After covering the drive for two hours, twenty-five minutes to Budapest, frustrated at her new enemy slash sudden admirer, Simone sat hidden under the desk later in the evening. She’d have loved to run her mind more to dig out the plans running in Ashton’s head, but she was too tired to even keep her eyes open. She had slept throughout, and once they were in the shelter of the private cottage house, she had stormed into one of the rooms, and hid herself because she didn't want that irritating man to see her red nose. So much for having a normal cold because she was exposed to the late-night shoots. "I was better off as mafia only; this modelling is such a pain in my a**," she cursed under her breath wiping her nose. She sneezed for the millionth time and while getting up, she ended up hitting her head on the desk making her wince. "What the fuck! Did I just wince like those dumb girls’?" She swore and in one swift move, she was up on her feet with that confident look taking over her
As the sun clashed at the horizon, begining to heat up the valley, decked up in a silk blue skirt and top, complimenting the environment of the beach Simone stepped on the little bridge—the set-up of the first couple’s shot. The staff limited to the lighting man, cameraman and one stylist for her, while there was no sign of any setup team as they surrounded her during her photo shoot. She scanned the area and found Ashton doing his pushups on the sand. His back exposed to the sun while his concentration rested on his workout rather than anyone else.Simone took a good amount of time in studying what was in front of her; the vibe of mystery circulated him since last night now which made her doubt his intentions more. He was ridiculously quiet and off from the moment he walked inside the cottage; the dinner was also a silent affair until he received Alisha's call and left without a word to converse with his daughter in privacy. She hadn’t seen him after that until now where he asked her
At exactly, 7 pm in the evening dressed in the gray jacket accompanied by the black denim, Ashton knocked on her room door. His strong cologne was all around him, making him seem like he took a bath in that strong scent in a way where he wanted the female to faint due to the excessive exposure to his strong smell. Contrary, it was an attempt to tell her that the aura he had around himself, was much more than ever. He waited for a few seconds until he heard her call him inside the room, and as soon as he stepped inside, he greeted her flawless half exposed back through the off shoulder black and purple gown, that he gifted her, along with a pair of stilettos, silver danglers, and a bracelet. "I was just putting this earring. Can you help me?" She said resuming to wear the earpiece, but she couldn't get through the hole in her ear making her curse the unfortunate thing. "Well, that earpiece is definitely not a man whom you are cursing like it has murdered your ear," Ashton said as a f
A time when he’s supposed to make the choice between justice and heritage, Ashton found himself trapped in an uncontrollable and an unthinkable situation. Despite wanting the upper hand, he was fixed in a place where he saw no way out apart from staring into the hazel eyes of the woman who looked at the edge of her suppressible self. Her one hand forwarded towards him as she waited for him to give his word of support to her. The line of decision was complex but based on what bit he heard from her, he decided to make a choice. A choice which no one would appreciate maybe, but he knew he had to do it if it meant providing justice to someone. “I give you my word that if you have all the reliable reasons behind your work, then I won't ever step in between. Gladly, Glacier is my Dad's heritage, but a mere place is not above humanity." He kept his palm over here, and she clasped it tightly, nodding her head. She urged him to sit on the recliner, and she sat on the floor beside his knees,
Flashback ContinuedWith the ticking of the clock, her heart beat was escalating at a faster rate; eyes glued to the entrance, Simone waited for Samantha. Even though, the clock has just struck 9, but her worry was visible clearly on her face. She ran her fingers through her hair several times, as she kept on passing the orders to the people waiting in the line while her hand shook as she took the payment.As soon as the last customer left, she fetched her cell phone, and dialed Samantha's number. Like the initial calls, this call too went on the voice mail, agitating the sister so much that she threw the phone on the floor. It landed straight at the feet of the man entering the cafe, and Simone looked up to see a tired Shane standing there with his coat thrown over his shoulder."Did Sam call you?""Recently, No. I am myself trying to reach her, but it goes on voice mail." Came the reply, and both looked at the other, and dashed out of the Bakery shop in a jet speed, feeling some un
A deadly silence brew between them; it was gut-wrenching for Simone as she expected an immediate reply from the man who claimed to be in love with her but as she gauged Ashton’s face, she knew he was debating whether to accept or reject her. Of course, saying and doing were two different things and she wasn’t a nescient to either of the two scenarios. As the clock kept on ticking away, her patience was drifting away as well, and when he wouldn't even care to utter a word, anger started to take the form of rage. She’d lived with rage, and hate was a natural element to her now. When things didn't go her way, her abhorrence took over her entire immune system, ready to crush the very existence of that person who caused her to feel that one emotion she didn’t want to feel.“You won't!” She decided and said it out loud.“Still after everything your mighty Alicia did, you want to dig the flag of loyalty for her; isn’t it?” She taunted with pure sarcasm dripping in her tone.Ashton looked at
Late in the night, a distraught figure of Ashton entered the Alicia Mansion. His jacket hung on his one shoulder, as took his time in walking inside his home, made in the memory of his beloved wife. Beloved! The word disgusted him after knowing what she had done in name of friendship. His feet staggered to stay focused on the steps leading to the living room, but as soon as he came in the middle of the room, a sudden urge to spoil everything took over him.He eyed the massive portraits of Alicia that hung around the room and as much as she was smiling in the pictures, his anger was escalating at her. He grabbed the flower vase from the coffee table, and directly hit at her face in the picture causing one portrait to fall. Marching up to the other one on the right wall, he grabbed them and smashed them on the floor. One by one, every portrait was down on the floor, mirror pieces scattered around the place like his heart was breaking with every fiber in it.He thought he lost the woman
Several Years ago (Flashback)The Monday morning was a hectic affair in the city of Vienna where several people tried to get back to their work mode after spending an amazing weekend with their loved ones. Drowned in her ambition, Alicia was a stranger to this feeling for all she cared was herself and the things she loved. It has been more than a year since she was living separately from her husband, but there wasn't a tiny particle in her that craved his absence. To say that she was a wife was certainly tricky because the fine woman showed the least sign of missing anyone. Keeping the same straight face, she drove across the city with a determination not giving away the slightest of inkling to her thought process.Halting the car in front of Alison’s Fashion Boutique, she stepped inside the huge room clinking her stilettos on the tiled floor, gaining the attention of the staff as well as the woman instructing them. Surprised to see Johanna Walkers in place of Alison, she frowned b
A day Later in Simone’s Bunker Moving away from the cottage she’d initially started to live in wasn’t Simone’s plan but there had been an attack of insects around the area. The land and water had been infected to the point that if she didn’t relocate to another place of safety then she might have died before time due to drinking the poisonous water or the small killer insects hiding in the bushes might’ve bitten her when they orchestrated their attacks in the middle of night. To say that she was a killing machine, the idea of dying at the mercy of those voiceless predators made her scrunch her nose in disgust and roll her oceanic eyes in repugnance. Jonas had found this bunker a few miles from their cottage; it was only a hollowed compartment going down the terrain which accommodated four people and had a good supply of air. ‘Cabin, cottage, bunker, it’s all the same to her,’ Simone had admitted while unloading their stuff from the van three years ago. As she packed her bags and re
‘Dead-beat! Is it what they call the state of unconsciousness when nothing makes sense except for knowing that the body is failing its owner?’ Ashton mused; his eyelids moving slower than any creature he’s known to exist in their time at that precise tick-tock of the giant clock hung above the ‘wall of rifles’ facing the darkened room of the people who’d captured him the night of the Masquerade Ball. He scooped up in a corner latching to the wall, rugged at the middle and the edges; his energy dissipated thinly to the ground which was swiping away from the left to the right in the fluctuating orangish-yellow-blue lights. Often, the huge sphere above the bars would ring red and a flurry of men would come marching inside pushing through the rifle wall. From short to tall, to heavily bearded to clean shaven, they would surround him pointing their evenly browed eyes at him and sending out a message as clear as a silent grave that he was to sit mute without a movement or he couldn't even
24 hours later in St. Gilgen’s Village of AustriaIf the ten years had taught a lesson to Simone then it was to not be consumed by the momentary madness and obsession of things and people in general. She wasn’t a normal person though, apprehensively she’d begun to become normal in her veins for the sake of people she left behind, and the man she loved. Being away from Ashton for the last ten years had ended her habit of dramatizing situations for her personal gain. Contrary, it’s given birth to a profound and never-ending concern in her heart that she couldn’t stop but move back and forth in the bunker raking her fingers in her hair; within the gap of a minute, she checked the footage of Alisha’s Mansion again and nothing had changed—the video displaying the exit of the giant mansion, with Ashton leaving the party with a sullen look pasted on his dulling features and even hours later when the guests began to make their way out, he didn’t come inside was halted. His car amiss from the
Five years, few months LaterThe glorious night of the Walker’s masquerade ball descended again. This time though the chaos reigned in the now renowned Alisha Mansion under the regime of the fashion designer in making and the new founder of The Great Glacier, Alisha Walkers. Ten years ago, she was nothing but a child who needed protection from the wild sabotage of Simone Thompson. That day when she went around assigning tasks, flipping her hair, scrolling through her tab for the last minute preparations, Ashton noticed the traits of his deceased exes, and latched onto the hand-rest of the sofa. The biological mother’s shadow haunted her sharp features while the woman they missed swept inside her. Stuck, they were in a loop to detach from the one who’d never return. The fallen Mafia owned his and his daughter’s heart and it would seem like they were the living embodiment of her fading existence from Vienna. “Slow down, Al. The party’s not running away,” he chided, casting a side glance
The tyre of the Audi R8 blasted midway in whatever the street was named. The shiny vehicle came to a halt and caused Simone to mumble a few incoherent curses; unlike her usual self she didn't banged the wheel with her fist but glared at it. Subconsciously, she's made peace with her past hurricane self, consciously she was struggling to compose herself at the slightest knock of mishap or misdemeanor from passersby or any of her old rivals. The smell of rivalry hasn't left her nostrils, though, she implored herself to recruit in a cycle of calm instead of letting her adrenaline drive her insane. She came with only one intention to find the ploy circulating the city, to unmask the puppeteer leading the show of Ashton's disappearance and probably to rescue her man. He must be in purgatory, and she's about to dwell in it for she knew in her veins that he must be holding her responsible for his latest agony. 'That dude was certainly the one who had more brains than her for he was aware of t
Volume/Book 2: The Stylish Mafia Woman & Her Love The reign of the Mafia period is a never ending riddle or a debacle, no one knows except for the ones who have found themselves clashing with the knights of pandemonium. Such has been Austria's history since Vienna witnessed the power of the most popular women protection racketeer. ***Ten years later, Simone Thompson re-appears in Austria after she hears the rumors of Ashton's disappearance circulating around the city. What follows are huge encounters with her old rivals, suitors and friends; anger squash; toxic modeling chaos and ruthless search party for Ashton Walker. The women protection racketeering is back again for the world got extremely out of hand without the Mafia girl's interference. Will Simone take control of the town and find Ashton amidst the unexpected tragedies looming over the city?
EpilogueFive years laterSomewhere deserted, in the St. Gilgen village of Austria, there stood a small hut, circulated by large bushes and a fountain on the side making the area look presentable and cozy to be called a home. Inside the small cottage, the interior wasn't luxurious or costly; it was normal per say comprising of a small couch, a bed, a television set right in front of the bed. On the right, a small kitchen set up, while the opposite side had two doors beside the other. One, presumably a washroom, and the other opened into a huge control room comprising of various large computer screens flashing the various parts of the Austria. The two people controlling the cameras had their eyes fixated on the screens unaware of the one who stood behind them with a smile. "You two are watching the screens as if a bomb is about to explode." The person from behind interrupted them. The male and female turned to see their boss standing there with a grin plastered on her lips. White sh
The nearer the yacht came, the scarier everyone looked until the luxurious boat stopped beside the halted yacht which had become the replica of ghost riders in the storm. Every face seemed haunted suddenly. Except for Simone, none of them looked a human for the time being while the lady devil stood staring at her animal which at times reminded her of the monster inside her that loved to kill. "Meet my big baby girl people." Her cheerful voice echoed as she eyed the jumping animal in the cage who tried to break the iron barriers and she knew she would as soon as she gets a drop of blood of her victim. "Meet Jonas and Tisca, my once again appointed assistant and manager," Simone introduced giving a look to Shane that said she was doing what he thought she would never do.The couple jumped on the target yacht and walked with style towards Shane and Shanzy who glared at them. Their animosity wasn't new but years old. The four were once co-assistant and co-managers, but the day Jonas and
Simone was a sight to watch sitting on the high chair kept in the middle. Dressed in her all black glory she was an intimidation of the falling evening. Removing her sunglasses, she passed them to Shanzy who stood beside her chair with her eyes glued to Shane who stood on Simone's left."Welcome on my Yacht everyone," she greeted as her team removed the blind folds of everyone."Where is my Donald Duck? Bring him in front of me, Shane. I can't wait more." Simone ordered looking at Ashton who glared at her, but from his peripheral vision he took a quick check on his friends, and daughter.Shane immediately went inside to produce the main tormentor of his heart. He had been waiting for years for this megavolt evening, and finally it was here.Ashton watched the way he left, before turning his attention to his grandmother, and parents who were being freed from the ropes that were tied to their hands, while their keen eyes looked around for the surroundings and they found themselves to be