Chapter 2 - Scandal

GEORGE KATZ POV

"What do you mean by a scandal with my employee?" I flared up, springing up to my feet, as I reacted to the news I had just received from my assistant James, who stood there shaking like a leaf,

James walked over, taking deliberate steps towards me. He showed his tablet to me, whose face fell after I had seen the news.

"Heir to the Katz family business: a night with his tea girl," it read, with my photo visible on the front page, while the lady's photo was carefully covered,

My fists clenched upon seeing it. My first impression was that Paris had masterminded it, I couldn't comprehend why her photo was deliberately masked, while James was busy swiping through the other news channels,

"He claims to be disciplined but is f***ing his tea girl."

Another news read, making my clenched fist shake uncontrollably," as I stood there following his lead,

"Is this love, or are they using each other? Katz George is the wealthy man." Another one read at that moment I couldn't take it anymore,

"That stupid slut!" I cursed with my teeth gritted, feeling the weight of what she had done crashing down on me,

I turned towards James whose agitation was felt and inquired, "What is the rank of this news?"

Almost immediately, his response came in a shaky tone, "in the first place in the three of the top news stations and the second place in blog sites." His head was bowed, he was avoiding my gaze

Upon hearing his response, I threw my fist in the nearest direction I could find, which landed heavily on my desk, making James' head snap up immediately, staring at me with his mouth wide open,

Wanting to know if the other side had gotten Paris's photo I Inquired,

"What's top 1 on the blog?" Sending James back to work immediately, tapped his tablet for some seconds then looked down.

His reaction was like fuel to a burning flame, my desperate need for an answer made me charge toward him,

"James, speak!" I ordered I was soon thinking of losing my temper, throwing his tablet onto the couch, he opened his laptop and started typing frantically, which made me exhale in exasperation,

As I waited almost impatiently for James' response, a lady rushed in, from the expression on her face, I could tell it was something serious,

"President George, your... your mother is here." She said, trying to catch her breath, I nodded at her and waved her off,

I drew in a quick breath to still my heart and prepare myself for what was coming, fully aware that it wasn't going to go well,

Soon, a lady with grey hair dressed in silk walked in, taking short strides. She waved her hand above her head, and everyone left.

"Son, have you seen the headlines?" Her voice was soft as she spoke, but carried enough power to make one shiver, she walked over to my seat and crossed her legs at the ankle settling comfortably on it, while I turned around to face her,

"Mom, it's not what you think, she drugged me," I replied my hands outstretched in a gesture, while she shook her head,

Upon seeing her reactions, I knew too well to listen and stop talking, gaining my attention, she opened her mouth to speak,

"I want to see her," her voice though soft, carried an unmistakable note of authority in it, I knew instantly that it was nonnegotiable,

I placed both hands on the table and bowed my head, for fear of what she meant by that, deep within me, I prayed it wasn't what I was thinking but her words came again, snapping me off my thoughts,

"You fired her, didn't you?" She said, more like a statement than a question, while I stood there helplessly lost for what to say,

Upon seeing my reaction, Mrs. Katz got up, her displeasure evident in her tone as she spoke, "I didn't raise you to be a man who disposes of women the way he pleases," she said, her voice firm and unwavering as she continued,

"You said she drugged you, but your face is filled with guilt, which shows that you're deliberately covering the truth, and now you've decided to fire her to bury the truth right?"

Knowing how she could get, I looked up but didn't say a word, I knew she wasn't going to believe me, of course not after I had fired her, but her words came again, filling me with shock,

"Bring her home for dinner tomorrow and get rid of this mess; it's destroying our image," she said, with a touch of finality in her tone as she spoke,

I wanted to protest, but I knew it would be of no use, without waiting for my response, she grabbed her bag and walked out of my office,

completely exhausted from all that had happened, I sunk into my chair and rubbed my head, as I attempted to look for a solution to the mess,

But as I tried to process my thoughts, James' words came, snapping me off my thoughts, I looked up Immediately, surprised about how he had walked in without my knowledge of it,

"Sir, you have a meeting in ten minutes," He said, standing much away from me,

"Delay it for an additional twenty minutes," I said, while James nodded his head and was about to leave when I called him back,

"Yes Boss?" he answered without walking any closer,

"If I were to call you again concerning this, the consequences won't be funny," I warned, pointing at the documents on my desk, while James rushed over and started arranging the files on my desk,

"James," I called,

"Yes Boss," He replied, immediately, his fear evident on his face as he stared,

"I want you to visit Miss Paris and tell her that her attention is needed here," I responded while he stared in for a while,

"Did you not hear me?" I Inquired, my tone rising above the pitch,

"I did Bo..." He responded,

"Then what are you waiting for? Get going right now." I commanded, while he bowed and turned to leave, but then stopped after he had taken the second step and turned back to face me,

"Boss sorry to say, but won't it be risky bringing her over here?" He said, pointing towards the floor, which served as a reminder concerning what had happened,

With my eyes fixated on a particular point in space, I said, "I want her to suffer the same embarrassment I had faced from Mother." My eyes reddened as I spoke.

James swallowed a non-existent lump from his throat and said, "Okay, Sir," and without waiting for another second, walked out of the office,

LONDON'S POV,

Contented with what I had just done, I arrived home to find Paris in the living room, staring into space, the sight of which broke me, but then I decided to cheer her up a little,

"Baby, I'm back," I announced as I jumped onto the couch where she was seated and placed both legs on the side table, I curled my hands around her neck in an attempt to shake her off her mood, but she didn't respond, she glanced at me instead and without saying a word fixated her gaze on the ceiling,

But I wasn't going to let her continue in her mood, "I need a thank you," I demanded casually, another attempt to get her to say something, but Paris remained quiet which sent me partly into thought,

Just then, a broad smile curved my face at the thought that came to my mind, I had found the perfect idea to get her to say something,

I turned towards her and unwrapped my hands from her neck, with a smile playing on my face, I said, "Miss Elorod, you are fired." Giggling sheepishly at her.

Just like I had expected, she turned sharply at me upon hearing my words, "What?" She said, obviously sad about what she had just heard, her gaze fell as she continued, "I knew he would do a thing like that, after all that I had done for him," She said,

Suddenly, she stopped and faced me, "What do I tell Frank?" She inquired, her fear evident in her eyes as she stared at me,

"Well..." I shrugged,

"I don't like that boyfriend of yours, so I don't care what happens between both of you," I responded,

Upon hearing my words, she buried her head in her palm and began to sob, the sight of which broke me,

I placed my hand on her back and patted her, "Paris!" I called as gently as I could,

"I won't advise you to tell him the truth, you can keep it to yourself if you want to," I advised, while she turned towards me and leaned into my embrace, as the sound of her sob grew louder.

"It's going to be okay," I said, as I patted her head, while we both sat there, the sound of her sob gradually fading away,

As the silence that had fallen upon us stretched on, the door to the living room suddenly swung open, revealing our father, whose expression conveyed the anger in his heart as he walked towards us, making us spring to our feet immediately,

"What's the meaning of this? How could you be so cheap?" Our father said, his anger palpable as he advanced toward us, he stood a few feet away from Paris and raised his hand to hit her, but I got in between, stretching my hands to shield her from him,

"See?...." he turned and faced our mother who had rushed out of the room upon hearing his words and glared at her,

"Is this it? Is this what you've been teaching my children? He roared, his expression conveying the anger in his heart as he walked towards our mother, who was already shaking from fear,

"Just because I'm busy providing for this family, you've forgotten your role as a woman and have made my children turn against me, huh?" He added and wanted to grab her when a little boy ran to him, standing right in between them, his hands outstretched in an attempt to shield our mother from him,

"Stay away from mommy," He said, and then tried to push him away, but his strength was no match for his father.

"Alfred!" Paris, whose tears flowed freely called him, she rushed over to him, and dragged him away from in-between our father and mother, while my father was fully invested in his business of hitting our mother,

"Paris? Why is Daddy hitting Mommy?" He cried panicking as he questioned, even though that had been a normal occurrence in our home,

Paris was about to open her mouth when Mr. Elorod spoke,

"Your sister had decided to sell her body and disgrace us all, and your stupid mother has done nothing to stop it." He had said, little Alfred who couldn't comprehend what my father had just said, cried louder instead, while Paris consoled him,

I closed my ears as the noise grew louder, it felt like I was going to go mad, I knew I couldn't take it anymore, I knew it was high time I spoke up to my father who had never ceased to beat my mother, fuelled by the determination that coursed through me, I shouted at the top of my voice,

"Enough!" I felt my heart racing from fear of his reaction, but I had come too far to stop, I knew I had to face it, no matter what,

As I opened my mouth to speak, the knock on the door, caught everyone's attention, after rattling for a while, strolled to the door and was surprised to see the man I had seen earlier at the office,

"What are you here for?" I questioned as I opened the door slightly, blocking it enough to avoid him entering the house, which he understood,

"You," James who had found my question silly said,

"What is it about?" I Inquired, with my hand firmly on the doorknob,

Upon hearing my face, his expression went blank, suddenly, he shook his head for a while with his hands resting on his waist, before turning to face me again,

"Mr. George demands your presence in the office," He announced, his eyes wide open, an expression of disbelief in his heart,

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Was the first thought that came to my mind, but then I recalled that Paris would not ask a question like that,

"Why's he looking for me? He already fired me." My soft voice made the man chuckle a little, which sound spoke of the disbelieve in his heart,

"Well... Something interesting came up, and your attention is needed right now," James explained, holding his tab with one hand while pushing his glasses up with the other.

I scanned the man and shrugged; he looked genuine. "Okay, please give me some minutes to change. I'm sweaty." I said and without waiting for his response shut the door behind me,

A few minutes later, the door opened and a voice said, "Mr. James, let's go."