Chapter 5
Khloé hurried into Brian's office.
"I am so sorry Brian, I didn't know how it happened
" I don't care how it happened, it's the level of your incompetence I have a problem with," Brian said as he scanned through the screen of the laptop in front of him.
"It won't happen again, I swear. Please don't take Lucy away from me" She begged
"It's too late to apologize"
"This is the first and last occurrence"
"You don't get it, do you?" He suddenly stood up from his chair.
"Something bad could have happened to Isabelle if she didn't meet the person who brought her back." Brian feared the worst might have happened the moment he received Khloé's call earlier.
"You can do anything to get back at me but please don't take the custody of our child away from me"
She walked closer to where Brian stood facing the wall-length glass window.
"I am sorry baby"
"Don't call me that" Brian warned coldly.
Khloé heaved a disappointed sigh.
"This is my last warning Khloé if this ever happens again consider yourself an outsider" Brian warned.
"Thank you." Khloé cheered up instantly and hugged Brian from the back. He resisted the hug instead.
"I heard you're looking to hire models for a new commercial"
"Yes," He said as he walked back to his seat.
"I don't know why you'd bother looking for models when you have one," she said, referring to herself.
"Models as in normal people not professional models like you," he said, fully focused on the laptop.
"I thought as much. Just wanted to also let you know that if you ever need help with the company, I'm here for you"
"Noted," He said, absentmindedly.
"Love you," She said after a brief kiss on his cheek before leaving his office.
Brian rolled his eyeballs as she vanished out the door.
To him, Khloé is another pathetic woman who longs for his love and care as well as thinking a child between them can trigger it or tie him down to her.
Brian has been focused on succeeding in life since he left Jayda's house that night. He wanted to have enough money to have her but somehow he went off the tracks when he eventually started cashing out, owning one of the biggest dating platforms named ChaseApp.
He suddenly didn't want to go back to Minnesota or see Jayda ever again after she rejected him that night.
But the only perk that followed and still follows him is the fact that no woman charmed him as much as Jayda did. None.
Everything about Jayda was perfect. Her eyes, her lips, hair, her body and to ice it all she had one of the kindest hearts he'd ever come across.
He only loved her and has never loved anyone after her.
Sometimes he wondered how she's living or what Lucy now looked like? His little sister. He knew with Jayda around, the duo would be living fine. That woman sure knows how to care for her family, unlike most women he'd met who seem to only care about the latest designer clothes, shoes and bags, cars, and other material things they can snuff out of a rich guy like him.
Did Jayda remarry?
This question worried him more.
**********
Jayda suddenly opened her eyes when a strange sound woke her up from sleep. She'd forgot to turn off the Television before sleeping off but it wasn't the Television that made such noise because its volume is on the barest minimum.
She slowly reached for the remote control on the table in front of her and switched the visual electronic off. The noise did stop but then again, a strong hunch made her think it was probably from the neighbours. She was about to mount the stairs when she heard a gunshot and shortly after, a loud bang on the door. She shivered and kept mute as the person in front of her door continued to hit the wooden surface.
"Help me!" A female voice said and Jayda recognized it belonged to Mrs Ariana Jonas.
Jayda hurried to the door and quickly opened it for the scared middle-aged woman to enter.
"What's going on?" Jayda asked, breathlessly.
"Armed robbers" She started to explain while catching her breath.
"My husband is out of town and the robbers are already close to my building. I'm alone in the house and I got scared."
"That was a bigger risk you took coming here."
"I wasn't thinking" She started to pace
"What if they killed the next-door neighbours?"
"We have to call the cops"
"I already did and they said they're on their way" Ariana replied.
Another loud bang landed on Jayda's door. The two women held on to each other's wrist tightly.
"We can hide in the basement to buy time before the cops arrive" Jayda picked up her phone and then led Ariana to the storeroom that has a hidden basement.
They both stayed silent as they heard footsteps approaching the storeroom.
"I don't think anyone's home," A deep male voice said.
"They must be." Another voice replied.
"How would you know?"
"The TV is warm which means someone was watching a while ago"
"There's no one upstairs," a new voice said.
"Did you check well?"
"Yes, every single corner"
"What do we do? Time is running out"
A siren is heard.
"Let's go, we'll be back and when we do, we'll start with this house." The footsteps hurriedly marched out of the house and within seconds the attackers disappeared.
Jayda and Ariana only came out of hiding when they were certain that it's safe.
*Hey guys! So I made a trailer video about this same book and it's available on YouTube. All you have to do is search for the book title on YouTube and view. As you watch, please don't forget to like, comment, turn on post notification and most of all subscribe to my channel because I will be uploading teasers of my books as well as updates so trust me, you don't want to miss a thing. Thank you! *
Chapter 6"OMG Mom!" Lucy said over the phone as Jayda walked into her living from outside. She'd been talking to the sheriff over last night's encounter with the other neighbours and the police department have assured the residents that there will be two patrol vehicle stationed in the area for the time being."It's been taken care of so I don't think they'll be coming back," Jayda said as she made for the couch."But still, you need to move out of that house" Lucy suggested."You know I can't""Why? Because it's grandma's house?""That and the fact that your schooling needs all the finance I can get""Well mom you don't need to overthink your pretty head about that because Keira and I got a part-time job to model for some app and the pay is a mouthful""No no mo" Jayda immediately opposed the idea. "
Chapter 7Jayda giggled like a toddler at ice cream when she and Shawn made their exit out of the cinema. They just finished watching the latest horror film titled 'forgotten and instead of coming out with a rather intense expression, the duo laughed their way to the parking lot."So where are we going next?" Jayda asked as Shawn put the car in motion unto the express."I was thinking of dinner" he said."I'm quite full from the popcorn and Soda""How about a walk in Glover?" He suggested.Jayda had heard of the new park in town but has not had the opportunity to visit the place even though she'd heard a lot of awesome reviews from the people in Ely."That'd be great," She said.They arrived in the park in half an hour and since there wasn't much to do because most of the vendors have closed for the day, Sha
Chapter 8"Where's the new commercial clip?" Brian said while flipping through the pages of the folder in his hand."We are yet to shortlist the candidates.." The fidgeting thirty-something years old creative director managed to say even amid stammer.People working under Brian always find talking to him intimidating and somewhat scary. It's hard to share the same space with his arrogant and rude attitude."You're fired," He said without flinching."Sir?" She questioned in disbelief."Are you deaf? I said you're fired! I can't have incompetent people working in my company" he didn't look at the poor lady, not even as little as a wink.Just as soon as she walked out of his office, Khloé walks in majestically while strutting her curves in the perfect motion."Hey baby" she greeted before taking her seat.
Chapter 9A few weeks later.Lucy walked into ChaseApp headquarters alongside Keisha for their callback interview with the brand. The duo had applied a week ago to model in a commercial much to the fact that one appearance costs so much more than the regular coffee shop attendant job they'd been doing secretly to help lift the burden a bit off their parents.Both girls gawked at the enormous elegance of wealth and class that littered the ground floor. There was so much professionalism in how the ladies who worked there walked and talked. They weren't dressed corporately. Some even wore shorts that went as far as the curve of their butts but their carriage is classy as hell."Wow. Pinch me Keisha" Lucy said trying to get out of what she thinks could be a dream.They'd researched the company ahead of their interview but the pictures didn't do the building justice. I
Chapter 10Both girls screamed out of the ChaseApp building after being among the five models picked for the commercial that was later said would continue during the final casting."Do you think if the President was seated, we would have been given the spot? I mean, considering what happened in the morning""We didn't do anything wrong! What makes you think we did? We were just talking. He seriously can't be that bad""Have you heard of this man!"They both walked down the walkway to catch the bus heading their way.********"There's something I need to tell you," Shawn said, as he arrived with Jayda under her porch."Some time ago before I met you, I had plans of transferring to NYPD for the sake of my daughter so that I can be close to her instead of having her travel down here once a while" He paused a bit before con
Chapter 11BeforeJayda 22Brian 12"Jayda!" Brian hurried outside to where Donnie and Jayda are seated, smoking."Putt off the cigarette" She whispered. She stomped on both stick with her feet before Brian's arrival.Donnie rolls his eyes in disbelief at her."It's Lucy. We were playing and then she tripped and bruised her leg. I already applied first aid but she keeps crying and won't let me put a band-aid on it."The trio hurried to the backyard to find little Lucy on the grass, crying."Hey, sweetie" Jayda bent down to inspect the scratch. "Pass me the bandaid" she collects the strip from Brian's hand and places it on Lucy's wound carefully."Check the lower kitchen cabinet by the fridge, bring the pack of candy in it," Jayda told Brian and he returned a few seconds later with the
Chapter 12Throughout the flight to New York, Jayda felt very scared and the nervous feeling from the pit of her stomach made her more scared.She'd received a call from Keisha that Lucy got into an accident and is in the hospital. She couldn't even wait to hear everything Keisha had to say and just tool off to the airport.She would die if anything happened to her daughter. The flight took longer than usual and it made Jayda regret staying far away from Lucy. She ought to be by her side and not two hours away from her. She didn't want to be a hovering type of mother, it's all she's been doing since Lucy's birth and that's why she let her do her thing by supporting her when she said she's going to study further in New York.As she makes her way out of the airport, Jayda switches off the Flight mode on her phone and begins to dial Keisha's number. She picks almost immediately.
Chapter 13A WEEK LATERJayda settles on the blanket she spread on the floor of her one room apartment. She has been trying to get a job since she moved in five days ago knowing fully well that she only has enough to live for just a couple of months in the city coupled with Lucy's needs. Lucy had suggested they sell off Grandma's house but Jayda wouldn't hear it. She only went back to Minnesota to pack a few essentials like her laptop, couple of blankets and pillow, the rest she will buy in bits and then sell off after four years.She'd been on almost all job seeking platforms looking for any opening whatsoever but the ones she had seen so far require at least a bachelor's degree which she doesn't have. The only thing she learnt and did for a living back in Ely is baking. The skill earned her a job spot in one of the popular confectionaries in the town where she was able to care for herself and Lucy for a long while.