EJAY VAN RUSSELL-I Have a Crush on You

"Hi, how are you today?" he practiced in his head before his Biology class.

As he sat at the lab table, he looked around the class waiting for her to arrive. He knew she was at school today because he saw her earlier when she walked past him with her cheerleader friends. She never noticed him, no one did. It did ntomatterthat he was a Van Russell and the most famous family in Midtown. No one noticed him.

And there she was. Ashley Tremble. The prettiest girl in his class, maybe the whole school. To him anyway. Long blonde hair in thick waves cascaded down her back. Plump, pouty lips painted crimson, cheeks a hint of pink, eyes were startlingly blue, slim and petite, wearing the Duncan Academy cheerleading uniform, showing perfectly slim and tanned legs.

She looked older than fifteen. Maybe eighteen, or even twenty-one. She had many admirers but no boyfriend. Ejay wanted to change that if he was brave enough to talk to her. He had never been on a date, never even asked a girl out. And at fifteen, that was behind a lot of guys he knew.

Ashley sat beside him and immediately went into her purse and whipped out her phone, taking selfies of herself and making faces.

Ejay could make his move now. All he could was stare at her and she still never noticed him right there next to her. He looked around the class and the other students.

That is when he saw a girl watching him. She quickly turned away.

Ejay looked to see who he might have been looking at, but no one else was nearby.

He turned back to look at her. This time she smiled at him and waved. Ejay waved back just as the teacher started class.

Who was that girl watching him in the same way he watched Ashley?

After class, with not a word to Ashley, and not a word from her, we walked over to the girl that watched him. No fear, he started talking to her.

"Hey," he said.

The girl was obviously flustered by him. She was biracial, he could tell, very light yellow complexion and long, wild curly brown hair. She had braces like him and glasses that she kept pushing up on her nose.

"Uh...hi."

"Sorry, I saw you looking at me earlier."

Her face flushed a bit. "Sorry, I...I didn't think you'd notice me."

He barely had, she was not much to notice. She wore no make-up like the other girls. She was not dressed in a trendy outfit, she wore oversized clothes. Not totally pretty, but something intriguing about her. The oversized red sweatshirt and ill-fitted jeans were not typical Dunlap Academy attire. She did not look like most with their designer names and looks of an insta model.

"I'm Ethan Van Russell, Ju-"

"I know who you are." She smiled at him. "Ejay."

"Oh, sorry, I..." He had no idea what her name was and didn't know what to say.

She rolled her eyes at him. "It figures. We've been in the same class all year and I've been in the same school as you for three and a half years."

She shook her head and started to walk off.

"No, wait." Ejay followed after her. "What's your name?"

But she stormed off without a look back.

DONNA JACKSON-Not Mother's Favorite

She was getting overwhelmed with work and planning a wedding. Since coming back from vacation, nothing was going her way. First day back, Anita up and quit. Both her brothers hit her with an avalanche of work, including traveling to other offices.

Then Tony hit her with investing in a record company. She had to review everything he signed to ensure everything was legit. Unlike Ethan, she was confident her son knew enough about business that he could do this on his own. If not, he had his father and his two uncles to go to for advice.

With no assistance, work was unbearable. She tried to get Anita back, but she quit for no reason. Donna even offered her more money and extra perks. She did not think she would be able to find a new assistant that worked hard as Anita.

She missed her mother.

Her mother was far away, retired, and moved to Florida, and was rarely seen or heard of from family. Her mother and she never saw eye to eye about anything. She especially did not want Donna to have a child out of wedlock. And not telling her who the father has further pulled them apart.

Well, not only did everyone know Tony's father was Ethan, but she was also marrying him.

She smiled at the ring on her finger and then picked up her phone.

"Hello mother."

"Oh, you do have a working phone?"

"The phone works both ways, mother."

"Seems like you are too busy for an old woman like me, so why even bother? My own children think I am already dead."

"Mother, let's not today, okay? I wanted to tell you that...that I'm getting married." Saying it made her smile.

There was no response from her mother.

"Mother? Did you hear me?"

"I heard you just fine. Finally, huh? You were getting a little too old to be gallivanting with all these men-"

"Mother, I never...whatever I did or did not so is my personal life." She rubbed her throbbing temple. Always a fight with her and she wondered why she did not call more.

"What does Tony think? He's about to be a grown man now, huh?"

"Tony loves him. In fact, it's his father."

"His father? What in the Sam Hill... Who is his father?"

"Mother, I know you hated for me having him at only eighteen, and unmarried, but I loved his father. And now, we get a second chance to be happy with each other."

"Child, if you don't tell me-"

"Ethan Van Russell."

She heard her mother gasp. "Sweet Jesus!"

The phone dropped and she heard some shuffling on her mother's end. Did her mother pass out?

"Mother!"

Her mother came back on the line. "When you were eighteen, Ethan Van Russell would have been...twenty-three! Did he force himself on you? How long were you...galivanting with that little snake? Your daddy is rolling around in his grave right now."

"I loved Ethan. And I love him now. I only left because of how you, Antonio, and Quinton felt about the Van Russells. You all made me hate them too when they did nothing wrong to me." Donna fought back tears. "I'm not going to let you or my brothers destroy us again. Just be happy for me, mom, please."

"That little snake will run you down and throw you away, just like his father did to your dad. I can't believe my daughter would do this to the family. Be that devil's whore."

"Mom!" she said through tears.

"You disgust me, I don't ever have to see you or that asshole Van Russell. You're dead to me."

Her mother hung up on her.

The tears raked through her body and she felt like she was having convulsions. How could she go on and marry a man that would tear her family apart?

ETHAN VAN RUSSELL-Business Not as Usual

Today he had one of the most important meetings of his life, presenting their overseas expansion to all the head honchos at Van Russell Enterprises. This was his project, overseeing the international expansion, so it had to succeed. Marty already doubted him. William always sided with Marty or anything to be against him. AT least he had support from the other executive members.

His cell phone was on vibrate, so he ignored it mostly while he was in his meeting. When he saw Donna send a text, he was going to read it and follow up later.

Then he did a double take of the message.

Donna: The wedding is off. Sorry Ethan

"No!" He jumped up from his seat.

"Is there a problem?" Marty asked.

"Take over Marty, I have to go."

Ethan raced out of the boardroom, never mind the fact that Marty knew nothing about the plans for the new stores.

Donna could not be serious. Something bad happened. He tried calling her but she would not pick up. He could not drive fast enough to get to Donna. He used the key that she gave him to enter her house.

"Donna!"

He looked around the place and then made it to her room. She lay in bed, under covers in a tight ball, sobbing quietly.

"Sweetheart." He rushed to her side and pulled the covers down so he could see her face. Tears stained her face, her eyes were bloodshot red and swollen. "Donna, tell me what's wrong?"

"Leave me alone."

"No, never." He pulled her up to him. "You have to tell me so that I can fix it."

"You can't fix everything."

"We can fix this baby."

"No, it's over! Your ring is over there." Donna nodded toward the ring sitting on the nightstand.

Ethan felt his heart break a little.

"Do you really want that?"

He rubbed her face and tried to brush tears away but she moved away from him.

"We'll never be happy."

"Did your brothers get to you? What the fuck did they say?"

She shook her head. "No, my mom. I called her today, told her about us...she...she...she said some horrible things."

Ethan pulled Donna back to him and held her tighter as tears racked through her body.

"You can't keep letting them do this to you, to us."

"It's my family Ethan! I'm losing my family. You still have yours. I don't know, Ethan, it just doesn't feel right. Like maybe this is all a mistake. We're not supposed to be together."

Ethan's brow furrowed. He loved Donna. He knew she was hurting over her family never accepting him, but there was nothing he could do. All he could do was love her enough to make her happy.

"Donna," he said as he caressed her face. "If I'm not enough for you, I will leave, I'm trying to be the best man I can for you, but your family will never see that. I hope you see that."

Donna snuggled against his neck, he knew there was still hope. He slid his hand up her shirt, felt that she was not wearing a bra, and caressed her breast.

"Damnit, woman!" He pulled off her shirt. "Let me make love to you right now, I need you."

He lay her back in the bed, kissed her, and then sucked on her breast. Donna's hands went through his hair as she pulled him up to her and they could connect with a kiss. Then her hands were down his pants, undoing his belt. Pretty soon, clothes were discarded, and his face was between her thighs.

"Let a hungry man eat."

Donna moaned and twisted as he lapped away at all her juices as she came on his tongue. Once he had enough, he moved back up to meet her lips, kissing her, holding her tight as he connected with her body.

He should be at work, closing his big deal, but instead, he was enjoying the finest creation on earth. If he had to jump through hoops to keep her, he would.

"Baby, if you leave me, I will die," he whispered in her ear. "I can't be a man without you. You're my everything."

Donna grabbed his neck and pulled him down to kiss. Her slim legs wrapped around his back and that drove him crazy. He thrust deeper and harder into her.

"Oh, Ethan! That feels so good, don't stop."

He didn't plan on it. They made love for what seemed like hours, then lay naked in each other's arms.

"You okay now?"

"Mmm-hmmm."

"You still love me?"

"Yes."

"You still want to marry me?"

"Yes!"

Ethan reached over to get the engagement ring from the nightstand. He took her hand.

"Don't ever, ever take this off again, okay?"

I won't." She kissed him. "You still love me, Ethan?"

"You know I love you more than anything." He kissed her again. "I have to get back to work."

"No!" Donna held him tight against her. "You can't leave me."

"I was in the middle of a very important meeting, sweetheart, I have to go finish this." he pried her from him.

"Don't you run the company, you don't have to check in with anyone."

That was a sore spot for him. He felt like he should be running Van Russells, but his brother had a couple more years and experience than him. Then there was William.

"Marty's in charge." He grabbed his boxers from the floor.

"Come back to bed Ethan, please."

Ethan looked over at Donna and she was giving him her best come hither look. He immediately got another erection. he pulled off the boxers he just pulled up and got back in bed with her.

"Damnit woman, I'll go broke dealing with you." He kissed and sucked on her neck. "Would you still love me if I had nothing?"

"I'd take care of you, Ethan. We would have each other."

Hey readers!

How are you loving things so far? I know there are a lot of characters and things going on. Like I said at the beginning, this isn't a novel, it's an ongoing soap opera. I can tell you where my characters will be (and who they will be with) in three years. I think that far ahead when I develop each character.

XOXO
Kimberly