I woke up to a pop message about a survey. The girls were still asleep and I didn’t want to walk around their house alone in the fear of them thinking I was snooping.Bored, I clicked the link and it was about rings.Which ring would you prefer?One had a thin band and the other had a large band. I picked the thin band.The next was a large diamond or a small diamond.Go big or go home baby.Then it was the diamond type.I couldn’t help pick the pink diamond because why not. Then it was the diamond cut.
Storm led us to a restaurant I just knew only the elite dined in. It was hidden right in plain sight and security was tight.My cheeks were already burning.I had never been taken out on a ‘ date’.Was this a date? Probably not.The restaurant was fairly empty. There was just one other couple than us and the woman was all pearls, surely my mother-in-law would love her.The waiter led us to a table far from the other couple. It was on the second floor so as much as those outside couldn’t see us, we could see them.The menu was explained to us, first, the wine selection.Storm took the liberty to
I ran my hands over the piece around my neck while staring at myself in the mirror. The door opening jolted me out of my daze.“I am leaving.”“Can I have a ride?” I asked, already grabbing my bag, rushing after Storm.“Why? Your driver is waiting.”My quick mouth failed me, my mind trying and coming empty with a reason.With all the missed calls I dodged from Damon, I really didn't want to see him.My mouth opened and closed.Would Storm think me too clingy if I persisted in my request?
“ I will be leaving soon Ma’am, is there anything I can get you?”I was fighting a smile as I stared up.“ No Kimberly. Thank you.”“ Coffee?”She was making it hard to keep my straight face.“No Kimberly, thank you though. You know I will be working from home tomorrow, right?” I questioned.Her smile was so genuine and bright. She hadn't really qualified for the position and yes, I had hired her because of that smile. She gave out a certain warmth that I needed for my team.“Yes Ma’am, I will call and send emails for anything that may come up.”
I stared at myself in the mirror and I hated what I saw. I wanted to claw my skin over and over. I was weak. I was stupid. The brush moved across my burning skin, the concealer hiding the fresh burning red marks. My eyes burned from how hard I had cried. A loud bang on the door sent me jumping and yelping. My body shivered so hard and I hated it. I hated the fear Damon had spilled on me. I hated the disgust he had poured on me. “Get out, we have landed!” Gone was his polite tone, he had shown his true side and it was ugly. I turned back to the mirror. The wipe was used to dab the tears away. As hard as I tried, my eyes were blood red and nothing could solve that. More concealer was need. I dabbed more on my neck before putting away the brushes in my makeup case. I slipped it back in my bag. “ Come on!” Another bang sent me jumping. With shaky hands I took out a pair of glasses, slipping them on before I took my bag and went to the door. I wouldn’t let him treat me like th
The clutter of cutlery on plates was all that echoed. Tension suffocated me to the neck. I sat next to Bueala, my father sitting at the head. To say the past twenty-four hours had been awful was an understatement. The only relief was Damon being nowhere to be seen. Storm called three more times during the day and I ignored all of them. No one talked. Emily sat to dad’s right, eating away. The food turned bland in my mouth. I was far from hungry and I wanted to get back to my home where I could curl myself in my bed and wallow away. After long minutes of excruciating silence, everyone was done eating. Were their dinners that painful to bear through or was it because of my presence?“Brandy. Join me in my office.” My father finally spoke since he arrived, acknowledging me. I had begun thinking he was pretending I wasn't there. “Yes sir.” I replied, taking a sip of water and pushing off my seat. None said anything else. I followed after my father. During our lunch Anna had conti
All through the weekend I was just floating over everything.Maybe even I was to blame.Yes, I did not try to include myself in all the planned activities.In the pool I just sat on the chairs fully dressed because there was no way I was wearing a swimsuit in front of my sister’s and Damon always being a few feet from me.I hated that the girls thought it was cute, making jokes about my guard when I was actually in hell. He didn't say anything, never got closer but just stared at me intensely. I could feel the smirk on his face and it killed me.He made me feel naked and disgusted. I couldn’t help chills constantly jolting my body. It was like he was mocking me. His words kept coming back to mind, the insu
I ran out of the elevator and through the passage.Anything the guards said to me went unheard. I unlocked the door and ran to the bathroom where I emptied everything I ate that morning. My hands grabbed on the seat as I poured vomit out while sobbing.The picture kept coming to my mind and I threw up even more with burning tears flowing down my cheeks. I had never felt so violated in my life. Maggots crawled up my skin and at one point I couldn't help stretching.A hand came at my hair, pulling my head back.“Get yourself together.”I shook Damon’s hold away, pushing him but he gripped my head even tighter.“Clean yourself and get a hold of yoursel
When she said, ‘daughter’, she meant Brandy. Why did I even care? She was the worst mom, one of the people that never should have been mothers. But I could not write her off my heart. It hurt a million times over, living through my past, all the things she had done to me. I flipped around my phone, searching for Storm’s number. I opened the message app, knowing he had probably blocked me. “Hi Storm. I was just with Brandy and she told me about the accident. I am so sorry. I am sorry you both went through that and that I was not there for you. I hope you are okay. I know you probably don’t want to hear from me but I just wanted you to know that I….” I was just getting so emotional, sniffling, “ I…I love you Storm and I am thankful for everything you did for me, from when we were young. I really hope you are okay…” I let go of the mic then just sent it before I could even change my mind. Feeling nervous, I locked my phone and stuffed it in my bag then went on with my walk. I heard H
Hendrix did not eat and as soon as he was done dressing up in shorts and a t-shirt with man sandals, he picked up his keys and mentioned for us to leave. He looked so good in his casual wear, having that lazy look to him, nearly dragging his feet. He took a bottle of water from the fridge and walked to the door. I followed, clutching my bag. I was nervous about visiting my brother. Would Brandy be there? I had never actually spoken to her besides witnessing my mother harass her at dinner a few months back only for my brother to leave her at the house in the mercy of my mother. I had been locked in my room after Storm left but I had seen Brandy drag her bags a few days later, leaving. The more I thought about her, the more I smiled. I liked her. We walked past Ryan’s guards and made our way down. Ryan was still asleep. I wondered if Hendrix would stay with me or would leave. I slid in the passenger seat of his car, pulling the seat belt and buckled it. The car came to life and Hendr
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