LOGIN3rd person pov"Did you pass the message?" Julian asked over the phone, draped over the sofa. "Good. Let's hope he gets the message this time and stays off." He replied before dropping the call. "Who were you talking to?" Clara's voice caught him unawares and he jerked at the sound of her voice. "What..? Uhmm.. Just a friend." He shrugged casually. Clara settled beside him with a bowl of popcorn. , "Leo is asleep. I was wondering if you could take him with you to the park tomorrow. I have business to handle in town. He's been disturbing me all week. He wants to play and see other kids his age." Julian nodded as he dropped some popcorn in his mouth. "Of course. I'm free tomorrow." He spread his hands in gesture, making Clara smile in the process. "Thank you." She voiced as she shifted her focus to the TV show they were seeing. ***In another area of the city, Cassie sat in the midst of big brown boxes, each one contained her best friend's belongings. She'd gone to Clara's hous
Adrian "How long have you known?" I asked the old man, stunned that he'd known all along but kept it from everyone. He looked unfazed. "It doesn't matter how long I've known about Clara. I just wanted to let you know that you can take your time to get her for the meeting." The old man replied instead. My mouth was wide open as I couldn't believe he knew about it all the while I tried to hide it from him. I bowed my head, disappointment clawing at my insides. "She refused me. She doesn't want to see me or have anything to do with me." "I mistakenly held her by her waist while trying to break her fall but she misinterpreted it and told me to stay off her. The flowers I got... Everything..." I paused when I noticed I was beginning to share too much. "Why are you sorry for holding your wife?" The old man asked, shocking me in the process. I'd expected him to get mad at me and chastise me but he was asking why I was feeling bad about holding her. My mouth fell open but no wor
Adrian"What's the meaning of this?" Clara asked the second she saw me standing in her office with the bouquet I carefully selected at the flower shop. Her bluntness made it hard for me to speak for a few minutes as I stood there staring at her. "I got these for you..." "Are you out of your mind?" She asked before I finished speaking. "I told you times without number to stop these unprofessional acts at the place of work but you keep trying me, to see what I would do." I was at loss for words with the way she was talking. She lashed out at me like I had ruined her entire day. "I won't tell you this again. It's time I take matters into my own hands." She rose from her seat and brushed past me out of the office. For a few seconds, I stood in the office, the bouquet in my hand as my mind processed what just happened. I got the flowers to apologize to her. I noticed that the previous day, after the incident that happened at the office, she didn't return to the office again. She di
ClaraTo think that Carl was going to say something nice at the very least. I walked out of dinner first. Julian didn't want to leave, he wanted to clear the table. He reluctantly met me at the car after a few minutes of waiting. "Why did you leave like that? You didn't even taste the chicken. It was so good." He said, still chewing what I believed was the chicken. "What kind of question is that?" I asked, my voice higher than usual and I caught myself fast enough because of the little child, Leo who was standing beside Julian, clueless about what was going on. I didn't want him to see us argue or quarrel. I wanted to raise him in a peaceful home. "You can go back if you haven't had enough but I want to leave now." I regulated my tone before speaking this time. "Let's go." He walked to the driver's door, opened it and called Leo to follow him. I led Leo to the back door and placed him on the back seat and fastened his seat belt. I settled into the front seat after making sure
ClaraWe were sitting at the table for forty minutes, thirty-six seconds and there was still no show of Carl. Dinner had been served already and it was a feast. He prepared everything he could to welcome us but I didn't feel welcomed. That was not the case for Julian. He seemed happy with the arrangement. Leo had no idea what was going on, only that his parents were seated at a table with so much food. I couldn't bring myself to eat the sumptuous looking meals on the table. A part of me wondered if he poisoned the food. Another part debunked the thought but the first part was stronger than the latter. Carl was ruthless. As much as he loved family and friends and protected them, he didn't hesitate to hurt them to teach others a lesson as well. Julian was carefree. He smiled at Leo and encouraged him to eat up while he stuffed his mouth with food. He glanced at me and smiled like the insensitive man he was. There was no way he didn't know I didn't like being there but he acted ob
ClaraI stormed out of the office, leaving him behind because I didn't trust my voice would be firm when I asked him to walk out of my office. My stomach rumbled as the stupid butterflies that had been dead for years now fluttered back to life. My throat clogged with something thick that threatened to disgrace me if I tried to speak. "Clara..." He called as I walked out of the office but I didn't turn back. I couldn't let him see the strange expression that now covered my face. Only when I got outside the building did I let out my breath I didn't know I've been holding in all this while. "What are you doing outside?" Julian's familiar voice made me jolt. "Huh?""What?" He asked, noticing my anxiety. "Uhm.." I swallowed the lump that blocked my throat and tried to think of something believable to tell him and fast. "What were you thinking that made you look so surprised?" He asked again, his eyes searching my face. "Nothing, I was just... I just needed a break, some fresh air.
Clara's Pov Elena sprinted toward Adrian with excitement written all over her face, and her hands spread wide. They held each other in an embrace. This prompted the shocked reaction of the people in the hall, mine included. I'd thought they would hide their shameless acts when they were in the
Clara's pov“Is that a video of Elena?” I asked, trying to confirm what I was looking at. Linda nodded slowly. “This video was posted yesterday.” “What?”I listened to the video of Elena looking like she'd just escaped a bear attack. Her eyes were sunken and her skin looked pale. “Good day every
Adrian’s Pov “What are you saying Addy?” Elena’s voice struck a chord but I swallowed the original reply that could've been fatal. I finally picked a tie from the wardrobe, if Clara were here, she would've handled trivial matters like picking out a tie to go with my outfit. “I have to go from
Clara's pov“Clara? Are you in there?” His frail voice asked as I refused to open the door. “I know you are. I saw you walk in.” I shut my eyes tightly. ‘Shit, he caught me.’I slowly opened the door, finding it hard to look at his face, I turned around and walked into the room. He followed me s







