GRACE
Monday morning came too slowly, giving me enough time to rest, but somehow I was running late in getting Laurel ready for school.
I dressed her up as quickly as possible, made her breakfast and packaged her lunch. I took the keys of the new car Connor got me after countless minutes of back and forth deliberations.
Should I? Should I not?
But I took it at the end of the day, convincing myself that it was the right thing to do and somehow, I was deserving of whatever he gives to me.
As soon as I came out of the house, my phone started vibrating like crazy but I turned it off and threw it into my bag. I knew it was most probably my friends or Connor but I had to take my child to school, and I couldn’t answer any calls or text while driving.
Laurie asked me about the car in her usual inquisitive manner, I told her it was given as a gift from Uncle Alpha so I could use it to drive her to school and back. She giggled bouncing on the new sit at the back as I drove off.
Today, I promise, I was going to tell her the truth about who Connor really was, I thought to myself listening to her ask about Uncle Alpha again and again.
She was totally comfortable with him and I couldn’t deny the fact that he was trying his best as well ever since he met us.
Falling in love with him was too easy and inevitable. He didn’t need to try too hard, he was someone you could fall head over heels for without knowing it, and I had to admit to myself that that was exactly my situation at this point.
I was head over heels in love with Connor Shelby. We got to Laurie’s school premises. I could safely say I have never driven a car as smooth or as expensive as this for my whole thirty years existence on earth.
I killed the engine and carried my baby girl to her classroom. I bade her goodbye after promising I was coming to get her myself and walked to the car smiling like a new lunatic.
I entered into the car and decided to turn my phone on, to reply messages or return the calls I had missed. Immediately my phone came on, I saw over hundred messages and seventy plus missed calls and voice mails.
Panic sets in instantly. Was any of my friends hurt? Did something happen to Connor? Those were my thoughts as I opened the notifications.
There were missed calls and messages from my best friends and none from Connor. They read:
NK: Gracie, are you okay? (Anxious emoji)
Jody: Omgg girlfriend are you okay? (Crying face)
NK: Please pick up your phone, Grace!
Jody: Why the hell is your phone switched off?!
NK: Gracie, please don’t do anything stupid okay? Where are you? Do you want to come to my place?
Jody: I’m at work already but if you want I can come over, Grace! Turn on your damn phone!
And they kept coming in like that.
What the hell is happening? Why are they this worried about me? Did they hear something? Wait, maybe this was about Connor, I wondered, confused as to who I should call first or reply first. Then I decided to make a face time call with the both of them.
They picked instantly and chorused my name, “Grace!”
“Hey, girls,” I waved at them, raising my hands to the phone screen. “What is happening? Why you both are worried about me? Did something happen? It’s certainly not Laurie, cuz I just dropped her off in school,”
They both peered their faces into their screen to look at my face properly as if unable to believe what they were hearing.
Jody adjusted her phone again and started to speak, “Grace, Connor-”
“How about you come to my place, Gracie?” NK cut her off immediately, and then I realized it was really about Connor. “Let’s talk about it over a cup of coffee.” NK suggested in an abnormally calm manner.
“Yes, great idea!” Jody concurred in an abnormally enthusiastic manner as well. They were both acting really strange and they knew it.
“Why can’t you tell me now?” I asked as a feeling of unease crept up my stomach. “Jody? Tell me okay? Whatever it is?” I turned to Jody, knowing she was the most impulsive amongst the three of us and she could give out an information without thinking twice.
NK was more disciplined with words, and that was most probably because of her job as a therapist. So I asked Jody instead.
“It’s not something we can tell you on the phone okay?” NK spoke cautiously, “Why not just trust us and come over? Okay?” she sounded like she was pleading.
Well I had nothing much to do asides some articles which I could always work on later, so I agreed reluctantly. I wished they would tell me now, instead they decide to punish me with curiosity.
“Alright then, if you guys say so,” I said begrudgingly, “I’m on my way now.” And I could literally hear both of them sigh in relief.
“But do one thing for me, Grace,” NK spoke up before I could end the call.
“What?”
“Turn off your phone as soon as you end this call.”
“Huh? Why?” I peered at my screen. Was it that serious? But why the hell would they not tell me what is going on?
I raked my hands in my hair in frustration. “What is happening sisters? Is Connor hurt?” I asked with a pounding chest, hoping with my whole heart that that was not the case.
“Connor is absolutely fine, Grace,” NK replied with her therapist tone. “Just turn off your phone, you’ll know what is happening when you get here, please?”
“Alright, fine.” I agreed begrudgingly and ended the call. I turned off my phone, dropped it on the passenger seat by my right and started the car.
NK’s place was over thirty minutes away from here. I hope curiosity and anxiety doesn’t eat me whole before I get there.
I drove as fast as I could, but not the Jody’s kind of speed that had road safety officers chasing her on the high way.
NK’s house was always green. Plants and flowers everywhere, even inside the rooms, toilets, kitchen, every part you can think of. Fun fact: NK could name all the flowers, even the rarest ones by just their smell. My bestie is amazing.
I drove into the compound and parked my new car close to one of NK’s and rushed to meet NK where she stood at the foyer to welcome me in. We usually sit in her sitting room whenever I came around but NK ushered me into her home office; the place where she actually attends to her patients or ‘clients’ as she preferred to call them.
I swallowed hard, realizing how serious this must be for NK to invite me to her office as I followed her into her eco-friendly office. The only door in the office was the door leading in and asides that, every other part was glasses so that you feel like you’re outside when you’re actually inside.
Thankfully, she asked me to sit on the sofa, and not on the relaxing chair for actual patients. I sat quietly waiting, watching her as she brought out her tablet phone, turn it on and handed it to me.
“That’s the article we wanted to tell you about,” she started before I had the chance to take a look, “we thought you had seen it already.” And then she fell silent.
I glanced at the headline of the article and then the words came at me. “CONNOR SHELBY, ONE OF LONDON’S MOST ELIGIBLE BILLONAIRE FINALLY GETS OF THE MARKET ANNOUNCES ENGANGEMENT TO EX-LOVER, ANGELA ZADOK.
“Gracie,” NK called calmly,
I ignored her and continued reading
” It is a shocking news to all of us as we didn’t see it coming…” and NK took tablet gently from my hands and came to sit closer to me.
It felt as though my whole world was crumbling and I was too powerless to hold it up. I covered my face and let the sobs wretch out of me.