along with cirrhosis of the liver," the doctor explained."How long?" Steven asked. "Days," the doctor said, dropping his head."I need to see my children and Camilla. Can you arrange for them to come and visit me?" he pleaded."Sure, I will speak with the Governor," he responded. Knowing that St
Preparing for the engagement party was going to be a grand event for the Jones family, as this was the youngest of the children to get married and the last of them, except for the younger generation.The engagement party was to be held within two weeks of the announcement. Tamara and Frederick had gone back to Bolton. They were preparing for the upcoming engagement event that was going to be held within the month. Frederick had taken Tamara to his family and had a pre-engagement celebration with just his parents and sister. The day of the engagement celebration had arrived. The Hemminways had all pitched in with the Jones family to make the event extra special. Frederick, too, was the youngest in their family. The hall was all decorated with black, white, and gold decor. The tables we set around the sides of the hall, leaving the dance floor free in the centre. The tables were decked with gold organza underlays and black organza overlays. As Tamara walked in, she was shocked a
Frederick and Tamara finally arrived at her mother's place after an eventful evening of, yet, more hospital visits. "Hi, mom, dad, we're here," she called out to her parents. Her parents, coming from the kitchen, greeted her daughter and Frederick. "Welcome. Come sit. Would you like something warm to drink?" Ruby asked. "A cup of coffee would be nice, please, mom," she replied. Tamara got up and went to help her mom in the kitchen. While Tamara was helping her mother, this was the perfect time for Frederick. "Mr Jones, I know that I have only been with Tamara a short while now, but I really do care for her. In fact, I think I love her," he began to say, "I would be honoured if you would approve of me asking your daughter for her hand in marriage this weekend, sir." Chris smiled, "let me start making the arrangements for tomorrow then," he said.Tamara and her mother came back from the kitchen with cookies and coffee. Tamara handed the cup to Frederick and sat beside him. "Mo
A year had passed since the car accident had occurred. Everyone was picking up their lives and moving forward. Tamara and Frederick had just finished their studies, and Marshall was fully recovered from the accident. Nancy and Denzil were planning their wedding. Camilla was hesitant about getting someone to take Nancy's place, so they arranged for her to become the home secretary and train someone to assist with house management. "Nancy, when is your date for your wedding set for?" Camilla asked. "The end of October," she replied. "That's perfect." Back in Bolton, Tamara and Frederick were finished with their studies. They had been seeing a lot of each other, but due to hectic schedules, they couldn't get too serious."Tamara, I think we should go to your parents for the weekend," he suggested. I also need to speak to Bradford and your cousin about the business," he said. "I agree. I'll phone mom and let her know we are coming.'Whilst Tamara was on the phone with her parents, Br
After everything that had happened, Bradford called Frederick into the office."Frederick, the way you handled the company along with grandfather, I am very impressed. You took this on as a way of showing us that you are ready for the next stage." Happy that he had been able to assist, he responded, "I am glad you have approved."Bradford gave it some thought, "next time I go on business to Tenerife, I want you and Tamara to accommodate us. You will only need to stay for two or three days, meet with the investors, show us what you have, and then we will get things moving." Encouraged by this turn of events, Frederick shook Bradford's hand and said, "it's now time for me to get back. We have exams soon, and I need to submit assignments." Understanding this, Bradford said, "If you need any assistance with anything, just call."After Frederick left, Bradford called Denzil, "Bring the car around, I want to go buy a gift for my wife." Within a few minutes, Denzil was out front waiting
Over the next few weeks, Bradford was spending more time with Camilla as Marshall was doing more physiotherapy. Eventually, there came a point where the doctor informed them that they could go home on the condition that Marshall kept up with his physio and Camilla made weekly visits to the hospital, but should anything change, they were to immediately return to the hospital.Bradford had hired a physiotherapist to come two times a day to the house to work with Marshall, and, well, Nancy was there as well. Bradford helped both of them settle back in. The surroundings seemed so familiar and warm for Camilla, and on seeing her daughter and her aunt, she knew she really was home. At the sight of seeing her aunt and her daughter, she slowly started getting small flashbacks, and then she saw her baby, who was no longer a baby but a toddler, and more pieces of the puzzle started to fit together.That evening, she saw Nancy all dressed up. "You look beautiful. Are you going on a date?" she a
It had been a month since the accident. Bradford spent every minute of every day at the hospital between his wife and his son. Steven had gone back to jail. Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole was his sentence. Grandpa Hemmingway had also come back home after he heard about the accident and took hold of the reins at Hemmingway International. However, due to the long stay at the hospital, Bradford asked his grandfather to train Frederick to be assistant CEO to help ease the burden on grandpa.Frederick took up this opportunity to learn all he could during this time. "I will make you and Frank proud of me, I promise," he said to Bradford. Bradford knew that Frederick would put his heart into it because he would be heading the branch in Tenerife one day. Bradford was exhausted. While sitting there in the chair praying for them both to come around, James brought him something to eat. While drinking some of the homemade soup, Joyce had prepared for him to keep his str
As Tamara walked into the room with Frederick, she saw that Marshall's bed had been moved to his mother's room."Bradford, this is much better," she said to him, handing him a cup of coffee and a sandwich from the hospital cafeteria.Tamara then said, "I'm going to check in on Aunty."Frederick put an arm around her, "I'm going to speak with Bradford quickly, then I will meet you." After Tamara walked out, Frederick said, "Listen, there's something you need to know. Tamara and I were on our way back here, and we saw someone. Tamara was pretty sure, so we confirmed the suspicion at the nurse's station." Irritated, Bradford growled at him, "Just get to the point dammit!"Trying to think of a way to say it, he stammered as he spoke, "Bradford, Camilla's ex-husband was released from prison on good behaviour. That's not the point, though. The point is that he was admitted to hospital around the same time as Camilla and Marshall."Bradford's blood started boiling, "WHAT! That son of a ...
Everyone except Tamara, Frederick, and Bradford were left in the hospital. The doctor came out and spoke with Bradford, "Mr Hemmingway, you need to brace yourself for anything at this point. It is touch and go with both your wife and your son."Looking at the doctor, his mind was blank and dismal. It was as if he didn't understand what the doctor was saying."Mr Hemmingway, did you hear me?" The doctor touched his shoulder gently. Tamara intervened, "Doctor, I'm Mrs Hemingway's cousin, and Marshall is my second cousin. This is a lot for her husband to take in right now. Can you explain to me what is going on?"The doctor explained, "The young man has intracranial bleeding to the brain that could leave him paralyzed or dead. We have managed to stop the bleeding for now, but we are not sure what the damage is. All we can do is pray now that he pulls through. On the other hand, your wife," he said, looking at Bradford, "she has contusions to the brain, now they are not that severe, but