I know it's very ambitious for a first time writer to work on two stories at the same time but this idea grabbed hold and wouldn't let go. Please read, enjoy and review. Thank you!

CHAPTER 1

Katara sat in her large gleaming desk and brooded. Today was supposed to have been the happiest day of her life 3years ago. But here she was in her office reminiscing about what could have been. She was grateful though for her current composure. On the first anniversary of the wedding that never was, she had locked herself up in her room all night, with a whole tub of Rum Raisin Fanice ice cream and a box of tissue. She was quite proud of how far she had come and was quite content with her lot. She had peace of mind. A far cry from the emotional wreck she had been 2years ago. It was a good thing she had been able to put that behind her finally.

It hard been hard at the time, so hard she had she had jumped at the opportunity to put continents between her and her cheating ex-fiancé. At the time it had felt like she was being cowardly, but she couldn't pass up the opportunity when it had come up. And now she couldn't be happier that she had decided to move to Accra, Ghana. Yep, West Africa. She had moved here to open a La Senza store at the Accra Mall. She had been looking to own a Victoria's Secret store but since it was not a franchise operation, she had opted for the sister operation. She had been to Ghana once before on an exchange program between her university and the University of Ghana, Legon. That had been 7years ago. She had fallen in love with the country, the little she was able to see of it in the few months she'd stayed. The people were so warm and welcoming. Their culture was so rich and the food had been awesome! The nightlife hadn't been half bad either. She had loved it the first time around and her love just grew the longer she stayed.

What had drawn her back to Ghana was that she'd felt at home here even though it was so far from home. And she felt it was far away enough for her secret to be safe. And so here she was 3years after her broken engagement to Zuko Agnimukha 6weeks to their wedding. Thinking about him still hurt, but the pain was bearable now. Thoughts of him didn't bring tears to her eyes anymore. She was over him.

She had loved him so much. He had been everything she'd ever wanted in a man. Gentle, strong, passionate and determined. Sure he was stubborn and proud but he was also so handsome. 6 feet of well muscled, lean hipped, broad shouldered yummy man-flesh. Thick luxurious black hair that fell into his eyes because of it's length, his amber colored eyes, his soft lips, strong jaw….she could just go on and on. Even the scar that covered the upper left half of his face just added character to his face. Yes, he was a lying, cheating bastard. But he sure was a good looking one. What girl in her right mind wouldn't have said yes when this handsome, loving, gentle man who treated her like a queen asked her to marry him? She couldn't have been happier.

What had made his betrayal all the more shocking and painful was that they had been so good together. So damn right! They had been so happy! She must have looked like a fish blown out of water that day when she had opened the door to his penthouse condo. Zuko was holding Mai. Pretty tight if you asked her. Mai was a model. One of the tall, thin, beautiful ones with the endless legs. A childhood friend of Zuko's. And she was wearing Zuko's shirt. Just his shirt! What made it worse, Zuko was in a low riding sweat pants. Shirtless! After opening and closing her mouth a few seconds after he had jerked away from Mai she had closed the door and run to the elevators. She had felt so thankful the doors had closed before Zuko could stop them. She hadn't set eyes on him since. She had had the locks to her apartment changed; she had asked her secretary to always tell him she was in a meeting and she refused to pick his phone calls and deleted all his voicemail without listening to them. She had stopped going to the places she was bound to run into him. She had done a heck of a job of cutting him off for the 4months it had taken for her to arrange her relocation to Accra Ghana. She had sent the $25,000 engagement ring back through Sokka – her brother – the day of her flight to Ghana.

Sokka had tried talking her out of it till the day she boarded the plane. He probably would have refused to let her go if Gran Gran hadn't decided to go along with her. She probably also had Suki to thank for calming her brother down. The 4months it had taken to organize things had been slow and painful for her. It hadn't been easy but she had been able to leave Baltimore without seeing Zuko again.

Katara decided she had done enough reminiscing and got up looking at the clock. She was shocked to realize how long she had been sitting at her desk thinking about events of the past. She had a date tonight! Eat that Zuko Agnimukha! She thought it was rather apt that she'd go on her first date in 3years on the anniversary of her still-born wedding. Her date for the night was Jet Freeman. He was an American expatriate who worked with Anglogold Ashanti, a mining company. She had met him three weeks ago at Rhapsody's, her favorite restaurant at the mall where her La Senza shop was. He had asked very politely if he could join her at her table with a roguish smile. They had ended up having a good time and had traded cell phone numbers. They had started talking a lot and kept on 'bumping' into each other at lunch. She found he enjoyed Jet's company very much. A date was in order after all. Besides, he was very easy on the eyes; with his chestnut hair, strong features and lean but well toned body. He had a roguish charm which she found delightful. So she'd agreed to go have a drink with him at Citizen Kofi. A one-stop entertainment hot spot just Oxford street, Osu RE.

She locked up her office and went into the shop in search of Ekua, her assistant. She wasn't at the counter supervising the sales clerks so she assumed she was somewhere in the shop assisting a customer. She waited patiently for her at the counter and saw her come over shortly. Ekua was a gem of an employee. She was Katara junior by 2years. She had employed her though she hadn't had much experience with running a store such as La Senza, but had been customer service personnel at MTN, a telecommunication giant in Ghana. She had shown her enthusiasm and high level of intelligence when Katara interviewed her. Plus she sounded very eager to learn. She had hired Ekua without a second thought and had not regretted her decision even once.

"Ready to leave, Boss Lady?" Ekua asked with her usual warm smile that lit up her pretty face.

"I keep telling you not to call me that. If this becomes a nickname that sticks, I'm holding you personally responsible. And yeah I'm heading home. I have to go out later tonight so I want to make sure to spend some time at home first."

"No problem Boss Lady! I'll just close up shop same as usual. Have fun tonight then." Ekua said without the smile leaving her eyes.

Katara tried to glare at Ekua but couldn't keep the smile from breaking through. She just shook her head "See you tomorrow Ekua."

She said her goodbyes to the rest of the staff at the counter and left, heading towards the western exit that would take her to where store owners and workers had their car park. She got into her silver BMW 1series. She wasn't really a car person, but she loved her high specs car. She loved the dark blue leather interior. And she knew she looked good in her car. She didn't need or want a big car and enjoyed hers immensely. She got out of the parking lot and eased her way onto the Tetteh Quarshie interchange which would get her onto the Independence Avenue and to her home. She owned an apartment in the Polo Court just 10minute drive from the mall. She had been lucky the apartments had just gotten on the market when she started looking into relocating. She had bought a top floor apartment in the block that overlooked the Polo grounds. The development was right next to the Accra Polo Club and she was a member of the Polo club.

She was able to avoid the heavy traffic that was bound to build up later in the day and got home quickly. She parked her car and climbed up the stairs to her apartment. She was met with a squeal of joy from her 2year old Kya. The real reason she had decided to leave Baltimore. She had been on her way to tell Zuko she was pregnant when she had happened on him and Mai. She was thankful she hadn't miscarried from the shock. She picked her daughter up and kissed her soundly on her chubby cheek.

"Mommy! Nana made Jolof rice for me!" Kya squealed in delight. Katara usually got home around half past 6, so her daughter was delighted to see her home earlier.

"Is that right pumpkin? Did you eat it all?" Katara asked her daughter nuzzling her tummy with her face.

"No mommy, I left you some." She replied giggling.

"Why, thank you. You're such a darling!" she said putting her back down and turning to Gran Gran and pecking her cheek. "Hey, Gran Gran. How did your day go? Was Mr. Owusu on time?" she asked her Grandmother.

Mr. Owusu was the driver she had employed who drove her grandmother and her daughter around in her Toyota Corolla whenever she wasn't around to do errands.

"Yes he was honey. Our day went just great. He brought everything we needed right on time."

Katara had had a cook on staff as well but her Gran Gran just learnt how to make the Ghanaian dishes Katara and Kya both enjoyed, so she let the cook go. And Gran Gran could make some mean Jolof rice. A Ghanaian dish made of rice cooked in tomato stew with chunks of beef in it.

Kya tugged at her hand and Katara looked down at her. "Want to watch Barney mommy."

"Ok pumpkin, let me just go get my hands washed ok?" she left to put her bag down and get her hands clean so she could come spend some time with her daughter before her date.

They watched for as long as Kya's short attention span could allow and then went on to play with Kya's giant Lego block set. After watching and helping Kya color some pages of her coloring book in Katara picked her daughter up for her evening bath. She always gave Kya her evening bath since sometimes she had to leave a little early in the morning and Kya would just have gotten up. After putting her in her sleep clothes, she cuddled with her in bed till she fell asleep. Picking her daughter up, she made her way to Kya's room opposite hers and put her to bed. She looked down at her sleeping child and let out a soft sigh. Kya looked just like Katara did at her age. If it wasn't for the slightly lighter shade of Kya skin, darker shade of her hair and her amber eyes which were closed at the moment, she would have been an exact replica. Katara bent down and kissed her daughter and went to her room to start getting ready for the night.

She was meeting Jet at Citizen Kofi instead of having him pick her up. She took a quick shower, put on her favorite mist – La Senza Love Moisture Mist in Heart Song – layering it moisturizer in the same scent. She wasn't going to use her favorite perfume tonight. She let her hair tumble out of the towel it had been gathered in on top of her head and blow-dried and brushed her thick slightly curly hair which hung almost to the middle of her back. She applied a coat of sheer and pearly pink gloss to her lips and went for the Kim Kardashian smoky eye look. She decided to wear her favorite Kente corset top and black velvet pencil skirt. Kente was a type of silk and cotton fabric made of interwoven cloth strips. Hers was a combination of turquoise and silver yarn woven into a beautiful diamond pattern. She looked herself over in her full length mirror. Adding her favorite choker with matching earrings she took in her appearance, giving a satisfied nod. She decided on a 2inch heeled gladiator sandals and grabbed a silver clutch. Throwing in her car keys, lip gloss, a pack of tissue, credit card and some cash she was good to go.

Katara went to Gran Gran's room and did a little modeling for her. When she struck her final pose she burst into giggles.

"You look gorgeous Katara" Gran Gran beamed at her.

"Thanks Gran Gran. You guys are going to be ok alone?" she asked her for the umpteenth time.

"We'll be just great sweetheart. Just be careful and have lots of fun, ok?" she said warmly.

"Ok. I should be back before midnight though." With that she pecked her grandmother's cheek, looked in for the last time on Kya and left for her first ever date in 3years. 'Happy Anniversary-that-never was Katara' she thought to herself a little darkly before snapping out of it. She wouldn't let shadows of the past darken her mood tonight. It was all about having fun with a handsome, charming rogue of a guy named Jet.