We ate lunch first then went shopping.
Damon was such good company and his jokes surely gave me abs.
With my new card to my own money, I was a danger to my bank account.
Paper bags draped from both our hands and we made several trips to the car when our hands couldn’t carry more. There was just so much to buy. I had to let Storm teach me his stingy ways.
I didn’t know if Storm would be back for dinner but I went on and bought dinner for us. I hoped it was good because what better way to thank someone than to buy them food.
It was six when we left the mall and I felt as if I needed no gym when going to the mall because so much cardio took place.
“Good morning.”I walked past Damon and slid into my seat, turning to smile at him.My body froze with him pulling my seat belt suddenly to clip it.His chest brushed against mine and even the air froze. My hands folded as I stared shocked.“ Good morning.” He said back with the brightest smile I had ever seen on him. His face was just past mine and he froze for a split second right before my face before fully pulling away.My head snapped as he slammed the door and walked around the car.I was out of it for a few seconds.“ Do you still remember what you learned yesterday?”
STORM A planned strike of workers in our South African hotel chain. The words kept moving in circles in my head, like a broken record. A sigh escaped, slamming the report file and switching to the digital file yet same results. Why did it take my wife so long to get dressed? Why was it always an issue? Watching her dress was heartbreaking. And why did I care? A hand ran through my hair. Since when did I care about women fashion? But what could be so hard about wearing clothes. She seemed to always be shopping yet each time she had to dress up, it took hours and in the end, leggings and a large t-shirt. It shouldn’t have bothered me the way it did but there I sat on a Sunday morning with more work than I needed and problems beyond imagination but all my brain could stay on was my wife’s fashion sense. What was so hard? Soon the search bar on my screen stared back at me. Fat woman fashion. I clicked the search icon and waited. The images soon spread on my screen. My off
BRANDY’S P.O.V. Storm: I am on my way, I hope you are dressed. A chuckle escaped, throwing the phone on the chair. I hoped I would be dressed too but it was a work in progress. I gave up wanting to be the best dressed or fashionable at all. I just wanted to look decent, to look good and feel good for once. If only it was that easy. Jeans were a no, they showed my stomach. Skirts and dresses made me look old. People would probably think I was his mother. Leggings were a no go for a fashion show. I threw one clothing after another until I huffed. The time was five and I had been in the closet for two hours. A glass of wine sat next to me, half full. If only the girls could have been there with me, I had confidence in their abilities.The door opened and my heart drummed even harder. I wanted to hide because I knew hell would break loose when Storm walked in to me still in a robe. The closet doors opened and I couldn’t help but turn to him with the sweetest smile I could gathe
There was this excitement even as I grumbled my way out of sleep. There was something I was still to do which was coordinate my outfits. Storm had taken me out to dinner after the fashion show and I couldn’t resist getting in bed right next to him when we got home.I had lain waiting for his arms around me but they never came. Yet at some point in the night I was sure they wrapped around me.My head snapped from movement heard.I picked up my head quickly, seeing Storm in shorts, a tight t-shirt and sneakers.“ Morning.”He turned to me, seeming frustrated. He walked to his side table, searching.“ Where to? Ca
STORM’S P.O.V.“You try.” I knocked Amar’s shoulder, holding back the laugh forcing it’s way through me.The fighting ring shook as he fell down, heaving and wetting it with his sweat. A towel was thrown my way. I wiped but I could feel the sweat clog my pores. It had been one of the best fights I had in there. Amar was a good opponent, my most trusted guard.Most of the men were walking away from the ring, the show over, but you could feel the buzz.“ Good one boss.”“ Next time can we spur, boss?”“ That kick came from nowhere boss.”It did something to my ego as some of my men circled as I jumped out of the ring.
BRANDY’S P.O.V.I was shaking and I did not even know how to stop it.I felt the intense need to cry but my eyes stayed dry.My chest closed yet I didn’t faint as I wanted.I stared out at the trees that flew from the window.The sun was out, it hot on the skin but I felt cold to my bones.‘My own son trapped with a pig of a woman.’‘Fat pig’The door had bounced right open after Storm had slammed it. I heard every single word his father spat and he never said anything back.I thought we were getting
Storm was gone by morning.Had he left to Miranda?Had he left to his other mistress?Or had he left for work?I hated being that woman but they had tainted and ruined me.All I thought of on Sunday was the words they had all spoken.It was sad that to them I was just a chess piece they could move around to their liking and probably toss out when out of need for.“ Brandy.” I looked up as Damon unclipped my seat belt.“ Sorry,” I said as he pulled back and took a look at me.“ Are you
How do you continue working after that? My hand went to my cheek every second, knowing I should have put something cold on it but I took the burn. Five o’clock my bag was packed. I slung it over my shoulder as heavy as it was. When I stepped out Ress was on her feet, bag packed. A second passed, us just staring at each other. Was she the one that called the woman and told her I was sleeping with her husband? The thought itself just hurt me. We were not friends but I trusted her, I had to if she were to be my P.A. Had she done it? “I was about to come and pass my bye.” She said with me nodding my head. “Bye.” She turned, walking away. Did she hate me? Did she think I really was sleeping with that man? Ress was coldly polite and I was not sure if with everyone else or just me. Slowly I walked after her, opening space for her to get on the lift first. The floor was nearly empty, the rest packing their items while staring daggers at me as I passed. I took the next ride in t
My eyes opened and I froze, blinking a few times to clear the fatigue away. My heart skipped a beat before it settled and I forced myself not to move an inch. My fingers itched but I was afraid I would wake him if I shifted. Never in my life had I slept with a man in bed, not counting my brother. My face was just a few inches from him, feeling his warmth, feeling his alcoholic breath on my skin. I did not mind that the scent was so heavy it was as if the alcohol was pouring from his pores. It should have left me cringing in disgust but I was in a trap because I had never seen a grown man as beautiful as him. He looked so innocent in his sleep, so angelic. His skin looked so smooth, his lips perched out, wet and pink. Our feet were entangled, his arm heavy on my hip where he held me directly on my skin because the t-shirt had shifted up, exposing some of my waist to him. It took seconds for my skin to begin tingling. I was torn between closing my eyes and feeling through this exper
“How is my son?” My hands clenched and unclenched, my stomach turning and threatening to spill out everything I had eaten. And I just stood there, leaning against the sink, just staring at him in disbelief. The lowest of people that would ever walk this earth. His beauty was a facade for the rotten person inside. There was no one I hated more in life. The worst scum and my worst mistake. I found myself heaving in nothing but hate. “How old is he now?” Damon stepped closer and I pressed back to the sink, my mind rattling. I could not believe he was here. I could not believe he had the audacity to even ask me about Blue. How many times had I called him asking for help for his son? At first he wouldn’t pick up then he would let his fucking girlfriend pick up. She would throw every insult known to man yet I would hold on until she was done because my baby needed supplies which he as the father had the means to provide but he chose not. He had made so many promises only to turn and
Hendrix was leading me to someone. The whispers followed us. It was when I saw his father and brother in a group that dread fell on me but I held my face and didn’t let it fall. We joined the group and stood as the older gentlemen talked about something. Then my father-in-law suddenly turned and his eyes widened which scared me and I couldn’t help grip more onto Hendrix. “Aahh, you have arrived. Gentlemen,” Mr Williams said to the men he was with, holding out his arm to us. “This is my youngest son, Hendrix and his lovely wife, Ruth. She is Gambino's only daughter.” My father-in-law introduced, all the men turning to me. Some gave disapproving stares while others gaped. I knew most of them from these gatherings but not the usual men my dad associated with. “Miss Gambino,” One of the older men said, holding out his hand. I shook it, shaking the others after. It was weird, all eyes on me. I felt as if I was at an auction. I could just see the crazy in their eyes from hearing my su
Fifteen dresses were lined up for me and I had to try all of them. He was seated on the couch directly facing the dressing room in the backroom of the designer shop. It was when I slipped the dress that I realised why these dresses were so expensive. The material definitely wasn’t the same and they just made you feel as if you were on top of the word. But the cost of living in the two lives were just drastic to me. Pulling the curtain away and walking out in each dress, my heart drummed as my eyes fell on my husband who had decided to give all his attention to me and my dress fittings. The way his eyes would move from my very feet and slowly up until they held my eyes. The decision on the dresses was completely taken out of my hands and I did not mind at all. He would stare for long minutes before pointing to another. The way he took charge did something to me. So, as if we had all the time in the world, I wore each dress for him, even finding myself dizzily anticipating what he
School wasn’t all rainbows and sunshine but who cared, I was there to learn and I was doing just that. Being the oldest person there, married too just left me an outcast and a cause for ridicule. I was just happy they did not have the balls to say it to my face or try stupid bullying tactics because I was not beneath smacking little spoilt brats and teaching them respect. I would crush them like insects. All my spare time was spent studying. I studied as if my life depended on it. There was a lot I had to learn. All my previous grades from my old school were bought so I knew basically nothing. I got myself a laptop and an ipad which helped a lot as I was doing a lot of note taking. I watched teaching videos online, set tests for myself every week and just went hard on it. Maths was my worst nightmare so I got a tutor who was really helping me through it. All this left little time to spend with Blue. I told myself we would have a lifetime together but as of then I was building our fu
For the first month, besides being a mother, my life had no meaning. Samantha was always with Blue. She daunted on him, showered him with love, and devotion. They played, she sang, she read, she bathed him, dressed him, slept with him in the nursery, took walks, fed him, the list was endless. I tagged along in all the activities but it soon seemed as if I was a third party, like I was a leech to Samantha, as if I was monitoring or keeping an eye on her. It made us rigid with each other and the easygoing conversations and friendship turned sour. The jealousy I felt did not help at all because I realized it was showing on my face every time Blue clung to Samantha, how he always looked for her with his eyes and soon wanted no one else but Samantha. It was like a knife to the heart. How crazy was it to inwardly blackmail a baby? I just couldn’t help the thoughts. After everything we went through together, he just turned on me like that. I was losing my mind, I knew it. Everyone had so
In a million years I never thought this would happen. Well, there are so many things I had never thought would ever happen to me so this was just a new addition to the list. I took the chance to steal a glance before fixing my eyes back on the road. Being dumped in a country house and left to your own devices was a husband’s punishment to older wives they nolonger wanted but could not divorce or women who had done unspeakable things.I had done unspeakable things and Hendrix was saving me. I was happy and grateful yet that did not stop this from feeling like a punishment, not from Hendrix, but from the universe for what I had done. The car was filled with silence and it had me check on Hendrix now and again. I don’t know why he had decided to sit at the back. Did he not trust my driving? It was one of the very few things I was good at. Stealing a glance at the review mirror told me he was asleep. I could not take my eyes away but I had to. He looked so peaceful though, watching h
The silence in the car nearly killed me and I kept beating myself up on why I had hopped on the back seat with Samantha. Hendrix had just looked so angry that I had been afraid of the confrontation but at this point I preferred it than the deafening silence. “Just there,” Samantha pointed, Hendrix turning the car to the restaurant Samantha had recommended. He parked in the parking lot and Samantha soon hopped out. I wanted to say something to diffuse the situation but found my brain blank of words. Was he angry because we kept him waiting or did he think I spent so much because of all the paper bags filling the car? The money spent would shock him, very low compared to what I had thought. But we had been wrong to keep him waiting for so long in the parking lot. I was sure he had other things to do. I closed the door and followed Samantha who was already leading the way to the shops lining the street. People turned as we passed, most greeting Samantha with smiles. I had already esta
“You can use this card. Here’s the pin,” Hendrix said, holding it out. “Buy anything you will need; clothes, toiletries, hair, and makeup staff.” I took the card into my sweaty palms. “But…” He trailed away, staring at me intensely, which made me more nervous. “This card doesn’t have millions in it.” With each word I felt as if he was watching my reaction. “ I will give you a spending limit. For now…..” He swallowed his words, blinking as if nervous himself now. “I will not buy much, I promise,” I saved him from whatever he had not wanted to say out loud. He nodded his head. “I know it’s not much but for now I would appreciate it if you did not exceed twenty thousand at most.” “Thank you,” I said back. I had never gone shopping and spent less than a hundred thousand. I was not sure I could pull it off but I was definitely cutting makeup out. My make up alone would not fit in the twenty thousand. I did not need it anyway. Just some toiletries. I had seen a very cheap lotion at