Chapter 3. 7 years later.

Buzzzzzzzz!!!!

I slammed the alarm bedside my bed. It clattered to the floor with a dull thud but the alarm kept buzzing.

“Arghhhhh, I’m up already!"

The lights came on. A small figure stood at my door smiling sleepily at me. His curly black hair was all over the place, and his JJBA pyjama's bottom was lowered on one hip.

“Hey baby, come over and give mommy a hug.”

My six-year-old son, Nolen, came running into my arms. Yes, I named him after his father. Seven years ago I was a bitter youth, angry and ready to revenge against my best friend and boyfriend’s betrayal. I ran into the arms of my shy neighbor and made my son.

I regret that night. I regret the words out of my lips to Nolan. His hurt eyes tormented me ever since and I never got the chance to apologize because he moved before I could finally find the courage to apologize for taking my anger out on him. I never thought I was ready to be a mother until I held little Nolen in my arms. At that moment I knew God was giving me a second chance to make things right and every day after that has been a blessing with my little angel.

I ruffled his curls and he laughed pushing my hands away. He looks a lot like his father it hurts. The only thing Nolen inherited from me was the crown of tight curls. His eyes are as green as his father’s.

“You stink, Mommy,” the impish fellow remarked holding his hand to his nose to stifle my morning breath.

I rolled my eyes good-naturedly. “Out of the mouth of babes. Wanna brush with mommy?”

“Can I do it myself please?” he begged holding his hands up in a pleading gesture.

“Okay okay. Only if you promise to do it well this time.”

“Yay.” He hurried to his room which was adjacent to mine to get his stuff. I tossed my blanket aside and crawled out of bed. The television was on and the opening theme to one of Nolen’s favorite animes echoed. Groaning, I went to the sitting room where Sophie lay sprawled on the couch with her leg slung over the headrest. Nolen leaned against the armrest with his legs dangling off the floor. He sang the theme song with Sophie.

“It’s too early for this, Sophie. Nolen needs to go to school.”

She turned down the volume of the television and rolled over. “Morning, MOM.” Her newly dyed strawberry blonde hair was pulled up in a messy bun and she wore PJs identical to Nolen’s. She had them made for both of them for Christmas last year.

She came in last night. She works at a pharmaceutical company as an assistant manager, she wants to open a company of her own, but she hangs out in my apartment all night. We don’t talk about it but we both know that the reason she spends so much time in my apartment is that she’s alone.

She never really got over her difficult childhood and has problems committing to anything. In college, I had encouraged her to see therapists. Let’s just say that was wasted advice. Still, she’s my best friend that’s why she will always be welcome in my home. She was there for me when I was ready to give up after the whole Jason and Lurane fiasco. She babysat Nolen in college and after that, she still hangs around to take care of him when I have to work late.

“You look like shit,” she commented with a loud laugh.

“Don’t I know it?” My back ached after a long workday yesterday. “Nolen wait upstairs for me will you, honey? I’ll join you soon.”

He reluctantly turned away from the anime scene playing on TV and went up the stairs occasionally turning back to catch glimpses of the show.

“Penelope lit your ass eh?”

“You know how she is. You have to be on your feet 24/7 around her. She wasn’t pleased with last night’s show and everyone had to suffer for it.”

“You should quit that job. You are better than that.”

This is an argument we have every single morning. I work for Penelope Quinn, an infamous businesswoman, and model. She owns a modeling agency.

In college, Sophie had encouraged me to try modeling on the side for a little cash. After college, I tried my luck at Penelope’s agency and she took one look at me and said, “You are in the wrong place, honey. What else can you do?”

Turns out I can run errands.

So I became her P. A although it seems more like I do the job of a servant than a Personal Assistant.

I waved Sophie’s comment aside. I need the job. It puts food on the table and pays Nolen’s fees. Besides I’ve been putting some of my ample salaries aside. I don’t know have any plans for a job for now so until I do I will keep saving what I can.

“Can you help me get Nolen to school when you’re ready to leave? Penelope called for a meeting today.”

Sophie rolled her eyes knowing I was avoiding that conversation. “Sure. How long are you gonna be gone?”

“Till Penelope is done. I need to go get ready.”

Nolen was playing superhero with his toothbrush in my bathroom when I came in. I joined him and played the damsel in distress while he played Superman coming to the rescue. Sophie is to blame for his obsession with comics and animations. While she babysat she also made it her job to make a weeb out of my son by reading him comics even before he could speak as bedtime stories.

After several minutes of fooling around, I got him to succumb to the trial of the bathtub and the mercies of the hairbrush then sent him off to Sophie for his next mission. A few minutes later I was dressed in a cream A-line skirt and a silk dark blue blouse. The perk of working for a model/agent is getting the cast-off clothes. I applied light makeup to hide the tired lines around my eyes, brushed my thick unruly curls, secured them with a band on top of my head, and was ready to go. Nolen and Sophie were eating cereal when I went downstairs for my bag and car keys.

“I’m off.” I kissed Nolen’s head. “Bye, kid.”

“Bye Mom,” he replied distractedly.

“Yeah, bye Mom,” Sophie echoed.

My tiny second-hand car which has seen both rain and sunshine sat in the garage I share with my neighbors, an old couple who spend most of their time in their garden. I waved at them as I drove off.

Traffic was light, thankfully. Penelope worships punctuality. That was the first rule she drilled into me on my first day of work with her. She didn’t give a flying fuck that I had a toddler to take care of, her work came first. It’s no wonder she collects more engagement rings than the lord of the rings. Her last engagement fell through because her fiancé fell in love with a nurse or something.

The agency occupied the entire seventh floor of the WINSTON’S Complex on Hux and 7th Avenue. The office was already buzzing with activities when I came out of the elevator. A group of workers gathered around a box of donuts, downing huge bites of glazed and chocolate donuts with coffee.

“Save me a donut,” I called out to one of the guys.

I had barely made my way to the desk when the Ice Queen herself walked into the room. If ever there was a boss from hell, she is one. She used the staircase and somehow got to the office just a few seconds after me. Sometimes I suspect she was a dragon in her past life, terrorizing peasants and breathing fire.

The box of donuts disappeared from the desk.

“Where is Frankie?”

Straight to business. Penelope Quinn walked towards me with her pencil heels clicking the tiles like a warning. Her blonde waves bounced as she walked.

I scrambled my brain for an answer, looking at a co-worker for help. “Uh... I think she got caught in traffic. Good morning ma’am.”

She huffed. I swear a cloud of vapor came out of her frosty mouth. “She can remain in traffic. She’s fired. The advertising agency needs their project this morning and she’s in traffic?!” She cast a gaze across the room and everyone shrank, even the photographers and stylists. She turned her frosty eyes to me and I did my best not to swallow. “Well? What are you waiting for?! Don’t we have other models for the shoot?”

All this woman needs is a pair of horns and she will be a favorite in kids’ dreams. Her icy blue eyes made me freeze for a split second. When her gaze sharpened I found my tongue. “Uh…uh yes ma’am. We have uh…Julianne…um Nicole, I think Diop is in the back room.”

“Diop. Send for Diop, she’s perfect.” She shuffled on her feet for a moment. She was impatient. The look on her face meant she had something on her mind. I have worked with Penelope Quinn long enough to know when the wheels in her head are in motion. “Get to work already!” She yelled at no one in particular. Then her eyes focused on me again. “You, Chantelle, come with me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Her heels clicked heavily on the shiny tiles as she walked to her office. Barely thirty minutes since she walked in and the whole place was dead quiet. That’s the power of Penelope Quinn. Sometimes I don’t know whether to hate her or adore her. She’s a force to be reckoned with yet she’s a terror and in times like this, I know it’s easy to hate her.

“I have an important meeting. It came suddenly. Are you familiar with the name Pierce?”

There are probably a thousand Pierces around 7th Avenue alone. “No ma’am.”

She shot me a dark look. “You are my secretary, you should know these things. Do you spend your free time under a rock or jungle?”

I take care of my kid you asshole. And it’s P.A.

“Anyways, you’ll meet him today. He wants us to handle his engagement party arrangements and everything and you will be at the meeting to take notes.”

“But we run a modeling agency, not an event planning management.”

“We do now, don’t teach me my job, Jones. Now where was I?” she pushed open her office door which overlooked the streets, her desk was positioned so she was facing the main office building. The glass walls were transparent enough to reveal what everyone in the main area was doing. Psycho. “Yes, Pierce. He should be here any minute now so do something about that outfit of yours you look ridiculous. Tell Jay to dress you up in that red gown Frankie wore last week.”

“Yes ma’am.” I waited for more instructions because the Ice Queen is an expert at disbursing errands. She threw me an irritated look.

“Well? Hurry!”

I rushed out of the office to do as she ordered. Breathe deeply, Chantelle, I told myself as I entered the dressing room for models. You can’t murder your boss.

Juliette Diop was already in the dressing room getting ready for the shoot in the studio. Stylists rushed to get her dressed and ready before the dragon appeared to blow fire down their necks. I passed the racks of clothes and shoes and headed straight for the tiny office at the back. Jay, our head stylist was working on new sketches when I walked in. His dyed dreads were half-covered with a beanie and his gray button-up shirt hung loose on him. He was ready with a smile for me like always.

“Hello, Coco,” he rose from his stool to hug me. “Shouldn’t you be with the Ice Queen?”

“She sent me here for a makeover.”

“Oh, right. She asked me to give you Frankie’s dress. I had it adjusted for that ass of yours.” He winked. “Ah, I wish we had more figures like yours around here. I could really do a lot with that figure.”

I laughed and waved his flirts off. We work in different units but Jay and I have been friends since day 1. He took one look at me and decided I should be the new face of STARLET but Penelope would not have it. We go out for drinks once in a while but never really get serious. I know he wants more than friendship with me though and he makes that obvious.

Jay helped me into the gown which true enough had been adjusted to accommodate my ass and hips. The gown stopped just before my knees with a neckline dipped to reveal the top of my breasts which thanks to a push-up bra filled the bodice perfectly.

“Ah just look at that. Gorgeous,” Jay commented. “You will have heads turning everywhere you go. What’s the occasion?”

“Some dude named Pierce is coming over and Penny can’t throw orders fast enough.”

Jay’s eyes widened. “You don’t say! Pierce in flesh and blood? Here?”

I frowned. This guy must be something if even Jay is impressed by him. “Yeah? What’s the big deal?”

Jay started to explain when my phone buzzed. “Shit! It’s Ice Queen. I better go now, thanks, Jay.”

“You are welcome, sweetie. Now run along and turn some heads. I want all the details over lunch, okay?”

“Yeah yeah.”

I hurried out of the dressing room.

Okay, I change my mind, the gown is slightly uncomfortable. I could barely walk in the tight skirt that narrowed from my waist down. But if the compliments I received in the hall were anything to go by, my discomfort wasn’t noticeable. I was barely a few feet away from Penelope’s office when I noticed she was no longer alone. Through the glass wall, I made out the form of a tall gentleman standing before her desk. Penelope’s tall frame was bent over as she laughed. I didn’t know she was capable of laughing.

“Nolan please, I will die if I keep laughing,” Penelope chuckled.

The gentleman laughed too, a deep rich sound that sounded expensive. Must be nice to be rich. I knocked to alert them to my presence.

“Oh, right on time, Chantelle,” she said as soon as I opened the door. “Nolan this is my Assistant, she will be attending this meeting if you don’t mind.”

“Of course I…”

The man, dressed in a suit that would surely buy my apartment and car six times over, turned with his hands raised to shake mine. I did the same, pasting the friendliest smile on my face.

Then froze.

No fucking way…