LOGINMARKWhile we waited for the plane to be ready for us, I caught sight of Noelle a few feet from us. She had taken a walk away from Vector and me.Without hesitation, I walked up to her.Noelle seemed to be doing something with her phone, and so engrossed was she that she didn’t notice my presence.“Hey, Noelle,” I called calmly.Still, Noelle jerked in shock.“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you,” I apologized.“No, Mark, it’s fine. I just didn’t see you coming,” Noelle said, turning to face me.And that was when I saw that she was troubled. Instantly, I became worried about her.“Is everything okay, Noelle?” I asked her worriedly.“Yeah,” Noelle answered with a heavy sigh, but I just didn’t believe her.Not when she was having that look.“Come on, Noelle. I know that we have not always seen eye to eye, and we are not friends, but you can tell me if something is wrong,” I cajoled her tenderly.Noelle sighed again.It was as though something heavy was weighing her down.Again, I n
MARKSince Ace walked into his living room and started talking to us, his last statement was the first time I caught regret in his voice.Even when he mentioned Mona’s name before then, he didn’t sound embittered or upset. He simply sounded like a man who couldn’t care less.“Why would you say that?” Noelle asked Ace, speaking for the first time.And it was at the same time that I asked a question too.“Why did you leave her?”Ace stared at us, probably wondering what question to answer first, but Noelle and I didn’t plan to ask at the same time. Instead of answering, Ace had questions of his own.“Why are you really here, Mark Ronaldo?” Ace asked deeply.For the first time, he was sounding like a man speaking to the other guy whom his girlfriend cheated on him with in business school, and that made me slightly uncomfortable.Unfortunately, I felt worse answering his question.Ace already said that his greatest regret was marrying Mona. Well, I wasn’t married to her yet but I also had
MARKFinding Mona’s ex-husband as soon as we got to Toronto was one of the easiest thing to do. Even though I did say that it wasn’t a risk that was worth taking, Noelle made me get a private plane, and two hours later, all three of us were in Toronto.“Mr. Ace will see you soon,” a woman in her mid fifties told us.She appeared to be his house manager.Apparently, Ace was in his private gym when we arrived. The good thing was that we were allowed into his premises, and I couldn’t deny how successful he had become.Well, Ace wasn’t exactly poor, or maybe it was because I never really paid attention to him. He was my rival back then, and I didn’t usually concern myself about my rivals.The only way I would have concerned myself with him was if he was my rival in business.“I really hope this is worth it, and that we are able to get back to Paris before it gets dark,” I said in a low voice, almost impatiently.At lot of things were at stake if this didn’t go well.“Have some faith, Mark
ALEXA“Hey, honey, are you okay?” A voice asked me.I was sitting on a bench at a park. I could see a little child playing without a care in the world a few feet from me. The child wasn’t being supervised and I didn’t know whose child he or she was; I couldn’t even tell the gender.I turned to the voice and realized that it was my dad.My eyes lit up instantly.“Dad!” I called out, but I didn’t stand to my feet to hug him or do anything.But I was very happy to see him, and he could tell from the look in my eyes.“I have missed you so much, dad,” I added, my voice instantly thickening with emotions.“Can I sit beside you?” He asked me.“Yes, yes, sure,” I responded without hesitation.He sat down, but I noticed that he kept some distance between us. However, I didn’t bother him about it or ask him to come closer to me. It was just the both of us at the park now...oh, the child playing too.My dad and I stared at the child for a couple of minutes in silence.Everything was peaceful and
MARKSuddenly, Noelle became the only one with a working brain, and Vector and I didn’t have a choice but to listen to her.“What way is that?” Vector and I asked at the same time.“We should speak with Mona’s ex-husband,” Noelle stated firmly and confidently.And it just felt as though all the confidence I had in her died instantly. What did she mean by that?I stared at Vector, and it was the same time that he also stared at me. Vector didn’t also understand what Noelle was getting at. Apparently, we both expected more from Noelle, but her statement just seemed to make us disappointed.“Aren’t you going to ask why?” Noelle asked, staring at Vector and me.This was the first time that she was even looking at Vector since she walked into his living room some minutes ago.“Why?” I asked.“First of all, we will get to know if the Toronto tradition is true or Mona and her parents just made it up, and secondly, maybe we could find something to hold against her,” Noelle explained.The firs
MARKI thought that Noelle was going to change her mind when she heard that it was Vector’s apartment, but she didn’t, and so after the call, Vector and I sat in his living room and waited for Noelle.“You are lucky, Mark,” Vector told me.“How do you mean?” I asked hi,m.“Noelle actually agreed to come here just to help you; that’s something I never thought was ever going to happen,” Vector answered.Or was he merely bothered about having Noelle in his living room?As far as I knew, no man like to be intimidated in their own home, and Vector was already looking like he was dreading Noelle’s presence.“You said it yourself, Vector...she is doing this for her best friend and not me,” I corrected.“Yeah, you are right,” Vector said with a nod.And we stayed silent for a few seconds.“How did your dinner with Keisha’s parents go last evening?” I eventually asked.“I thought you would never ask, Mark,” Vector retorted.“Don’t push it and make me regret asking, Vector. Just answer the damn
MARKI was really sick of Alexa’s attitude. Initially, the moment the consultant told me that Alexa would see me, I had intended to be cordial with her by complimenting her progress. We would be working together for a while, and I just wanted to create a conducive working relationship with her, but
ALEXA As much as I hated this, I had no other choice, but even walking into the boardroom again with my dad and seeing Mark Ronaldo’s face ignited the anger in me.Especially as seeing him brought the words back to my head.However, I had to keep my anger and bitterness aside just as I promised my
ALEXA“Shall we go downstairs?” My dad asked me right after his statement about Clara.He didn’t even give me the time to process what he just said or ask to know exactly what he meant by that statement.“We are not done talking, dad,” I reminded him.“I know, Alexa, but it is wrong to keep a guest
ALEXA“He wants a dinner date with my dad,” I found myself complaining to Noelle the moment I got back to my office.Of course, Noelle didn’t share my worry, and I began to wonder why on earth I had told her.She was smiling.“This isn’t funny, Noelle,” I chided her.“Why not?” Noelle asked.“How i







