Fourteen
1921 Words
Nora stood with her hands in the pockets of her sweatshirt as she waited for Jerome at the tip of the clifftop. She looked down at the water hitting the rocks below before she looked up at the horizon and almost jumped out of her skin when strong arms wrapped around her shoulders but calmed down when she realized it belonged to Jerome.
The red haired woman sighed as he placed his face in the crook of her neck and sniffed then placed his chin on her shoulder blade.
"How are you?" He asked softly and she nodded.
"Same way you've left me, bored and worried out of my mind. How are you and Twinkle anyway?" She asked back and he pulled away, making her miss the warmth of his arms. She turned around and saw a shadow of worry on his face.
"Twinkle is just someone who hides a lot behind her smiles. Makes me wonder if this was how Ciara was when I hurt her years ago," he replied, and ruffled his golden locks with his hand. "And on top of that, I feel this strong connection with her, like I'm supposed to make all her pains go away."
Nora swallowed as she felt a bile in her throat as she listened to his feelings, making her feel a little blotch of jealousy, which confused her. She shook her head and approached him then held his upper arms.
"Well, what matters is that the plan is working. Fiona has laid low for some days now and hasn't done anything yet. So, we should just be careful and what is this double date you spoke about?" She asked and crossed her arms.
He shrugged. "Let's just say that, it's part of my," he put his fingers in the air quote fashion. "Friendship with Twinkle. Her ex husband wants to meet her, and the bastard is coming along with his side chic or is apparently his wife. He's doing that to rub salt on her injury."
Nora frowned. "I'd like to know that son of a gun and teach him a little lesson. How can men be so cruel and-" she paused when she saw the remorse on Jerome's face, making her remember that he had suffered a great deal in finding himself due to a similar situation. "Never mind, he's going to get what's coming to him anyway."
They fell silent for a moment, overlooking the horizon and the dark sky. Jerome looked away from the horizon to the woman beside him. He took in her straight red hair that moved with the breeze, her freckled face, her pointed nose and parted lips then the arch of her brow. He drew closer to her and took her hand in his and squeezed.
"I missed you," he said and she giggled. "I'm serious, you know. I miss how we were when we didn't have to pretend in front of our friends. I miss that and I want that back."
"But you know we can't come out like that until we see something suspicious and it's not like I'm even suspecting our friends but we have to be careful with the way we give out informations. We'll be fine as long as we keep trusting each other and fighting for our friends," she said, and placed her hand on his cheek, which he leaned into before pulling her into his strong arms for a hug.
Jerome hugged her tighter but frowned when his phone rang in his pocket, making him pull away to take the phone out. He rolled his eyes when he saw that it was a call from Twinkle. He answered.
"Yeah?" He said and listened to her speak with a blank face. "Okay, I'll pick you up at 8. Bye."
"What was that?" Nora asked while rubbing one of her arms.
"It's about that date. Twinkle just called and said the date was fixed 8PM tomorrow."
Nora nodded. "Just be careful, Jerome. Don't get too mixed with things you don't fully understand because you feel you can relate."
Jerome smirked. "Is that jealousy I detect?"
Nora scoffed. "Oh, please. Don't flatter your self."
Jerome placed his phone back into his pocket, walked closer to her while she backed away from the tip of the clifftop. He kept the smirk on his lips as he followed her until he saw her step on a stone which almost toppled her over but he caught her by the arm and held her close.
"Don't worry, Nora. No one's ever going to take the spot you've put yourself in my heart. You are and will always be my saving grace," he uttered softly and kissed her forehead and held her close.
Nora chuckled. "Of course."
•••
Ciara zipped up her luggage and dragged it back into their walk-in closet the moment she heard Mason's familiar footsteps drawing closer to the room. Just as she closed the door of the closet, he walked in.
"Hey," she said and he paused then smiled at her. "How are you?"
Mason dropped his suit jacket, walked over to her and placed his two arms on both sides of her head and leaned closer until his nose was touching hers, ignoring the way his hair dropped over their eyes.
"Well, I'm okay but I'm not okay until I get my daily dose of future wifey," he whispered and Ciara giggled. "I've missed you."
"I miss you too," she said and placed her hands on his chest.
Mason glanced from her green eyes to her pink lips then leaned closer until his lips brushed her before he captured it fully in a soft kiss. He removed his hands from the door and held her head then tilted her head sideways, deepening the kiss and smiling in the kiss as she moaned in response to the angle. He slowed down and pulled away and placed his forehead on hers.
"My daily dose isn't complete yet," he teased and she pinched his arms softly then moved away. "How's my prince?"
"He's fast asleep, he played a lot before he did. God, did you ever play that much when you were a kid? Cause I can remember my parents telling me I never did play," she replied and sat on the bed.
Mason rolled his eyes and began to remove his dark blue tie from around his neck then proceeded to unbutton his white shirt, his eyes never leaving Ciara who had her bottom lip between her teeth and eyes clouded. He chuckled and left his shirt on after unbuttoning them and walked over to where she sat.
"Why do you always put the blame on me whenever our son does something weird?" he asked and she laughed out. "Yeah, keep laughing cause one day, I'll surely catch one habit our son displays that belongs to you."
Ciara stuck her tongue out and laid back on the bed. She stared up at him until he pinned her to the bed and placed a kiss on her arm then cheek.
"I love you so much," he whispered and kissed her lips tenderly before pulling away with a soft smile. "I still thank God that you're mine, you know. I would have been a loser if I had let such a gem slip through my fingers and into another man's life cause you make falling in love so easy," he said to himself then looked into her eyes after tracing her body with his eyes. "I love you more and more."
Ciara smiled. "I love you more and more."
He chuckled and closed the gap between them with a kiss.
•••
Nora shut the front door and removed her coat then hung it on the rack by her side. She ran her fingers through her soft hair and walked towards the living room and almost peed herself when she saw Harry leaning against the kitchen entrance with his glasses on his head and his eyes narrowed, either from suspicion or from the fact that he couldn't see. She waved and approached him and watched as he put on his glasses and blinked.
"Where have you been?" He asked and she shrugged. "And you smell odd, like a different cologne."
Nora's eyes widened in panic and raised her arm then sniffed, only to panic the more she realized that she actually smelt like Jerome. She shut her eyes tight and thought of a lie.
"Uh, I was with some of my colleagues. We were discussing on a new book launch," she lied and he stared at her for a moment before nodding and walking into the kitchen.
Nora sighed and walked her way up the steps and into her room, all the while not knowing that Harry had come out of the kitchen to stare at her in confusion. He pulled out his phone and dialed a number which rang for a while.
"I'm trying to catch some sleep, i***t," Elizabeth stated in a grouchy tone from her side of the call.
"Can you stop being whiny for a second and listen up. Remember when I told you when I saw Nora texting on her phone the other night and she just came back and said something different from what she texted me earlier. I texted her earlier, asking where she was; she said she was going to see a cousin and now she comes back saying something else. I swear, I won't take it easily if I find out that the woman I'm in love with is cheating on me," he said breathlessly and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and index finger.
"Why don't you talk to her instead of assuming things. We know Nora can't stoop that low."
"We both made out, which is technically cheating when she was with Leila. So, she could still do it, you know. It's not that hard," he retorted and ended the call then gazed at the steps. "I just hope it isn't what I'm thinking, Nora."
•••
"So, it seems like one of them is actually making things easier for us, well, for you. Fiona, just do what you have to quickly because right now, I don't want to waste time taking what actually belongs to me," stated a masculine voice standing in front of a wide window.
Fiona stared at his back and exhaled then looked over at the woman sitting beside her who was equally covered with the shadows of the room. She smirked as she wondered what it would feel like to them if they ever found out that someone close by was manipulating their lives. She cleared her throat and relaxed on the couch she sat on and took a sip from her glass of wine.
"I can honestly say that I cannot wait because this will be the thrill of a lifetime. The ball is in our court and we will play fair and square," Fiona stated and laughed shortly and took another sip out of her glass cup.
"Waste no time, Fiona. We have to deploy every strategy that will wound everyone of them we have scores to settle with," the man said again and the two women nodded before the door opened, with a line of light from the hallway of the house seeping into room and only touching the stilettos of the shadowed woman beside Fiona.
"I hope you've gone through what you're supposed to do?" The man asked and the silhouetted woman at the door crossed her arms.
"Of course and I must say, it's so much fun being the bad guy," the woman at the door stated before walking forward and the light touched her face.
Henrietta smirked as the light shown on her face more.
- Writer
