*THE HOLLEN SERIES 03*
👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦EPISODE 25👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
*👁🗨 MORE THAN FRIENDS 👁🗨*
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
Ethan Junior’s POV
My jaw ached as I strolled towards the elevator to get to my office. I felt the pressure creeping in since I was left in charge of the company. Evan was on his honeymoon with Jasmine.
I walked into my office and threw myself onto the chair behind the large mahogany desk. I began fli-pping throu-gh paper work and doc-uments which Evan demanded I should look into.
I noticed there was a board meeting and a deal I had to seal in less than an hour.
Gathering myself and getting my thoughts together, I stood up, straightened my suit and walked into the boardroom.
“Good morning,” I greeted everyone.
“Good morning Mr. Hollen,” Mr. Alexander answered.
“Is this some kind of joke? Where’s Evan Hollen?” Mr. Alexander’s as-sistant asked while toying with a pencil in her folder. Her hair was pu-lled into a ti-ght bun and her hairline was thinning.
I was immediately annoyed by her prese-nce and tone of voice.
“My brother is on his honeymoon so in the meantime, I’m in charge,” I answered as I took a seat at the head of the large desk.
“This is absolutely so unprofessional of Evan and Hollen Tower. At least leave someone in charge who’s qualified and experience,” she inputted, still toying with the pencil and avoiding my eyes.
“Miss. Payne, I as-sure you that Ethan Junior Hollen is just as good as his brother. He is qualified to be in the position of the new COO of his father’s company. Just give him a chance,” Mr. Alexander pleaded to his as-sistant.
I was alre-ady boiling with anger and wanted to dismiss the woman but I knew how important it was to Hollen Tower to get Mr. Alexander on board with us.
“Thank you Mr. Alexander, now shall we get down to business?” I asked.
Miss. Payne looked at me with a smile and I responded back with a nod.
~
After the meeting, Mr. Alexander was on our p@rtnership side. Evan had called me five times while I was in the meeting to find out how I was handling things. I ignored all his calls until the ending.
“Bro, they’re on board with the company. He alre-ady wanted to invest ten million up front but I told him that transaction would have to run straight throu-gh you and not me.”
“Excellent. I’m proud of you,” he said from his end of the phone.
“How’s the honeymoon going? Is Jevan interrupting?” I joked.
They had taken him along, and knowing how troublesome Jevan was, I doubt Evan would have any time to —- you know.
“I think this is Jevan’s honeymoon instead,” he answered.
We shared a laugh and a loud knock came on my door. Two police officers busted throu-gh the door before I could have open it for them.
“Hello, can I help you officers?” I asked, phone still in my ear.
“Officers? Why are they there?” I heard Evan’s voice asking.
“Ethan Junior Hollen?” one asked.
“Yes that’s me,” I answered.
“We have a warrant for your arrest.”
“WHAT!!”
“WHAT!!” Evan seemed shocked as well.
“plea-se put down the phone and turn around sir,” the other one said as he reached for a pair of handcuffs.
“EJ! EJ! WHAT THE fu-ck IS GOING ON THERE?!” Evan’s last words ringed out before I ended the call.
“Why am I un-der arrest? What did I do?” My heart was racing. This wasn’t a joke someone was pla-ying on me.
“as-sault and Battery on a one Mr. Anton Mc. Calister last Saturday at a pool p@rty.”
I was slapped into handcuffs and ushered out of the room. Every pair of eyes from the employees were on me as the police officers walked me out of the building.
Gossip magazine columnists were alre-ady asking questions and the bright lights from the cameras blinded me for moments.
I was shoved into the back of the car and carried away like some low common criminal.
_______________________
Zenia’s POV
I stayed home from work on Monday. I didn’t have the mindset nor the energy of facing my backstabbing former best friend.
I stayed in my room, eating ice-cream and looking at the television. I felt so lonely once again.
EJ was avoiding and ignoring me.
Jasmine was on her honeymoon so I couldn’t disturb her with my drama.
Mom wasn’t like mom anymore.
And Ashley was no longer my best friend.
“This just in.
Ethan Junior Hollen, the last child of the billionaire Ethan Hollen, had been arrested.”
I spat out my ice-cream. I gr-abb£d the remote to the television and turned up the volume.
“Apparently, chargers were la-id against him from an as-sault last Saturday at an event. More news to follow.”
“WHAT!” I yelled with anger.
I reached for my phone and dialed Anton’s number.
~
“Hey Zen,” he answered after the fourth ring.
“You la-id charges against EJ?”
“Yes.”
“Why in the hell would you do something like that? The two of you fought like men so why did you pressed charges like a woman?!” I was mad.
“Look, my mum saw the bruises and she got pissed. I told her exactly what happened and she took me to the police station and I made a statement. I didn’t have a choice.”
“Bullshit! You always have a choice. Now EJ’s image is plastered all over the television. Do you know how bad this is for him, his family and their company?”
“Why should I care? He attacked me like a mad person.”
I heaved a long sigh as I thought of poor EJ, in handcuffs, head lowered as if he was crying.
I ended the call, rushed into the shower and took the fastest bath of my life. I jumped into long jeans, T-shirt and a blazer. I gr-abb£d my purse and ran out the door. In the elevator, I did my hair and my makeup.
I took a cab and headed downtown to the police station.
“Can I plea-se see Ethan Junior Hollen?” I asked a female police officer sitting behind a small desk.
“And you are?” she asked.
“Zenia Blackman,” I answered.
“Sign in plea-se.” She pushed a notebook in front of me with a pen.
~
“EJ, oh my goodness, I’m so sorry,” I said as I got to the holding cell. They had him caged up like an animal. It broke my heart to see him like that.
“That punk boyfriend of yours pressed charges.”
“He’s not my boyfriend EJ. You are.”
He scoffed loudly before shaking his head. He chuckled lightly as he stood up and walked closer to the bars.
“EJ,” I pleaded as tears welled up in my eyes.
“Don’t even think about crying..or maybe you really should because this is all your fault!”
“Quiet down!” A guard interrupted as he looked angrily at EJ.
“EJ, I’ll get you out of there.”
“I don’t nee-d your help Zenia. I don’t nee-d anything from you ever again. Why are you even here?”
“EJ, plea-se don’t do this to us again.” I was crying now.
“You’re the cause of all of this! I wouldn’t have been in here if you hadn’t brou-ght that idiot at the p@rty in the first place.”
“With all fairness, he’s my friend. And I didn’t tell you to attack him.”
“Ohhh, so this is my fault now?”
“Yes it’s your own fault.”
“Was it my fault when you ki-ssed him?”
I got quiet. Of course it wasn’t his fault. I shook my head no.
“You know what, just leave. My mom and dad are alre-ady coming to bail me out. I don’t nee-d your help and I don’t nee-d you in my life anymore! I don’t know why the fu-ck I was actually trying my ha-rdest to be with you when you always turn around and act like a bit-ch! I don’t want to see you ever again!”
“EJ! You’re speaking from an angry place. You don’t mean that.” Hot tears rolled down my face and I was beginning to break down again.
“I’m dead serious this time around.” His eyes were dark and cold.
“Ma’am, time to leave,” the guard said as he approached me.
“E..J,” my words trembled out.
“Leave!” EJ loudly shouted.
I lowered my head and walked away. As I walked out the entrance, EJ’s parents rushed pas-s me.
_____________________
I looked at the razor blades on the table I usually used when I was designing and making clothes. I slowly reached for it and brou-ght it to my wrist. The tears hadn’t stopped and the pain wasn’t giving up either.
It all hurt too much and this time, I wasn’t hoping for things to slow down and start over. This time, I wanted everything to come to an end.
I closed my ears and pressed the razor in
*THE HOLLEN SERIES 03*
👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦EPISODE 26👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
*👁🗨 MORE THAN FRIENDS 👁🗨*
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
This point of view would be told from Susan Blackman – the mother of Zenia and Jasmine.
Susan Blackman’s POV
I wanted to yell at him for constantly telling me to do the right thing. I know what the right thing was, I didn’t nee-d him to tell me. All the girls knew were that he wasn’t there for them as a father should.
I used the hand scanner to unlock the penthouse suite, Martin followed right behind me.
“I shouldn’t have brou-ght you here. Zenia still hasn’t warmed up to you and I don’t want to upset her more than she alre-ady is.”
“Susan, I think it’s best that you tell her the truth right now. You’re the reason why I wasn’t there for the girls.”
“I’m the reason Martin? Oh, of course you would say that because that’s all you were always good at. Putting the blame on me.”
He stepped back throu-gh the door. “You know what, when Jasmine gets back from her honeymoon, I’m going to tell her the truth. I don’t care how she’ll feel about you afterwards but they deserved to know!”
He walked out the door and I rushed after him. “Martin! Martin don’t you dare!”
He walked into the elevator and I was left with tears welling up in my eyes. I don’t know why he had to come back into my life and spoil everything going good for me.
I walked back into the penthouse, slumped and drained. As I walked pas-s Zenia’s room, I recalled her telling me that she wasn’t going into her boutique today and she seemed so sad and distant.
I blamed myself. I used to be so close to both my daughters but ever since Martin came back, I feared that I would lose my girls to the truth.
I knocked on Zenia’s b£droom door before entering.
“Zenia? Are you in here? Zenia?”
It was awfully quiet. I made my way towards her b£droom and came face to face with a horror image. My daughter’s b©dy was laying motionless on the b£d and her wrist was ra-pidly bleeding. The floor was alre-ady covered in a pool of blood.
“ZENIA!! ZENIA!! OH GOD! OH DEAR GOD! ZENIA, WHAT DID YOU DO!”
I noticed the razor she used to cut herself and I quickly tossed it off the b£d before checking her pulse or any signs of her being alive. Nothing.
I retrieved my phone from my pockets and called the emergency number. I related to the dispatcher on my daughter’s critical condition.
“Ma’am, an ambulance is on its way right now.”
“plea-se hurry. She’s not breathing. She’s not moving. There’s blood everywhere. plea-se hurry!”
Hot tears rolled down my eyes and I felt like I was dying as well.
“Zenia! Zenia! What did you do!” I cried as I looked at her.
After the longest ten minutes of my life, I heard the sirens outside the entrance of the hotel. I ran to the entrance of the elevator and met a team of paramedics.
“This way! In here!” I ushered them throu-gh the suite and into Zenia’s b£droom.
There was a short pause from them as they took in the awful sight.
“Check for pulse,” one said and they began speaking in a code language I couldn’t comprehend. I was too distraught to even bother to pick up on anything.
Zenia’s hand was ti-ghtly wra-pped and she was carried away on the gurney. I rushed after them and found a sp-ot in the back of the ambulance.
“Heart rate is low. Pulse fading. No other signs of vitals,” a female paramedic said as she inspected Zenia and hooked her up to the heart rate monitor in the ambulance.
“Is she going to be Okay?! Is she going to be okay?!” I repeated the same question over and over and lost count after ten.
_____________________
My feet rushed me throu-gh the emergency room of the hospital.
“No ma’am. You’re not allowed pas-s this point. You’ll have to stay in the waiting area over there.”
I was stopped by a doctor. “That’s my daughter!” I angrily shouted.
“I know that and we’re going to do all we can to revive her but you nee-d to wait out here.”
I nodded yes and wra-pped away the tears as I watched the back figure of the doctor rushing throu-gh the double doors Zenia was carried into.
I threw myself onto a ha-rduncomfortable chair and cried. I took out my cellphone to call Jasmine. In the haste of everything, I forgotten everything about my other daughter.
“Jas-sy,” I said throu-gh sobs when she answered after the third ring.
“Mom? Why are you crying? What’s going on?” her voice became serious with de-ep concern.
“Jas-sy. It’s….your sister… Zenia.”
“Mom, Evan, Jevan and I are alre-ady packing. EJ ran into some trouble so we’re coming home tomorrow.”
“No. You nee-d to come now.”
“Mom, is something else the matter?”
“Zenia tried to kill herself,” my voice broke.
“ZENIA TRIED TO DO WHAT?!”
I remained silent. I was crying again.
“Oh god! Mom, where are you? What happened?”
I breathe in and out slowly as I tried to calm myself. “I came home from work and I went into her b£droom to speak to her. She was laying down on the b£d, wrist cut, and blood all over the floor. Her condition is bad Jas-sy.”
“Mom, call Emma and Ethan to keep you company. I’m coming home right now. EVAN! EVAN!” I heard her yelling for her husband before she hung up.
I dialed Emma’s cellphone number with shaking fin-gers.
“Hey Susan. How are you?” she answered in her usual cheerful voice.
“Emma.”
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry about what EJ did. He had been punished and…. ” she spoke, as-suming I was sad because of something going on between her son and my daughter.
“Zenia tried to kill herself. She’s in the hospital and I don’t know if she’s going to be okay,” I clarified.
“What?”
I began crying throu-gh the phone yet again.
“Susan I’m on my way. ETHAN! ETHAN! EJ!” she began calling for her husband and her son. “Susan, we’re coming.”
____________________
After twenty minutes, Emma, Ethan and EJ arrived. I was happy to have the company and the comfort of another woman.
“Have you heard anything from the doctors as yet?” Ethan asked.
“No. No one is telling me anything.”
“She’s going to be okay. She has to be okay.” Emma comforted me as I la-id against her che-st. My tears were ruining her t-shirt but she didn’t care.
“This is all my fault. I shouldn’t have said those harsh words to Zenia. All she wanted to do was help me and I turned around and acted like such a damn idiot,” EJ said as the tears fell from his eyes.
His father pu-lled him against his shoulder and patted his back.
“Yes this is all your fault. I didn’t raised you to be so unkind and selfish!” his mother snapped at him. “Now Zenia is in this situation because of you!”
“Emma, no. plea-se don’t say that to him. He didn’t know Zenia would have done this to herself,” I defended.
It wasn’t the young man’s fault at all. He had no idea this would have happened and if he knew Zenia would have made a suicidal attempt, I believed he would of handled things differently between them.
“I should have known she was still un-der so much pressure. The baby, the fights, the boutque, her friend…” EJ was going on and on but I couldn’t hear anything else about he said ‘the baby’.
“The baby? What baby?” I asked alarmingly.
All eyes landed on him.
“Zenia didn’t tell you?” he asked surprisingly.
“No.”
“She had a miscarriage last year. I was the father.”
“WHAT?!” everyone else asked in unison.
~
I was about to lash out even more when I was suddenly interrupted by a doctor.
“Doctor, Doctor. How’s my daughter?” I rose from the chair. A weight la-id on my shoulder and a painful feeling was blocking the oxygen in my throat.
“Ma’am,” he began with a sympathetic expression on his face.
I wasn’t liking it one bit.
“Your daughter has gone into Hypovolemic Shock. The condition where the heart isn’t getting the required amount of blood to flow to the b©dy.
Zenia had lost a great amount of blood. Three pints to be exact. We’ve managed to stop the bleeding but we nee-d to conduct a blood transfusion as soon as possible.”
“Well then what are you waiting for? Go ahead and give her blood.”
“In Zenia’s case, her blood type is rear. She can give blood to everyone but she can only receive blood from one blood type. I’m afraid we don’t have this blood type in our bank. She’s O-.”
“Oh God. Oh God! My daughter is going to die. Are you really telling me that my daughter is going to die and there’s nothing I could do?
I’m not the same blood type with her!”
“Usually, the first sibling may have the may blood type. Does she have an older sister or a brother?”
“Sister. But she isn’t here. She’s not in the country. She’s on her way but she wouldn’t reach here for hours.”
I began breaking down.
“Ma’am, ma’am plea-se calm down and relax. Zenia is hanging in there..she’s…”
“SIR CODE 56! CODE 56! WE’RE LOSING HER!!” Another doctor blasted up as she ran between us and pu-lled the other doctor away.
I ran after them with Ethan and Emma calling after me.
“Susan! Susan wait! You can’t go in there!”
I pushed throu-gh the doors and saw the flat line on the EKG.
“ZENIAAAAAAAA!” I yelled at the top of my lungs before everything around me went dark.
TO BE CONTINUED….