Danielle POV
Four years later“Honey, get away from the window-” I said rushing into the living room, Avalon pressed her face against the glass- She was mimicking the bird who had perched on the railing.“Mummy look, it’s a bird.” she muttered and turned to me, her pig tails bounced on her head as she stared at me with glee in her eyes. Her bright hazel eyes and tiny eyelids reminded me of that of her father who was out there somewhere and i had no idea where he could be or who he was.Avalon had been what i never expected this soon, i was twenty-two at the time i got pregnant, a lot would say that she was a mistake but to me she was far from it and i don’t regret four years ago since i had her. Although everything hasn’t been rosy,things hasn’t gone has planned but with the outcome of it now am thrilled.Even with the news and how it threw me into a chaotic time, Hazel was by my side through it all and when i thought i was burdensome i told her that my mum wanted me to come back home, which was half of a truth.“Let the girl be, she is just curious,” my mother said as she walked into the living room in her two piece lounge wear. Mama Han was a woman of so many style and right now she was being the laid back grandma. Mama Han as Avalon loved to call her was a couple of inches shorter than i was, her hair was packed into a high ponytail and her lips was spread into a smile as she joined Avalon by the window.“You are spoiling her Mom way too much,” I whined and crossed my hands over my chest.“Stop complaining, she’s a child, allow her to do whatever she wants.” My mother said and she gently pulled Avalon into her laps.I tried not to roll my eyes at her statement, instead i closed my eyes and rubbed the space inbetween with my fingers.“You clearly didn’t have that attitude towards me when i was little.” I said and rubbed my hands on the front of my dress. It was a simple slip on satin dress which i had worn a coat over it to protect myself from the cold.“If you weren’t going out for dinner i would’ve smacked your head.” My mother said as she tickled Avalon whose laughter filled the entire space.“Oh m-” the rest of words seized at my phone rang in my purse, i reached for the device and stared at the screen. Summer’s name was splayed on the scree, “Hey Summer-” I said moving out of the living room, i closed the door to my room where i sat on the bed and listented to Summer.“Adam! Stop it, you’re going to ruin my makeup-” she giggled on the other side on the phone. I could hear the ruffling and the small moan from a man, that was probably Adam. This was getting uncomfortable, i cleared my throat to remind summer that i was still there.“Sorry Dani- Adam just wouldn’t keep his hands to himself.” She giggled. “So we are like five minutes away, are you ready?”“Yeah, i am. Just making sure everything is set for Avalon-”“You worry too much, i thought your mum is watching after her?”“Yes but-”“She’s right.” I turned to my mum who happened to be leaning by the door, she had Avalon perched on her hips and she was braiding tiny strands of hair.“You see-”“Are you two planning coup against me?” I said rolling my eyes and Summer giggled.“We just think you need to relax, which is why you’re coming out to dinner to us today. You’ll experience fine dinning at its best and get solid champagne that’ll drain your sorrows away.” Summer said with so much assurance and it made me chew on my lips.“No, no- don’t do that. You’re going to mess up your lipstsick.” My mother scolded at the same time the horn from a car echoed.“We’re here.” Summer said and ended the call. My mother escorted me down stairs and when i opened the door, Summer and Adam stood waiting with bright smiles on there face, they had chocolates and a boquet of flowers.“These are for you-” Adam said giving my mother a kiss to the cheek. Avalon had come down and was currently hugging unto Summer.“Aunty Summer!” she squealed as Summer picked her up and kissed her cheek, “You look pretty just like mummy.” She said and moved her head to the side to look at me.“Of course, we both look beautiful.” Summer said. “Thats why we’re heading out.” she placed Avalon down and handed her the pack of chocolate which i frowned at. They knew that i didn’t like giving her too many sweets.“Summer-” I started but my mother beat me to it. “Thank you for the chocolates, Ava hun tell Aunty summer for bringing you such a gift.” She said and Avalon said the words. It was difficult to fight against my mother and summer especially when it came to Avalon, nothing was never not reasonable for her.“You guys should get going for your dinner, we should keep you from going late.” My mother said and we left after i gave Avalon a kiss to her forehead. I climbed into the back seat and while the music came on in the background Summer turned to me.“So, are you ready to have one of the best experience of your life?” She said with her lips in a bright grin.“It’s just a restaurant Summer, i’m sure it’s going to be fine either ways.”“No, no. You have it all wrong Dani, it’s not just any place. Its a five star restaurant where you can only get exclusive access to.” My mouth dropped opened at her words, they told me that we were having dinner for Adam’s promotion and Summer left out that vital information.God please no.“You look like you’ve seen a ghost.” Adam said and i turned to the review mirror were our eyes met for a while.“Guys, you should’ve-”“Oh come on now, it’s no biggy. We want to share this with you, the place shouldn’t bother you so much. I mean the place will be practically empty since it’s hard to get a reservation there.” Summer said but there was no way i was going to keep my cool. I played with my neatly manicured nails and tried so hard not to bite on my lips. I stared outside and watched the sunset mixed with the orange and yellow ambience the evening brought. It was one of the things i enjoyed with this place, the scenery was something to always look foward to. It reminded me that even when things looked choatic you can always rely on the sky to get your minds away from things.“We’re here.” Summer said and my mouth turned sour, it was more than i expected, the building shot up into the sky and my eyes followed the cursive writing of the name of the place displayed on the entrance. Adam helped me out of the door and i stood next to Summer, i was glad that i choose this satin dress, it was a simple slip on but with the right accessories i managed to pimp it a bit but compared to Summer’s dress which costs thousands i didnt stand a chance.I swallowed and Summer linked our arms together as we moved towards the door, there was a man there dressed in neat suit which fit his frame, his black eyes covered his eyes and Adam went up to him with a card in his hands, i guess it was our reservation. The man nodded slowly and slid the card on the door making it open up.“Thank you.” Adam muttered and we followed him and stepped inside.The first thing i am greeted with is the cold air, i had taken off my coat while i was in the car to spice up my style and i regretted it. I made a mental note to not leave my coat for any reason. I had slowed down in my walking and Summer had released her arms from mine and was right next to Adam. Iused that space to take in my environment, the high chandeliers that hung from above gave a taste of rarity and exquisite, the air itself didn’t smell like where we stayed which was polluted with toxic fumes from cars, instead it had a mild scent which made me want to lay on the floor and sleep.“Dani!” Summer whisper yelled in my direction and i turned to them with my face a bit tinted from getting lost in my thought.I followed and we stopped in front of a counter while Adam checked our reservation, i made up my mind not to look around until we were seated but something bothered me. I felt like eyes were on me, and just like Summer had said, there was not so many people here but i couldn’t help but turn around.There was a lot of tables around which were empty but then i found them. Just in the corner by a table of three men in the far end.Hazel eyes. Sharp and Fierce staring right at me.Am quite thrilled to be staring at everything.” Adam said with a low chuckle, i turned back to my friends ignoring the pair of eyes on me.“Hmm- well it’s not all the time you see things like this.” I joked laughing lightly.We moved to our table and while Summer told me about her day at work, i felt those same eyes following me until we turned and found our space, I was happy with the location, it was away from public eyes especially if anyone was coming in and at the same time it was by the window which overlooked the city.“I bet Hazel will be upset that she can’t be here.” Adam said, now both Adam and Hazel were related. Cousins to be exact and the bunch acted like they were brothers and sisters.“Yeah, she’s pretty upset.” I answered knowing how Hazel whined on the phone for not being around. She had travelled for a project and wasn’t going to be back until next week.“Welcome to Kings, what wine of choice can we interest you with?” The waiter asked, he had soft blonde hair which
Danielle.I didn’t know what else to do, I stood still as though time had stopped and it was frozen. I locked my phone screen as I was ready to walk away from him. “Excuse me.” I managed to say as I looked up, I couldn’t look into his eyes, they were so cold and bold. I couldn’t dare to look at them, he had just yelled and said words in manners that would hurt anyone, and all the rumors about him were true,I need to leave here and-“Where are you going?” He held on to my hands as he tried to stop me.As soon as our eyes met like the sun and the sea, he cleared his throats and readjusted, he removed his hands and placed them in his pockets. I could only gulp, regardless of what he was being said about, he looked so good at that moment but I need to leave there.I knew what I had to do. “I won’t tell a soul about what I had just heard, it would be like I wasn’t here.” I felt my sweat glands producing more fluids, I doubt if he could have seen it but I felt them rolling down.“Oh reall
Danielle. I stretched as I got out of the bathroom, I dusted my body and I dried myself. The dinner was over and that was it. There was nothing else to it. I had to resume work and pray that I don’t accidentally bump into Arthur.“The office is a big place. How can that happen?” I asked myself as I nodded, I walked to the mirror to smile. “Mummy, who are you talking to?” Avalon asked as she walked in on me. She was fully dressed and prepared for school, even though her socks were straightened, and her hair looked like a train had just gone through it. I scoffed as I knelt down. I had my full body robe on.“Mummy we can’t be late and I made a new friend.” Avalon said as she held my cheek. I smiled as I hugged her. “So what’s her name? Stay on the bed while I dress up, will you?” I said to her as I was interested in what she had to say.“Okay.” Avalon wasn’t just ready to tell me about her new friend, she was in character, she flipped her hair and smiled.“Now I am worried.” I said to
Danielle. I moved my eyes away from him, it was starting to become some sort of competition. I decided to just look away. Thankfully, the meeting ended and I couldn’t even remember anything. I needed to leave as soon as possible, I couldn't be seen with him. My heart raced like it was in some sort of trance or anxiety,I didn’t want that, why was I bothered, I tried so hard not to make sure that I was concerned.I tried to have a conversation with Summer and Adam but they were all wrapped up about looking at Arthur and that wasn’t fun.“I hope we can all have a healthy and constructive relationship with the company and with me. Thank you all.” Arthur said a little short speech as he stood up, his eyes were on me still and what made it worse was the fact that-”“I should leave, I have a lot of paperwork to finish on.” I said as I stood up, I felt a hand touching me. “Don’t you want to stay behind and wait, we might get to introduce ourselves to the head of the branch, come on.” Jane
Arthur.“Maybe you were right after all.” I said to my brother over the phone. We were talking about the inauguration, this was just past nine am and I was in the car, on my way to the office. It was nice to talk about it, ever since I have had the recent experiences, I had a rethink.“Right about what? I am right about a lot of things and I like specifics, so if you must. Tell me.” My brother has always been the arrogant one, more than I am.“Oh you- the inauguration. I should have honored dads invitation and maybe, just maybe it would have turned out okay. I was around for it anyway. I just skipped it.” I said to him as I looked outside my window. “Yes, but as always you had it your way, I don’t know why you always do this anyway.” My brother said and I just scoffed. He was right anyway. “We will talk later.” I hung up immediately.I smiled but that changed when we got to the building, I saw the paparazzi. I rolled my eyes and adjusted my tie. It was enough that I had to give the sp
Danielle. “I have a proposal for you.” I had my head in my work, I didn’t want to keep imagining and replaying what could have happened in the elevator. I had to do some product research and I had papers all over my table, my hair wasn’t in its perfect shape anymore, my eyes were tired too.I checked my phone, it dinged and that was the message that I saw. I didn’t know who sent it, out of curiosity I saw the name and it was Arthur. I was surprised, my jaw fell and my eyes widened. I didn’t even realize that my mouth was open for so long.“Danielle? Are you good?” Janet asked and I gulped. “Oh yeah. It’s just some spam messages and work related.” I lied to her. I didn’t like this at all. “Are you sure?” She asked again and I smiled. I nodded too.I needed to be alone to properly understand what the message meant. I wear my emotions on my sleeves and even if I had just denied it all, it would be obvious that I had something bothering me.“Okay.” Janet said and went back to her work. “
Danielle.As soon as he turned to walk out of his office, I didn’t even have time to utter a word. He had just walked out. “What do you mean in less than ten minutes?” I asked him but he was just quiet, he didn’t say a word. He has his head in his phone, three seconds later we are downstairs and his car is waiting, we are at the back of his car.“Where are we going?” I finally mustered up the courage to ask again. I was surprised. “As I said before, it’s a meeting.” He said in a cold tone. He had his head in his phone again and it was as though if she said another word the silence would be ruined. She gulped hard and stayed in the quiet.The car ride was so quiet. I kept rubbing my fingers together trying to understand what was going on and maybe getting it all to make sense, all I did was give a review about a product and now we are here.“Let’s go.” He says as he closes the car door. I gulped as I grabbed the files and his things.I followed him immediately. I smiled and I pretended
Arthur. “A restaurant?” I could hear her as we walked into the restaurant. It was one of my favorite’s in the city. I know the chef personally and I really hate trying new things. I would rather stay committed to the same barber, the same chef and even the same tailor. I really want the same thing, change isn’t always good and I can’t be caught being uncomfortable.I could see how much she wanted to ask questions, I could read how dazed and surprised she was. She wanted to say a lot but I hadn’t given her the chance yet. We finally settled down and she sighed. She was trying her best to gather her words and make sure that they were ready for communication. I looked at her too but she wasn’t looking at me, she can’t even make eye contact with me but she can put some men in their places. Maybe having an effect on her is good. She seems to know how to work well under pressure and she looked right for the job, her outfits always complimented her.I decided to break the silence, she need