Nicole;I'm not able to reach Ray until two days later. His phone number finally goes through and his sugary voice flits to me as he picks up the phone."Nicole. What a……"."Where are you?". I ask coldly. There's a slight hesitation on the line before he replies me."Just somewhere. What? Would you like me to come over to your place?". I can hear the silent insinuation in his voice. I glance around at my surroundings. I'm not at my place. In fact, I haven't even slept there for the past three days. I sigh softly and turn back to him on the phone."I'm at work". "Work? It's 9pm. On a Sunday!!!!!"."Are you……" "I'll be there in 15". He says and the line goes dead. I glare at the phone in irritation before dropping it. It's true that I have refused to sleep at my place. On that Friday night two days ago that I had the altercation with Alex, I had attempted to go back. But the sense of unease grew with more time that I spent there, so much that I was forced to grab my car keys again and

Nicole; I'm horrified to wake up the next morning to see that it's almost 9. With more adrenaline that I thought possible, I jump into the shower, washing my hair and lathering my body at the same time. To my surprise, I don't see any missed calls on my phone when I hastily check it. I would have expected to have it blowing up by now. But is it actually a good thing that no one is calling me? I don't have time to dry my hair so I simply put it up into a tight low ponytail, hoping the wet condition doesn't show. I pull on the first set of pants and shirt I find and throw on a pair of ankle length boots. And while still shuffling my feet into the contraption, I dash out of the house and into my car, dreading each ticking second. By the time I reach the office, I'm hassled. I'm breathing heavily and practically running. My heart thumps in my chest as the elevator heads up. It's a Monday and every Monday morning, we hold a project meeting. I glance at my wristwatch. I'm over 15 minutes l

Nicole; I can't control my shivers under the shawl. Jared's arms wrap around my shoulders as he leads me towards the porch, coercing me to sit gently. I watch the back of the two policemen as they lead Greg forward to the van. He's screaming something but I can't hear him above the haze in my head. It's very reassuring to feel some level of human contact. The accompanying police woman walks forward to me and hands me my cell phone. Her lips are moving but I can barely hear her. I don't try to either. Grasping my phone with shaky hands, I bury my head in between my legs as my breath comes out in pants. Jared settles down beside me and his arms draw me in close. I don't know how long we stay there but as my breath slowly becomes steadier, I hear the first police car pull out of my driveway. Almost immediately, I hear the screech of another set of tyres as another car pulls in. Through the haze of my vision, I look up to see a sleek, black Audi pulling in. I see the driver step out of t

Nicole; I open up the door to see Alex and I hate that my heart actually does a little leap of excitement. While in my kitchen, I had received a text from him saying he was in front of my house and before I even had the chance to reply, the doorbell had rang through the house in confirmation. Still, I couldn't find it in myself to be mad. I'm getting a bit too used to seeing him on my porch these days. I step aside to let him in and he does just that. That's when I notice the bag in his hand and he hands it to me. "What's that?". I ask suspiciously as I take it from him. Peering in, I discover two large boxes of decadent chocolate insides. "You didn't have to". I say as I continue to stare at the contents of the bag. "But I want to". I raise my eyes up to meet his as I close the door behind him. "I'm serious. You actually didn't have to". I walk past him and into the living room. "I can't risk misconceptions". It's obvious that way too many people have been casting suspicious glan

Nicole; When my sobs die down, I feel his arms loosen a bit around me, just enough to allow me to pull away. He peers into my eyes with concern. "I'm sorry, Nicole. I have no excuses except that I was a stupid young man who was ready to let go of myself and the people I loved just to gain my father's approval. I'm sorry I was such a coward. I'm not asking for your forgiveness straightaway and I know I will never be able to make it up to you for all those years of hurt you went through but I want to start now. I want to start letting you know how deeply sorry I am". I don't what to say as I stare up at him. So I ask the next question on my mind. "Why did you employ me?". I ask quietly. He stares at me in hesitation at first. "I was just getting to be with you in 8 years. I wasn't going to let go of the opportunity to have you close to me". "And why didn't you apologize on the first day we met. What made you think you could sweep everything under the rug if you became my boss and p