chapter 21

"So, what did you do that landed you in jail?" I ask Nate while my eyes are focused on the road. He got released, and I am driving us home.

"Street racing," Nate informs.

"Seriously?" I ask.

"Yep, now please let's talk about something else? I already feel bad." Nate suggests and I nod.

"So, what will happen if you receive the scholarship from that team... Um… what is called again?" I ask. I remember Andrew telling me about the team one day.

"Wolves," Nate informs me.

"So, how does it work?"

"They have this Scholarship program every year to look for the best cricket players in small teams and offer them scholarships. They train you to be the best and you attend classes too." Nate says, and I drive into the garage.

We both climb out and walk towards the door.

"Can you teach me how to race?" I ask. I love fast cars, why not learn how to race as well.

"What?" Nate asks.

"Will you teach me how to race?" I ask.

"I would love to teach you sister-in-law, but I still value my balls, so, no, I can't now," Nate says, and I chuckle.

"Tay is already pissed. Imagine when he finds out I'm teaching his wife how to race? I will be a dead man walking!" Nate says, shaking his head at me, and I chuckle.

"I need to wash off the prison smell," Nate says.

"Goodnight sister-in-law,"

"Night." with that Nate rushes up the stairs. I make my way to the kitchen and grab a bottle of water. I walked up the stairs drinking from the bottle, I slid into my room. I place the bottle on the bedside counter and get under the covers. Soon, sleep consumes me.

The alarm buzzing jolts me awake; I groan and rub my eyes.

I should have just gone with Tay.

I drag myself from the bed and make my way to the bathroom. The hot water cascading keeps me awake. I wash my hair and seconds later, I wrap myself with a towel. I dress up in skinny jeans, a sweater, and sneakers. I comb my hair, grab my backpack, and then walk out. I walk to the kitchen and grab an apple from the wire of fruits baskets and also my car keys.

Well, Nate's car keys, the Lamborghini.

I get in the driver's seat, buckle up, and drive to Chad's Media House. I should plan to work from home, waking up early in the morning is a big no. Seconds later, I drive into CMH's driveway. I climb out of the car and make my way towards the building.

"Morning," I greet the receptionist.

"Morning, Mrs. Payne." with that I walked towards the elevator. I slid in with some co-workers; I stayed at the back, listening to their latest gossip about Chad. After what seemed like forever the elevator dings, I let out a sigh and walk to my office.

The office is still the same way I left it. I place my backpack on the opposite chair, plug in my ear sets, and get to work. I work faster when I listen to music. Hours pass and now it is lunchtime. I make my way to the canteen.

I get pizza, two sprites, and make my way to Chad's office. I knock and pop my head in.

"Peace offering?" I show him the small box of pizza, and he gestures me in.

"You didn't have to," Chad says and walks towards me. He takes the box and I take a seat. He pulls his chair and sits next to me. I hand him his drink, and we dig in.

"I'm sorry about the drama Tay caused," I apologize.

"Don't worry about it, I would have done the same thing too if I had a beautiful wife like you," Chad says, and a smile forms on my lips.

"Tay told me about Emily, I'm sorry." I inform Chad.

"It's in the past now and we were just teenagers, so it's nothing," Chad says and I try to read his eyes which I fail miserably.

Why can't I read people by just looking at their eyes?

A knock is heard and a woman, along with a nurse, walks in.

"Mom? What are you doing here?" Chad says as he stands from his chair.

"You haven't visited me in a while, so I came to you," The woman says and Chad hugs her.

"Mom, you know it's not safe for you," Chad says, and glares at the nurse for answers.

"I tried; you know how your mother can be." The nurse says and Chad sighs. Chad's mother's eyes land on me, and she smiles.

"You are so pretty," Chad's mother says, walking towards me and hugs me.

"Now, I see why you were not visiting," Chad's mother says and smiles at her son.

"Mother, it's not what you think…." He tries to explain, but his mother is too excited to listen.

"I'm Lira; I can't believe he has been hiding you from me." Lira says and I look at Chad, and he gives me the look that says 'Go with it, I will explain later'.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Olivia," I tell Lira.

"You should come with us to the park. I came to get my son," Lira suggests.

"Um... I…" she cuts me off.

"Please?" She makes puppy eyes and I give in.

"Okay," I say, and she half-smile at me.

"Go with the nurse. We will be with you in a while," Chad tells his mother, and she leaves with the nurse.

"Sorry about that," Chad says.

"She has Alzheimer," Chad informs me, and I gasp. Alzheimer affects the brain cells, and behavior. It doesn't have a cure and results in death. Their behavior changes from teenagers to adults. Sometimes suffering from memory loss.

"I'm sorry," I tell Chad.

"We better go if you don't want her to come and drag us out of this office," Chad says and fakes a smile.

Again, I think the illness would have suited my mother better.

The walk to the park is short, Lira taking pictures on her camera. Chad and I are sitting at the bench watching his mother taking pictures with her nurse. She turns, walks towards the bench, and takes a picture of us.

"How long has she had Alzheimer?" I ask.

"About five years now," he informs and I place my hand over his.

"I'm sorry." he looks at me and takes me by surprise when he crashes his lips with mine.

I place my hands on his arms to steady myself. I respond to his kiss, but nothing happens within me. No sparks, no Goosebumps, no tingles, the kiss feels like... Well just like a kiss. It is not bad, he is a good kisser, but nothing wakes up in me like when I kiss Tay. With Tay, my body has this heat only he can produce it. The heat hit my core. My stomach gets filled with butterflies—that's what happens when I kiss Tay.

With Tay, it's like we are Venus and Mars, we complete the cycle. We are not strangers to pain and darkness, together we heal each other. He made me realise that every cloud has a silver lining. Before, I lived my life because I was born. But now, there's so much to fight for and I have someone who will love me for who I am.

I break the kiss and look at him shocked, "I'm so sorry. I don't know what came over me." Chad says.

"It's fine. We need to get back to the office," I inform Chad, and he nod.

We walk back to the office in an awkward silence and I make my way to mine. I checked my phone to see if I had missed calls from Tay, but found none.

I finish all my work, grab my belongings, and walk out. The drive back to the mansion is short.

I walk into the living room to find Nate, Future, and Andrew with two big bowls of popcorn watching TV.

"Hey, come. WrestleMania is just starting!" Future informs. I take off my shoes and sit down on the blanket with Future. Nate and Andrew are sitting on the couch.

"Five hundred rands on John Cena," Nate says, placing five hundred rands on the table.

"I love John Cena, but he is old now, so I'm going with Roman Reigns," Future says, placing six hundred rands on the table.

"I'm going with John Cena," I say and place five hundred rands on the table, even though I don't have the slightest clue who is who.

"Andrew?" Nate asks and Future gives him 'you better support me or else you are not getting any tonight' look.

"Roman Reigns," Andrew says and places five hundred rands on the table. We get comfortable and eat popcorn as we watch the two-man fight.

"That's cheating," Nate yells, and I swat his leg to keep him quiet. They have been fighting for over an hour now, both are not giving up that easily.

Have you ever experienced that moment when the referee is about to count to three then suddenly a reminder appears on the screen and before you can cancel it, it changes to another channel?

Yep, that is happening right now. We all turn to glare at Nate as he is the only one in this house who watches Keeping up with the Kardashians.

"What?" Nate shoves a hand full of popcorn in his mouth.

"Switch back to super sport you douche." Future demands.

"I don't know where the remote is," Nate shrugs, and a smile forms on my face.

Future stands on her feet and switches to super sport using the decoder. None of them won. Seth Rollins interfered.

"Now we missed what happened because you set a reminder for a reality show. Really, Nate?" To say Future is angry was an understatement.

"Your dear Roman Reigns didn't lose, no need to chop my head off," Nate says, and I chuckle. Everyone takes their money as none of them won, and I make my way to my room.

I call Tay when I get in the room, but he doesn't answer. I give up and take a shower, dress up in my silk pajamas. I watch the ceiling until my eyes burn to sleep.

The next four days pass by as a blur, with me going to the office then coming back home. Tay has answered none of my calls, and I was getting anxious every day. Tonight, he is coming back, and I have been up waiting for him, but my eyes are dropping. An hour passed, and I gave up on staying awake and let sleep consume me.

I jolted awake because of sleeping on a couch and checked the time.

2 am.

Tay must have arrived by now. I spot his bag on the bed and my stomach flips with butterflies. I check the bathroom but don't find him there. I walk out and make my way to his study. My stomach flips with butterflies with each step I take. I knock and open.

Tay is sitting on his chair with a drink in his hand. He looks broken, has dark circles under his eyes. They are even visible under the dimmed lights. I slowly make my way to him. I know he heard me walking in, but he kept his eyes glued to something on his desk.

"Tay," I call. No answer. I divert my eyes to the table and my legs wobble and if it wasn't for the desk, I would have fallen. Pictures of me for the last five days were on the table, including the ones where Chad and I were kissing.

"You had me followed?" I ask in a weak voice.