By 4 pm, Colleen was waiting for Andre just outside the courthouse, dressed in a white chiffon top, a pair of tightly fit slacks, and a summer hat to shield the sun which was at its peak. As she watched the players practice before the game actually began, a favorite unintentionally registered in her brain. The man in the pink polo shirt with a visor over his head seemed to strike the ball remarkably well. Or so she thought. He played with so much vigor, enthusiasm, and professionalism, that Colleen thought his opponent stood no chance. Well, that remained to be seen. Glancing at her wristwatch, the time was almost 4:10 and there was still no sign of Andre. She sighed. Just because he made a booking—coerced a booking—at VIP doesn’t give him any excuse to be late. If the whistle sounds for the first set, Colleen swore under her breath that she would go inside without him. Even if it meant settling for the bad seat because the court was packed. Just then, she felt a hand snake around
As fast as her legs could carry her, without giving away the impression that she so desperately wanted to get out of here so that she can finally breathe something other than Valentina’s choking perfume, she hurried out of the court. Bae-cation, she said. My daddy pulled some strings, she bragged. Colleen felt infuriated! At Valentina for being so beautiful, with an opposite attitude. And at Andre for not telling her that his ex-girlfriend was going to be at the tennis game she got them tickets to. Okay, now she was sounding like they were in a relationship. When really, all that was there between her and Andre was something even she couldn’t quite put to words yet. Was it love? Hell no. How could she fall in love with the man she met twelve days ago? Maybe it was just a little bit of likeness and attraction. He was gorgeous after all. “Just a little bit of likeness,” she muttered to herself as she stomped into the lobby. When she was on the floor leading to her room, she heard
It was going to be a long day.As part of learning marketing, Darren James, the biggest marketing professional in Michigan, thought to test their skills on the subject by making them sell tee shirts and props for the forthcoming Last Day of the Summer fest being held in the resort. “And that is the last batch of our props." A weary looking Tobias said, dropping the bag filled with shirts, hoodies, face caps, summer hats, and what-not, on the floor beside a freaked out Colleen. “Whoa! That’s a lot. And we’re supposed to sell everything before. . .”“8 pm today.” “Now that is next to impossible in the Oxford dictionary.” .“Tell that to sweet sensation, Darren James,” Jessalyn Russo said from behind them. “He thinks that because he can sell things with a snap of his fingers, everybody should, too.”“When really, all that is going for him is his good looks,” Liz added, her face contorted in a frown as she looked over the bags next to Colleen. “Our bag is just as big as this. And it’
“Andre! Andre! Please wait!” A demented-looking Colleen called after him in a shrill she was certain could wake a dead man from the grave, but it all fell on deaf ears. Andre was past hearing. Andre was past listening. Andre well was beyond seeing, even. Not flinching for even a second, he hollered towards the elevator, his breathing rapid, his chest bouncing heavily, and jaws flexing. He couldn’t even bring himself to see anything other than what he had seen five minutes ago: the image of Colleen and Tobias kissing. Angry was an understatement to describe how he was feeling. Pushing down the button for the twenty-fourth floor, the elevator doors closed swiftly right in the face of Colleen who was ready to jump in there with him and explain how this was all just a huge misunderstanding.Determined to set things straight, she hurried to the next elevator and pushed down the button for the twenty-fourth floor. Guess granting her access to the floor came in handy way too soon, in th
ANDRE watched as Tobias walked into the dining hall and headed for where Colleen sat with her friends, Liz and Jessalyn, chatting and laughing so happily. His eyes followed every move of Tobias, from when he walked into the hall, scanned the place for a certain redhead, and when he spotted her, strutted in her direction. He watched him speak to her in what he was sure was whispers, and after barely any convincing—because why would he need to convince somebody he had locked lips with yesterday—, she stood up and followed him to wherever the hell they had talked about.Yup! Andre was definitely paranoid. He tightened his grip on the tableware in his hand, so hard it began to hurt. But he didn’t feel any pain down there. The affliction he was feeling right now wasn’t from the knife in his hand, it was from watching Colleen follow Tobias out of the dining hall. “Easy there,” Valentina all but purred from behind him, in that velvet-textured voice of hers that made even the ladies ballyh
“Is she dead?” With her heart hammering against her chest, she lowered her head onto the body of the woman who lay lifeless on the Persian silk rug.Colleen Caddell listened keenly for a sound, even the faintest of it. She listened for something, anything. But there was nothing. Horror struck her face as, slowly, her gaze averted towards Liz Parker who was standing right above her. “I can’t hear her heartbeat,” she said, almost in a whisper. “Are you sure? Step aside, let me listen.” As Colleen backed away from the body, a fragment of her hair got stuck in the flower sterling silver brooch pinned on the blouse of the woman. She had to tug at her hair to break free and when it finally came undone, she stepped aside for Liz to check her pulse and listen for a heartbeat. Just as Colleen had said, there was nothing.“She is dead,” Liz confirmed rather quietly. But that did absolutely nothing to pacify her friend, who was immediately thrown into a frenzy as she stalked around the room
MILLIONAIRE OWNER OF LOURDES AEROSPACE MURDERED IN HER HOME. . .CAMILLA LOURDES OF MILLION-DOLLAR AEROSPACE COMPANY FOUND DEAD. . .THE OWNER OF DETROIT’S BIGGEST AEROSPACE COMPANY WAS SHOT DEAD IN HER HOME. . . Colleen read every article that was written with those headlines or anything remotely close to it. In the last seven days, she stalked the internet like an addict searching for any leads involving the case; looking to see if the police confirmed someone was in the room with Camilla Lourdes when she kicked the bucket. A memorial service has already been held for her after her body was cremated by her family as she wished. So, Camilla was gone physically, but she still haunted Colleen’s dreams. Liz snatched the phone away from her hand. “Goodness, Colleen! You’ll go mad if you continue like this.”Then, the taxi driver pulled over in front of the twelve-foot silver steel gate of the resort, effectively shutting what was going to be another round of Colleen nagging abo
The briefing was just as the name: brief. It lasted no more than twenty-five minutes and in all of that time, Colleen could barely concentrate on what was being said. Three things were playing catch in her head. Firstly, Selena. She had told Liz about Selena when she got into the main hall and they made sure to steer clear of her. Not that it was necessary anyway, Selena was rather preoccupied with flirting with a blue-eyed man sitting opposite her. At least that was behind them. For now. Secondly, the one thing that worried her the entire week: Camilla Lourdes's death. And this brings us to the third participant of the catch game in her head, Camilla’s son. This one had dark hazel eyes that pierced into hers when he gaped at her with a glint of amusement while they were in the men’s room. She had muttered an apology before she ran out of there. Although she was sure he didn’t hear it because her voice was in an undertone. She was never one to go fill her head with images of a be