Melissa scrolled through her phone, staring at the small screen intently. She was scrolling through an app, an app Tory had recommended for her.“It’s an app I found some days ago. You can apply for small jobs. Just look through the job listings and see if there’s anything you can do there. I hope it’ll help.” Tory had said.Melissa was checking it out, like Tory had said. Surprisingly, there were a lot of job posting on the app. Request to dog sit a German Shepherd and a Rottweiler three times a week, another request to clean a small paralegal’s office five times a week, and a request to babysit for children once a week.There was a lot more jobs, an Melissa kept scrolling through each of them, looking for the appropriate job to apply for, something she could do with ease. Melissa shook her head. This was no time to be thinking about comfort. As long as the job paid well, she would take it even though it would be taxing for her.Melissa placed her phone down on the couch and sighed t
“Look this way Mr Marshall! Yes, yes, that’s perfect! Tilt your head to the side a little! Mmmmm, okay nice!” Dolce, photographer and fashion designer said as she kept clicking away on her camera.Lights. Flashes. Clicking. Gabriel stood behind the white background they had laid out and smiled for the camera. Selina was beside him, posing like a professionally trained model. He recalled that she had modelled for her father’s brands in the past. It was no wonder she felt and looked so natural in front of the camera.“We need intimacy! Come a little closer, we need to convince the public that you’re an actual couple, so give me some lovey Dovey stuff!”Gabriel sighed. He was tired already, tired and exhausted of looking at the camera and the occasional flashing lights were starting to make him nauseous. He began to curse his mother inwardly, but remembered that this shoot is something they would’ve done sooner or later.Selina on the other hand didn’t like as tired as he was, well, as f
“Hm, well isn’t this amusing.” Gabriel said, cocking his head at her.Selina jerked back, almost dropping her phone as she did. She turned and saw Gabriel smirking at her.“How much did you hear?” She asked quite firmly.Gabriel shrugged.“Just enough to know you have a lover.”The word lover seemed to hit her as she flinched and began rubbing her arm nervously. She looked at Gabriel, her eyes pleading to him.“Please, can you ignore whatever you heard? I don’t want this to go public, no one has to know.”“Sure, I don’t care about your love life. As long as it doesn’t affect our company and public image, then I can’t be bothered."Selina shook her head vigorously.“I promise, I won’t let it get in the way of this marriage or affect the companies.”Gabriel studied her for a bit. Something about her face irked him in a way. It was strangely familiar.“Just out of curiosity, do your parents know about this?”Selina looked grim for a second and shook her head.“They don’t. If they did, th
“Ah, Mr Marshall, it’s good to see you again. Congratulations on your engagement.” A short robust man said as he shook Gabriel’s hand.Gabriel flashed a professional smile at the man.“Thank you, Mr Brown. I’m delighted you could make it.” He replied politely.The robust man let out a heavy chuckle as he turned to his wife that stood beside him.“We couldn’t miss this for the world. After all your father and I have been good friends for a long time.”“Of course, this is something we couldn’t miss.” His wife reaffirmed.Gabriel could see her eyes were on him, checking him out, sizing him up in a rather indecent manner. She flicked her blonde hair away from her shoulders and finally looked up at Gabriel.“Your fiancee is rather lucky if I may add.” She cooed.Gabriel chuckled lightly and smiled, the characteristic and professional smile.“Why, thank you.”“Speaking of fiancee,” Mr Brown piped in. “Where’s the wife to be?”“She’s occupied entertaining visitors at the moment.”Mr Brown ga
Gabriel flinched, he was disoriented. He tried to grasp the situation around him. He looked over at Selina, her hand that contained the wine glass was now empty and it was trembling, trembling so much Gabriel started to worry. He looked down to the ground and finally found the wine glass, but it was beyond recognition as it was shattered to a thousand pieces on the tiled floor.Gabriel looked around. The guests in their vicinity that had obviously heard the noise were staring in their direction, some whispering with their hands over their mouth. He needed to contain the situation.“Selina, what happened, you seem sc-““Ah, forgive me, it seems I startled the bride to be.” The man, standing in front of them, said, loud enough for the other guests to hear.Selina stood frozen like a rock, her eyes glued to the man in front of them. Gabriel was bewildered, curious. He was about to speak to Selina again, but the man in front of them walked closer.“I’m so sorry, Mrs Reed, or should I say
“It seems like we’ve been seeing each other lately.” Tory said as soon as she approached Melissa.Melissa, who was sitting on a bench in the small park a few feet blocks away from her apartment looked up and her friend and a wry smile appeared on her lips.“Well, I guess you can say that.”Tory sat down beside her and exhaled, her breath was visible.“Looks like it’s getting colder.”“Mm, yeah.” Melissa replied absentmindedly.“You sounded sad on the phone this morning, is everything okay Mel?”Melissa sighed and her eyes wondered around the quiet park. It was a little after 7pm. The sky had changed from a bright blue, to a darker blue. The park which always looked fun and jovial, was now shrouded in darkness, giving off a solitary feeling. The swings and play equipments in the park had casted dark shadows to the ground as the moon popped out from within the thick grey clouds. The park was quiescent, and it perfect for Melissa to air out her thoughts.“I definitely would be lying if I
The black car came to a halt close to the entrance of the park, which was close to were Tory and Melissa sat. Melissa grimaced as she got a view of the car that she was familiar with. The window to the front seat opened and Melissa felt her stomach churn as she gazed at the person sitting in the car.It was Jack, the loan shark. He was grinning at her and his long black hair was tied up in a man bun.“Hey, I was driving around the neighbourhood and I spot you sitting in this dark park looking all depressed. Couldn’t help but stop by.” He said, grinning from ear to ear.Tory tugged on Melissa’s shirt to get her attention.“Who is he?” she mouthed.“Loan shark.”Tory let out a small gasp.“What do you want now? The week isn’t over yet.”“Come on, you think I’m here to hassle you for money? don’t be ridiculous, this really is a coincidence, but since we’re on the subject of money...”Melissa got up from the chair, fists clench.“I said I’ll pay you this week.”“Mel, you do know it’s Satu
Melissa swiped out a handkerchief from her pocket and dabbed her forehead quickly. She was nervous, very nervous. After getting accepted for the job of a marriage event planner, she was scheduled to meet with her client for more details on the job.She was here now, at the location the client had texted her. Melissa wasn’t nervous at first, but as soon as she stood in front of the tall skyscraper, her anxiety went into full over drive. This was obviously a big company, filled with people who were high class, a place she didn’t fit in.Melissa looked down at herself. She tried her best to look professional as she wore a feminine suit with heels. Her hair was tied up in a neat bun and a clip was placed at the left side of her hair to avoid strands from slipping down to her face. Melissa exhaled for 20th time and finally gathered courage to enter the building.The entrance had a glass door which slid open as soon as she stood close to it. Melissa mouthed the words “wow” as soon as she st