"What happened?" Derek asks into the phone almost nonchalantly as he waits for his wife to explain herself.
"I'm sorry about earlier," Catherine pleads. "I got knocked down by someone while on the call with you and my phone broke instantly. That's why I haven't been able to reach you since then."
He listened to his wife's voice with complete interest. The same voice that always had him mesmerized whenever he hears it except for now.
He was finding it hard to believe any word that came out her mouth. Not with what happened this morning.
So he asks her, "And what were you doing this morning that made someone knock you down?"
"I was jogging."
"So, if your phone broke, which phone are you using to speak to me now?"
He thought he was going to catch her lies from there but she had something to say as a response.
"The stranger that caused the damage offered to buy me a new one and that's what I just did. I'm speaking to you with a new phone."
"Of course, he didn't. How was he going to believe her when there was evidence in his house that alters any word she says?
The call automatically switched to a video call from Catherine and he had to accept it.
Catherine's face popped up on the screen almost instantly as she revealed she was outside.
"Look, baby," she says, carrying the device with her all about to show her location, "I just came out the mobile phone store. This is where I got the new phone from."
Truthfully, he could see from the background that there was a shop behind her with the inscription that made one know it belonged to a phone store.
It was making sense now. Maybe he was being too harsh on her. Perhaps she wasn't lying to him in the first place.
He had to be completely honest with himself though. It wasn't too simple to just let slide. There must be something more to it.
"Are you at a bar?" Catherine asks him, bringing his thoughts back to her.
"Yes. Stepped out for fresh air," he said, apparently lying about what he was doing.
"Okay then. I've gotta go. Love you."
Reluctantly, he tells her, "Love you too."
Now that the call was off, he was left to worry about what might have happened. Was Catherine being honest with him about what she said happened to her that morning? Could she be lying to him?
Who even sent the skirt to his place? Although he had been tempted to ask her about it when the call was still on, he felt it was too sudden and wanted to do that face to face with her.
Catherine was too much of a beauty. It took him a lot to win her heart over due to the number of men she had flocking around her. Could it be that one of the men was trying to affect his marriage with her by sending the skirt to him?
If that was the case, how was he going to explain the fact that Catherine left without her passport?
There was a lot of questions that needed answering and Catherine sure did have a lot of explanation to do when she gets back.
A few days after the supposed incident, Catherine was finally coming home. And despite Derek's complicated feelings, he still took his time to prepare her a delicious meal to eat."I'm coming," he announces right after he hears the sound of the doorbell. Some seconds ago, he heard the sound of a car pulling up in front of the apartment.He had just finished setting up the table so he quickly rushed over to the door to get it. When he opens it, he finds Catherine standing there with a bag in her hand.Catherine was still as beautiful as ever. Her petite structure was one to die for and there was no doubt that her facial beauty still has Derek mesmerized even after years of marriage to her.One thing he found strange was the fact that she has a long sleeved top on which he thought wasn't appropriate for the weather.Perhaps it was as a result of where she was coming from. That was the thought he used to wash out any negative presumption he had about the initial thought.A smile makes it
"If that's not a gift, then where did you get that from?" Catherine asks but Derek could still see through her uneasiness.Seeing her acting this strange could only mean one thing. But he didn't want to admit that it was what he was thinking."Like I said before, it was sent to me. And this is yours, Catherine. You've always had it. Can you explain what's going on here?" he confronts her with that and it didn't do much to take off her strange reaction.At first Catherine sighs. Then her face lights up like she suddenly recalled something. A completely different reaction to what she had on before."That's it," she says out loud. "I had that skirt on some days ago at a party and then washed it after. I left it out to dry but couldn't find it when I went to take it off. That's possibly why you have it here with you."Her explanation wasn't adding up. To Derek, it didn't make much sense. It was more like she was trying to play around with him."I don't get you," Derek declares. "Why would
Eventually, Derek found himself unable to resist Catherine even with the thoughts still lingering in his head.His hand slowly lurks all over her body and Catherine, now realizing what he wants, stops him all of a sudden."Can you turn off the lights?"The request she made has him surprised. His brows are up as he tries to understand what could have made her request such a thing from him.It has never happened before in their years of marriage. What could have possibly changed tonight?"Is that what you want?" he has to ask to be sure he heard her right.She affirms by saying, "Yes."Reluctantly, he stands up from the bed to turn off the lights. And with the weird feeling about her request still in him, he goes back to the bed.He starts by kissing her on the lips to which she kisses him back.The kiss lasted for about two minutes while he takes off her pyjamas.He felt he hands on his body as she takes off his clothes too. He couldn't control himself anymore and swiftly thrusts deep i
"We were separated into three teams for this one. One team played the role of armed robbers, another played the role of hostages, and the last were policemen. I got the role of an armed robber but Stacy… You remember Stacy, right?"Derek nods to that. Stacy was one of Catherine's friends who worked in the same company with her. She always mentioned her to him every now and then."Okay, so Stacy who got the role of an hostage wanted to switch roles and I agreed to it. To be honest, I didn't expect her to tie me up so tight that it ended up bruising my body."The details she gave was too good not to be true. It was as if she already prepared her story before now that Derek didn't even know what to say to go against it.He kept looking at her like she was just mincimg around with words and his look at her must have made her uncomfortable."I know you don't believe me but you can always call Stacy to ask her. She'll tell you what happened," Catherine adds that in her defence."That won't
Derek didn't waste trying the line. He was furious right now and wanted to know who in the bloody world was capable enough to send him such a text in the early hours of the day.He tried the line repeatedly but it kept saying the same thing about it being switched off. Seems whoever sent the text must be playing games with him.This was getting serious. Why would someone send a box containing his wife's skirt and then send a text claiming she was cheating on him?Right now he wasn't sure whether to believe it was a truth being revealed to him. He was beginning to think it was someone trying to mess with his marriage.An hour later, he gets a sudden call from his assistant."Hello, sir," his assistant speaks from the other end of the line."Yes?""I don't know who did this but there's a big inscription of the word 'shame' on the wall outside of your office.""What? Come again.""Someone inscribed 'shame' on the wall outside your face. I don't know who did it, sir.""Have you checked th
"A while back at Kingston's Hotel, I saw a man with a great physique. You could tell he was a hotshot with the way he dressed that day. "Well I saw him with a lady that day and trust me, they were in the most intimate position you could possibly think of as they went into a room. "I wouldn't have thought of anything because I saw only their backs but I heard the man call the lady a very familiar name," Marcus explains. "What name did he call her?" Derek asks, a bit bothered about what answer he was going to get. "Kathy. He called her Kathy. And I could have sworn that I recognized the lady's features." Derek was in an instant dilemma. It was as if he had just been shot with the truth that he was trying not to believe. "When did this happen?" he asked in a bid to analyze the information. "It's been a while, man. Like a month ago, I think." "And you're just telling me now?" "I didn't know how to present it to you. I wasn't even sure. "Isn't Kingston's Hotel here in the city?" "
"Remember what I told you, Marcus. This is the only way we can get the staff to let you check the footages," Derek said upon their arrival at the Kingston's Hotel."Yeah, I got it," Marcus says in return as they approach the receptionist counter.The receptionist behind the counter immediately flashes both of them a smile when she sights them walking over."Welcome to Kingston's Hotel. How may I help you?" she asks, maintaining the smile on her face.Marcus looks around first before saying, "I stayed here some days ago. And during my stay, I came with a watch which I seemed to have forgotten after I left. Can you help me look into that?"The receptionist assesses him to clarify his face. "Hold on, sir. Let me have your details first.""It's Marcus. Marcus Thurstan.""Alright."The receptionist proceeds to type into the system she had in front of her and in no time she got the information she needed.Meanwhile, Derek's eyes were lingering about as he tried to understand what could have
It was Nadia, Catherine's close friend and colleague. She was the lady inside the familiar car and to his surprise, it wasn't her husband she was kissing.Derek couldn't believe his eyes. Nadia was cheating on her husband with another man right in the open? This was too strange to believe.Nadia opens her eyes and suddenly noticed Derek standing right outside her car. Instantly she pulled away from the kiss and adjusted herself.With shame written all over her face, she stepped out of the vehicle, walking up to Derek who just stared at her like she was a disgusting creature."I never knew you had a new husband," Derek said with the intention to mock her. "Or should I call that man in there your lover?"Nadia snorts. "It's not like I'm the only one who has a lover," she says, looking away from him.Derek heard that loud and clear and it was too much of information to process because he knew she was getting somewhere with that."What do you mean by that?""Nothing," she says, folding he
"What are you talking about?" Marcus asked, his expression a mixture of confusion and surprise."You know what I'm talking about. Stop acting like you don't," Derek said."Well, I don't. And I'll be leaving now before you consume me with your bullshit.""The past two weeks made me realize something, Marcus. And it's the fact that your enemies are actually the ones closer to you. You have been my enemy for but u didn't know all these while.""Did you drink something? Why are you speaking nonsense? And since when did I become your enemy?"Derek stood up, facing the man directly. "That's a good question… When?""Can you two sit your asses down and explain to me what is going on here?" Catherine said to them, almost screaming at them.Derek looked at the woman. "I haven't said you should talk," he told her."And since when did you get to give me how and when I should talk?""Since I found out that my allegation against you has always been true."Catherine wasn't getting a hang of what was
As Marcus was reluctantly finding a way to get in between the couple, Catherine, who still had a frown etched on her face, whispered to Derek."What is he doing here? I thought it's supposed to be just you and me," she said with a stern tone."I know I said that. But Marcus is just here to join us briefly. I can promise that his stay here won't be for long then we can have the time to ourselves," Derek told his wife.Catherine wasn't buying that. And she was this close to telling him to send Marcus away when the man eventually came back with an empty chair which he placed in the middle of the couple.Marcus took a seat but was still confused about what was going on because this wasn't what he had in mind when he got the invitation from Derek to show up at Kingston Hotel."What's going on here, Derek? Why is there a cake on your table? Is it someone's birthday?" Marcus directed the question to Derek while trying to make a guess.He couldn't deny that he noticed the hard stare Catherine
"I'm home," Derek announced as soon as he got into his apartment. "Where are you, Kathy?" he called out as he went to take a seat just so be could relax himself."I'm upstairs," was the response he got from his wife to which he nodded."Alright, I'm coming."Two minutes later, after getting a cup of water, he was on the way to their room upstairs with his briefcase in his hand. He was sure that the woman would be busy when he gets there and it was no surprise that she was on her laptop when he got there.She was sitting close to where the mirror in the room was and he watched her from where he was standing, seeing that she was typing into her laptop. There was also a document on her laptop which she kept glancing at occasionally.He dropped the briefcase on the bed and then took off his jacket which he also placed on the bed. Then he walked over to her, standing right behind her.In that position, he bent and put his hands around her waist. "What are you doing?" he asked as he whisper
"How did it go?" Derek asked the lady who seemed to be more interested in the ice cream she was consuming than him."How did what go?" Gina asked in return as she scooped a mouthful from the cone. As the cream melted down her mouth, she felt a sensation that made her giggle without a care in the world."Now that was weird," Derek stated but then got back to his question. "How did the meeting with Eugene go? Was he able to convince you this time around?"Gina wanted to take another scoop from the ice cream when she heard that question which then put her to a halt."Hmph, of course not. I already told you that I wouldn't be accepting his offer, didn't I? It seems like you forgot to relay my message to him," she said and then got back to her ice cream.At that point, Derek was getting annoyed with how immersed she was in it. He just had to hold in his annoyance lest he snaps at her."I did relay your message but it was too late for him to turn back," he told her."So you mean you just to
"I think it would have been better if you had called me before coming over to the company. What if I was away? It means you would have wasted a full trip down here," Derek said in a scolding manner to the woman sitting opposite him.Edna didn't care about what he was saying and she revealed that completely through her expression. It was as if she just wanted him to talk and then get through with it."At least I met you in, didn't I? I don't understand why you're making a big deal out of it," the woman said.Derek didn't respond to that, perhaps worried that he was going to speak out of line if he did."So, why did you reject my offer? You had a long time to decide and at the end of it, you said no. There has to be a reason. And it had better be a good one."He sat there quietly for some time before he finally decided on saying something."It doesn't feel right, Edna."The woman's gaze at him was a mixture of stern and confusion. "What doesn't? Owning a business or my offer?" she asked
Derek felt a little tired as he walked back into the Cora Limited after having lunch at the eatery down by the road. It was supposed to be his go-to place whenever work got overwhelming but today was just different.He just wanted to try something different other than skipping meals or simply just having something little in the company's eatery which only made light snacks.He knew that having a meal at his go-to eatery would affect his work rate but he was willing to risk it.A honk from a car caught his attention right after he passed by the parking lot. He was sure that it was for him which was why he turned around to find out which car had honked at him.It didn't take him too long to find the car as well as the person who operated it. And right out of that very car, Eugene Leviathan stepped out, looking all smiley like there was something good he wanted to talk about."Mr. McKay. Good to see you again," Eugene Leviathan said to Derek like it was the first time he was seeing him i
"Who's that again?" Gina asked, trying to rack her brain for any information related to the name Derek just told her."The ex-wife of Richard Langston," Derek responded."Wait, isn't that the man that you thought was having an affair with your wife?""Yes.""Oh. So when did you get this close to his wife so much that she offered you her business to handle?"The way Gina said it made it seem like he was having an illicit affair with Edna and that didn't look good at all."Ex-wife, Gina. They are divorced now. And the way you say it, it sounds like I'm doing something wrong with her.""I never implied it that way. You're the one with the ideas here," she defended herself."Whatever," he said. "Edna and I kept in touch after we both realized that we were chasing the wrong thing. But it didn't change the fact that her husband was a chronic cheat.Anyways, their business was handed over to her by the court but she doesn't want to be around here anymore which is why she wants someone else t
The sudden sound of something slamming on to his desk knocked Derek out of his thoughts. It came as a shock, that for a few seconds, he couldn't get a hold of himself."What did you do that for?" he asked through gritted teeth. He was furious at the person that did that just to get his attention."I've been calling your name but you didn't hear me." He heard Gina's voice and that meant she was that person."Well, you should have called harder."He had to put both hands over his face just to take out the wobbly feeling that had overwhelmed him from the shock.He was still furious at that point. If it had been someone else other than Gina, he would have taken his frustration out on the person. He could only keep his rage to himself because of her."I'm sorry," Gina apologized. "I shouldn't have done what I did but I was getting scared when you didn't answer which was why I resorted to that."He looked up at her. "What happened to tapping me, Gina? Wouldn't that have been much better?""
"You do realize it's my weekend you're consuming," Derek pointed out to Jasmine who was dragging him."I know," she said. "But there's no one else I could call."She came to his place that afternoon and told him that she had an event to attend but didn't have anyone to go with which was why she decided to come to his place.He had declined the offer at first but she kept insisting and even resorted to pulling him out of the house. If Catherine had been home, the sight wouldn't have been pretty.At one point, when they were about to get to his car, he pulled his arm out of her reach."I can't follow you," he told the lady who turned around to face him."But why?" she asked with a pout."I've got to go to work tomorrow, Jasmine. I can't afford a day out at this time when I should be resting.""And I'll be out of the city by tomorrow too. Let me have this, please."Her emphasis on the 'please' was a bit infuriating due to the way she made mention of it. It was as if she wanted to do anyt