The professor smiled, not warmly or strictly, the smile gave off no emotion as he said, "You're back.""Yes, sir," Brad answered politely."Mr Harrier, your absence in my class and that of the other teachers was loudly noticed."Brad simply pursed his lips and said nothing.The teacher nodded and turned, walking around his desk. He picked up the textbook he dropped there before he looked up at Brad again. "See me after the class, Mr Harrier.""Yes sir," Brad answered and sat down.There were murmurs from every corner of the class, some sounded confused, while some couldn't hide their mild anger."What the hell! Why didn't he send him out?""I guess we could all miss classes whenever we feel like it, huh.""I wonder why he's not publicly giving his verdict. Why does he have to see him later?" Another student said curiously."Come on!" The student that reminded the professor simply groaned when he went back to talking about the topic for the day.Thirty minutes later, the professor pac
The students would start their exams in three weeks so teachers were hoping to cover all the semester topics before then and get the students to finish all of the projects and assignments involved. Though most teachers were done with their curriculum, some were still lagging.The VC of the school, however, has promised to reveal the face of the prince of the school the following week. Now, instead of the students being excited about the semester coming to an end and looking forward to the break that was looming ahead, all that was in their head that they were eager for was the face reveal of the prince.Every single student could barely wait for the week to come. Even those who seemed overly interested only in books couldn't wait.It was the talk of the school, the trending gist, and gossip as to who the face of the prince would be. Girls and some boys have started to take their skincare routines more seriously, especially their faces and some others are strengthening their communicat
"How the fuck am I out of ketchup?" Claire hotly muttered under her breath, exasperated. She slammed the pantry close and walked over to the fridge to grab the carton of her leftover orange juice.She closed her eyes and let out a content sigh as the sweet cold liquid tricked through her throat, calming her. As she replaced the carton of juice in the fridge, she remembered how it happened that she didn't have ketchup.She sighed and shuffled to where she remembered keeping the list she had written out.She had run out of ketchup on the morning of her birthday but she had only managed to make a list, intending to go the shopping for the groceries and other essentials that she needed on Sunday but some people had been too glad to ruin her day and made Sunday a numb day for her.She felt a little pang of pain in her chest and her anger rose as she remembered brief moments of that night and she couldn't help but hate Gary even more. If only he had simply minded his damn business. She some
Gary just stared at Claire with a blank expression. The girl still had the guts to speak even though she was surrounded, he thought. Interesting.Gary had become desperate. He had been desperate from the start but it doubled a triple times over and he couldn't just sit and wait for someone to help him or for the stupid Harrier man to suddenly call him and announce that he was returning his assets to the bank. And most of all, he couldn't keep begging like a fucking pathetic loser. He gritted his teeth and his jaw hardened when he remembered how he had shamelessly pleaded with Claire, only for her to walk out on him. Even the stupid manager who also knew him wouldn't pick up his call anymore. Time was running out, he couldn't lower his pride and begged only to end up losing his job. He'd rather do it the hard way and keep his job. He had tried to be nice anyway."What's the meaning-" Claire started but Gary interrupted her harshly. "Will you shut the fuck up?" He held her fiery gaze,
"It's Brad, my boyfriend that I introduced to you at my birthday party."There was a loud pause and the deafening silence of the night descended, making everything feel and sound more eerie to Claire.Gary locked gazes with her, a lot of jarring emotions swirling in his eyes. Amusement became more prominent and he suddenly burst out laughing.He laughed so hard that he had to move to the nearest wall to keep himself upright. images of that man darted in his mind and he laughed even harder."What the fuck, Claire?" Gary said amidst short bursts of chuckles as he walked back to stand before Claire.As Gary laughed, he didn't look so scary. He looked like her boss and Claire would have relaxed and managed to laugh with him but she couldn't quite grasp what was so funny in what she said and that made her even more tense."Oh my God, Claire, you got me nicely," he said as he finally sobered up. He shook his head, "No, good one." He wiped the fake tears from his eyes and gave her a thumbs-u
Claire's heart rammed in her chest when she thought that Brad had figured out that she was lying."I mean," Brad licked her lips, her eyes darting from Gary and back to the floor, "Your withdrawal has been causing a lot of ruckus. Our CEO is mad at all of us for letting you withdraw from the back. So I'd just like to know if you would really stop banking with us.'"Well," Gary listened intently as Brad explained, "I have found a pretty nice bank to keep all of my funds in. I am aware that my father has been using your bank forever and there has been no issue, but I guess the chain has broken during my time since the employees of Trust Financial Bank now seem incapable of treating the customers right. Perhaps, the management does not find empowering its employees with good customer relationships and service skills important enough. But then, how would they when the manager himself is horrible at relating with the customers."While Claire thought of something to say, perhaps to convince
"You will help me," Gary said in an authoritative tone and Claire's heart fell.What help now? She thought miserably."But I already he-" she attempted to protest but Gary calmly shut her up."Listen to me, will you?" He held her gaze, "You and Brad dated, didn't you? Maybe you still do and that makes you the closest person to him that I know right now," he said calmly.Claire thought of telling him that she and Brad really didn't date so that she would not have to be involved in the whole thing anymore but she didn't think it was the right thing to do. Besides, she felt he was being nice and calm and lenient because of Brad and because he believed that she was his girlfriend.Claire licked her lips, "How will I help you then?" She shrugged, "I mean you've kidnapped me and you've probably angered Brad by taking me and forcing me to speak. I doubt he'd want to do anything to help you." She tentatively added, feeling the insane urge to taunt him and feed his fears, "Instead, he will rui
"Mum!" Sophia felt like a kid all over again as she ran into her mother's arms, revelling in her warm motherly embrace.Together, they walked to Lancelot's side, who had a grin on his face as she watched the both of them. He might not have fully recovered but he was happy that he was back home and his family was united again."My son," Sophia's mother cried as she let go of Sophia and bent over Lancelot, caressing his face and arms before she pulled him into a hug.Oh, she had missed them so much, especially her ever-so-sweet boy. She hugged him again and her eyes watered when he slowly curled his arms around her form."I missed you guys so much," she said as she beckoned on Sophia to join the hug. "Many times, I thought of taking up an extra job so I could save up and fly to Russia,""Oh Mom," Sophia's eyes watered and she tightened her arms around her mother. As they silently reveled in one another's embrace, happy to be back together, Sophia suddenly heard sobbing sounds and she l