Luna woke up, her body aching from the harsh metal of the waiting room chair, the antiseptic smell of the hospital stinging her nostrils. The harsh fluorescent lights streamed into her eyes painfully. She blocked the light with her hands, rubbing her eyes vigorously. The busyness of the whole place made her dizzy and for the next few seconds, everything seemed blurry to her. She was bewildered, wondering where she was. But as soon as her eyes cleared, she remembered. She remembered everything.Fear had enveloped every inch of her body that day. She could still see her mother's blood on the ground, and the blood in her hand when she'd touched it to make sure it was real, like water, flowing freely from where she laid to the other end of the room. Benny lifted her, her hands flying around lifelessly, her father shouting at their gateman to open the gates. Her heart raced, her body shaking visibly all through the drive.Her father hadn't stayed the night of course so she knew Benny would
"Happy Birthday to you", Varietta whispered to her sleepy cousin in bed, cake in her hand.Sofia rubbed her eyes and turned over."Whose birthday did I miss?""Yours silly !""It's my birthday?"Varietta laughed. She placed the cake on the side table. "Wake up sleepy head". She pulled Sofia to sit up."Varii...". Sofie said, her voice hoarse. She opened her eyes."Happy birthday, Cugina ""Awwn, Vari. You remembered." Sofia gave her cousin a hug."Of course I remembered. I never forget birthdays""Oh please", Sofia said, rolling her eyes."Here is your cake"Sofia placed her hands over her chest.'I love you. You are the best". She blew her a kiss."I know. I know. Now blow out your candles. You are freaking 23!! Woohoo!".Sofie laughed and blew out her candles. She cut a slice of the cake on a plate."Hmmm ... This is nice. where did you order this?"" Your favorite""Ahhh. It's been so long since I had a taste of their cake. I haven't had the time to order". Sofia groaned in deligh
Benny walked in, Luna's clothes in his hand, packaged in one of the many designer bags they had at home. She'd been staying in an empty room since her mother's hospitalisation, refusing to go home.“Thank you Benny”She took the clothes from him, not wanting to make eye contact. But Benny held her shoulders and turned her to face him.“What is it? Look at your eyes, they're swollen”“I'm fine. I'm just a little bit worried about mum”Benny pulled her into a hug and she let her tears flow freely onto his shirt.“It's going to be okay”, he said, his hands on her head, soothing it smoothly. Just then Marcos walked in on them. He knocked on the open door.Luna lifted her head. “Marco”, she walked over to hug him as Benny let go.Marco looked at Benny, not hugging Luna back. Call him insecure or whatever, he didn't like what he saw.Benny, seeing it in his eyes and demeanour, decided to give them space.“I'll be at the car, Miss Luna”“Thank you, Benny”“Hey. How was…”“What was that abou
Sofia typed away on the keyboard of her work desktop. It was 5.00 already and she wasn't even half way through the report. And she still had to sort out some files from Sasha's desk since Sasha was on leave for the now.“Your smoothie, ma”“Oh thank you, Dermian”She took a sip of the tropical fruit smoothie she had ordered. Fruits and Smooths had become her favourite smoothie shop since she discovered them a few days ago. She'd had a taste of their citrus fruit smoothie the other day at boss's house but she'd forgotten … or more like she had been too shy to ask where he had bought it from.By 6.30, she was finally done with the reports. She walked over to Asher's office to submit them. There, Asher was having a conversation with his father.“Emilio, i should have the private jet pick you and your brother up ei?”So Andrea was in town. Interesting…Asher rubbed the nape of his neck.“I didn't know, father. I wasn't even aware he was in town”Vincenzo laughed. “He must have been busy.
“Buongiorno! (Good morning) This is real estate 5, how can I help you today ma'am”“Am I speaking with Lorez?”“Luna?”“Hey Loressa. I need a favour from you”“What's up?”“I need you to find me a house, any house, in the outskirts of town”“A house? I don't know Luna, I don't think you guys could afford any of the houses here”Of course she wasn't supposed to be able to pay. She'd played the middle class girl at school.“Please … just find me something small. Maybe a little cottage”“Ok. I'll get back to you”Luna hung up and looked outside from her mum's hospital room. No sign of Benny anywhere. Her mother was to be discharged today and Benny had informed her that her father wanted them home first thing in the morning. “Over my dead body”, she had sweared inwardly. She'd made up her mind. She'd rather die than go back home.She paced up and down the ward, biting her fingers anxiously, waiting for Lorez to get back to her. Finally, she texted her the location of the place she'd foun
Varietta let out a tired yawn, the morning sunlight filtering through the curtains casting a warm glow on the room. With sluggish steps, she made her way to the open kitchen, craving some banana pancakes. And maybe some parfait. Chocolate flavoured cake parfait. Contrastingly, Sofie, as always, was engrossed at her study desk, surrounded by a sea of textbooks and notes, typing away in her metallic silver-coloured MacBook.“Why are you up so early?”, Varietta said, dragging her words. “It’s 8.30, Varietta”, Sofia said, coldly.“What time did you get up cause when I got up to pee at 5.00, you weren't even in bed”Sofie didn't answer.She went over to her cousin's desk and closed her MacBook.She gave her cousin a death stare.“Vari!”“You, my dear cugina, need a break”“No, I don't. What I need is to finish sorting out these files”Sofia picked up a pile of papers and positioned them on one edge of the desk. Varietta picked one paper up, uninterested in its content, for sale of someth
Sofia trembled all over as she sat on the dining table at her boss's mansion. Asher had taken them in to live in his secret mansion when he heard what happened. He still had to drug them to get there though because he just couldn't risk it.Sofia clutched her head, her fingers entwined in disarrayed strands of hair as she struggled to regain composure, trying to calm down but too knocked back by what had just happened. The fact that someone could actually want her life weakened her. Even worse, she had almost lost Varietta today. The tremors of fear continued to ripple through her and soon she couldn't help it. Asher stood in the dining room also making some rounds of phone calls. He paced up and down, his hands in his joggers.“Yes.”. “Yeah”. “Send anything they were able to salvage”He hung up the last one and turned to Sofia.“Hey, are you good?”How could she be good? Sofia continued to hug herself, rocking back and forth. She let herself slide off the chair, breathing in and o
An oppressive hush enveloped the room like a shroud, a frightening kind of silence. Wisps of smoke diffused languidly, weaving through the dimly lit living room, their tendrils ascending towards the oppressive silence that clung to the air. Paolo, his gaze obscured by the haze, exhaled, sending out more wisps of smoke, the cigarette dangling from his fingers like an extension of his brooding demeanor. A palpable tension lingered. Paolo, seated on his couch, stared lethally at his kneeling staff lined up before him.He stood up suddenly, putting out his cigarette on the ashtray by his side. He rubbed his moustache slowly and the room was caught up in tension.“I have looked all over”.. he said, pausing momentarily. He looked at his staff.“I have looked all over for my wife and my Godforsaken daughter! I have searched every inch of this town. No one has claimed to even as much as to have sighted any of them.”He walked back and forth, taking each step slowly. He held up a small disk ta