ZORA'S POVUnder the lights, Katherine's diamond ring sparkled and glinted like there were a thousand fireflies caught in it."I still can't believe it," she gushed. "I'm engaged to the man I love-" She gave Drew, who sat beside her a doe eyed look. He gave her one right back. The sparks flying between the two of them were almost visible. "-and that was after several tortuous days in which I died several times over. I just can't believe it everything turned out so well.""I can't either," I said and groaned, rubbed my forehead. All eyes turned towards me. "I can't believe that you finally proposed to Katherine. I think that at this point, I am happier than Kathy here. She almost drove me out of mind by worrying so much about you, talking on stop about you and forcing me to listen to her do so."This stirred up laughter. A chuckling Elliot put up his hand. "I'm a witness to this. Whenever Zora's phone rang when I was with her, it was Katherine calling more than ninety-nine percent of
ZORA'S POV"What do you think? That I'm serious about this, or joking?" I asked Elliot with a grin.Elliot traced patterns with his fingers all across my collarbone."You tell me, Zora," he murmured softly. "I can't seem to think straight right now. But I know something that will help improve my thinking faculties right now.""Oh. And er- what could that be?""This." In one fluid movement, Elliot pulled himself up and pressed his lips to mine. His tongue moved across my lips several times, then withdrew. He continued kissing me a few moments longer before pulling away. I was breathless by then and could barely speak. He smirked at the effect he knew he had on me."Now I can think again," he said. "Now where were we? Let me see. Ah. I remember. We were talking about what you just told me-"I pouted. "It's not fair at all. We were having a serious conversation, then you kissed me and sent my thoughts going here and there." I reached for him. "Come back here and finish what you started."
ZORA'S POV"And how is your vacation going?" Katherine asked almost as soon as I picked the call.This question was followed by a giggle. I narrowed my eyes at that. It seemed there was a hidden meaning underlying Katherine's question."And why did you laugh after asking that, Kathy?" I asked her."Oh, don't mind me. It's just that my imagination went into overdrive for a minute. What I actually wanted to ask if if Finn and Freya's presence there has given you and Elliot some much needed smooching time, if you know what I mean.""Kathy!" I exclaimed and blushed when the meaning of her question became plain. "You are something else, you know that, right?""I know. I know. I'm picturing the blush on your cheeks right now." We laughed. "Seriously though, how is everything going over there?"I stretched languidly in bed and transferred the phone to my other ear. "It's going better than I had imagined. We are all having lots of fun. This resort is so beautiful. I can spend hours and hours w
ZORA'S POVTEN YEARS LATER"Freya! Freya!" I called repeatedly as I walked towards her room.I did not hold much hopes of her answering though. It was a few minutes to 7 in the morning, and if I knew my daughter very well, she would still be in bed and fast asleep at this time."Fre-" I threw open the door to her room and stopped short.She was not in bed as usual. She was up, and appeared to have been up for some hours. She was already dressed and was sitting in front of the mirror, applying some lip gloss. My eyes narrowed at this. I could not remember when I had seen Freya interested in anything that had to do with makeup. As a mum that was a model, I had half been expecting Freya over the years to have shown some interest in the cosmetics lining my dressing table. But she had been completely indifferent to them. I hadn't minded her indifference though. I had sort of welcomed it."A mother that knows all about fashion, and a daughter that has no interest in it whatsoever," Elliot u
ZORA'S POVAs I listened to Katherine over the phone, I looked around, checking to see if I had forgotten anything. It wasn't easy, moving across the country with two kids in tow. I counted the suitcases we had brought with us. They were complete. I relaxed slightly and shifted the phone to my other ear so that I could adjust the strap of my handbag. "Hello, Zora? Are you still there?" Katherine asked. "Yes, we are fine," I said, answering an earlier question from Katherine, my best friend. "I was just checking that we still have everything we came with.""Good. So, how are Finn and Freya? I know it's early days yet, but how are they reacting to the move?"I stared at the twins, both clutching their tiny suitcases, both looking curiously at people moving around the airport. "They are okay, I guess. I've prepped them for this day, so they will be fine.""Yes. I am sure they will be. So, where exactly are you now?""We are still at the airport. I called my assistant when we landed a
ZORA'S POVThe doctor looked at the clipboard on which he had recorded Freya's vitals. He was a youngish-looking man with a prematurely lined face which I supposed was caused by many sleepless nights and late-night calls. He looked up, smiled at me, and beamed at Freya. "You worry too much about your little girl, Ms. Walter," he said. "I can assure you that she is in the best hands and that we will do everything possible to make sure that she fully recovers." He glanced again at Freya who was sucking on a lollipop he had offered her after examining her. She did not seem to pay attention to what the doctor was saying. She kept looking around his office at the gaily colored charts. She mouthed the words on the charts, her legs swinging back and forth on the high-backed chair. I sighed. "I would like to believe that, doctor. I really will.""Please, do. Her vitals look okay. I will look more closely into her case file. Bring her back here in...three days. I will have more definite ne
ELLIOT'S POVThoughts of Zora kept intruding as I worked. I did my best to push them to the back of my mind. I drew the files my secretary had kept on the desk towards me. I flipped through them, noting figures on a sheet of paper. I was engaged in this task when I heard a knock on the door. Annoyed, I looked up. My secretary knew I did not like to be disturbed at this time. I wondered what she wanted. "Come in," I said. My secretary put her head around the door, peered at me, then walked into the room. She looked ill at ease. "Sir, your wife wants to see you-" I opened my mouth to tell her off. She guessed my intentions and quickly continued. "I told her that you were very busy and didn't want to be disturbed. In fact, I told her that you had really important work to do but she refused to listen to me. She is bent on seeing you. I just came in to give you a heads-up because she might come in at any moment."I sat back and regarded her coldly. "Isn't it your job to see that I am n
ZORA'S POV For what felt like the tenth time, I adjusted Finn's collar which was askew. He looked up at me, his big blue eyes wide with worry. "Can't I stay back, today, Mama?" he asked and pouted. "I'm smart, you say that all the time. I can stay at home and you can teach me what I'll learn at school. It will be the same thing." I hid a grin and sighed. My kids were a joy to me but they could be quite a handful sometimes. "But I have to work, sweetheart. I can't be your teacher too. You have to go to school, learn and mix up with other kids." Finn began to protest. "But Mama-" "Shhh." I squatted and placed a finger on his lips. "You will do fine at school, Finn. It's not your first school, you know. I know that New York is a big city, but the kids here are the same as the other kids at your former school. They don't bite." Freya giggled and Finn smiled a little. "Mum, can we go now? I want to meet all my new friends." Freya said, shifting from one foot to the other like she