UNLOVED: sometimes Love is hidden behind hatered

Clarissa's POV.

"Pim pimmm" the car behind me horned, the traffic lights had turned green, and it was time for me to move, but I guess I got carried away by my own thoughts again. Despite leaving East Delva eight years ago, few months after I clocked Twenty, my past and pains still hunted me once in a while, and I guess today was one of those day.

On my way to the office, I saw a little kid, being walked to school by her mom. Something I never got to enjoy as a kid, but I guess I was above that. Life happened and I had to move on. I didn't want to think about my past, it only made me have a bad day.

Immediately I came down from my car, I handed over my car keys to my driver to park the car at the parking lot. He couldn't drive me to the office today, because I just wanted to be on my own, I didn't feel so good. I guess it's what some people say 'waking up on the wrong side of the bed'.

As I walked into the building, as usual everyone began to comport themselves, honestly I wasn't ready for any bullshit today.

"Good morning ma'am." Jasmine greeted while running to catch-up with me as I walked towards the elevators.

"Good morning Jasmine. What's my schedule for today?" I asked taking the cup of coffee she handed to me.

"You have your first meeting with the Delacosta Coffee shop by 9am, followed by the CoffeeCo Enterprise by 12pm. By 2pm you have a virtual meeting with the coffee seed suppliers from Saudi and finally the meeting with the company farmers by 3:30pm".

"All right Jasmine. Get me the Delacosta documents and contract so I can review it in my office". I guess I was going to have a long day after all, so I had to start from somewhere.

Finally I got into my office, and as usual I had my prayers, but before I started working, my mind flashed back to the little kid I saw earlier with her mom. I stood up from my chair, holding the cup of coffee in my right hand and went to my office balcony to get some fresh air. The view of Salva from my office balcony was so sorting and relaxing.

As I continued staring into the blank space and letting my mind roam around, the sound of my office Telecom brought me back to reality.

"Sorry ma'am, its your Dad, he said his been trying to reach you, but you haven't been picking his calls or replying his text messages, should I connect him to you? Jasmine asked from her own end.

"Why...what....for God's sake Jasmine!!!!!. You know what? just tell him I'll call him myself" I said as I hung up.

I wondered what Pàpà had to tell me that was so urgent for him to buzz my phone and call my office Telecom. At this point if I really wanted to have my peace, then I guess I had to call him.

" Hello Pàpá" I said in a grumpy tone.

"Someone doesn't seem happy talking to her father, and I guess finally you decided to speak to me, I almost thought you didn't remember you had a Father again".

" Pàpà am sure you didn't go through all this stress of calling me just to tell me of how bad of a daughter I've been. Besides, whatever form of daughterly love you want, I guess you can get it from your Precious daughter, Eloise" I said with the double quotation finger sign.

Eloise was my Half-sister, she was the daughter of my dad's wife, after the incident with my mother... sorry the woman that gave birth to me. I definitely learnt the difference the hard way. While growing up as a child, without my biological mother in the picture, I didn't have a nice relationship with my Stepmother Claudia, and my half-sister. And later on they began to manipulate my dad and this brought the friction my dad and I had now.

"Rissa, I've told you on countless occasions, what you and I have cannot be compared to what I have with Eloise. I know I've messed up many times and am really sorry, I just...."

"Pàpà why did you call me, just say what you want to say, I've got a lot of work on my desk" I said cutting him shut. I was tired of the 'am sorry' card Pàpà always played when he wanted a favor or whenever he wanted to bring the topic of coming back, and honestly, I wasn't ready for that now.

" Your sister is getting married in few weeks and..."

" My half-sister Pàpà, my half-sister and if she's getting married, how's that any of my business, besides she doesn't need my blessings or anything from me. She made that clear while I was at East Delva" I interrupted before he could continue.

" Rissa, half-sister or what, she's still your sister and you have to be present at the wedding, whether you want to or not" he replied in a harsh tone now.

" Ohhhh, am not surprised, what I wanted never really mattered to you anyways, that's how you've been to me ever since I was a little girl, and I would not be surprised if you hadn't changed. So you know what Pàpà?, you, your daughter, and her wedding should go to hell...but as for me?....am not stepping a toe in East Delva for any wedding, and please don't try calling me again" I said as disconnected the call.

At this point I was so furious that I could break the table in front of me. Pàpà and I were not always like this. Before I clocked three, I was his whole world, he cherished me so much. But after my Mother, Fabiola left us for another man, he took out his pain on me. He said i reminded him of her, my grey eyes, my brown hair and skin color was just a replica of hers. And sometimes this made me hate myself.

Now Eloise was getting married, once again, I was going to be the center of discussion in the family. Grandma would whine and whine about the fact that I was the first child and should have brought my husband first before my younger sister. And to be honest, I wasn't ready for all those family dramas. At this point, I just wanted to focus on my work, and my relationship with Justin. None of them was worth me getting angry.

Time passed and it was already 5:25pm in the evening. I was so drowned in work that I forgot my dinner date with Justin by 6pm. Thank God I had some extra clothes in the office that I could just change into. But I still needed to finish what I was doing with the Delacosta documents. They were potential clients that I needed to get on my side.

The Delacosta Coffee shops were the no.1 coffee shops around Salva, and being their Coffee bean supplier for two whole years was going to be a big win to my company, and I wasn't ready to miss this opportunity for anything in the world.

The next time I checked my time, I discovered it was just 10 minutes to 6pm, so I had to stop. I wouldn't want to keep Justin waiting for too long. Immediately I ran to the shower in my office, took my bath and quickly had my dress and make up on.

By the time I was done and came out of the office, the office was supper quiet, I guess everyone had gone home. That was much more better, the peace, quiet and serenity was everything. I just wish my life could be as calm and sorting as this.

Immediately I came out to the parking lot, I found Johnson, my driver waiting for me at the spot he parked the car.

The drive to the restaurant was not really a long drive. In less than 20 mins, we had arrived at the restaurant. It was so beautiful, the lighting, the flowers all around and aroma of the food and the soft cool music that filled my ears from the sound system was so nice and relaxing. I wanted to be here forever.

I scanned through the restaurant to find Justin, when I saw him coming out of a door with VIP on it. And once again I was lovestruck. Looking at him, all dressed in the most sexy and fancy way. He wore a black shiny dust suit, with a dark blue long sleeve shirt, half way buttoned, revealing his chest. I could see part of the eagle tattoo on his left breast. God!!!!! He was damn hot, his chiseled chin, his beautiful lips his light brown eyes, his hair was just everything.

I kept on staring at him until he tapped me and saved me from the most unruly imaginations and desires that awoken in me.

" Gosh!!!! Babe you look so hot In this gown, I thought you were never going to put them on" he said in my ears as he pecked me on my chicks. I couldn't think straight at that point, the butterflies in my bellies Increased as my knees almost became weak.

"Hmmmm" I replied with a big smile on my face " I guess we should eat now, all eyes are on us , and am getting uncomfortable" I said said as he rapped his hand around my waist and walked me to the VIP section.

Clarissa's P.O.V

Weeks had gone by, after my last conversation with Pàpá, and I still felt hurt after our conversation. Not just because of what happened, but because of the hurtful words I had said to him. Despite everything that transpired between us in the past and In the present, I still loved my Dad so much, and I was hurt that I hurt him, but I guess it is what it is.

Pàpá's calls and texts kept on buzzing my phone for a while, but I noticed he was kind of silent this week. Probably he was busy preparing for the wedding of his precious daughter Eloise, which was to take place in the next three days. Well, I really didn't care, and all I wanted was my peace and serenity.

The day began and I was busy with the Coffee factory, the Farm and the coffee shop at the same time, when suddenly my phone started to ring. I could not believe who was calling at that point. Claudia Jones, my dad's wife, Eloise's mother.

This must be very serious for Claudia to call me. I mean, this was her first call after I left East Delva for the past eight years.

After calling me a million times, I got tired and decided to pick her call.

"Hello Claudia, I'll love you to speak quickly. I've got a lot of..."

"You Dad was involved in an Accident and is currently unconscious, Clarissa" she interrupted.

"How?when? When did this happen? Why am I just finding out?" I asked in a shaky tone.

"If you were probably taking my calls prior before now, you would have known sooner" she replied in that tone she alway used whenever she wanted to prove I was an irresponsible child.

"Then you should have sent a text or something. How is he? Is he ok? I mean how is he doing," I asked in fear.

"Clarissa, I don't have time to beat around the bush. Your Dad is not fine. I just called to inform you about his situation, since you are still part of the family, and unfortunately his first child. So its now your concern. I can't force you to come see your father anyways" she said as she hung up the phone.

At this point, I didn't care about her hurtful words. I was already used to them. Instead, I was scared. Not just scared of losing my Dad, but also scared of going back to my past in East Delva. Even though me and Pàpà had some issues, he was the only parent figure I had right now aside Nanny Pearl, my nanny who took care of me while staying at the Alexander mansion.

Thinking about the past hurt, remembering everything I had been through while growing up, at this point made tears gather in my eyes, but I was very sure the pain was going to triple if anything happened to my Dad. After the hurtful things I said to him and the way I treated him, I had no option than to go back to East Delva and see him.

Now, it was past 1pm in the afternoon, and i had a lot of work to do, but right now, my Dad was my priority.

I called Jasmine and told her to quickly book me the next flight to East Delva. But unfortunately for me, the earliest flight to East Delva was leaving by 10pm tonight, meaning I was going to arrive at East Delva around 8am tomorrow morning.

At this point I couldn't think straight, I couldn't decipher what to do next, Despite the fact I still had time from now till 10pm to prepare before I took off, I felt uneasy and couldn't do anything or even think straight, having at the back of my mind that pàpà was between life and death.

Still in this dilemma, Justin's call came in. He was all I wanted at this point, he was my safe space and I needed him right now.

" Hey babe" he said with his deep voice which always gave me chills, but today was different, all I could think of was my Dad and East Delva.

"It's lunch time, should I come get you?"

"Justin, my dad was involved in an Accident and is currently unconscious" I said already breaking down in tears.

"Hey, hey, it's ok, everything is gonna be fine. Ok? Am coming over. Let's go to my place. I bet you'll feel better" he said gently.

At this point, that was the best option for me right now, since I was less productive at the office, I immediately handed over everything to Jasmine. Jasmine was not just my P.A, but she was equally my friend too, so I felt safe handing everything to her.

Within few minutes after my conversation with Justin, he was already here to pick me up and in no time we were at his apartment. I stayed at his while my driver rode home to get my things from Rita my house keeper. While I was on my way to Justin's, I instructed her to prepare my things.

It was some minutes to 10pm. Justin drove me to the airport. As we entered the airport building, I couldn't control how uneasy I was, and I guess Justin noticed. While waiting in the waiting area for announcements to be made, Justin held my hands to calm me down, because at this point I was seriously trembling.

"Hey baby, look at me, look at me love, all is gonna be fine. Trust me, your Dad is going to be fine" he said as he stared at me straight in the eye.

"Justin what if something worse happens to him, what if he doesn't make it, I swear, I won't forgive myself" I replied with a shaky cracky voice.

"Rissa, we've spoken about this, nothing, absolutely nothing is going to happen, plus what ever happened in the past wasn't your fault. Ok? And besides, you have me, I'll always be here for you love. Whatever happens in East Delva, am just one call away". Hearing Justin say all this made me relax a little. Honestly, Justin was the best thing that had happened to me since I was a kid, and I was never going to trade him for anything in the world.

Few minutes later, the airport attendants called and it was time to go, time to go face my fears and my past. No matter how far and long I ran, I could never run from my past. And with a hug and a very long deep kiss, I parted with Justin.

Clarissa P.O.V

The flight to East Delva was quite a quick one, probably because I didn't want the plane to land this early, am not sure I was going to be ever ready to face everything I left behind.

Upon coming out of the airport to get a taxi to go see my Father, everything became Nostalgic, and I began to remember the last time I was here at the airport. I had just finished my University, and all I wanted was to go start up my own business in Salva, to run from everything and everyone, but here I was, back to where I left.

The airport wasn't really different, somethings never changed, even after eight years. Reminiscing about the past wasn't the right thing for me to be doing right now and what mattered to me now was my father's health. Immediately I took out my phone from my pockets and called Claudia to ask what hospital they had taken him to.

"Your Father is at home, he is being treated from home. We want the accident saga to be very discreet and far from the public" Claudia replied after I asked her about my Dad's whereabout.

In no time, I took a taxi and headed to the Alexander mansion. Immediately I arrived, I stared at the gate and the mansion from outside, still remembering the past, but I didn't care any longer. I was here already, and it was time to face my past head on.

The securities at the gate wouldn't let me in at first, I wasn't surprised, as at the time I left the mansion, they were not hired. While I kept on trying to explain to the securities who I was, I heard someone shout my name, it was Nanny Pearl.

"Nannnnyyyy!!!" I screamed.

"My baby, is this really you?, Is this really my Rissa?" She asked in disbelief.

"What are you doing here Rissa?, come in. Everyone meet Clarissa, the first daughter of Our boss, Alexander" she explained as she faced the securities.

"How's my Dad, how's his health?, How's he doing? Was he hurt really bad" I asked Nanny Pearl in a disorganized manner.

"Rissa calm down, you just arrived, I don't understand what you mean by him getting hurt really bad" she replied with a confused look.

"Where is Claudia?", I asked, not waiting for a response from her. I walked quickly into the mansion's main living room.

But to my greatest surprise, when I got into the living, I couldn't believe my eyes. Right in front of me was my Dad, Alexander Jones, sitting Hale and hearty on the couch in the living room.

"What the hell is going on right now? Claudia I need a freaking explanation. WHAT...IN...THE... WORLD...IS... GOING...ON" I screamed at the top of my voice.

Everyone was silent. And at this point, I felt like exploding. They deceived me, they fucking deceived me into coming back to East Delva. I felt like a fool. What was I expecting?, Pàpà would do anything for his precious daughter's wedding, even if he had to use his health, because he knew he was my weak point.

"Clarissa calm down, it's not what you think" Claudia replied.

"Claudia, so tell me what is going on, Pàpà... what's going on, why is the man whom I was told is currently unconscious, looking at me hundred percent conscious?, hmmmm...tell me Claudia" I asked again.

"Rissa, It was all my idea, Claudia has no hand in this. Left for her, we wouldn't need your help" Pàpà answered.

"Am not surprised, Claudia rather dies than call me, and talking about my help, why would you need my help" I replied still in a harsh tone.

"Your sister, sorry, your half-sister as you always say, was Kidnapped few days ago on her way to attend a meeting with her wedding planner, and right now, we need all the help we can get from everyone to find her" my dad replied

"Wait, wait, wait dad, so let me get it straight. Eloise was Kidnapped and you brought me all the way from Salva, to do what exactly?, join the search team or what?. You should have told me from the start that this was the reason you wanted me to come home, you didn't have to lie" I said in a more calm tone than before.

"Rissa, with your actions, I didn't think you would have responded to my call, but am glad you came. Now stop the shouting and come give Pàpà a hug" he said with a smile on his face.

I couldn't lie, I missed my Pàpà so much, and I needed that hug. Without hesitation I dropped my bag and ran into his already opened arms.

Just as I was about to break free from his embrace, the door to the living room opened. Mr Miguel Divit and a fair young man walked in.

"Good day everyone, how's the investigation for our bride going" Miguel said as he sat on the couch.

Our Bride???!!! Hold up! Was Eloise getting married to Miguel's son?, Wow, just wow. Am sure this marriage was for business purposes. At this point, I wasn't even a bit jealous of Eloise. I know they were going to hide under the disguise that their children were in love.

As a kid, Pàpà and Miguel had always had a dream of being United in business and in marriage. They always spoke about how their kids would bind them together through marriage. Then years later, when we all became of age, I heard Eloise and Miguel's son were dating.

I didn't know their relationship had reached the point of marriage, I guess I had been away from home for so long.

Immediately we all began to work on how to find Eloise. I began to contact all my Investigator-Friends. But then I wanted someone more private. I still couldn't get why someone would kidnap Eloise, without asking for ransom or anything. But if I spoke up, as usual, everyone would think I was unreasonable.

I then called Ace, he was very good in the art of espionage, and am sure he was going to get some valuable info on Eloise's whereabouts.

As I was on the phone sending the necessary information to Ace, which he could use to start his job, Miguel called everyone's attention, he had a suggestion to make.

"The wedding is in two days, and it has to hold. I have a lot of potential business partners who I have made plans for during the wedding period, and I can't turn them down right now" he said.

"Miguel, what are you trying to say? How can a wedding hold without a bride? Pàpà asked.

"Adrian should marry You first daughter, Clarissa".