The swarm of people heading to the venue signaled the beginning of the brunch party as well as the release of my social anxiety. I was rarely ever present in large gatherings, choosing to rather stay behind the scenes during such huge celebrations.Vivian had instructed us to stick to the ‘Golden Royal’ theme which she announced an hour before the party, barely leaving enough time to go shopping.I rummaged around inside my travel bag with the hope of finding something that would seem acceptable to her, but everything I had inside defeated the party’s idea. Frustrated, I sat on the edge of the bed and took out my phone to dial Rita’s number for assistance. Just then, Terrence walked in.“You look distraught my love, anything the matter?” he asked concerned as he sat next to me on the bed. He welcomed me for an embrace which I took in a feat to calm myself down. The idea of not dressing appropriately for the occasion troubled me as I did not wish to get into Vivian’s bad books.However

Lucas’s musky scent reached me before I could lay my eyes on him. I could tell that he was in close proximity as I inhaled his cologne which was occupying a greater percentage of the air outside.I served myself some banana cake, and the feeling of giddiness overwhelmed me inside. Food has always been a mood-lifter for me, making me forget the rising anxiety inside my body.“You look so beautiful, Charlotte Manning.” The whisper in my ear caused my insides to turn. My skin suddenly grew taut as I took a deep breath in before turning back. Lucas was standing behind me, too close for the cluster of people to gossip about, but not close enough for me.He had changed his attire from the last time I saw him in Vivian’s room, looking ravishing in a black tuxedo and a black shirt underneath that was halfway buttoned, leaving his chest out for my eyes to get lost in.“And you don’t look bad yourself,” I said, looking at him with pure admiration and lust. I was unsure if he could read my emoti

Vivian set her travel bag in the trunk of her car, ready to drive down to the airport for her flight back to Britain. She was reluctant to go, finding it harder to separate from her brother a second time. She stood there longer, wishing she had another choice than leaving him behind so quickly.“I will miss you dearly,” she declared, leaning in for an embrace. Terrence held her tightly, blinking away the tears that dared to collect in his own eyes. They still had a lot to talk about, a lot more catching up to do, but he shelved all of it as he understood the reason she had to leave abruptly.He thought about what he could have been having he remained behind in Kent’s household – definitely not a writer – perhaps owning one of Kent’s magnificent businesses that were just a shell to cover his lucrative drugs business.Maybe he would have a posh car like Vivian’s red Bentley, tour different cities with Charlotte, and catch flights to countries like Charlotte wanted. Maybe, he wouldn’t be

“Let’s go back home,” she spoke after lifting her eyes off her screen. I locked in the rage I felt inside of me and reversed the car back to where we came from. It pained me to see her this distraught about something that we both enjoyed, but the idea that she pinning the entire blame on me pained me the most. I drove back silently, not shooting even a glance her way. Once in the compound, she dashed into the house and went straight to her room. I walked over to the bar and poured myself a drink, gulping it down my throat in one swerve. Jacque approached me to notify me that dinner was served but my stomach could not handle any more weight than it currently was. I followed Charlotte’s tracks, disappearing into my room with a bottle of Bruichladdich in my hand. I planned on forgetting the day’s events even though a part of me wanted to keep the memory of Charl

I was in the office earlier than everyone, optimizing every chance I got to distract my mind from thinking about her, or anyone else for that matter. The clock hanging on the hallway wall indicated that it was half past six in the morning which was the earliest I had ever been at work.I opened my laptop and went through the tasks that I had failed to do because of my hangover yesterday. Luce had rescheduled all my meetings leaving me with only two for the day as the rest were spread out through the week.I downloaded some of the attachments she had sent over to my email for approval, signing them electronically before I sent them back. I was about to call Luce for confirmation of some of the business deal proposals that I saw on our dashboard but hesitated as I had not switched on my phone for fear of more ambush from Vivian.I sat still, waiting for Luce to come to the office instead. This did not take too long as she was the first to walk into the office before the clock ticked 7 a