*THE HOLLEN SERIES*
👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦EPISODE 22👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
*👁🗨COFFEE AND PAPER👁🗨*
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
Ethan’s POV
I couldn’t believe Sharon was here. I had crept
out of Emma’s room and ti-ptoed over to mine.
I closed the door softly and hopped in the
shower. I heard the door open and closed and
the sound of heels hitting on the floor as I
soaped my b©dy.
“Baby, are you in here?”
“Yeah, I’m in the shower,” I answered.
She entered the bathroom. “Where were you?
I’ve been looking everywhere for you, Ethan.”
“Just c@m£ from the beach. I didn’t know you
were coming,” I answered, the water running
over me.
“I’ll wait in the be-droom. I nee-d a favor from
you.”
When I got out of the shower she was sitting
on my be-d, bouncing her heels over the floor
with her long, crossed legs.
“Hi, sweetie.” I gave her a quic-k k!ss. “What’s
going on? You’re supposed to be out of the
country.”
“I know, I know. I was but I had to fly back
because I didn’t have enough money for a
clothing line I plan to take over in the future.”
“And how much you nee-d?”
“Not much, just ten thousand.”
I heaved a sigh but I was going to do anything
to get rid of her at this moment. I only wanted
to spend time with Emma this weekend. So I
wrote Sharon a check and she took it smiling.
“Thanks baby, I appreciate it,” she said with a
brighter smile.
“You’re welcome.”
“I’m hungry. What do you have to eat? I still
have about half an hour to spare.”
“Let me get dressed and we’ll go downstairs.”
“Okay.”
I prepared a plate for the both of us and we
sat down to eat. She started talking about Italy,
the fashion shows and the models, and the
sights she had seen so far.
“Baby, I’m in love with the place. It’s so
perfect.” She wouldn’t st©p talking.
I smiled and nodded to make it appear I was
paying attention, but I really wasn’t listening to
what she was saying. I couldn’t st©p thinking
about Emma. Her b©dy was so perfect, her
skin so smooth and soft. Her sweetl-ips on
mine as I devoured her mouth, she tasted so
delicious.
“Baby! Baby!”
I snapped out of my thoughts.
“What are you thinking about?”
“I’m just thinking about tomorrow. The
auction.”
“Oh, so sorry I won’t make it. But I’m sort of
happy that the maids are going along instead
of just you.”
At that moment, Emma and Halley appeared.
Sharon sm-irked.
“Sit,” I invited them.
I saw when Emma narrowed her eyes at me.
They sat down after ma-king themselves a
plate. Sharon placed a k!sson my cheek,
thanked me for the money and walked out. I
got up and went to see her off. I wanted to be
sure she was gone. I stood outside until her
car was out of sight then went back to the
kitchen. Everyone was so quiet. Halley didn’t
say a word to me or Emma.
Emma insisted on clearing the kitchen table
and doing the dishes. I went up to my room
and waited there for her.
After half an hour I heard her coming up the
stairs about to walk by my be-droom, but I
opened the door and pu-ll-ed her in to finish
what we had started, but she rejected me. She
wanted me to be a free man before she lay
with me and I was happy at that fact. She had
respect for herself, she wasn’t just some easy
girl who’d jump into be-d with a guy because he
was a billionaire. With Emma, my title, my
money and my power didn’t matter. She
wanted to be in love with someone and she
expected that someone to be in love with her
also. I wanted to be that someone; I wanted
her to be mine.
The fact that I was engaged to Sharon was a
great obstacle in our way. Sharon was a nice
woman, in her own way, and successful, but
something was just not connecting between us
anymore. I wanted to break it off long before
Emma even c@m£ into the picture, but my
mother… My mother was on my back like a
damn tick, and she liked Sharon. They were
practically exactly alike and seemed to have a
lot in common, especially fashion.
“Don’t you dare break her heart or I’ll break
your n£¢k,” she’d told me when she threw our
engagement p@rty at one of her h0tels.
But I would get my n£¢k broken for Emma
because she was becoming the woman I
wanted to spend the rest of my life with. I’d
fallen for her even more. I wanted her to be
mine; I nee-ded her to be mine. She lit a spark
in me I didn’t even knew existed. It wasn’t just
about her b©dy. I wanted to spend the rest of
my life with her. I wanted to make her my
wife. I was going crazy over her and I didn’t
know what it was but something was drawing
me to her.
When she left my room, I pondered what she’d
said to me. She wouldn’t have S-x with me
until I left Sharon, and, knowing Sharon, she
wouldn’t let me go that easily, especially if she
knew I was leaving her for Emma– my maid.
Sharon would lose her $h!t, but I didn’t care. It
would be over when we saw each other face-
to-face again next weekend.
I heaved another sigh as I headed to my closet
and picked out a suit for tomorrow night. The
auction was expected to be great. My parents
would be there, and my grandmother. I hadn’t
seen my grandmother in so long. I couldn’t
wait to throw her birthday p@rty. I had
promised her that since the beginning of the
year and I didn’t break my promises.
As for my parents, I wished to just greet them
when I see them tomorrow. We didn’t get
along well if we spent more than an hour in
the same room. I got emotional and angry,
and they got technical and harsh. My father
always had excuses and mom always had
something useless to talk about. We just didn’t
mix well at all. I didn’t hate my parents but my
grandmother was my favorite family member.
She wanted to have a great-grandchild before
she died.
I throu-gh back to when Sharon thought she
was pregnant five months ago. She had
missed her period the previous month and
bec@m£ obsessed with the thought of being a
mom. Although she took a pregnancy test and
it was negative, she believed it was too early
to tell and the tests were all wrong. She took
ten tests. When her period finally c@m£, she
cried for five days.
I looked at my watch– midnight. I couldn’t
sleep. I kept thinking of the girl in the room on
my right. I la-id on my pillow and just stared
blankly at the ceiling. My phone buzzed. I
peeked at the text.
Hi baby. I miss you so much. I can’t wait to
come back home to you. Btw, I’ve got
something to discuss with you when I get back.
Sharon always had something to discuss with
me. I was certain it was another plan for the
wedding. She was only ma-king it more difficult
to break the news to her that I just couldn’t be
with her anymore.
I continued to think about Emma, proposing to
her with a ring so beautiful she’d cry. I’d have
my dream wedding with her, all my family and
friends who’d become her family and her
friends too. Her maid of honor would be
Halley, I knew that for certain. She would move
up to my be-droom and not be a maid
anymore– I’d hire new ones. Then she’d have
my kids, our kids. I always wanted a boy and
a girl. I’d spoil them rotten. They’d grow up
and take over my company while I rested at
home with Emma, and we’d sail around the
world and learn new things and go to new
places.
I smiled at my imagination; that was exactly
what I wanted and that was exactly what I’d be
aiming for.
*THE HOLLEN SERIES*
👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦EPISODE 23👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦👨👩👧👦
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
*👁🗨COFFEE AND PAPER👁🗨*
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻🌻
Emma’s POV
I avoided him for the entire morning and
afternoon until it was time get re-ady for the
auction. I was nervous.
plea-se don’t embarras-s him. plea-se don’t
embarras-s yourself.
I c@m£ from the bathroom and it was time to
dress. I took my dress out of the closet and
la-id it on the be-d. Black. I’d been in love with
the color black since I was five years old.
Black describe-d my life; it was dark. Black like
the sky at night when my parents dropped me
on the doorsteps of a foster home. Black like
the basement I had to sleep in.
I gently applied lotion to my caramel skin and
put on my lace un-derwear. I sli-pped into my
dress next. It was a long-sleeved lace dress
that reached just above my knees. I hoped it
was appropriate for the function. I stood in
front the full-length mirror as I combe-d my hair
and applied my b©dy fragrance. I put my
shoes on and took a final look, ma-king sure
everything was perfect. I smiled at myself, I
looked so beautiful.
A knock c@m£ at my door as I was about to
head out to wait downstairs. I hoped it wasn’t
him, I just couldn’t deal with him right now. I
opened the door and saw a smiling Halley.
“Wow, black really is your color,” she said as
she allowed me to closed my door and we
headed downstairs together.
“You look amazing by the way,” I
complimented.
“Thank you,” she smiled.
She was wearing an ankle-length white dress
and white shoes. Her make up was light and
had a natural look to it. Her hair was pu-ll-ed in
a back bun with some tresses hanging neatly
at the side of her face. She looked amazing.
She really was beautiful.
We sat in the living room and waited for Mr.
Hollen.
I thought women were supposed to take more
time than men when getting re-ady for an
outing.
Halley and I waited for entire fifteen minutes,
then he finally ran down the stairs. He took his
car keys from the table and made his way over
to us. We stood, re-ady to leave. He looked at
us like if he had seen two angels.
“Wow, you ladies look so beautiful,” he
complimented and we returned ours; he did
look sharp and handsome in his black Armani
tuxedo. “Lets go,” he ordered and we walked
out the door after him.
_________
We arrived at a large building situated along a
beach. There were security guards at the
entrance and swarms of paparazzi. A red
carpet was la-id out.
Mr. Hollen took our hands and we walked up
without any questions asked or any searches
being conducted; we walked right into the
building.
People were everywhere, women in dresses
and men in tuxedos. There was drinking,
talking and laughing from everyone all around.
I looked around in amazement. A sweet jazz
melody was being performed by a live band.
Mr. Hollen let go of our hands, then led us to
a table and told us to stay with each other but
mingle if someone c@m£ over to say hello. He
then disappeared throu-gh a crowd.
Halley turned to me, “Welcome to the world of
the rich.”
“Yeah, it’s beautiful here.”
“Let’s look at these women and joke about
their dresses.”
We looked at the women in the room. They
looked very sophisticated and elegant that I
wouldn’t dare to even t©uçh them. As we
looked on, we noticed someone coming over
to our table.
“Hello girls,” she greeted, “You’re the maids,
right?”
“Yes ma’am,” I answered politely.
“I’m Mrs. Hollen, Ethan’s mother. It’s nice to
meet you. He did said he was bringing along
his help but I didn’t think the two of you would
have been his d@t£s.”
Was she serious?
“What were you expecting?” Halley asked,
rudely but nicely. It was amazing how she
could be disrespectful yet plea-sant at the
same time.
“I as-sumed the both of you would have been
serving c0cktails and wine like the other wait
staff around here.”
I smiled, not a nice one, but just one to st©p
myself from saying something rude to her. She
might be his mom but she was just plain rude.
“Well, Mrs. Hollen, we’re sorry to disappoint
you,” I finally said, having enough of her.
“Oh, I’m not disappointed, dear. I’m just
amused.”
“How so?” Halley asked.
“Ethan’s engaged to a very wonderful woman,
yet he brou-ght two maids along with him.”
I let out a loud scoff as I turned to face
Halley.
Mrs. Hollen got up from our table. “It was nice
to meet you girls. I hope when I come over to
my son’s house, you two will be at my
service.”
“We’ll look forward to it,” Halley said back as
she left our table.
She gave us a small wave before leaving.
“Okay, I hate her,” I let out as soon as she
disappeared in a crowd.
“You must admit, though, the woman is
stunning. Did you see those diamonds around
her n£¢k? I’m certain they’re worth more than
our lives combined.”
I shook my head at Halley.
A server placed two glas-s of red wine on our
table. I hesitated to drink it, but everyone was
sipping on a glas-s of wine.
Halley sipped on hers.
I brou-ght my glas-s up to myl-ips and took a
small sip. It tasted sweet and chilled. It went
down my throat smoothly and I thought it was
the best thing I had ever tasted. I took a
longer sip and Halley looked at me in
bewilderment.
“You go, girl,” she said, laughing.
I finished my wine without realizing I was
holding an empty glas-s to myl-ips when Halley
st©pped me. I felt so flu-shed, but it was funny.
It was my first time drinking wine and I loved
it. I wanted another glas-s. I signaled to
another server. He brou-ght over two more
glas-ses and we drank.
After an hour went by, Mr. Hollen c@m£ back
to our table. “Hi, are the both of you alright?”
He stood between us with an elderly woman
on his arm.
Her face looked so familiar. Where had I seen
her before?
“Emma, Halley, this is my lovely grandmother,”
he introduced.
Halley and I stared at each other. If she was
anything like her daughter, I would walk out of
the building and walk back to the beach
house.
“Hello,” I greeted and stood. She extended her
hand and I shook it.
“It’s a plea-sure to meet you,” Halley extended
her hand over to her as she stood up too.
She gave us a warm smile as she joined our
table. Mr. Hollen gave her a glas-s of water.
She seemed fragile but capable of getting
around on her own. She wore a stunning
n£¢klace with a green dress. Her grey eyes
were like Mr. Hollen’s and she had platinum
blonde hair.
“It’s Nana’s birthday in a couple of weeks,” he
told us, “and we’re doing a p@rty at my house
for her.”
She smiled sweetly at him. “Thank you dear,”
she said and patted his cheeks.
It would also be my birthday next month but I
never looked forward to it because it was
always the same– no p@rty, no gifts, no cake.
I didn’t even want to tell Mr. Hollen and
Halley.
“I will be seventy,” she smiled at us.
We smiled back at her.
Wow. Seventy.
“Congratulations,” I said, “You must really be
looking forward to it.”
“When is your birthday?” she asked and I
paused, staring at everyone.
“It’s in a couple of weeks also.”
She looked plea-sed and happy. “I’m the 12th
of July, to be exact.”
I paused in surprised. “Me too,” I let out
finally.
Mr. Hollen’s eyes wi-de-ned.
“So we’re having a double birthday p@rty?” she
asked, turning to her grandson.
He held her hand. “Yes, Nana,” he answered as
he looked at me with a sweet smile, the same
as his grandma’s.
“Why you didn’t say anything?” Halley asked
me.
“I don’t usually look forward to my birthday.”
Mr. Hollen’s grandmother g@sped as if she
was suddenly having a heart attack. “Why
dear?”
“It’s a sad story, really. I don’t want to spoil
the mood.”
She nodded and respected my wishes of not
talking about it at the moment.
Halley and I had another glas-s of wine, then I
started feeling dizzy.
Oh no, I’m drun!k!
*TO BE CONTINUED