GRACE POV
I wanted to ask him if he was feeling well enough for us to get on the road, but with the kind of determination on his face, I knew even if he wasn’t feeling well enough, it still wouldn’t deter him. So I dressed myself and Laurie and we got on our way. To be honest, I was really curious too. Even Laurie was and she kept throwing questions of our destination to Connor who did everything but answer those questions. I remained silent the whole ride, deep in my thoughts. We had gotten far into the journey when familiarities started to spring up. They were minimal at first so I didn’t pay them much attention, but then they became much more glaring that I couldn’t just ignore. Connor was taking us to the home his company stole from me.Was he trying to absolve himself of the accusation of his Mom that day in his home?Well, I was looking forward to seeing how he could possibly explain it. Even if I could excuse him taking the hoEPILOGUETwo years later...I carried the baby basket I had with me and gave it to Laurie, instructing her to take her sibling with her inside. I would carry the other baby shower things I brought inside myself.Yes, Laurie's sibling. I had another baby a few months ago for the man of my heart.Speaking of which, he came out from the house running towards me. He must've seen Laurie enter. He had been here earlier than us; he had to for his best man duties.Jody and Marcus were getting married!Watching them return together and settle and compromise, choosing the love they shared above all their differences, was so elating.Imagine how I felt when Jody said she'd taken in for Marcus. When she first broke the news, I thought an 'I'm having an abortion' news would follow right after, but it never came. I had expected it because this was Jody. Jody! She had said it herself once that she didn't think she ever wanted to be a mother.
ARIZONA COLLEGE (SEVEN YEARS AGO)GRACEIn silence we studied each other on a bed, evaluating, doubting, and considering by turns, because it was so sudden, so unexpected.We were merely strangers turned drink buddies few hours ago. We didn’t even know our names yet. He only jokingly called me Ms. Budweiser because I said I loved beer more, while I laughed hard and loud, calling him Mr. Chardonnay because he said he only drank wine.But I and my friends made him take beer. It was a way to apologize for bumping into him and ruining his white T-shirt.I was going to get another round of drink while he was heading to the rest room as I could remember it. However due to my crazy hurrying, and the excitement of our finals, I had bumped into him and caused him to spill his drink on himself and at the same time holding me from tripping over.He snaked his firm hand around my waist to keep me steady and our eyes locked.At that instant, t
SEVEN YEARS AGO (Continuation)I woke up at sunrise to feel my bed for the beautiful stranger I had slept with, but all I could feel was only bed. The stranger had disappeared.I batted my eyelids open as morning light washed into my room. I sat up and forced my mind to be alert, half puzzled, half astonished. Has the stranger gone to use the restroom? I wanted to call his name.But it's funny. I didn't even know his bloody name.Someone had given me the best ride I'd had in a while in the middle of last night. And I didn't know his name!I decided to stand from my bed to go search the restroom. "Hello," I said and knocked on the restroom's door.No answer.I opened the door for confirmation. It was possible he was taking a shit and would be too embarrassed to answer me in the middle of it. But the restroom was empty of the dude. My towel on a stand was as neatly folded as I had left it.I shut the restroom's door and headed back for my bed,
The Present. (Central London)GRACEThe streetlights were up. They generously cast their golden glow on me as I jogged on the neighborhood roads to find release.It's a sacrifice I had to pay as a writer. One way or another, inspirations come at those odd moments when your heart is beating like a drum and you just suddenly stop midway to bend over with your hands placed on your knees, starting to smile at your fresh plot or a thrilling revelation about your character. Or how to end your story.So this particular evening, I was jogging for motivation over a gothic story. Already, my day had been stressful. After tucking Laurie, my six-year-old daughter into bed few minutes ago, making sure she was sound asleep and packing some of her clothes into her travel bag for tomorrow, I just had to hit the road.She even agreed to sleep early, so that tomorrow could come quickly for her to head to Nkechi’s place already, according to her. I giggled mental
CONNOR SHELBYHer footsteps brought me hope.Lying on this cold hard ground, my mind tethering between consciousness and sub consciousness, the sound of a distant footstep somehow gave me the strength to call for help.I couldn’t see much, the trail of blood seeping from my forehead down to my eyes was almost completely obscuring my vision.The adrenaline rush during the assault was beginning to wear off and the pain of every hit and blow I took started to hurt like hell. It felt as though, every inch of my body was aching so much, I couldn’t lift a muscle or even tried to go after them.They weren’t after the box of money in the truck of my car, neither were they after my phone or any information or any material thing whatsoever.Thinking about what their motive could be or whose orders they were carrying out was not the priority at the moment.My priority was staying alive. Or at the very least, clinging long enough to consciou
GRACEI stood in my room before my bed, dumbfounded by what just happened.I tried taking my mind back to the point where I entered the room and asked the ungrateful and uncouth stranger I foolishly brought to my home, how he was feeling.The gesture I made was as simple as that. I never spoke to him rudely or acted in any way that showed that I wanted to harm him.I was shocked at first. Then disgusted by his rudeness, then confused, thinking maybe he felt like he was in trouble or we could harm him owning the trauma he had gone through before I met him and rescued him.Did he totally forget the events of the previous day? Was it so traumatizing that he didn’t remember a single thing?I didn’t even get a proper look at his face. I and Nkechi were busy trying to save him, doing all the things trained emergency personnel should be doing, that we had completely forgotten to check for his name or identity or anything at all from him.We were
CONNOR SHELBY.“You are not fine yet, Alpha,”Marcus, my personal assistant announced for the umpteenth time to my irritation as I stood before the full length mirror in my dressing room getting ready for work.“The doctor said you need more rest.” he continued, following me around with a sad face.However, he knew me too well to expect me to listen to him. It's been over a week already and I had stayed back inside even though I was now completely fine. I was trying to investigate why I was attacked and the people behind the attack. I couldn’t involve the police so I had to crack it myself with the help of my competent personal assistant who was now standing behind me like a stubborn tick.And somewhere at the back of my mind for the whole week while receiving intensive health care from my personal doctor and Marcus, I was apprehensively waiting for any news regarding the accident of the CEO of Shelby Realtors and Alpha
GRACE. The telephone rang the minute I stepped into my house. I had only just returned from dropping Laurel at school.Everything seemed back to normal till I lifted the telephone from its cradle.Jody hadn't noticed me yet. She was sprawled on the love seat sofa in my tiny sitting room, distracted by those South Korean dramas on her mobile that made her cry and laugh at the same time.The caller on the telephone had a modern American accent. He asked if he was speaking with Grace Jones and I'd have concluded the call as spam until he mentioned ‘The Man I Saved Last Week’.“Why should I meet him?” I had asked the caller impatiently, standing with my back resting against the wall behind me.“Are you not curious to know how the person you saved is faring?” he asked, then went ahead without waiting for a reply, “What’s the point of saving him if you wouldn't be interested in his final outcome, if he recovered or not?”I wanted to tell him he sounded