She glared at him and without saying anything, moved past him and was about to enter the house, except that she did not get far. He held her hand and dragged her back to face him. Carol stared him down angrily, still not saying anything. Her heart skipped a bit just looking into his handsome face. It was the first time she was seeing him since she came back from the burial, making it the first time she was seeing him in almost four days. It felt like it was four months instead of four days and without anyone telling her, Carol knew that she was in serious trouble. When Sebastian saw that she was not going to say anything, he had no choice other than to speak first.“Are you not going to apologize?” he asked.“Apologize? Apologize for what? Apologize to whom? You’re really impossible.” She said incredulously, dragging her hand away from his and shaking her head in disbelief.“I called you several times, but you didn’t answer the phone.” He said, a look of confusion creasing
“Oh my God, Sebastian! I’m so sorry.” Carol said, placing a hand over her mouth in shock. All this while, she had never thought about something like that. All she had been thinking of was what would happen when Jessica came out of her coma. “Yeah. He was just advising me about it and whatnot, but it got me thinking about a lot of things, which I’ve been trying really hard not to think about before. Jessica put me as her power of attorney, something I did not know before now. She also left instructions that if it so happened that she was in a coma for more than a month, the life support should be unplugged after a month and three weeks. Carol, this is the end of the second week. If she does not come out of the coma before then, I’d have to give my consent for her to be taken off life support. I don't think I can do it." He finished, his face strained and unshed tears in his eyes. “Jeez! That’s scary. I hate that you have to bear such a burden, especially as it i
Sebastian sat frozen, as did Carol while they digested this surprising, but oh so welcome news. The bodyguard was still talking excitedly on the phone, explaining things, but the two of them were not listening. They were staring at each other in shock and happiness. Without saying anything, Sebastian came over to where Carol was and gave her a big long hug.“She’s waking up, Sebastian. Thank God.”“I’m so happy and relieved. You were right, Carol. You’re such a blessing.” He said, pulling back and looking at her in something akin to awe and reverence.“I’m sure that it wasn’t me or what I said that did it, but I’ll take the credit regardless.” Carol joked, happy to see him smiling once more. Suddenly, he looked much better. All the worries of the past month and even all the time since she knew him had dropped away from his face. Her gaze dropped to his luscious-looking, full lower lip. It was all she could do not to take it in between her own lips.
That night, Carol slept in Sebastian’s room and in his arms. After he got back from Sacramento, he had told her everything about his visit there and how Jessica was. According to what he told her, Jessica was not really aware of her surroundings, but she seemed to recognize people that she knew before, and that was a good sign. The doctor was hopeful that she would go on to make a full recovery and even identify her attackers in no time.“Oh, that reminds me, I was thinking of going to visit her. I don’t think that it speaks well of me that she has been in the hospital for the length of time that she has and I’ve not yet gone to see her.” Carol told him, not mentioning that it was Melissa who had brought this to her notice.“That’s nice. I’ll inform the guards to let you see her. I left express instructions with the guards that no one was to be allowed access to her unless I gave express permission.”“Isn’t that a little extreme?”“No, it’s not, actually. I have managed to keep the new
“Look, I don’t know why you seem so eager to see Mr. James, but I don’t think it’s wise to take you along with me. I mean, the man is recovering from a sickness and he doesn’t know you. It would seem rude for me to just bring a stranger to visit him without even informing him about it.” An exasperated Carol protested finally, hoping that Melissa would see reason with her and get down from the vehicle to go back to wherever she had come from. Melissa was nodding her head as though she was listening and could understand Carol’s point perfectly well, but she made no move to get down from the vehicle. Carol’s driver left the car idling, looking from woman to woman as he waited for them to make a decision. “It’s not your fault, you sallow-faced nincompoop. By right, I should be closer to that bastard than you could ever think of being.” Charlotte wanted to say, but of course, she didn’t. Instead, she turned and faced the driver. “What are you waiting for, young man? Let’s get going.” She t
Within minutes, the driver delivered Carol and Charlotte to Mr. James’s residence, and then drove back to the house, after Carol told him to go, that she would give him a call when she was ready to leave. She was still not sure about bringing this Melissa lady along with her, especially as she had not informed Mr. James that she was doing so first, but they were already here and even if she wanted to change her mind, it was already too late. Carol glanced at Melissa, wondering at how strangely she was acting all of a sudden. She had a strange look on her face and was quiet … very quiet, especially for someone who was always talking.“Hey… Are you okay?” Carol asked, pausing and turning to face Melissa, who stopped and faced her too, staring at her blankly. They were standing between the lush lawns that led to the house itself.“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” Charlotte asked, visibly shaking herself out of whatever stupor she had been in.“I don’t know. You were looking strange j
“Um, uncle. I think it is best that she goes with me so that you can rest a little while we’re away.”“Oh, nonsense. All I ever do is rest nowadays. I’ll like to sit and chat with a lovely lady if that will not be too much trouble.” Mr. James said, waving away her concern.“Melissa, you don’t mind then?”“Of course not. I don’t mind one bit.” Charlotte replied, her heart beating rapidly. What she had longed for all her life was finally going to happen.“Oh, and while at it, kindly get me some flowers. I’ll send them over to Jessica with a driver. I heard that she’s starting to wake up.”“What?” Charlotte exclaimed loudly in shock and dismay, forgetting herself momentarily. Mr. James and Carol looked at her in surprise.“I mean, that’s really great. The poor thing has suffered a lot. I'm just happy that she’s finally waking up after such a long time. Has she said anything yet, about her captors or anything like that? I mean, that has to be one of the first things she'll talk about, righ
There was a tense silence in the room for some more minutes as the man and lady stared at each other. Charlotte stared at him without saying anything, not that there was anything that she could have said. It wasn’t every day that she was at a loss for words. Mr. James stared back at her, waiting her out, until she finally became uncomfortable with the silence and the staring competition, and just had to say something … anything.“How do you know who I am?” She asked him finally, her voice hard. If he thought that he could outsmart her, then he had better think again. She had come here on a mission, and she must fulfill it before she left.“What are you doing here?” He asked in turn, annoying her greatly.“No, no. We’re not going to do that. That is not how this is going to play out at all. I’ll tell you how it’s going to play out, though. I’ll ask the questions, and you’ll answer them. Got that?”“If you say so. Can you please stop being so loud, though? I’m getting a se