All Chapters of ONE NIGHT STAND BETWEEN BEST FRIENDS : Chapter 131 - Chapter 140

Salma “Did something happen?” I looked up to see Brandon standing in front of me. He looked worried and tired too. “No,” came my response as I hung up on John, “Dr. Hans said your mother is a match for Leona.” His face looked visibly relieved. “Thank God!” “So has he scheduled the surgery?” Brandon asked. I shook my head, “No. She's still too unstable for surgery.” The frown lines on his face were back again. I turned to Josephine and said, “You should go to the hotel. You've been here since last night.” She looked worn out too. “Okay, I'll take Rita with me.” But when we entered Leona's room and suggested to my grandmother that she ought to leave, she refused. “Grandma, you have to rest,” I said, “I'm sure your blood pressure must be through the roof.” “I'm not going home,” she protested, “not while my great-granddaughter is in intensive care.” “If you fall sick,” Josephine's tone was firm, “what happens to Salma then? And your precious great- granddaughter?” Rita grunt

BrandonI paused the video. I had heard enough. When I looked up to where Salma was seated, she was gone. I put my phone in my pocket and walked out of the room too, hoping that she had not gone too far. She had not. She was leaning against the wall beside the door, looking into nothing. “Salma?” I called her name softly. She turned to look at me but her expression was blank. I could read no emotions on her face. “I… I don't know if it's true but…” “You think it's true?” she asked me, staring into my eyes like she wanted to dig out my soul. “I don't know what to believe…” I began to say then stopped myself mid-sentence, “It doesn't matter anyway. I understand you've never been on good terms with your father and… frankly, I do not know the whole story.” She looked at me intently for a while as though deciding what to tell me. “When reporters start looking into my life closely,” she said, “they are going to find out about Leona and her… that she has cancer. I do not want that.

Brandon When Salma fell asleep on the chair about an hour later, I adjusted her head so her neck wouldn’t hurt, then covered her with the only blanket available in the room. I stepped outside also to place a call to my personal chief of security. I had bodyguards who followed me everywhere but they did so from a distance, and I went about my day without noticing them most of the time. Tony answered my call on the first ring. “Mr. McClean?” His voice was very clean, formal, and not at all groggy. It made me wonder if he ever slept at all. “We have a situation,” I said quietly into the phone. “About staff security? I was told you spoke to the company’s CSO about it,” came his response. “I did,” I told him, “but that’s not the situation I’m talking about.” “My men report that you are safe?” He sounded slightly worried. “This is not about me per se,” I said. “Okay.” “What I’m about to tell you must remain in the strictest confidence,” I said to him. “Of course.” “You must know

Brandon I watched as Salma went from grinning very hard, as if she'd found something amusing, to sobbing very hard. I moved closer to her and put an arm around her, wondering what the hell had made her start crying suddenly. “Salma? What happened? Did you get bad news?” She shook her head, but continued to sob hard without a word. Then out of nowhere she began to yell, “She’s dead. She died that night and I did nothing to stop it.” I could only hold her in my arms and allow her to wet my shirt as I had no idea who she was referring to. I knew it could not be Leona or I would have received the same news too.“You can talk to me if you need to,” I said softly as she continued sobbing hard in my arms. “I… My mom…” but that was all she could mutter before she continued to cry again. Ten minutes later, her sobs had reduced to a mere trickle of tears down her pretty face. She sat straight, detaching herself from my embrace, and wiped her face with her hand. I pulled out a clean handker

Salma‘Yes, love,’ I replied, ‘if Dr. Hans says it’s okay.’ “You’re the best, mom,” she said, giving me a thumbs up with the arm that was not receiving an IV line. I was tempted to kiss her on the forehead, but I knew it would be irresponsible of me, too. I could not risk her getting an infection from me. So I smiled at her and said, “I’ll see you in the evening, love.” “Okay, mommy.” I left the room with Brandon, but we had not walked two inches from the door when I felt someone pull my arm. I turned and it was Josephine holding my arm. She looked worried. “We need to talk,” she said to me. Brandon stepped away, understanding at once that this was meant to be a private conversation. “So? John is really doing the story, huh?” She must have read the article. “Yes.” “I read the article… are you, okay?” she asked me, her voice full of worry. “Of course,” I said immediately, “I’m good.” “Are you sure?” she was not fully convinced, “if this all gets too much for you and you nee