TILL MY SECOND LIFE

CHAPTER:1

Avalyn Salvadora shut the book and gazed at the cover with a smile and stretched her numb limbs.
"you have not told us what happened afterwards" one of the kids asked. Avalyn smiled and patted the girls head, "I will come back and finish reading the book for you. My schedule is tight, I can't stay here all day. I could if it was up to me, but you see I have something else to do as well" she responded sweetly at the kid.
"will you come back to the hospital to see us?" another kid asked. She smiled "Of course I will, I promise" she answered and the kids smiled at her.
"Good bye aunty Avalyn" she waved them goodbye and walked out of the room. Her secretary was waiting at the hallway.
"You can't be reading the kids such an old book" the secretary said.
"I love the story, especially the king and the little girl. She is just sweet and the story inspires me a lot."
"you won't be reading the last chapter to the kid, or the steamy parts" the secretary raised a brow mischievously.
"Of course not" she laughed lightly "The story will be cut off to the only childish parts I can't poison such young souls" he sighed and Avalyn slapped his shoulders playfully, "come on stop teasing me Haddon!"
"Alright, where are you going right now?" he hurried trying to keep up with her long strides"
"I have an autograph signing at the Tahiz Hotels. Then I am off to the Sunshine Towers to see the producer of the upcoming series, later I will be going to the company to do some translation and editing before I wrap the day with my novel writing"
"You have to rest miss" she sighed patting Haddon's shoulders. "Am a strong woman Haddon and I need to do as much to keep myself in the city. Things are pretty tough, the economy is not so promising so, I better work"
"But you need rest"
"Not as much as I need to work, come on hurry I have a lot to do""You are so famous and loved, who would believe you work yourself this much?" Haddon who was always upset by Avalyn's workaholic nature whined. Nevertheless, she wouldn't listen to him no matter what, she did as she pleased.
"No one would believe you; they think being an actress, famous and loved means having a smooth life. They even start envying you and some will even hate you, that is how it is. Work in the shadows, sweating like crazy but people only see the surface they don't care of how deep the cut is" she explained making her way through the reception area quickly to avoid the press who didn't know or care if celebrities too needed a private life. She entered the elevator and Haddon followed quickly.
"The press has become a headache these days, they are so unpredictable!""I am used to it don't worry"
she brushed her hair back making haste to the waiting range rover. She leaped into the passenger seat and Haddon took the wheel and drove out of the underground basement.
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"Mr. Tahiz Lukasha, here are the files of the last transactions made in the company. I need your signature" secretary Jericho a man in his mid- thirties walked into the well vanished office and dropped the files on the mahogany desk. A young man who was sitting facing away from the door turned in his swivel chair and flipped a strand of hair falling over his left eye.
"That is not much" he flipped the pages signing them quickly in a flash. He cracked his knuckles and grinned boastfully.
"Mr. Tahiz, she will be at the hotel today"
"Who? Where?"
"Oh, miss Avalyn Salvadora. The famous writer, actress and editor. She will be at the hotel, Tahiz Hotel" he answered expectantly.
"Oh, which book is she giving an autograph for?"
"I think it is, The Little Salvina Dasya, it is a hit I think she got her inspiration from the legendary novel The Devil's Bride!" Tahiz sighed, he didn't like the mention of the name at all. Not Dasya or Salvina but the name bride made him tremble a little.
"How is it? Have you read it?"
"It is a marvelous hit. I thought you have already read it. The book is about the girl Salvina Dasya sleeping in the palace beside his husband the king and had a dream of when she was young how she grew up with both parents. She became a great scholar and wrote a lot of books and then she married an ordinary man. She had two kids got old together and died of old age. She was smiling in her sleep only to wake up and find herself beside her actual husband; the king. And fate was waiting for her at the door!"The secretary explained with a brilliant dreamy look on her face. He looked ridiculously sheepish and crazy.
"She probably had such a dream!"
"Don't look at me like that, you look like an idiot who has lost his mind. Act normal. Will you?"
"Yes Mr. Tahiz...
Tahiz slapped his forehead throwing a piece of paper at Jericho.
"I told you not to call me that, call me Kingsley. Not the other name I don't use with humans"
"Forgive me Mr. ta... I mean Mr. Kingsley!"
"Fetch me a copy of that novel, let me check it out."
"Right away sir" Jericho rushed off and was back in a minute
"Right here sir" King opened the book with an indifferent look on his face. The cove was of a little girl around five sitting in a flower garden and the background a king and a queen. Then the front page was a couple of thank you notes
...I dedicate this book to the young me, the dreamer I was the innocent kid I was. The younger me would be happy to read such a book. I thank everyone else who has helped me make this book such a success especially my secretary Haddon Paul, my boss Hedrix Flint and granny Araya not to forget my best friend, Lacey.
Kingsley sighed and smiled reluctantly. You must be lucky, you got a secretary, friend, granny and a boss too. I got none of those!I like the book already; I will get an autograph from you. You must tell me, how you saw all this. I am a curious man, talking about that little angle like you know her makes me very curious. You must be such an interesting woman.
"Secretary Makai ?"
"Yes, boss...
"At what time is the autograph signing happening?"
"At eleven"
"We are going for the autograph then, together" Makai grinned and hissed in excitement
"Yes!" Kingsley Soren sat back closed his eyes and sunk into deep slumber for a second then he sat up in a start. A prey was walking into the lion's den! time to hunt!
"Wait for me to get back, I got a call of duty!"
"Mr. King... but he was already gone, Makai sighed shaking his head. So unruly!
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The room was dark, lights flickered, the floor was filled with papers and torn books. A girl with brown hair sat on the floor by the bed. Her hair was a brown unruly cloud dirty and tangled, her make-up was smeared on her face by the tears she had shed. She looked depressed, basically at the verge of going mad!."He hates me, otherwise he would never have done that to me! He killed mom and now he doesn't want anything to do with me. How am I supposed to live, I don't have fees, or rent I can barely feed myself and he hits me" she coughed tagging on her hair "All he does is drink and give me a dog beating. I am such a burden I could not even save my own mother when he murdered her in cold blood. I did not have the strength to testify against him. It is a punishment she's haunting me. She is mad at me. I can no longer be free" she walked around the room shock written all over her face, she reached for her closet and fetched a scarf from it.
"I should end my suffering, right? How else can I stop suffering if I don't go six feet under?"she tied the rope on the high window seal and walked around the room picking a piece of paper and pen from the floor and scribbled a few words. It was your fault dad! You made me do this, it was your fault! She fixed the scarf around her neck and kicked the stool off! A shadow loomed at the corner of the room; a smirk sliced the lips of the man hiding behind the shadows. He was a well-built man, but the hood over his head concealed his face.
"Help me!"
"You wanted to die, didn't you?"
"Not anymore, it hurts. I can't breathe"
"You knew very well how painful hanging can be, you knew you would not be able to breathe as well. You wanted to die, then die!"
"Please help me!"
"It is not in my position to help you, the grim rippers knew you were leaving today. Saving you will cost me, or it will cost you something in return. What can you offer?"
"Help" she coughed, gagged and chocked but the man watched her emotionlessly. He didn't flinch watching the girl die and her body turn cold .He walked around the disorganized room and read the note. His lips curled up and he placed the note down. "If it was his fault, you would have sought me to make him feel pain. Too bad, humans have the tendency of seeking short cuts. And shortcuts are always, the wrong cuts"
He disappeared in thin air leaving a thin thread of black smoke lingering in air but slowly disappeared.
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"Madam Avalyn, is it true you will be joining the Starlight Agencies for the new series...
"Miss, is it true you will replace Brenda Rose in the series?"
"Miss how do you feel about the new collaboration with the Starlight Agencies...
"Miss answer me please!"
"Make way"
"Please step back and let her go through"
"Make way!"
"Please let us through"
Secretary Haddon managed to get Avalyn to pass through and enter the hotel successfully. She made her way to the conference room that was already packed to capacity. She walked on the stage, and her funs couldn't help but scream and giggle at the same time.
"Hello everyone, I am Avalyn Salvadora. Thank you for coming for the autograph signing, we will get started!"she smiled joining her core actors on the table as people lined up for an autograph. She loved signing autographs for her fans, it made her feel good about herself. She was well aware that it was a times fake love. The celebration and 'I love you' words that came from most of them were just because they fancied her or adored her. She had enemies too, and they were more than she has ever thought. Too many, some wanted her dead for no specific reason, maybe because she was rich or she often beat her fellow actresses in the industry and their fans turned against her.
When she was a teen back at school, she adored actors and actresses. She and her best friend often went out of their way to get autographs from them to make herself happy. She had a dream of being an actress as well, she wanted to wrote books and now she was living her dream life. She was happy, but life is never a bed of roses, right?
"Hello, my name is Tyler. I love seeing you on TV a lot, can I have a photo with you please?"
"Sure" she stood up and let the young teen take a photo with her, she knew how excited she became after taking a photos with a celebrity. It was what made her smile all the time. She had a collection of photos in her room of all the celebrities she had met, she worked with some even at the moment.
"thank you so much miss"
"Alright" she went back to her signing. As soon as she sat, her cellphone rang
."Excuse me" she walked away and picked the call.
"Yes, who is this?"
"Hello, this is doctor Kim of the New Life Hospital, are you related to Miss Araya Brown?"
"Yes, she is my grandmother"
"Please come to the hospital immediately there is an emergency!"
"What happened to her...
Beep! Beep!
She was not done speaking and he had already hung up, she panicked. She grabbed her jacket and handbag apologized briefly to her funs lining up for her autograph and rushed off. Secretary Haddon followed after her quickly.
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Mr. Flint walked into his office briskly, his secretary rushed after him quickly after him. Flint sat down draping one leg over the other supporting his chin with his hand on his desk. He was a pompous middle age man who loved spending money and being the center of attention. He loved it when all women had eyes on him, drooled over him but he never reacted to any of the adoration and attention he got. He had the habit of throwing parties any time a movie or a series he directed became a success. Originally, he is a movie producer and he also directed his own movies. He owned a resort where he spent most of his time. His father was old, he is the only child born when his parents were really old and so had the pleasure of being pampered by his parents. His life has always been like walking in a flower garden, he never lacked money or whatever he wanted. He was a strict man, he loved when everything was in order and punctuality was one of the things, he sought in everyone he worked with. He himself was a very neat and punctual man. Being in his early thirties, his mother was on his neck pestering him to get married before they were too old and lose sight before she saw her daughter in law. Finding a loyal woman was pretty difficult when most of them were busy building their lives independently or others were simply gold diggers. But his mother would not understand. In those days when she was young, women were faithful and fancied marriage, but now marriage was a burden or a source of money!"Read my schedule for today"
"You have a meeting with the shareholders of your father's company at 12:00noon, then you are meeting Mr. Kingsley Soren at exactly two in his company; Tahiz Publishers. At four you have a blind date at Moonlight hotel"
"I told father to sell the company if he is too old to handle it, now I have to handle his work for him. Seriously?" he sighed grumpily "Wait, I had a scene we were shooting at... what time was that...
"Sunshine Towers at two...
"That one, what happened to it?"
"The actress called and said she had an emergency."
"Who are we talking about here? Miss Avalyn or madam Rose?"
"Madam Rose finished her scenes last week sir, she travelled to Mombasa for her vacation. Miss Avalyn is the one we are talking about"
"What happened to her?"
"Her grandmother collapsed in her café"
"What?!"
"Are you OK Mr. Flint?" the secretary was surprised by the CEO's sudden reaction to the news about Avalyn's grandmother. It was unlike him, he cared about no one's personal matters. He was the kind of person who can walk past a road accident without bothering to even take a glance of what was happening.
"No, am actually surprised. Miss Avalyn has a grandmother?" during the audition she submitted her documents, they stated that she is an orphan. So where does the grandmother come from?"
"Come on Mr. Flint, it is normal to have a grandmother without having a parent"
"Oh" he scratched the back of his head awkwardly scrambling to his feet. He picked the files on the desk and stashed them into his secretary's hands.