*THE HOLLEN SERIES 02*
👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦EPISODE 28👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
*👁🗨 PERSONAL as-sISTANT👁🗨*
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
Evan’s POV
Oh hell no! I was not about to let Jessica ruin
this.
“What are you doing here?” Mom asked her
with an impolite frown on her face. She
disliked Jessica ever since high school. And
so did my twin sister.
“You’re not invited here, so why don’t you save
yourself the embarras-sment, and get lost!”
Emily snapped at her.
“Excuse me,” Jessica defended.
“No! Excuse YOU!” Emily blasted out.
“Everyone, I’ll handle this,” I said, taking a
stand and approaching Jessica. I placed a
hand across her back and led her out the
dinning room area without anymore fights.
“What were you even thinking?” My anger was
rising.
“I only wanted to join you and your family for
dinner.”
“How did you even find out about it? I never
invited you.”
“Your brother posted the dinner table on
Instagram and I’m one of his followers so I
saw it.”
“That doesn’t mean that you could pop up like
this Jessica. That’s a form of disrespect and
it’s not sitting right with my mother.”
“Is that because you alre-ady have a d@t£? What
is she even doing here anyway?” she snapped,
putting her hands on her h!ps.
“I invited her,” I answered.
“What! Your as-sistant? You’ve invited your
as-sistant to this dinner but you couldn’t invite
me?”
“You know what, I’m not doing this with you
anymore. Just leave.”
“Evan!”
I pointed in the direction of the main entrance
doors. “Leave!”
She nodded her head and walked throu-gh the
door while I walked back to the dinning room
without another glance at her.
“Is she gone?” Emily asked with a shout.
“I’m sorry about this everyone, especially you
Jasmine,” I apologized.
“It’s alright son, everyone knows she’s crazy,”
Dad joked, which earned a laugh from the rest
of us.
The atmosphere was cleared of Jessica’s
sudden interruption and dinner resumed
smoothly. I held Jasmine’s hand un-derneath
the table for the entire time.
Mom had the chefs prepare fried rice with
mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes with
cranberry sauce or gravy, baked chicken and
baked fish, vegetable salads, lasagna and
macaroni pie. A fine french wine was served
from Dad’s wine cellar. The way Jasmine ate, I
knew she enjoyed it. For dessert we had
strawberry cheesecake.
“My sister and I love strawberry cheesecake,”
she said softly to me.
“Remind me have the chefs box a slice for her
along with some dinner before we leave,” I said
back.
She nodded yes.
When the dessert had come to an end, and
Mom and Dad, Halley and Martin began talking
about ‘the good old days’, I excused myself
with Jasmine for a tour.
“Are we leaving alre-ady?” she asked, holding
my hand as we walked towards the elevator.
“No. I’m taking you upstairs,” I answered.
When we got there, we went into the be-droom
I occu-pied as a child while growing up with
my parents. “This used to be my be-droom
when I was a kid, before I got my own house.”
She looked around, eyeing the picture of The
King Of Pop, Michael Jackson, stuck on the
wall. I loved Michael Jackson. Sue me.
We walked out onto the balcony and patio
attached to the room. The sky held its stars in
all their glory, and Jasmine was gently pu-ll-ed
into my arms.
“I could stay like this forever,” I said in her ear.
“With me?” she asked.
“Of course you. Only you.”
Her sweet scent hit me and her warmth
wra-pped around me with ease. I placed a k!ss
on her forehead, taking in the ra-pid beats of
her heart.
*********
Jasmine’s POV
I stood in his arms as we looked up at the sky
from his patio.
His hold had a great effect on me and I hoped
that he wasn’t hearing my racing heartbeats.
He led me back into the be-droom and instantly
went for myl-ips. He p@rted my bo-ttoml!pwith
his ton-gue then he collided our ton-gues
together. I surrendered myself instantly to his
every t©uçh and the ro-mantic k!ssbetween us.
My feet began moving backwards in the
direction of his be-d.
My bu-tt hit the mattress and he hovered over
me, not breaking the k!ssfor anything. His
hands roamed my b©dy and found their way
un-derneath the Sk-irt. My skin grew
goosebu-mps as his mouth traveled to my n£¢k
and his hand moved higher and closer to my
pri-vate area. I felt my p@n-ties being p@rted to
the side and his f!nger went onto my joy sp©t.
I let out a soft m0@n , afraid of being heard by
who this house actually belonged.
I couldn’t st©p the flooding effect to the
entrance and control myself. I gr@bb£d onto
my be-d sheets and shut my eyes.
“You’re we-t for me baby,” he tea-sed softly and
in a voice that made me even we-tter than I
alre-ady was.
I shivered as I re-leased my hold on the sheets
and moved my hands un-derneath his shi-t,
removing it and taking in his perfect fit.
Why everything about this man has to be so
damn perfect?
His mouth clashed with mine again and I
attem-pted to re-move my p@n-ties so he would
have easier access to me– right now and right
here, right this very second. I couldn’t st©p
myself from wanting him more and more
anymore. Now I un-derstood why his exes
c@m£ by his office and cried when he gave
them white roses and wouldn’t take them
back.
My p@n-ties got to my ankles when he st©pped
me and hoisted them back up to where they
belonged– un-derneath my Sk-irt. He moved off
me and we both sat up.
“Did I do something wrong?” I asked, feeling
rejected and somewhat ashamed.
“No. You’re perfect,” he answered, which made
me even more puzzled. He went on, ” I
shouldn’t have started this. It’s just that, if we
were to really do this, then we’ll do so at my
house and not my parents.” He solved the
puzzle in my br@in.
“I un-derstand,” I responded softly.
He pu-ll-ed me into a hvg and another k!ss.
“re-ady for me to take you home?” he asked,
putting on his T-shi-t.
I looked at my wrist watch. It showed 10:45
pm. My sister must be waiting up for me to
arrive so she could get every detail about my
night.
“Also, you can have the day off tomorrow to
relax with your mother. I’ll see you at the office
on Monday,” he added.
I nodded.
He took my hand, stood up, and I followed
him out of his mas-sive be-droom– the room
was as big as my entire ap@rtment. We met
his mother and father downstairs and gave our
farewells. He had the chef package a dinner
plate for Zenia and a slice of strawberry
cheesecake.
“It was so nice meeting you, Jasmine, and we
hope to see you again soon,” his mom said as
she hvgged me when she walked us out.
“Thank you, dinner was lovely and you have a
beautiful home. I hope to see you again as
well.”
“Bye!” she waved us off as we got into the car
and drove out of the hvge golden gates.
“Thank you for tonight,” I told him as he parked
on the pavement to my ap@rtment.
“No. I should be thanking you,” he said.
I pu-ll-ed him in for a k!ss. My f!ngersraked
throu-gh his hair to their own accord. He let out
a soft m0@n before breaking the k!ss.
“If you continue to do this, I’ll have to take you
to my house,” he joked.
“Good night.”
“Good night, Jasmine.”
I got out the car and walked towards my door,
feeling his eyes on me. He didn’t drive away
until I was inside my ap@rtment.
“You’re back!” Zenia yelled as her eyes met
me. I handed her the dinner plate and she
began devouring it immediately.
“Damn Zen, you are hungry,” I joked.
“Shut up!” she snapped with a mouth filled with
rice, “I love food.”
I flopped down on the couch and re-moved my
shoes.
“How was your d@t£?” she asked adjusting
herself on the couch to look at me with her
undivided attention.
As I recapitulated the events of the night, her
eyes grew wi-der and wi-der.
“Shut up. You made out in his be-droom?” she
asked with a laugh when I’d gotten to that
detail.
“Yes,” I answered, removing my t©p.
“You should be careful though, especially with
both men knowing where you live. br@dley
c@m£ by looking for you.”
“What? What did he want?”
“I have no idea. All he said was that he wanted
to talk to you but you weren’t answering your
phone.”
“Because I put my phone on silent. I didn’t
want it ringing at The Hollen’s dinner.”
“You better start drawing the line in the sand
between those two. The last thing you want is
to have a billionaire versus millionaire br@wl.”
I pondered on her advice. It made s-en-se
because it was possible to occur and it was
something I didn’t want between Evan and
br@dley.
But who do I choose exactly when I’ve alre-ady
taken both men into consideration?
________
*
*THE HOLLEN SERIES 02*
👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦EPISODE 29👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
*👁🗨 PERSONAL as-sISTANT👁🗨*
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
Evan’s POV
Friday c@m£ almost instantly.
I had just come back into my office from the
boardroom meeting and I was in the best of
moods. The company had made a net profit of
ten million dollars from the five companies
we’ve invested in, taken over, and developed
on a wi-der scale in the last six months.
I can give my employees a raise and a
respectable bonus at the end of the year.
I sat down in my chair while my mind went
back to last night’s special episode in my
be-droom at my family’s house. I wanted more
of that. I nee-ded more of that. I missed her
pres£nce in the office but I wanted her to be
with her mother. Her mom would be finally
coming home from the hospital after a
successful lung transplant surgery. I would tell
her the truth very soon.
She nee-ds to know that I paid for the surgery
and the outstanding medical bills.
I took my cellphone out my pocket and dialed
Jasmine’s number. “Hi,” I spoke up as she
answered her phone.
“Hi, how are you?”
“I’m okay. Just c@m£ from the meeting and I’m
missing you. What are you doing?”
“Getting re-ady to go meet my mother at the
hospital. She’s waiting to be discharged by the
doctors now.”
“Do you want me to come and get you? I can
take you to the hospital.”
“No no no, I’m not going to put you throu-gh
that trouble. Stay at the office. I can handle
this.”
“Okay. I miss you.”
“Miss you too.”
“Call me when you get back?”
“Sure.”
I ended the call and a smile c@m£ across my
face.
“WE nee-d TO TALK!” another voice blurted out,
startling me and removing me from my mood,
shaking Jasmine’s images from my thoughts.
“What is it Jessica?” I asked.
“How can you do this to me, Evan? You’re
really going out with that as-sistant of yours
while we’re d@t!ng?” She walked up to my
desk.
“Oh, is that what we’re doing?” I asked.
“YES!” she hovered over my desk and gave me
an awful look, ma-king me laugh. “Am I funny
to you Evan?”
“Yes you are,” I answered.
“Eva–”
“Don’t start this bull$h!t with me, Jessica.
Today really isn’t the day to get me on the
other side. Which is the side you’ll never like
to see. You and I are not official, we never
were. Maybe you let that ring go to your head,
but that isn’t an engagement ring, and you
damn well know that. It’s the ring you lost
when I took you on the hiking trip eight years
ago. I felt like it was my fault you lost it, and I
promised to replace it, but when I actually
wanted to you disappeared.
“I don’t break my promises and I don’t forget
them; hence, the new and replaced ring on
your f!nger. So you can st©p pretending like
we’re engaged and we’re a thing, because we’re
not. I found someone else.”
A stack of papers met my face.
Did she just throw paper at me? That delusional
nut job!
“YOU’RE NOT BREAKING UP WITH ME!” she
screamed and sounded much like the others.
“We were never a couple Jessica. I may have
strung you along when you popped up out
of the blue, but I don’t want you in my life.
You’re crazy, unstable and overly possessive.
and lets not forget that embarras-sing moment
when you c@m£ in here with d!¢k pills.”
“Evan, plea-se don’t do this. I love you.”
“Well I don’t love you so get out of my office
and out of my building before I call security.
And, by the way, here you are.” I handed her a
white rose.
Tears rolled down her face and, with the pride
she had left, she turned around and walked out
my office.
Good riddance.
*********
Jasmine’s POV
I locked my ap@rtment and ran downstairs.
Fetching a bus, I went directly to the hospital.
“Miss Blackman!” Dr. Shannon called as I
entered the ward. She had been expecting me.
“How’s my mom?” I asked immediately.
“re-ady to be discharged. I’ve been waiting on
your arrival before doing so.”
I followed her to my mother’s as-signed room.
Mom was sitting up on the be-d– a big smile
on her face and the color of her skin looked
so polished. Her eyes lit up when she saw me
and she pu-ll-ed me into a big bear hvg.
“How are you feeling?” I asked her, wiping at
my tears of joy.
“I’m fantastic,” she replied, sounding like her
old self again.
I embr@ced her even ti-ghter, daring anyone to
interrupt this moment.
“Miss Susan Blackman, I must say, it was very
scary being your appointed doctor. It would
have haunted me if I had to ever pu-ll that plug
and take you away from your beautiful ladies.
But God was looking out for you and he s£nt
forth that person to save you. I wish you all the
best in life and happiness,” Dr. Shannon said
to my mother as she was being discharged.
“Thank you doctor. For everything,” mom said,
shaking hands with Dr. Shannon.
I was still holding onto my mother.
We finally broke ap@rt and, together, we walked
out of the hospital. I hoped I never had to be
in a situation like this again. I hated hospitals
with a pas-sion.
I unlocked my ap@rtment door and ushered
mom inside.
“It’s good to be back home,” she said,
throwing up her hands in the air like she had
won a victory. Well, she did, actually. She beat
death and she won.
“It’s good to have you back mom.”
“Where’s Zenia?”
“She’s at work. She got a summer job at Las
Chicas Boutique . You know her and fashion are
best of friends.”
“Yes. I’m happy she’s doing something very
constructive with her life.”
Mom sat down on the couch. I went to the
kitchen and brou-ght her back a glas-s of water.
“Thank you sweetie,” she said before twisting
the cap and bringing it to herl-ips. “I’ve been
meaning to ask you this, do you know who
paid for my lung transplant?”
“Yeah,” I answered.
“Who?”
“Why you want to know that? The only thing
that matters is that it’s alre-ady done and you’re
not six feet un-der the ground.”
“I want to know because I want to thank that
person, Jasmine. You don’t have to sas-s me.”
“br@dley.”
“What?”
“br@dley Pittsburg from college. My ex
b©yfri£nd. He paid for it. I told him about your
condition and he paid for it.”
“You let that boy pay for my transplant?!”
“You see! That’s why I didn’t want to tell you
anything because I know you would snap like
this. He did a good thing, mom. What he did
in the past, I can’t change that, but he’s sorry
for what he did. He went out of his way to pay
over seven hundred thousand dollars for YOU!
Be grateful and st©p holding grudges for what
he did to me because I alre-ady forgave him.
So who are you to keep on hating him?”
“Why are you talking to me like this? And
picking sides?” My mother was hurt by my
words.
“Mom, I’m not picking any sides because there
are none. Just st©p this. You’re home and
you’re alive. Lets just have something to eat
and enjoy you being back.”
She nodded.
“I’m sorry mom if my tone and words offended
you,” I apologized.
Life is short and I didn’t want my mom to
waste hers holding onto a grudge, or grudges,
against everyone who had hurt me throu-ghout
my lifetime. I was a better person and I had
learnt to let the past go. So why couldn’t she?
br@dley did hurt me. He hurt me beyond what
my heart could handle, but he made it up by
doing something no one else would have done
at that time for me, mom and Zenia. I had
forgiven him and I knew he wouldn’t do
anything so stupid again. I believed he learned
his lesson.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
1 New Message
s£nder: Mr. Hollen
I think I’m falling for you. Can’t wait to see you
again and hold you in my arms.
A smile c@m£ to myl-ips.
My phone buzzed again.
1 New Message
s£nder: br@dley Pittsburg
I can’t st©p thinking about you. I miss you and
I’m dying to see you. I love you Jasmine. I want
us back together.
I heaved a sigh as I raked my hand throu-gh
my hair and placed my phone on the kitchen
island.
Who exactly should I settle for ?
________
*TO BE CONTINUED*