Louisa had deposited her daughter in school. She met the class mistress and pleaded with her to not let Gianna out of class until she came as well as not let anyone see her. She was very much specific about the sex and physical description. After being assured and reassured, she left for her office, passing through her sickening pretentious workers, where Nerry immediately jolted out of her seat to welcome her with a trembling vocal."What is it?" She frowned."Eh...Miss, I...I tried to tell him to not get in...to wait for you here but--" Nerry stammered."Who is it?""Mr. Adrian," she lowered her head, expecting her verdict. "He's seated in your office ma'am."Louisa puffed furiously as she stormed into her office to sight Adrian seated on her leather chair with a folder concealing his face. At the sound of the creaking door, he returned the folder and stood up hands wide open, "Princessa," he cheerfully called, "how are you?""What do you
Gianna was nodding at something the janitor told her when Louisa walked in after handing Mrs. Heather a tip. The little girl smiled at her mum, picked up her backpack, and bid the kind janitor goodbye as she obediently walked straight to the car as told by her mum."Hi," the janitor began, stopping Louisa on her track, "I'm Ruth. Nice to meet you." "Louisa." She simply replied taking in the appearance of the lady who looked too old from stress and depression rather than age. "You have a very sweet daughter." She rested her chin on the hand which covered the head of the mop. Louisa smiled warmly, "thanks." "I clean up daily and never have I had the chance to talk to a kid this long after classes," she insinuated. "The weather's super sunny these days, haven't you noticed?" She said, hoping the nosy lady would keep to her path. "Then you might have to start including sun creams in her backpack," Ruth prodded. "You don't have a problem with my daughter being here, now, do you?" "O
"Hi Ms. Ruth," Gianna greeted the smiling janitor with a toothy smile before returning her intent focus on what she was doing. The lady comfortably settled on a tiny kindergarten blue plastic chair after setting her tools aside. "Hi, Gianna. How are you doing today?" "I'm fine," she switched crayons. "Oh, what do we have here?" Ruth said, diverting Gianna's paper to her, "fantastic! You did this?" Gianna nodded. "So here is your mummy," she pointed out a not so straight stick drawing representing a woman in red hair with an ear-to-ear smile drawn in red crayon, "and this is you, right?" Ruth acknowledged an almost similar version of the first drawing except, it looked small, had a black yarn-like excuse of a ponytail above her head, and no red represented ear to ear smile. "Yeah." At some far end of mother and daughter holding stick hands, was a tiny almost non-existent stick drawing. Ruth, after intrigue struck, couldn't help but being intrus
Mason had successfully had Louisa on the receiver, after several attempts on calling, to give her a rendezvous which she had undoubtedly declined so, he took it upon himself to go to her and confront her properly, with prove this time around. He had been careful with the alibi required: a straw Gianna had used to ingest her orange juice. Luckily, he met with Louisa on her way to work as elegantly dressed as always. He could never ignore the somersaults his heart engaged itself to whenever he set eyes on her. The old feeling hadn't faltered a bit. At that point in time, he only wished for his plans to work that is, if truly a way to a mother's heart was through her children. Not that he was deliberately going to use his daughter but only hoped and prayed his closeness to her could ignite a lost fire. "You again?" She refrained from delving into her purse. Louisa looked back for a bit readying her stance in case the man standing in front of her came for her dau
One word. Awkward. The only other time Louisa ever felt this way was when she and Adrian strictly agreed on sex with no strings attached. But earlier that day, the degree of awkwardness she felt could blow up a thermometer. Louisa spotted Gianna from the rearview mirror; she silently watched the speeding cars, pedestrians, and buildings. For once, she wished to know what her daughter was thinking about, and for once, she would've proudly accepted the question of 'where is my daddy?' to 'are you really my daddy?' She didn't doubt it the least when two familiar cars presented at the parking lot. Her apprehension was long-lived at the sight of deep brows above two pairs of eyes. She urged Gianna to tidy up after a brief niece-uncles understanding. "Now, what?" Marley's words seeped through clenched teeth. "Like what?" She pretended. "Nathalie made us come here. You know why," Lauren barked, "tell us, what's been going on? And don't you dare say 'nothing'
"I need your help," Louisa sounded devasted and desperate to her ears more than she thought she did to the receiver's ears. She hadn't a wink of sleep the previous night because every time her eyelids shut for a fraction of a second, the images of Mason behind bars choked her. All she was left to think of was getting him out and his tender and heartwarming words. "Goodness! How urgent is this for you to call at... four in the morn?" Lauren's sleep-charmed voice managed to say. "It's a friend of mine. He's in custody," her throat battered as her words flowed in parts, "he needs a lawyer but won't get one. So I need you to help him." She heard Lauren's sheets ruffle on the other side and a feminine purr that no doubt belonged to Georgina. He exhaled and said, "I'll be at your place before seven, ok? I need to complete my sleep cycle. Had a rough day yesterday." "Okay." Louisa was seated at the kitchen island seeping on her second cup of
Gianna had finally gone to sleep after a struggle. She wanted to spend more time with Mason and learn more magic tricks but Louisa thought she had learned enough as the clock ticked nine p.m. She found Mason on the verandah leaning on the aluminum rails, a position which made every muscle his back ever owned more prominent and alluring. Louisa, with so much nervousness, pocketed her hands in the back of her shorts as she approached him not knowing exactly what to do or say once at her destination. They had barely said anything to each other since he arrived. Gianna did most of the talking and she had never been so thankful. Now it was her turn to entertain her guest. "Thank you," he said as he turned to her, now leaning backward. Louisa strived to ignore the charming smile he portrayed and the handsomeness that glowed beneath the 200 Watt LED lights that donned the ceiling. "What for?" Her attempt to act all grim failed miserably. "For everything: for dinner, for spending time wit
Three steps into her office and Louisa sighted Adrian seated on the small settee at the right corner of her office. She continued her journey to her chair and only until she was seated did she speak since all her guest did was stare at her intently."How are you doing?" She said, specifically referring to his still plastered nose since his eyes had considerably regained their once upon a time tint and from its once swollen state."Good," he monotonously replied.And then, reigned a moment of silence.As uncomfortable as the silence was, Louisa broke it with, "So, what do I owe this visit?"Adrian rose to ample height and directed himself to the opposite side of her where he nonchalantly pocketed his hands. "I left the UK with several things in mind but only one was a priority." He paused."When I left New York I realized something and immediately regretted ever evacuating. If I dwelled there during all those times, it's because I thought I w