Finding Love – Episode 12
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CHAPTER 12✏
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Leona walked to the porch with the bouquet in her palm fist, she got to the entrance door and pulled it open, her dad and mom were seated on a couch, staring into something that wasn’t viewable from where she stood and talking..
“I don’t know how he knew JT or got my mail address, I just saw it and the best part’s that he’s not requesting an immediate payoff” she heard her dad say and she moved closer to them.
“Hi mum, dad. What’s going on here?” She asked, rolling her eyes at each of them. “Sweety, your dad just got a loan offer from new York” her mom answered and Leona faced her dad with a stupefied stare.
“What? Did you ask for a loan again dad?” She asked.
“No. I didn’t, here, look at this” her dad turned the laptop to her and she bent to look at it. She tilt her head up to look at her dad, a confused expression taking over her face.
“But..how did they know you’re in need of money and why give us this big offer when they don’t even know us?” She asked. “I have no idea” he replied simply.
“They must’ve gotten your email address from anywhere since we’ve sent out business offers in the past but why offer a loan without a collateral? It’s not even a loan shark and the interest rate’s very fair” she said, looking back at the laptop, she checked for the name. Glamorous Accessories. “I’m surprised and confused as well” her mom said.
“What if this is a trick?” She questioned, getting her dad’s gaze to her “I think you should give this company a call and ask for a meet up, I suspect this might be scammers prank” she said.
“But this is an offer on a platter of gold, I can’t be asking for a request. What if they change their mind?”
“And what if this is a trick to get us completely bankrupt and helpless. We can’t trust this people dad.. They’re not even American”
“But this signature right here, it’s from the CEO himself” “That’s what the mail says, we don’t know that” she said.
“Honey, I think Leona’s right. Why don’t you try giving them a call to be sure?” Her mom said and Jesse sighed..
“I really hope it’s real. I’ll be in my room” he stood up, took his laptop and walked to the stairs..
Leona turned to her mom..
“He had so much hope on that loan, you needed to have seen his face when he walked in” she said.
“It’s better not to get any loans and keeping what we have than losing both to scammers” Leona said and her mom nodded in concurrency.
“Did you buy this?” Her mom gestured at the flower resting on her hair, Leona had
almost forgotten about it.
“No, a friend gave it to me”
“It’s pretty,” she said “And I thought Amelia wasn’t into flowers” she said “Oh it wasn’t Amelia mom, it was someone else” she said with a smile and her Mom gave her a knowing look.
“I didn’t know you had other friends” she said..
“Now you know and stop giving me that suspicious look. I’m not revealing anything” she said, walking away..
“Well, we both know you will, one day” her mom said behind her and she smiled to herself.
Getting to her room, Leona picked the flower off her hair, grabbed an empty vase that laid close to the drawer, she put the flowers into it and added water before leaving it on her nightstand. She stared at it and smiled.. Today wasn’t bad at all. She settled on her bed and sighed..
Glamorous Accessories.. The name sounded familiar but she couldn’t recollect where she had heard it from.. It’s probably on TV since the company’s new York based.
She walked to her reading table, put on glasses and turned on her laptop.. She clicked on the web search box and typed Glamorous Accessories in it before waiting for it to load..
She glanced at the laptop screen, staring up and down at the big building before her. Last night she had spent most of her night checking out stuffs on Glamorous Accessories.. They had their headquarter in NY and the building was massive, they also had branches in Italy, Spain, Seattle, Mexico, Dubai and Paris. They deal mostly with fashion, beautiful and rich looking ones. Leona still couldn’t figure out why they had offer her dad the loan, they probably didn’t know he had a huge unpaid debt but on a second thought Leona knew that they should.. They aren’t stupid, they must’ve had a thorough background research on them but why did they still offer the loan even know after knowing of their debts and other past loans?.. Two answers refreshed in her head; It’s either they’re exceptionally being nice or all this is a trick to get them penniless and Leona settled for the latter.
She scrolled to the next page and a picture of Liam Gonzales, the brain behind GA appeared on the screen. He’s handsome, Leona noted wearily and young.. He probably took over from his father.. She stared at the picture for a while, a hint of familiarity at the sight of his jawline and face structure, hit her but she couldn’t conclude it was whom she had in mind.. It’s completely normal for people to look alike in a way or two.. Apart from his face structure and jawline nothing else marched with Damien.
She closed her laptop and sighed again, feeling cranky. She had finished up all her schedules, they weren’t piled up as they usually were. She knew JT was crumbling, it scared her but what scared her most was the fact that the month was gradually closing up and soon the workers will start inquiring their pay and then everything will come out. She wouldn’t be able to bear the shame, Leona shivered at the thought.. reality will definitely be terrific.
She grabbed her cell phone when it started ringing..
“Leona, are you still at the office?” Amelia’s voice reached her ear. “Yes but work time’s over. Why?”
“I’m at Bobby’s, meet me there” she said.
“Um why?,” she asked.
“Seriously? I need to give my best friend a reason before she meets me? I don’t ask for one when you ask me to meet you.. You think I’m going to kidnap you?” She asked and Leona knew Amelia wasn’t in a good mood..
“No no, Sorry I-” she let her voice trail off “I’ll meet you there” she said and the
call got disconnected. Leona, packed her stuffs into her handbag, strapped it and
head out.
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Parking at bobby’s lot, Leona hopped down her car and headed to the front door, she stopped at Damien’s spot and he tossed her a Hi..
“I called you after you left, granny wanted to be sure you had arrived safely, but there was no response, she wouldn’t stop telling me to keep trying” he said. “Yeah. I was busy and I had an early night” she said.
“How’s your knee?” He asked, glancing at her leg, probably hoping to see through the thick jeans at her knee.
“I’ve forgotten all about it. I guess it’s fine since I didn’t feel any pain from it” she said and he smiled..
“That’s good, I was worried it’d hurt more at night. Do you want to sit?”
“No. I came here to see a friend, just stopped to say hi, I’ll head in now and tell granny I’m fine.. I’ll call her when I can” she said. “I will. I’ll be here waiting for you” he said.
“Why?” She cocked her brow at him.
“To see you again and tell you goodnight”
“Really? What if I decide not to come out today?”
“Then we’ll meet here tomorrow” he said, laughing “I just want to see you before I leave. Is that weird?”
“I don’t know. I have to go”
She walked into bobby’s.. Amelia was on a seat, sucking her juice from a straw. She walked to her table and sat beside her, Amelia gave her a glance and Leona realized she had dark circles under her eyes.. “Amy, are you okay?” She asked and she nodded.
“I am. Won’t you order anything?” She asked.
“Are you hiding something from me cos you clearly look like you’ve not had sleep for a couple of days”
“Oh.. I had overnight work to do and mom’s home, she’ll be staying for a week. It’s been a psycho house all the few days she’s spent” Amelia said with an eye roll.
“Maybe it’s a good thing, you both can finally settle and have a mother daughter time” Leona said and Amelia shook her head.
“She’s been trying to do that but it all ends up in an arguement. She’s so annoying” Amy sighed out.
“Amy, just give her a chance she’s–
“Please Lee, let’s not talk about her,” she signaled a waitress to come “You’ll place your order and we’ll talk about something more talk worthy” Leona gave Amelia a small look as the waitress reached them..
“I’ll just have cola. Thank you” Leona said and she left..
“Really Amy, why’d you call me here?” She asked and Leona flashes her a glance and raised her head up from the straw and breathed out. The waitress brought her cola and Leona took a sip out of it.
“Well, since I got an early leave from work I just wanted to spend the rest of the day with you,” she said “home’s like the last thing on my mind.. So I called you” she said and Leona nodded.
“Have anywhere in mind to go?” She asked.
“Nope. That’s why I’m here” she said.
“How about the amusement park, we could ride the rollercoaster until our heads becomes too heavy to think. What do you say?” She asked.
“I’m not really into kids stuff but since there’s nothing else to do, I’m in,” she said “But we won’t be staying past eight” she added.
“You have something to do by eight?” She asked and Amelia shook her head.. “Crazy woman set a curfew.. Why’d you think I’ll go to an amusement park and not a nightclub?” She asked with a look of disgust.. Leona grabbed her juice again. “Oh right. So it’s five now, there’s still so much time, let’s go!” She said and Amelia stood, grabbed her jacket from the chair..
“Pssst!” She signalled to a waitress, raised a dollar note up “payment” she called and left it on the table.
They both walked out of the restaurant.
“Leaving already?”
She stopped and turned to see Damien, “Thought you planned on staying the night. I brought a blanket thinking I might need one” he raised a blanket up to her and Leona chuckled.
“You know him?” Amelia voice made her turn to her.
“Yeah. The guy from last time, the one that found my swipe card, remember?” Leona said..
“Wait, the one you got that form at the city hall for?” She asked and Leona nodded.
“What? You’re still seeing this guy? I th–
The rest of her words hitched when Leona started walking to him..
“Leona!” She primped.
“I’m just going to say bye” she whispered to her. She walked to him and Amelia saw them talk then laugh.. Surprised, she walked up to them, Damien’s gaze came to her and she gave him a belligerent glare. Leona traced his gaze to her. “Oh, um this is my bestfriend Amelia, Amelia, Damien” she introduced.
“Hi Amelia” he passed and she eyed him in disgust.
“Let’s go Lee” she called her.
“C’mon Amy, just say hi” she cooed..
“I told you before Lee, I can’t mingle with people like this.. I can’t believe you’re still seeing him after all I told you” she said.
“Amelia–
“Just do your thing and meet me in the car, I can’t stand this” she said giving Damien one last glare before walking away.. Leona sighed and turned to face Damien’s blank face with a placating look. “I’m sorry about that. Sh-she just-
“It’s okay,” he said with a small honest smile “it’s not my first time experiencing that, I’m kinda used to people not liking me cos I’m a poor boy”
“Amelia isn’t really like that, if you know her, she’s a carefree girl but-” her voice trailed off not knowing what else to say.
“It doesn’t apply to everyone” he completed for her “I already know she doesn’t like me” he said and Leona twitched her face. “Leona!” Amelia called her from the car..
“Sorry but I have to go”
“Yeah. Bye” he said and she walked to the car.
Reaching her car she got into the passenger’s side and started pulling her seatbelt on.
“That wasn’t a nice impression you left back there you know” she said, facing her friend who rolled her eyes..
“I’m sure your parent will leave more when they find out that you’re friends with a
pipsqueak” she said, starting the car.
“Mom wouldn’t” Leona said.
“Whatever!” Amy shrugged. “But didn’t you notice anything strange about that
Guy’s face and stature?” Amelia asked and Leona cocked a questioning brow at
her.
“What?”
“He looked kind of familiar” Amelia said.
“Ow.. I thought someone said she doesn’t mingle with those kind of people, so where have you both met in the past? Or have you guys probably dated” She teased.
“Quit whining. He just looks like someone I know or have seen”
“Yeah, he’s always at bobby’s, doing his job. You must’ve met him there” Leona said, looking out of the window.
“I know but I don’t think that’s the place-” her voice trailed off as she thought deeper “hold on. It can’t be possible, this is crazy!” She said laughing, gaining Leona’s attention “No no no..” She laughed more. “What is it?”
“OMG,” she said “That guy.. He isn’t possibly Liam Gonzales, is he?”
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