“Remember ladies avoid the men with the silver tongues and limp cocks. That’s the show tonight, see you tomorrow.”
Rachel laughed at Dana’s obscenity knowing the audience must be laughing their asses off at tonight’s show. Dana said whatever crap her brain could think of in a snap, damn the consequences, which worked because Rachel brought the brains to their show CELEBRITY, LIFESTYLE AND EVERYTHING IN-BETWEEN, and Dana brought the spice.
“And that’s a wrap. Great show tonight Rachel, the audience must be wishing tomorrow night came sooner. Dana you might need to tone down on the language,” Ben warned. He managed the show and co-produced it which pretty much meant he was one of the reasons they were very well paid in their media firm, ABN.
“Whatever,” Dana muttered already poking around her bag for a packet of gums. “Want a piece?” she offered.
Rachel waved off her offer.
Popping a gum into her mouth she switched her heels for a pair of flats. “I got a date tonight, wish me luck.”
“You don’t need luck, if he doesn’t ask for another date he’s an idiot.”
Dana smiled and waved good night.
Rachel, star of the show and mega-popular TV host, watched her friend and co-host strut off to the main media hall. She loved her co-host but Rachel was more of a family-value, family-building kind of woman, unlike Dana who loved the one-night stands. At age 26, some would say Rachel was enjoying success too early in her career but anyone who knew her knew she deserved it. After working as the Chief Editor of her high school newspaper she knew journalism was the place for her. Unlike many others who had had to fuck their way up the ladders, Rachel was different, she never had to spread her legs for any newspaper, or radio owner, all she had to do was flash her dimpled smile and she was employed. Throughout her 26 years on earth, she only had one man in her life, Jacob Henderson, who she met in college. They shared the same strong values, and within months of meeting, they were married.
Being married didn’t pose a challenge for the men who wanted to get under Rachel's skirts because she was just that pretty but Rachel brushed them all off because; She was principled.
She loved her husband. Yes, she married young, yes she got famous young, and yes she has thousands of money stored up in bank accounts for when she was ready to start a family but she never let that get into her head.
This was why, as the dutiful wife that she was, she was getting ready to go home, make some delicious dinner, and get naked for her husband.
She pulled into the driveway of their modest home with a small foot-sized swimming pool in front under a shade, a garage attached to the house, and a fair large garden of herbs and flowers. As she climbed up the stairs leading to the hallway connecting the living room, the first thing she noticed was her Golden retriever, Bella, unattended in the hallway chewing on a pair of female shoes. Which was weird because her daytime sitter who liked to refer to herself as a babysitter rather than a dog sitter, was supposed to be watching and managing her dog.
Scratching Bella’s ears as the dog excitedly licked her fingers Rachel scanned the living room and the kitchen through the open kitchen door. A sudden shriek from upstairs changed the direction of her thoughts. There was a loud thud and another shriek.
“Oh fuck! I’m going to die…!”
Oh shit! Gabby was most likely in trouble.
Happiness turning to panic, Rachel ran up the stairs to the master bedroom and found it empty but there were clothes strewn all over the carpet. Panic turned to apprehension.
The noise was coming from the master bathroom. The shower was turned on and water spilled out from beneath the door.
“Gabby?” Rachel called out refusing to believe what her rational mind was telling to her. Her husband’s clothes and her sitter’s, the shower running…no way. There was no way Jacob would do such a thing.
Putting her hand on the doorknob she opened the door and wished she was blind. The laughing and shrieks and thuds stopped altogether and at that moment Rachel thought her heart was going to stop too.
Wet and slick with water and soap and Jell-O and cum and whatever else was mixed in there that Rachel did not want to know about, Jacob and Gabby stared at her wide-eyed.
Jacob was the first to react. Dropping Gabby’s slippery leg off his shoulder, he slid out of her. Gabby didn’t have the grace to look remorseful as she closed her legs and sat at the edge of the tub, naked and slippery.
Gulping past the bile in her throat Rachel took a step back and almost tripped. When Jacob reached out to help her she slapped his hand away, her other hand seeking support on the door frame.
“Will it help if I say sorry?”
Rachel gapped at her husband of 4 years unable to comprehend that the man who stood beside her on red carpets, holding her close, kissing her face, and being so lovey-dovey over her while their pictures were splashed on the numerous Family friendly articles she wrote was the same naked man standing with his dingdong out, red and erect asking if apologizing was going to change the sight before her eyes.
“She’s 17!” were the first words out of her mouth.
“And old enough to choose whoever I want to fuck,” came Gabby’s saucy reply.
Rachel didn’t hear her, the blood in her ears roared too loud for her to comprehend anything anyone was saying. Bella had made it up the stairs and was oblivious to the pandemonium as she chewed on Jacob’s discarded briefs.
“And you left the dog unattended!” were the next words out of Rachel’s mouth. “Why do I pay you?”
“Thanks for noticing that I’m naked and in a precarious situation with a teenager,” Jacob shot out, sounding almost pissed that Rachel wasn’t saying anything about the elephant in the room. Too bad the elephant was beginning to deflate.
“You disgust me! The both of you!”
Without waiting for a word – not that Gabby or Jacob was willing to say anything else since there was no denying what had happened – Rachel turned, picked up her bag which had fallen on the floor, and sped out of the room. As she ran down the stairs and got into her car she realized strangely that her eyes were dry and she was thinking rationally again.
Well well, who would have thought?
As she drove off into the road wondering if she was insane for not crying after discovering her husband and her underaged sitter having the super hot sex she could never give him, her phone rang. It was Dana.
Her date was a no-show and she was looking for a drinking partner. The way Rachel saw it she was the only available candidate for the job.
“I will take a shot of tequila please.” Dana eyed Rachel in wonder but Rachel was beyond all sensible sensibilities to care. The bar was crowded and filled with drunken day laborers and street workers in heavy makeup and a fake smile hanging around the tables, no doubt hoping they would make enough cash for their next rent. Rachel scrunched her nose in disdain, no wonder Dana’s date hadn’t shown up but she kept her mouth shut on that matter. It was nothing like the exclusive bar with the exclusive booth she and Jacob frequented. But where was Jacob now? He was probably bending Gabby backward like a pretzel and eating her ass out. SHE could bend like a pretzel. Jacob had just never asked. What was wrong with a good missionary sex where she could rest her back on the bed and let Jacob do the work of thrusting in and out of her? She said as much to Dana who guffawed and ordered another bottle of beer. “Bring the whole tequila bottle please.” when the bartender raised a concerned brow
The newspaper and magazine headlines were creative, Rachel would give them that much. With titles like: Rachel Rivers Runs Her Rivers Through Teen Valley, to Rivers Run Deep In Rachel Rivers Lies. Rachel couldn’t ignore the newsstands as Larry’s car crawled through the morning traffic. People were talking about it, it was the biggest news – well it would be because everyone knew Rachel Rivers, the young sexy, and intelligent TV presenter who covered hot celebrity topics other journalists were too spineless to talk about in both papers and on set, asking difficult questions to trap immoral politicians and so-called self-made billionaires. If they were into illegal trades, Rachel knew how to trap them. She was a force to be reckoned with but that force was currently watching her face on popular magazines flash by as she drank soulfully from the bottle of wine in her hands. To her utter horror, the parking lot and every other available space in front of the high-rise ABN channel buildin
Another bottle of wine, she thought and reached her hand out. But when she raised the bottle to her lips it was dry and devoid of even a single drop of wine. Rachel frowned in the dark. Oh well, there should be more wine in the cottage bar. But walking on one bare foot and one socked foot, she realized there was no redemption for her. She had cleared out the bar in just two days. She looked around the bar shelves and cupboards until she found a small bottle of something. Oh well might be something lethal but who cares if she lived anymore? Who? No one, that’s who! The newspaper had scrambled for the hot news, every magazine had her on the front covers in the unflattering images taken when she had crashed the studio the other day. And as always, everyone believed Jacob and the stories he wound about her history of craziness. Her phone was blowing off the hook. People wanted to feature her on their shows, and magazines and not because they wanted to make her a star, oh no! They wanted
“If Madden wins it will be a malicious attempt to prove that he can buy out any woman with his money and yes it does tramp on women’s rights.” Nate watched the clip again and again watching the pink glossed lips enunciate every word. A corner of his mouth lifted. He knew her by name only and by the reputation she built over the years as the epitome of virtue spewing words about family, morals, and all the nonsense he didn’t believe in. Morals were relative and susceptible to personal bias. Yet he was intrigued by her. Not because she had a beautiful face to look at. She was a nobody now – no worse than a nobody. She was a has-been. A pariah. An object for mockery. But even he could see that the public who were now strongly behind her husband, the man named Jacob Henderson who was rumored to be seeing another woman, was on the wrong side. Ten to one, he knew Rachel Rivers was innocent of the allegations. Which was why he had called for the meeting today. Today should be fun. Rachel
“Nathaniel Madden is a lying, cheating, sexist son of a bitch who has gotten away with many corrupt business deals, robbed the nation off its wealth and enslaves many children in Gabore” – the equivalent of Botswana – “mining diamonds to swell his already bursting bank accounts.” Rachel could almost faint as she listened to herself drone on and on about Nate Madden, the man who was standing in front of the glass windows overlooking the skyline of Gem Hills with arms crossed as he watched her dig herself into a deep hole on his huge television. The same man who was willing – although now she was beginning to have doubts – to help her revive her career. He stood with his arms crossed watching the screen without paying attention to her but she could tell he was aware of her presence in his office because she could just detect that hint of smugness. Should I say something? She thought. But what could she say when the taped interview of Celebrity, Lifestyle and Everything In-between was
Rachel gulped. That was a threat, right? The Vera Chang and Nate Madden public divorce had been years ago, two - or was it one - years ago. Between then and now there had been worse news for the media to strip apart. But the Chang-Madden divorce had really taken the Hills by storm. Nate Madden, billionaire playboy had finally settled down with one woman. No one had expected the fragile, sweet-spoken Vera to be his kind of woman given his dating history and they had been the talk of the town. Everyone said she made Nate Madden look almost human for the first time. So when the divorce news got out every news outlet had latched onto it like vampires on virgins. The rumor that Nate neither confirmed nor denied was that he was a wife-beater. Even though Nate never went out of his way to make any official statements Vera had evidence to prove it. There were images of bite marks, whip marks…everything that would make Ted Bundy proud. Still, Nate’s lawyers fought hard. Eventually, they lost
On the 3rd floor of ABN the crew of Celebrity Lifestyle and Everything In-between were setting up the final moments before going on air. In the gallery Ben was talking to the camera crew and the technical men in charge of the teleprompters, getting them ready for the show. Ben was in a foul mood. Dana was late. He hated Dana. As much as he hated people who thought Taco was a sandwich because it had meat. He preferred Rachel. She was smart, and tough, asked the right questions and she was funny. She was a natural in show biz. But Dana…no Dana was a dumb street rat trying to be crème de la crème. She lacked the charisma that Rachel had. All she had going for her were her crude jokes and her hatred towards anyone she viewed as better than her which was why she hated him. At least Ben thought that was why she hated him. How she had gotten the position as Rachel’s replacement just within 12 hours he didn’t know but what he knew was while Dana was going down on the Allen Brothers- like t
Rachel wanted the ground to open and swallow her up. The red velvet carpet of Sheldon’s looked like a good place to hide from the glares and gloating looks she was getting from the patrons – was that the Joan Rivers lookalike Susan Mists looking at her? Rachel had ordered chicken, salad, and wine. It was all nice and delicious but all she found herself reaching out for was wine and more wine. Nate was generous enough to order two bottles of red for her alone. She could just see the tabloids: Rachel Rivers drowning in a river of red. She didn’t care. Actually, she did which was why she was trying to forget by drowning herself in the bottles of wine. Across her Nate ate slowly, chewing every bite and watching her intently. Between the glare directed at her by the same people she made enmity with on her climb to stardom and the direct look Nate was giving her, she didn’t know which she preferred. But she guessed she should be grateful that Nate’s presence with her put the enemies at
It was two days later before they left Gem Hills. Mabel had been lucky enough to sustain only a first-degree burn on her left foot. She had also inhaled a lot of smoke but that had been purged out of her, leaving her with a croaky voice.Nate on the other hand did have a burn on his leg and his skin stung from the heat of the fire but he was lucky to have gotten out with just that much. Especially considering the fact that he was naked at the time of the fire. It could have been worse given that he had been rescued seconds before the roof came crashing down. Rachel supported Nate as they walked to the car with Tom in front. Once again Tom had his proud father smile for Rachel.He assisted her to get Nate into the car and did the same for Mabel. Behind them was James, Nate’s head of security, and two of his colleagues, ready to go with them to the airport.Tshepo had wanted more security men to go with them but Nate had made him see reasons why that would attract more attention than th
“Nate? Can you hear me?”His eyelids fluttered open. His eyes stung and water seeped from the edges.There was an excited gasp beside him. Suddenly soft hands were cradling his face. At first, he couldn’t see but when he blinked rapidly and the blur cleared he saw Rachel’s tear-streaked face. She was crying and laughing.“You are alive,” she laughed, kissing his face and hair and his nose and cheeks. He groaned. His skin burned and his chest felt tight. He remembered coughing up smoke and being dragged out of the fire. He remembered Mabel hanging limp in his hands. But what he worried about the most was Rachel’s safety. His hand, though heavy as lead, came up to cradle her face. She kissed his palm and cried.“Are you okay?” he croaked. “Are you hurt? The baby?"She shook her head violently. “No I am fine, we are fine. You saved me remember?”He remembered pushing her outside the burning house. He opened his mouth to speak again but could only cough some more. Rachel left his side to
And he was going to do his best not to fail.By the time they went to bed, it was late into the night and their efforts at thinking of a means to stop Jacob was futile. There was nothing they could do.Mabel let Nate stay with them. Rachel wouldn’t hear of him sleeping on the couch so she invited him to her room where he lay on the tiny bed with his legs dangling over the edge and his arms around her.“You are such a large man, do you know that?”“In more ways than one,” he joked.Rachel laughed lightly but she was thinking again. “What if Jacob was to take you to court, hard as his kind of story is to believe, he does have that sheet of paper naming him as Fredrick’s heir, what will you do if you lost your wealth?” she asked. “I can’t imagine you living in a place like this where your feet dangled over the edge of the bed.”“I’ll survive. I don’t worry about the money, I only worry about the children. He will cut off all expenses and enslave them in the mines as Fredrick did.”Rachel
It wasn’t the first time in his life he told someone the story of his birth and everything he had been through, but it was the first time he told the story as it was without making himself the victim of circumstances. He told her facts, plain and simple and her face animated what she thought about his story. When he talked about the death of his mother she mourned for her and held him and when he talked about Fredrick selling him off her eyes showed her anger. When he talked about Tshepo, her eyes had widened in surprise. “You know that GHIA man?” she asked in astonishment. “He is like a brother to me.” “Yeah, I got that. You did kind of grow up together in a sense.” she was amused. “No wonder he was so concerned about me. He is very protective of you.” “Vera said the same thing,” he confessed, burying his fingers in the curls of her hair. He enjoyed the feel of her soft body pressed against his. Rachel rose on her elbow to reward him with a questioning glare. “Vera?” “Ah, I see
Rachel was watching him as she spoke and she frowned.“I am ready to tell you everything you need to know. The only reason I could come clean earlier, even after it became obvious that I was falling hard again for another woman was because I was genuinely scared of another Vera situation. I truly was ready to come clean until I came into the study that day and saw that you already saw the videos and emails I kept.”“I was hurt, Nate.”“I know,” he pressed forward and reached for her hand. She wouldn’t let him hold her. He didn’t want to give up just yet. She had every right to be angry but he wanted her back and he was ready to brave through the thorns of her heart to win her back. “I am a bastard for what I did but if there’s one thing I must do right, it’s to make you happy all over again and I cannot forgive myself until I do that.”She bowed her head. “Forgiving you won’t be easy.”“I will keep trying until I die if that’s how long it would take.”She raised shimmering eyes to his
Mabel left reluctantly and only then could Nate breathe a sigh of relief. He watched her go into town leaving just him and Rachel. But once she left he didn’t know what to say or do. All he had in mind when he left the heart of the city was to see Rachel and now that he was here what words could he say? Would words be enough?“You keep losing weight. The last time I saw you your suit hung on you and now…at least you shaved this time.”He smiled at her words. “I don’t think I planned my arrival properly then. I would have fattened myself up on the way if I knew you were concerned about my size.”She stared at him, her brown eyes dark in the dying light. There was no smile for him. He didn’t expect her to smile and welcome him with open hands anyway. He wanted to convince himself she was alright, he was here now he could see she was doing good…he should get back into his car and drive off.But he didn’t.“How is your shoulder?” she asked.He raised his brows, surprised that she remember
After every session, he began to open up well enough to let the darkness in his heart go. But with every ounce of darkness that left his heart, a void appeared and he knew what he needed to fill that void.Even though Tshepo had warned him not to see Rachel for fear of putting her in danger again, he couldn’t help but yearn for her over and over again. He still had the problem of Jacob defaming him, and spreading lies about him and his involvement with Rachel. Tshepo advised that it was best they continued to let Jacob believe she was dead so that they could keep doing their investigation in private and when they had enough proof of his illegal activities and his partners in crime they could pull the rug out from under him. It wasn't just enough to destroy Jacob, they had to take his cohorts with him too.Nate understood the importance of letting Tshepo do his job but he felt he would die if he didn’t convince himself of Rachel’s safety so he did what he knew best. He threatened Tshep
He needed help.He did. He stared at Vera’s head as she bowed her head crying into her hand to muffle her sobs, unable to move. For a long time he could only watch her and when he opened his mouth to speak his voice was a croak.“You really think I need help?”She sniffed and lifted her head to wipe at her eyes. “You do, Nate. I thought about it for a long time and realized I wasn’t fair to you when I left. Our marriage vows were for better or worse and I broke them, leaving you when I could have helped.”“Was I really that terrible?”“You are not a terrible person. What you do for those children in Gabore is more than enough proof of that. You give them hope, you make them smile again, and provide more than they can ever hope for. You are a good person but you do take people who care about you for granted. You perceive us as enemies. For a long time, I thought I could change you, I thought loving you and letting you have your way with me for your pleasure would convince you that I wa
It surprised him how easily the media ate up Jacob’s lies. But Nate thought he shouldn’t be surprised at all. It wasn’t the first time the man lied on national television and he seemed so fearless about it too.Tshepo voiced what he was thinking. “If you are thinking Jacob Henderson has friends in high places you are not wrong. Arresting him will be difficult. I have dug through a lot of his messes in the past and that sex trade of his is far more complicated than you and I can ever think about. We are talking Jeffrey Epstein's type of business. He has senators, tycoons, governors even Monarchs in the palm of his hands. He is an underdog with much more power than the man on the seat.”“So you are saying you cannot put a stop to his evil?” Nate asked, annoyed that he already knew Tshepo’s answer.Tshepo shook his head. “Not until I know what his endgame is. There is a bigger picture here, I can’t tell you the details neither can I tell you about my suspicions but keeping you safe is th