26

Anna walked into the living room with a glass and bottle of wine in her hand, proving Charles Dawson right after proving Charles words right... "Isn't that the second bottle this evening?" Charles said with disdain... "How is that any of your business?" Anna replied and drank all the contents in the wine glass before pouring herself into another glass. Charles shook his head. "I wonder how much more your kidneys can take.... you may die before I do, " He said, mocking and before Anna could have her comeback, Doris, their cook who had been working for the family for the family for almost thirty years... "Dinner is ready, sir," Doris informed... Gina wondered how Doris could put up with such a family for so long and not try to quit even once. was the pay that good... "Thank you, Doris," Charles said to her and walked out of the living room, but not before staring at Anna with disdain in his eyes... She was already halfway through her bottle of wine, and he hated how she looked now. She had been stunning when he first met her. that was what made him marry her. She was stunning and younger than his ex-wife, but now she looked like she had aged twenty years and they had only been married for seven... "You should stop drinking, or you could drop dead one day," Gina said to her stepmother and scoffed, as she followed her father out of the living room.. "B*tch!" Anna said, hating her even more. she knew from the first day she saw Gina that she was going to be a pain in the ass and she had been right... She hated both of them for making her life turn out this way.... "Are you still running that...boutique?" Charles asked Gina not even then minutes into their dinner... was he finally interested in what she was doing... "Yes dad, business has been going really well lately and I'm thinking of opening a branch" Gina said proud of herself and hoping her father would acknowledge it but she had thought wrong, the smile on her father immediately disappeared when she heard her father's next words. "That shouldn't be necessary. You should be thinking of closing it up," He said firmly and took a bite out of his steak... "What!" Gina said in disbelief... "Did you think you were going to run it forever... I let you have enough fun," He said, and Gina turned to see a smile on Anna's face... she looked really pleased and Gina wanted to slap that smug smile off her face... "But dad..." Gina started, but Charles cut her off... "I'm going to arrange a blind date with Richard son for you... he is taking over his father's company soon, and the both of you seem like a perfect match, " He declared, and Gina felt like she had been punched in the gut... Was he talking about Dalton! That basta*d who was a chronic womaniser... There was no way she was going to get engaged to such a person... "I'm sorry, dad, but I have someone else in mind," Gina said immediately. she had wanted to wait more before informing her father about Alex, but it was urgent now... she needed him to stop whatever he was planning... Charles dropped his fork on his plate, and it made a loud noise... "And who might it be?" He asked. Gina could see he was getting mad already, and Anna was enjoying this... she poured herself a drink, and the smile on her face grew wider... "Alex Graham!" Gina said boldly, and the smile on Anna's face immediately disappeared... _______________ ________________ Juliet phone rang as she got into a bus that would carry her home from work. the whole day had been a roller coaster. her boss was on cloud nine... she had a smile on her face because she didn't have to quit her door and everything was turning out fine, her smile became wider when she saw Alex name on the caller ID. this was the first time he was calling her. she had a feeling things would get better and better from then on, and he was included in it... "Hi," She said. When she answered the call , there was a short silence at the other end of the line before she heard his voice... "Hi," He said softly, and she her smile grew wider... After the way he had left yesterday, he had been on her mind. she had wondered if he was doing okay... "How are you feeling today?" She asked, and there was another short silence... "I'm not sure how. I didn't get to see you all day. " Her heart started to race because of him. Those words came out of his mouth, and she heard it... she stared outside the bus and realised she had almost missed her stop... She immediately pressed the stop button, and the bus stopped. Juliet got off the bus before she heard his voice again... "Are you just getting off work?" He asked, and she wondered how he knew that... "Yes, how did you know... I just got off the bus," She said and turned to start her short walk home, but she stopped in her tracks when she saw someone familiar waving at her... It was him! what was he doing here, and how did he know she was getting off the bus here... juliet ended the call when he started to walk towards her... she had a look of confusion and curiosity on her face as he took each step closer to her. "Hi," Alex said when he was finally in front of her... "How did you know I was getting off here... "She asked, and I smiled at her. "I wasn't sure... I just thought you would, " Alex lied, and she squinted her eyes at him when deep down she was happy to see him, and he looked okay than last night... "Let's go," He said, and she stared at him for a few seconds before she started walking beside him... a silence forming between the both of them...