Change

At the mention of his wife, Dexter remembered Lena and the incident that took place yesterday before he met Hayley. Hayley could sense the change of sadness in his countenance. Had she opened an old wound unknowingly?

"I'm sorry," she apologized.

Dexter looked at her surprised. What was she apologizing for? No one apologized to him even if they were wrong, yet the beautiful angel had done so.

He smiled at her revealing his white set of teeth.

"My name is Dexter," Dexter said, taking into detail every one of Hayley's reactions.

Hayley glanced at him. She knew he was waiting for her to tell him her name. She didn't know if he would recognize the name Darnell.

"I'm Hayley," she said barely audibly. "Hayley Summer,"

"Darnell?" Dexter asked, his eyebrows drawn in a frown.

Hayley hesitated. Did he know her? She could see the knowing look on his face.

"I have seen you before," Dexter said, as if reading her mind. "In a magazine,"

"Ohh," Hayley replied and blushed, her cheeks turning bright pink.

They sat quietly, each thinking about their issues. Hayley's phone suddenly rang, and she moved towards the door to answer it. Dexter stared at her. She walked like a queen, her body moving gracefully. Hayley went back towards the chair and picked up her bag.

"I have to go now," she said, and walked towards the door. She opened the door, paused, then turned back. "I will see you again," she said, then shut the door after her. Dexter sighed.

June's phone rang, but she ignored it as she cuddled closer to Rob. After Hayley had caught them together she saw no reason to leave and had spent the night there making passionate love with Rob. At twenty-six June was an upcoming artist struggling to sell her works to big-shot clients. She had met Rob, who was an engineer, at a dinner party. They had exchanged numbers and gone out on one or two dates. June wasn't interested in Rob until Mirabel introduced him to Hayley. Secretly jealous of Hayley, she had seduced Rob and made him fall in love with her. Rob told her of Mirabel's intention to join him and Hayley in holy matrimony. June urged him to pretend he loved Hayley and get married to her. She knew Hayley was going to have a part of Mirabel's wealth when she died, and she needed to have someone close to Hayley who would be able to carry out her plan.

Her phone rang again, and she cursed under her breath.

"Who is it?" Rob asked.

June reached out, grabbed her phone off the dresser and glared into the screen. It was a strange number.

"Hello," June said.

A kind of rumbling noise could be heard from the other end and a man's voice came through. "Ma'am, we couldn't get her,"

June thought for a second then suddenly figured it out. "What do you mean?" She asked angrily.

Rob heard the anger in her voice and sat up.

The man, on the other, cleared his throat and said gruffly, "A man helped her escape."

"Who?" June yelled, furiously because she knew Hayley didn't have a bodyguard.

"I don't know ma'am," the man said.

June ended the call and threw her phone on the bed. She had paid two hooligans to kill Hayley, and they had failed. She wondered who had helped Hayley escape. Perhaps Hayley had already told her grandmother Mirabel about them. She sighed weakly.

"What is it?" Rob asked, pulling her close and caressing her.

"They didn't get her!" June replied.

"No, it can't be. I have been calling her for the past two days, but she isn't answering the phone," Rob said confused. He knew Hayley never missed her calls.

"You think she would want to talk to you," June said with a smirk. "After she caught you cheating,"

"I also called her secretary. She hadn't been able to reach her for the past two days," Rob said. "I think something happened to her,"

June thought for some seconds. She had expected Mirabel to summon her now. Hadn't Hayley gone to whine to her? Was Hayley lying low for the time being because she had been attacked?

She stared into Rob's eyes and caressed his face. "You know I love you, right?" She asked.

"Of course my love," Rob replied, staring into June's eyes, intrigued by her enthralling personality.

"You have to deny whatever she says no matter what happens," June said firmly.

Lena walked into the house. She had just gotten back from her date with George Vialda, a big movie producer in Hollywood. She sighed weakly. The date hadn't gone as she had planned. George was a married religious freak. He hadn't taken a fancy to her and had walked out on her when she tried to seduce him.

She kicked off her shoes and slumped on the chair. Her phone buzzed, and she fished it from her clutch bag. It was a message from Zack Devine, one of her male lovers in Las Vegas.

Mr Zack Devine, CEO of Devines' company, was a sixty-seven-year-old divorcee. He had been married four times and had three mistresses in Paris, Los Angeles and Houston. He also had fourteen children from affairs he had with different women in different countries he went visiting.

Lena had met him at her friend's father's birthday party. Zack had noticed her, walked over to her and introduced himself. He was enthralled by Lena's charm and great personality. Lena saw him as a man rolling in dough and cashed in on the opportunity. She accompanied him to his hotel room and ended up spending the night with him. Zack enjoyed every moment of their lovemaking and asked her to be his trust fund baby. Lena agreed and for the next few days, Lena and Zack went on a shopping spree, buying expensive items. Zack rained dollars on a gleeful Lena, who reciprocated his gesture by fucking his brains out. They spent two weeks in Zack's penthouse in Miami, then went sightseeing on Zack's boat in Paris. Among all Lena's sugar daddies, Zack was the only possessive man she had ever had an affair with. He was a jealous fellow by nature and didn't want Lena to see anyone else. Lena was shocked when he proposed to her in a hotel in the Bahamas. Lena had explained that she was still legally married, but Zack wanted to hear none of it. He asks her to divorce Dexter and marry him because he doesn't share his 'things' with anyone.

Lena opened the text message and read it quietly. Zack had asked to visit her family next week.