Love and Crosses: What the Heart Wants

The feeling of waking up on Monday mornings can be very traumatizing.

Riele thought as she got up from bed.

Life has decided to cheat on her over everything.

Her mom is being hospitalized after the incident that happened a few years ago.

All she has now is her younger brother- Harry. A ten-year-old vibrant boy with glowing bronze eyes and shiny black hair that was believed he got from his dad.

Riele never really knew who her father was or what he looked like.

Her mom-Esmeralda had been the one taking care of them.

Anytime Riele brings up the topic of her dad, her mom always dodges the topic and she didn't understand why.

But she didn't mind because Esmeralda made sure her children weren't lacking anything at all.

Riele checked her time, it was just 7:45am which meant she had fifteen minutes to prepare herself for work, or the company bus would leave without her.

She entered the bathroom, did all she needed to, and in the next ten minutes, she was out.

She opened her wardrobe and scanned through all the clothes she had.

"I do need to go shopping," she said as she took out a blue crop top with black-tummy trousers. "When you work in a modeling industry, you've got to show it."

She quickly put her clothes on, brushed her wavy dark brown hair which she packed up in a ponytail, and wore her favorite moon-star-shaped necklace.

Glancing one more time at the mirror, she looked good to go. She brought out her blue canvas and wore it.

She was admiring herself when the company horn beeped.

Picking up her bag and trying to remember if she wasn't forgetting anything, she went out of the house, locked the door, and entered the bus.

"Good morning, Mr. Anderson," she greeted the bus driver who returned her greeting with a smile.

Since she was the first on the bus, she took her seat on the second seat by the right close to the window.

Riele is someone who loves watching the movement of things when the car is moving.

"How is Esmeralda?" Mr. Anderson asked as he started the engine and drove to the next house.

"Same old story," Riele answered trying not to feel the effect on her mother.

"And Harry?"

"He's having a sleepover at his friend's place. He should be back by this time next week," she answered.

The bus stopped at different stations as more company workers entered the bus.

Riele was the kind of person who kept to herself so she didn't talk to most of them, but she has a female bestie who means the world to her.

Checking her phone for any updates, a text came in from Charlotte. Riele opened the message.

Charlotte

Where the heaven are you? Don't tell me you overslept and forgot what day it is.

"Calm your bowels down! I'll be there before you even say the word Abracadabra." Riele pressed the sent icon as she kept her phone aside to enjoy the rest of the ride.

Thirty minutes ride and Riele was almost dozing off even though she slept early yesterday.

"Didn't have much sleep last night?" Allen asked as he tapped her shoulder.

"She was probably having a nightmare of being chased by crocodiles," Madison joked as she waited for Riele to get off the bus.

"Ah ah! Very funny!" Riele said as she got off the bus and waved to the two people she just had a conversation with.

Walking to the company, Riele's countenance fell, but she didn't understand why she was sad all of a sudden.

Entering the elevator which she was thankful was empty, she pressed the number 3 button on the elevator keypad since her office was on the third floor.

Waiting patiently for the elevator to make that clicking sound, the elevator door opened and she came out only for her to find her bestie in the whole world right in front of her with her arms folded across her chest.

"Took you long enough," Charlotte teased.

Riele smiled and hugged her. "Did you miss me that much?"

"Of course, I did. I was almost dying of boredom," Charlotte exagerrated. Riele shook her head as she listened to her friend. "Guess what,"

"You know I suck at that." Riele rolled her eyes at Charlotte. "Did something interesting happen?"

Charlotte dragged her chair closer to Riele who was setting her table.

"Yes."

"Really?"

Charlotte nodded. "Guess who is retiring?" she asked.

Riele stopped what she was doing as she glanced at her friend who seemed happy about the whole thing.

"Blow me away," Riele said, not interested in the story.

"Mr. Owen."

"What?!"

Mr. Owen is the CEO of the company, but he is a transferee. Talk about a man in his latest fifties who can dress a monkey to look beautiful. This man was gifted.

"Why is he retiring?" Riele asked.

"He is old?" Charlotte said, but it sounded like she was asking a question while stating the obvious. She pushed her chair back to her desk.

Riele didn't know whether to be sad or happy, but if the man is happy about leaving, then, she should be happy about it too.

"Riele Grants!" A voice called.

"Talk about the devil!" Charlotte whispered loud enough for Riele to hear.

"Miss Grants!" He called again.

"Yes, I'm here," she raised her hand for identification.

"Good thing you are here," Mr. Owen said. Riele looked at Charlotte who was also looking at her. "I need you in my office immediately." As if sensing he Riele wasn't following him, he yelled, "Now!"

That was enough to get Riele moving.

Riele was confused, but she followed Mr. Owen to his office.

"Please, take your seat," the man gestured as he pointed to a seat in front of him. He sat facing her. "I know you might be wondering why I called you," he started. "I am retiring. I've been having some health issues that I need to take care of and because of that, I need someone who is vibrant to take over the position."

"But, what does that have to do with me?" Riele asked.

She didn't understand how his retirement and the new CEO were her business.

Mr. Owen moved closer to her, his hands on his chin as he said, "that's where you come in as the personal assistant of the new CEO." He smiled before resting his back on his chair while expecting Riele's happy remark, but Riele's expression shocked him.

"What?! I don't understand. No one discussed this with me. No vote was carried out. How then did I end up as the personal assistant?"

"We have checked and cross-checked and it's proven that you're the lady for the job. You will be a Personal Assistant to the world's best model. I also heard that he is a member of a boyband in New York City.What's there not to like?" The man asked, crossing his arms across his chest as he stared at the shocked Riele.

"Don't I at least have a say on this?" Mr. Owen shook his head. "Do I have the right to refuse?"

"No. It's been settled"

"This is so not fair. What if I don't like him? Or what if I don't like the idea of working with him?" She bombarded him with questions. "What if my presence irritates him or what if he ends up giving me a sack letter on my first day as his personal assistant?!"

Riele has never felt as anxious as she was today.

"Your pay will increase, don't you want that?" Mr. Owen asked before passing her a file. Riele became silent. "That's his file. Read through it thoroughly." Riele collected it as she flipped the pages over.

Mr. Owen stood up and was about to leave when he remembered something. "And one more thing..." Rifle looked up at him before he continue. "...you will be picking him up at the airport. Make sure nothing happens to him."

Before Riele could raise a complaint, the man had already left the office.

Riele sunk to her seat as she went through the file given to her. She will be picking up the new CEO tomorrow around two in the afternoon. "Kim Huxley," she says his name before she closed the file.

Was this the reason she was feeling sad?

What kind of person is CEO Kim Huxley? She wondered.

Charlotte could tell something was wrong when Riele came out of her office.

"Don't tell me you're retiring too," she asked as Riele gave her a confused look.

Riele didn't reply as she slammed the file she received from Mr. Owen on her desk scaring the shit out of Charlotte. "Are you going to talk or should I go and report Mr. Owen for sexual harassment?"

Riele burst into laughter. "You are out of your mind, Charlotte." Riele sighed before she passed the file to her friend.

Charlotte took the file from her and flipped through the pages. "I don't understand. All can see is this handsome guy who looks hot and sexy. Is Mr. Owen trying to set you up on a date with his son?"

"What son?" Riele asked. "Mr. Owen doesn't have any son."

"Who knows, he might have a secret son."

Riele quickly collected the file from her friend before she starts to make weird assumptions.

"He is the new CEO. The one that will replace Mr. Owen," Riele explained

Charlotte's eyes widened in shock and excitement. "Are you saying that this handsome guy is..."

"Yes. The handsome guy you just saw there in that file is going to be the new CEO and I will be his assistant. Can you believe that? Why does bad luck hover around me, uh?" Riele cuts in.

Charlotte stared at her in silence before bursting into laughter.

Riele couldn't understand why Charlotte was laughing. "Why are you laughing?" She folded her arms and looked at her friend, waiting for her to explain the reason for her laughing.

"I'm so sorry," Charlotte said in between laughs. "Are you sure you are okay?" she paused. "What's wrong with being his assistant? It's not like you are in any kind of relationship. What exactly are you worried about? Do you have any idea how many ladies would kill for what you have right now?" Charlotte asked.

Riele folded her arms as her stomach started to rumble. "I do want to argue, but I can't do that on an empty stomach. Let's go grab a bite!"

Riele got up and pulled her friend up as they went to the cafeteria.

"What would you like to eat?" She asked her, but Charlotte was silent as soon as they came to the cafeteria.

Riele ordered french fries because she knew Charlotte loves French fries. She got Spaghetti for herself. They took a seat that was vacant close to the window.

Riele started digging into her spaghetti. She was halfway through with the food when she noticed Charlotte hadn't touched her food.

"Are you going to keep playing with your food?" She asked. Charlotte pushed her food aside and stared at Riele almost making her choke. "I know what that look means. What is it you want to tell me?" She asked.

"Riele, I know what I am going to say is going to sound like a shock to you and I don't want you to scream or shout just. I just want you to listen to me."

Riele almost choked as she listened to Charlotte speak. "You know I'm going to think you want to tell me you're pregnant," she said as she laughed expecting Charlotte to laugh at the joke too, but she didn't. She looked up at her expecting some kind of answer, but nothing came. "Wait! Does that mean that you're..."

Charlotte sighed.

Riele dropped her fork, folded her arms across her chest, and looked at Charlotte. As if knowing what the look meant, Charlotte started talking.

"It was a mistake, Riele. I was drunk and I didn't know what I was doing..."

"Who's the father?" Riele cuts in.

"Riele,"

"Who is the father, Charlotte?"

"You don't like him."

There's one person Riele didn't and he used to be a model for the company. "Kim Utter?" Riele asked in disbelief. Charlotte nodded. "How the hell did that happen? You never told me you were interested in him."

"That's because I am not interested in Him, Riele," she paused with a sigh. "I was drunk and he offered to take me home and one thing led to another..."

"Is he aware you're carrying his child?"

Charlotte shook her head.

"I couldn't reach him after the incident." Charlotte knew Riele would be furious so she quickly held her hand and covered them with hers. "Riele, I'm sorry. The truth is that I don't regret it."

"For God's sake, Charlotte! You're just twenty-three! What do you know about parenting a child?".

"I know, Riele. Parenting is hard, but you know... I've never had any of my parents to care for me. My dad died on his way to see me. Mom ran away the moment she gave birth to me. I was sent to the orphanage without having a taste of my mother's breast milk.

"Twenty years of my life were spent in the orphanage, until I ran away to make a living. I want to keep this baby, Riele. I want to prove I'm different from my mom. I want to show this baby what my mom couldn't show me; the love, the care, the protection...all of it. I don't care if Kim accepts the child or not. I know I messed up, but believe me, I don't regret it. Please..." Charlotte held Riele's hand tighter. "...be happy for me."

Riele looked at Charlotte and hugged her. "As long as you won't regret it. I will stick in for you." Charlotte smiled at her response. "How many weeks?"

"Three weeks," Charlotte answered as Riele went back to her seat.

"Can I take permission from the baby to punch the father when I see him?"

Charlotte laughed.

"Don't you think you have other things to worry about than punching my child's father?"

Riele glared at her friend who was teasing her. "Was that necessary? I forgot about that guy or whoever he is. Maybe I dislike him because his name is Kim." Riele continued eating as Charlotte joined shaking her head to stop herself from teasing her friend more.

Riele looked at Charlotte and she could tell she was happy. "I am glad you're not getting rid of the child." Charlotte smiled. "I'm always here for you if you need anything and I'm serious about the whole punch thing."

"I'll let you know when I need it."

They both smiled.

After a strenuous day at work, Riele got home feeling so tired. It was surprising she didn't receive any calls from the hospital yet.

It's been five years since her mom was hospitalized. She had refused to response to external stimuli.

I doubt she's ever going to wake up. Riele thought as went to her room.

Riele's mother had a car accident five years ago that led to a brain tumor. She went out to buy things for her children. Unknown to her that a moving vehicle was coming and before she could try to escape, the car hit one side of her body pushing her straight to the pavement where she hit her head.

Good thing she was rushed to the hospital. Riele was just sixteen and her brother was five. It was a sad news.

She was having her school party when she got a call from the hospital. It was the worst day of her life.

Riele lay on her bed trying to get some sleep when her phone rang. She knew there was only one person who dared to call her.

She picked up the call without looking at the caller. "Seriously, Charlotte?" she asked as a giggle was heard on the other side of the phone. "What do you want?" Riele whined.

"Don't worry. You will be happy and grateful to me when I tell you why I called," her friend said as Riele waited patiently for Charlotte to say whatever she wanted to say so she could go to bed, but Charlotte was silent.

"Charlotte, I'm going to hang up now,"

"Hold on! Do you have your laptop with you?"

Charlotte asked as Riele grabbed her laptop by the side of her bed and placed it on the bed switching it on.

"Is there a good reason why I need this?" Riele asked signing in her information.

"Just trust me," Charlotte told her.

"It's not like I have any other choice. So what am I looking at?" Riele asked.

"Go to google chrome or Firefox whichever you use and search for Diamond Boys," Charlotte instructed.

Riele paused as she spent a few seconds trying to process what Charlotte just told her.

"Have you done that?" Charlotte asked.

"Um... yeah."

Riele quickly opened google chrome as she typed in the word Diamond Boys in the search box.

"What did you see?"

"It's loading," Riele paused. "Oh, I can see five handsome guys and they look like they are from New York. Is there a reason why I'm looking at this?" Riele asked.

"Just go to Diamond Boys Wikipedia and tell me when you see it. I'll call you back."

"See w...". Charlotte hung up before Riele could ask her questions. "What did she say I should check again?" She asked herself as she pondered.

Then it hits her. "Wikipedia," she said as she quickly strolled to Wikipedia. "Diamond Boys is a five-member boy band under Sparkles Entertainment. It is composed of Kim, Jake, Devon, Jay, and Mavin," she read.

She was getting bored with the story. She strolled down to see if she could find anything interesting, but nothing. "I can't believe Charlotte just made me waste my precious time reading this, I'm going to chop her ear off when I see her tomorrow."

The mention of tomorrow made Riele realize that tomorrow would be a different day for her. "I have to find clothes to wear."

she shut down her laptop as she breezes through her wardrobe.

She searched and searched but she couldn't find the clothes she needed. "Wait a sec! Why am I bothering myself with what to wear?" She asked herself as she picked out a blue jumpsuit. "This is perfect."

She scanned the shoe rank for her shoes. She decided to go with white canvas. "Who knows, you might need it to run just in case something unexpected happens."

She puts her jumpsuit on the sofa and her canvas near the sofa. Riele has had enough drama for one day. She stretched her tired muscles as she jump on her bed.

She picked up her phone placed it on her stomach and slept off. She didn't know if Charlotte was going to call back because she has been waiting for her call for a while now.

*††*

Charlotte sat on her bed with her laptop in front of her as she glanced through the pictures of Diamond Boys.

She couldn't believe her eyes. She called Riele so many times, but she wasn't picking up. "Dang it! She's asleep," she said as she kept the pizza she was eating in its box. She grabbed some tissues and cleaned her hand, tossing the tissue straight inside the waste bin. She texted Riele.

Charlotte

Have you seen it?

Call me when you do.

Call me when you don't.

Just call me when you're awake, sleepy head!!!

She pressed sent as she continued to transfer the pictures she downloaded on the computer to her phone. "It might come in handy."

She stared at the hotties that appeared on her screen.

"If only Riele knew how lucky she is," she said to the image in front of her. "But I guess she will never know," she paused. "I wish you will be the guy to sweep her off her feet and make her fall in love for once in her life," she continued to talk to the image. "If not you then maybe one out of the five. Let someone just make her happy. She's been through a lot.

"Her dad died on his way to see his son. Her mom took care of them and now she's hospitalized. She also has a younger brother to cater to. I feel for her. Please help her fall in love. I know it only happens in movies, but I believe it can happen in reality too." She closed her eyes as if she was saying a prayer.

After the files had entered her phone, she shut down the laptop as she decided to call it a night. "Let's see what tomorrow holds." She closed her eyes and allowed nature to take over.