chapter 9

"Drive quickly!" 

"Are you alright miss?" 

"Drive the freaking car France! I do the talking here!" She snapped.

Her chauffeur obeyed immediately. The limo began to move as she gulped down some alcohol. 

He was her fiancé.

Her eyes travelled around as different thoughts trickled down her brain—being famous was exhausting...

"France...,"she muttered. 

"Miss".

"Ya'll are liars". 

The strong Raven was in a state of chaos—her therapist had predicted her breakdown—at that moment, she couldn't bear to conceal her feelings...she felt weak.

"I'm sorry about what happened miss," he uttered gently—he tried to choose the right words.

She felt embarrassed; even France knew about  Carter's infidelity. 

"You know too... " The alcohol was starting to take control of her mind.

France didn't dare to reply—their relationship was solely the boss-employee relationship. 

"I never loved Carter—we only got engaged for the public. Fans loved us together. Why not make it official?"  She paused briefly and continued.

"I only detest the fact everyone sees me as the pity party. I do not care whether or not he cheats on me", she tried to convince herself—she was in a state of denial.

She didn't understand why she was explaining to France—what she wanted was to vent out her painful feelings.

"You are special, smart—every man's dream—he's an idiot for cheating". His sudden words were soothing.

Growing up, all the comments she heard was mostly about her beauty—she longed for compliments other than her beauty—she was thankful to him but before she could her words came out—she drifted off to sleep...

France felt really sorry for his boss. She could be uptight and rude but he knew she had a good heart. 

He breathed in relief after he saw her mansion from a close distance. He drove by the security and pulled over to her garage. He couldn't recall how many houses she had moved to that year— he particularly liked her new home—it wasn't far from his apartment. 

Still fast asleep. 

He decided not to wake her—slowly opening the door, he carried her gently .

He placed her hair backwards to get a better view of her face and maintained balance. Getting her keys wasn't a problem, he knew where they were.

She was lighter than he thought. 

After what seemed like eternity, he unlocked the front door. Her dog, Chanel barked at the sight of them. The house was clean and tidy—even with the absence of a maid.

She preferred not to have anyone around.

She trusted no one.

France smiled thinking of how many people would kill to be in his shoes at the moment.  He glanced at her perfectly structured face—she was overly beautiful.

Raven opened her eyes slowly and found her driver placing her on a bed. 

Confusion.

Why was he touching her?

Her eyes darting around—she realized she was in her home.

France was smiling and their eyes met for a moment—he had the most beautiful eyes.

She didn't understand how she hadn't noticed—It was hazel and glittery. 

She blinked, confirming she wasn't in a dream.

How had she not noticed how attractive he was?  

It was a mystery to her. 

Of course he was her chauffeur; how could she have given him a glance? She knew there was something refined about him but she couldn't seem to place her finger on it.

He had class.

She starred at his lips—still not understanding what was going on. The alcohol was taking control... at least that was her excuse.

She brought her head close to his and in a brief flash of glance, their lips collided fiercely.

One moment she was involved in a scandal and next thing—she was making out with her chauffeur.

The burning sensation in her body was new to her—no man ever made her feel this way.

It was overwhelming—she didn't want to stop.

She pulled him closer and in a flash he pulled away.

"I have a girlfriend," without turning, he stormed off.

Defeated

Her chauffeur rejected her.

The sudden sound of her phone snapped her out of her misery. It was a familiar number—the anger and sadness within her was ready to attack her caller.

"What do you want?!" She yelled, voice harsh and tight with emotions.  

"How dare you call me?" It came out weak.

"I'm still your mother Raven..." 

"You lost the privilege of being referred to as my mother a long time ago; after murdering dad...,"she couldn't control her tears. Her eyelids became heavy, her lips trembled and her eyes burned as she tried to keep her tears at bay.

"I'm sorry."

"I do not know how you get to call me at night, you're probably sleeping with one of the cops to get this privilege. Never call me again! I warn you!" She yelled slamming her phone afterwards.

She loved her father—she missed him terribly. Perhaps her life would have been better if he was around.

Raven was dying inside, she couldn't recall the last time she conversed with her sisters.

Her life was a mess.

Taking a long ride was always a remedy for Raven. She chose to drive her sport car because it was fast. She ignored Chanel who was wailing around her and stormed out of the house. 

Getting into her car—she drove off. Ignoring the fact she wasn't in the right state of mind.

Being a celebrity was supposed to be an escape.

The plan was to start afresh—a new life, away from her problems.

If only he was alive...

"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING".

Raven could bet her life she heard a voice.

Was she going nuts? The night was getting weirder. She parked along the road to confirm her sanity.

"YOU AREN'T CRAZY RAVEN".

She was starting to get frightened—mostly because she couldn't tell if it was a male or female speaking.

"DO NOT BE FRIGHTENED, I'M HERE TO HELP YOU".

"What do you want?" 

"WHAT IF I HELP YOU GO BACK TO THE PAST? I COULD TAKE YOU TO WHEN YOU WERE HAPPY. WHEN YOUR FATHER WAS ALIVE".

Raven was convinced she was going nuts. Then she gave a thought to it; if she wasn't actually nuts and the voice was real then she could travel to the past and save her father.

"I KNOW WHAT YOU'RE THINKING RAVEN. WHAT YOU DO IN YOUR PAST DOESN'T AFFECT YOUR REALITY; WHAT YOU DO IN YOUR PAST BECOMES YOUR ALTERNATE LIFE".

Raven became dismayed but the thought of seeing her father made her excited, she was willing to take the risk. Still unsure of what was going on—she decided to succumb.

"What will happen to me here in reality?"

"YOU'LL BE IN A COMA. YOU'LL SPEND 60 DAYS IN THE PAST".

Taking a break from her lifestyle was appealing—she wouldn't have to face the press or Carter the next day—most especially, she was gonna spend 60 days with her father. She had just one last question for the strange voice.

"Why are you helping me?"

"YOU'LL SOON FIND OUT..."  the reply came out as a whisper.

It wasn't satisfying. Before she could ask any other question—she passed out.

****

Thanks for reading!