Being found by love

Chapter 1 Emily's POV The bell rang to alert us of the end of our chemistry class, I was still clearing our work bench. I was paired with Ned who was always lazy to clean the work station, he left with his friend Mark to go and join their friends who were waiting for them at the playground. Once we are done cleaning, we walk slowly to the study area where many people will gather and talk, while others are doing assignments. Vivian was with her friends nearby telling them what she'll be wearing next month once we're done with exams. There was a party which were to be hosted by the boys to bid each other goodbye before college. I was not eager to go and Molly was insisting on going. By the look of things everyone was excited except me. It never ends well when a bunch of teenagers are together unchaperoned, especially when they know that they're done with high school.,' my thought'. " Em are you coming?" Maud asked as she joined me and Molly, I said I'm not sure if I want to come. I told her she could go with Molly. 'you're a fun spoiler' Molly complained. 'Alright guys I'll see whether I'll come, but don't expect a lot from me' I explained. 'Meaning? ' they both asked, I explained that I won't be entertaining their " plus two", if I were to come, no hook ups. They agreed but I was not convinced since I know them better, we've been friends since kindergarten. Steve POV 'Guys what do you think about Vivian?' Josh asked, and made us stop on what we were discussing. We were talking about the weekend ahead of us and soccer. He seemed to be into her, so I just told him I'm not sure of what he means because I'm not into girls who like attention. She is the kind who likes moving around school with other girls following her and doing whatever she tells them to do. Snobbish and a bully. So I don't like her. Josh seems to be smitten and Ned was encouraging him to go for her. Guys we have better things to do like ball practice, revision and exams, all of this before the end of the month. Vivian passes by with her girls, I agree she is hot and all that, but not my kind of girl. What pisses me off is that she always seeks my attention and wants to go out with me. I agree I'm the hottest guy and a captain of my team but I don't like her. I like reserved and intelligent girls like Emily, but she seems to be out of reach. I'm sapiosexual. 'Steve, I would like to invite you to a picnic this weekend will you be available? Vivian shook me out of my reverie ,' No I won't be available, I have something with the boys, maybe next time, ' "No Steve we will be free this weekend, you have forgotten, our get together is next week" Josh chipped in trying to get her attention. I looked at Ned to help but he was also smitten by the girls who are with Vivian. I pinched him to get his attention, he jumped and looked at me. He came to his senses and said "Josh have you forgotten that we're helping Steve's father with something this weekend?" He looked at us and nodded his head with a faked realization, "oh I nearly forgot, yessss, I'm so sorry Viv, we'll make it up to you." She stumped down her feet and went away with her friends. That was too close, I thought while looking at my friends who nearly sold me out. I am really into Em but am scared of approaching her because she always seems serious. Patience is a virtue, I keep telling myself. I will wait and during my waiting I want to keep a clean slate, no flirting, no going around with different girls. Josh and Ned like being seen with girls, so this saying of 'show me your friends......' does not work for me, I am not that kind of person. I am very disciplined. Vivian's POV I think Steve is avoiding me, but I'll wait patiently, I am used to getting what I want, so even if it's a guy. His friends were not convincing about the outing, come to think of it, I've never seen him with a girl at school, I've been waiting patiently for him to ask me out, but he hasn't. Maybe since we're going to college next year I'll have to look for the one he's going to. I heard he wanted to do medicine, but I'm not good with sciences so I was thinking of business school. I have to do business so that I'll take over my father's business. Being the only child I have to relieve my dad one day, for now I am enjoying my youth. Steve is also expected to take over the family business, his family even owns private hospitals maybe that's the reason he wants to study medicine. I can't wait to be done with the exams, my interest is the dress I'll be wearing for my prom, yes I'm all set for that. We went shopping with my cousin Estelle for my prom clothes, she is a freshman in the local college, she accompanied me with her boyfriend Sam last weekend. I can't wait. Girls I invited you to this picnic to spend time with you before we all sit for our exams and go to college. We sat on our picnic blankets, hugging big cushions, listening to music playing from my ipod, talking about our school days and how we are going to miss each other. The place is near the lake and some flowers are blooming making the place beautiful. Once in a while we're taking pictures to be posted later on my i********:. It would have been nice if we had more people, it's just me and the girls. Emily POV I'm glad we're writing our final paper today, the next day will be our prom and we will be done with high school. I won't lie I'll miss all my school days. I heard Molly and Maud are happy about their dates for prom but I have no one to go with and don't care. My cousin Noel offered to go with me, Noel is a sophomore in a university which is two hours away from our town. He'll come in the afternoon and go with me, he is popular with girls at his college. "Come let's get you to the prom, you look stunning my doll, you're so grown up too." Commented Noel as I come down the stairs in a blue long off shoulder dress and silver sandals. My brown hair has waves that are cascading to my shoulders. I'm wearing my mom's sapphire earrings and matching necklace, Noel escorted me to the limo which is waiting for us outside, it is Molly's parents' and will be used by the three of us and our dates. When we arrive at the venue, a red carpet was rolled for us to come and take pictures before going inside. It was wonderful and all went well until Steve came to me and while we were talking and reminiscing about high school Vivian came and started shouting saying she knew I liked Steve, just that I was hiding behind a good girl charade, I was so upset, I called my cousin and told him we have to call a cab and go, running away like a Cinderella. When I got home I locked myself in the room and cried until I fell asleep. I always avoid her at school because I don't like drama, only for drama to find me that night. Chapter 2 Emily POV Six months later I have arrived at my college, have been assigned my room and I'm now taking my luggage inside. I was taken there by my dad, little did I know it was the last time I saw him. Three weeks after my arrival, I was called and told my dad had passed on. I was devastated, wishing the ground would swallow me. Felt like something was squeezing the air out of me. I feel numb, am in a state of shock. The whole time on my way home, I keep asking myself why me, the only family I have is gone. I have relatives of course, but my dad is my everything. We would sit down at home and plan on how we will be running the company together. The funeral took place, all necessary arrangements were made, we bid our final goodbyes. The family lawyer came to read the will. I was told everything was temporarily suspended until I reach eighteen ,hence my stepmother will hold the fort. I'll only receive living allowance and my university fees paid. When I'm of age, we will revisit the will. My life changed after that, I channeled all my energy on studying to achieve my dreams of becoming a lawyer. During school vacations I would go to my aunt's place since it was no longer the same at my father's place, my step mother has changed for the worse, she only wanted to live with my step sister Ashley. I was two years when I lost my mother, my dad married Stella, she brought her daughter with her. Since I was young I thought they were my real mom and sister, when I was old enough I learnt that she was my step mom. They showed me their true colors after my dad's death. Life is hard, I used to dream with my dad that once I'm done schooling I'll be the company's lawyer, I will lead the legal team. There goes my dreams on the drain. I am now an orphan, with only an allowance from my trust fund. I meet Doreen who is my room mate. We will move around campus together, read together, she really had my back, made my uni days tolerable. She protected me, gave me moral support. She was studying human resources . She has a very large family, I once spent my holidays with them. We're now on our final year and have just finished writing our final paper. " Come let's go and celebrate ourselves for being done with college" shouted Doreen as she is standing in front of our lecture theater I had just finished my last paper. " I'm going to drink and get wasted, bye school and hello adult me" she was shouting with joy. We went to the bar where she ordered a bottle of champagne and we toasted each other, it was my first time drinking. I felt dizzy after two glasses and sat down. While she was busy dancing herself away I staggered to the door since I was feeling hot, found a bench and sat down, while seated I saw Steve. I was a little tipsy and had not met him since our prom day, we chatted and by the time we were ready to go back home he drove us there. We were now sharing an apartment just near our campus. Where we are planning to continue staying since we are now done schooling. After graduation I'm starting my internship at Stanford and associates law firm, it is a reputable company,known for not losing cases. The following day Steve came and visited us, he was going to do his residency in a different state. "I'm so glad we met Em, I've been searching for you for quite some time now, I'm glad I came here, one of my former classmates lives here and had invited us for a party so we came"he explained " I'm glad we met Steve, it's good to meet acquaintances, "I told him I lost my dad and am now living in this city permanently." I'm so sorry to hear about your dad, how are you holding up? "he asked, I'm hanging in there, they say time is a good healer. I'm now ready for the workplace . Doreen has been offered a job at a pharmaceutical company as a human resource assistant, she's so happy to find a job, we will be staying together. Steve spent the the whole week in town, he is in a hotel so we went out together almost every night, exchanged phone numbers and promised to keep in touch. I didn't want to start anything serious since it will be a long distance relationship and besides, I'm not ready to date, I want to establish my career first. So we will email and call, then see where it takes us. I took a cab and went to the hotel to pick Steve so that we can go to the airport, he was catching his flight in two hours, we were to have breakfast before we go. We had breakfast and went to the airport, waited until his flight was called. I felt lonely after he left, we had been together for the whole week, talked and learnt that we have a lot in common.in the evening I received his mail, Em Just wanted to tell you that I arrived safely, just settled in. Will start my residence tomorrow. This was the most memorable week of my life. I hope you miss me as I miss you too. Love you, always Steve The moment I opened my email I saw a letter from Steve. I am excited, you know that feeling of being loved. I'm glad he arrived safely. Steve I'm so glad you arrived safely. Hope you will enjoy your stay and achieve your goals. Take care Em Time runs fast when one is busy, I'm assigned to a lady. I'm told she's never lost a case. First week I was just in the filing room, reading last cases which she won. The following week I'm called to serious business. I was to follow her to interview a client, taking notes. I listened and was impressed on how she does things, I followed her to court after another week. It was a civil case and all parties were willing to settle out of court. That reminded me that I have learnt that something is not as it seems to be concerning my dad's will. I'm not sure but I have this feeling that my stepmother is not telling me the truth about my father's death and the will. Hence there's a lawsuit to tackle but this one, I have to do it myself. I have to fight for my assets from my step mother but am not in a hurry since with this case I want to be counsel. I think it will be my first case. Hello Em How are you doing my dear, it's been a while since I sent you a message, I didn't know it's this hard being a doctor, I was on duty for 24 hours. I managed to scrub in on a surgery this week and hope before long I'll be doing it alone, with the help of a surgeon of course. How are you coping counsel? Still can't wait to hear you win the case between you and them. I hope you're doing fine. Take care of yourself. Be a good girl. Steve I'm laughing as I'm reading the' be a good girl' part because I'm always a good girl. Hey Steve I'm always a good girl, you know that, right? I'm happy for you that you managed to see the interior of the theater, I trust you'll make a good doctor. I was able to see the courtroom, hehe. Take care doc Em It was fun talking to him, he has a sense of humor. Chapter 3 Steve's POV I want to be a neurologist, I have been following a neurologist these past two months, I followed different surgeons before and realized that I'll do neuro. I am with this old man Dr Simmons, he is very patient. Keeps on saying he wants me to be the next him. I really like my job, can't wait to finish and go back home. I am with my Flatmate who is doing cardio, we've just finished our shift and go to the pub where we order burgers and beers. It's been a hectic week for us, there was a storm in the nearby town so many patients were brought to our hospital. There was this guy who had a head injury and we had to operate, after that busy night we are now free to go and enjoy ourselves. After eating we played darts and drank beer, then went home. I'm not a heavy drinker but drink once in a while, maybe to kill boredom. Five years later...... My time to finish and become a surgeon arrives, I was so happy to go home, my first stop is Emily's place, when I get there she is now a fully fledged lawyer, they decided to part ways with her flatmate because she was now married and wanted her space. She now stays alone, I'll spend a week with her before going home. This is now a good time to take our relationship to another level. We've been serious these last years but we should start a serious planning. I don't want to rush her because I know how invested she is with her career and she is now a partner, meaning she has to prove herself and doesn't need distraction. I'll give her one more time before popping the question, I should tread carefully. Emily's POV I'm glad today, Steve is coming back. He will come to my place for a week, there's no need for him to go to the hotel since I now live alone. I have bought new lingerie, because I'm used to sleeping with simple pajamas, now since I'll be hosting I have to go all out. This is my first time to be intimate, I will be doing all my firsts with him. At long last my guest is here, I went to fetch him at the airport. We talked about his trip, went home, freshen up and went out for dinner. We were meeting Doreen and her husband. She is now promoted to HR manager, the pay is good, her husband is an engineer, they own a three bedroom house. We talked about different things, marriage, careers and family, they said they are now ready to start a family. We went home, slept and became intimate. I was new to these things but I enjoyed everything we did. He was gentle patient and loving. I took a week off so that I spend time with him. We were so happy and time flew. Before we knew it Steve was flying home, everything was so perfect , I kept pinching myself to make sure I was not dreaming. "I think I've met the love of my life" I whisper to myself. Time flies fast when one is happy. Letters started coming. Hello my angel I had the best week of my life, I hope you're thinking about me, as I am thinking about you, I forgot to ask when you were starting your lawsuit counsel. I am looking forward to see you coming to take over your business this side. Looking at the cases you've handled, I think you're ready to do a takeover. I saw your step sister who seems to be cosy with Vivian. are they friends? The hospital is doing fine, I am the new head of neuro. It's a challenging but exciting job. My dad wanted me to be the ceo of our company but I refused, can't spend so much time at school only to be the ceo. But all is well, only that I miss you. Love you, always Steve Hello handsome Trust me I'm preparing to take off, I've been getting ready for this lawsuit for a long time. I have to be ready because it's not going to be easy. I also wish to see this behind me. I've never seen Vivian since she threw tantrums at our prom. Is she still obsessed with you? Or has she moved on? I'm so happy for you babe about your promotion. If all goes well I'll take back my company soon, can't wait to move that side. Miss you Take care Em Emily was busy preparing for a case she has served her stepfamily. Before that she went to the lawyer and told him she is ready to be given her share of the company and estate. The lawyer gave her a letter: Emily By the time you read this letter I'll be gone. I've gone to meet my maker. I am so sorry my little angel, I left you nothing since I had nothing. The company was built by your mother and me and I couldn't do my all to preserve your mother's legacy. So I had debts which rendered me bankrupt. I have nothing on my name, I only left you enough money to go to college and the trust fund was for when you were still in school. So my baby girl, I hope you will do something for yourself when you start working, I believe you will do the best on your own, your step sister and mother had something from their previous family, so it's not like they got all that from me. I'm so sorry honey, please forgive your dad if you can . I wish you all the best. Your loving father, Edmund Raynolds I was feeling dizzy after reading my father's letter. I was so drained, to think that I was readying myself to fight a case which does not exist. My dreams of going back home are shattered. My best option is to stay with my firm. I went outside sat down and thought about a lot of things, I don't know how I reached the hotel. I was in a state of shock, I was not aware that my phone was ringing non stop. I answered the phone, it was Steve telling me he has an emergency conference out of the country, the previous head was supposed to attend, so he told Steve on short notice. When I was checking out getting ready to go to the airport, I saw Vivian and my step sister entering the hotel, they saw me and started boasting on how they are business owners, Vivian even said her parents and Steve's parents are on negotiations of their marriage,. I ignored their taunts and went away. When I got to my office the following day I forgot about my resignation which I had been planning should all go well. I had nothing except my job. I channeled all my energy towards my job. I leave office very late every day, I eat my dinner in office and when I get home, I soak in a bath and go to sleep. I have a PA who also helps to make my job easier. Steve is back from the conference and is also busy, we meet every weekend and it is always relaxing to spend weekends together, we will talk about our jobs and what we need to achieve. Chapter 4 I was called to the boss's office after a board meeting and was told I'll be handling a mafia client. They said he is one of their biggest clients. When I told Steve about the new client he was not happy and told me to reconsider. I was adamant on doing it, saying it's a way of proving myself. I'm now a partner hence should work hard. He kept on pestering me and this always end up on fights. " Em the mafia will consume you, please reconsider my love, I don't want to lose you. Why can't you do something else but not criminal law my dear?" I was so stubborn and thought my work is my life. Not being aware that this will one day ruin my relationship with Steve. He told me that even his job is being affected because every time he thinks about me and my clients.. Everything is going well, it's been six months since I take this client. I was handling their business transactions and conveyance.,nothing dangerous. They were property developers, so most of my duty was conveyance. I enjoy this kind of job and some few bail outs were done which makes me not to forget what the court looks like, nothing major. There was a d**g smuggling which went wrong and those who handled the merchandise were arrested and I was asked to bail them, it was covered by media and Steve's family came to know about. He was told that I'll tarnish his reputation, hence to cut ties with me or else the hospital will be put under someone else's care. He was put in a fix, having to chose between me and his job, which he is passionate about. We met and talked and I promised to go and tender my resignation. The following morning I went to tell my boss that I want to quit, he told me I have to serve a three months notice or until I'm done with the case I'm handling. I agreed and told Steve what my boss said, he was not happy and skeptical about whether this will materiaize. I promised that it will. I continued with the case and we won it. I was summoned by the client, the boss whom I've never met before. He was the son inlaw of the former boss, so he was eyeing the chair. The Don also thought he was suitable for the chair because his heir was a lady and the son inlaw was his right hand man. I was taken on a black Maybach then transfered to a yacht which took us to a small island. That is where I saw a villa which was heavily guarded, I was ushered in by a guard who handed me to a butler then I was told Mr Massimo is waiting for me in his library. I was expecting to see an old man but I was greeted by a Greek God. The man had black piercing eyes, black hair and his six or eight pack could be seen on his tight fitting tee shirt. He was wearing black jeans, t-shirt and boots, all black. He was pacing the room, pulling his hair and looked like he was restless. "Welcome Miss Raynolds," he said as he stretched his hand for a handshake. "Please sit down, what can I offer you, wine champagne, coffee, tea?" he asked. "water is fine" I replied. He rang the butler who came and served me water. "Back to business, I heard that you've quit, so I'd like to offer you a job. To be my personal lawyer, to just be mine and mine alone" he said as he was deeply looking at me, he has left his seat and was sitting just in front of me on the desk. "Thanks for the offer but I'm sorry I'll turn it down. I want to take a breather for a time being" I replied. He smirked and said"Oh no Ms Raynolds, that was not a request but an order, you will be working for me and me only. Trust me if I say me I mean me, I don't share so I prefer what's mine to remain so"he said raising his eyebrows and looking me in the eyes. "Bbut I said I want to take a break sir, I have never taken a break in a while so I'm not ready for a job yet" I said. I was getting restless because the man in front of me looked serious and intimidating, he looks dangerous. Oh no what did I get myself into is what Steve said now becoming real, am I now swimming with the sharks! What have I got myself into? I got here and by the look of things can leave only when they say so. I have no choice but to bend to their demands. He rang the bell and the butler came, made a bow and said, 'sir' "Joseph take Ms Raynolds to her quarters, let her refresh and come for a meeting" he orders. "Yes sir" he replied and led me to the room which looked like a presidential suite of a five star hotel. I went there sat on the couch and started crying. After crying I freshen up and went downstairs. When I got there I went to the study and told Mr Massimo that I won't take the offer. "Ms Raynolds, let's go to the meeting with the boss then we can talk after seeing others ' We went to another room which looks like a board room, there were about six men sitting around the table and a woman who looked bored, she kept on scrolling on her phone. When they were introduced, I learnt that she's Mrs Massimo. After I was introduced she got up and left giving me that look. She looked at me as if our was one of her husband's conquest. "Welcome Miss Raynolds, I've heard from my son in law that you are a good lawyer, you've been handling most of our legal works" I nodded my head in appreciation and thank him. My mind is still in turmoil, why is it like my life has come to a standstill. What did I do wrong to find myself in this kind of situation. I'm still waiting to wake up from this nightmare, Lord have mercy. I'm thinking of running away and move to another country, just to rum away from these people, I'm thinking of way out from this mess.