One Night With Mr Braxton

Mrs. Steele stepped down the stairs with a smug look on her face. It was finally time to meet with her long, lost and awaited step-daughter. Their eyes connected and a triumphal smile ushered its way through her face.

” Trouble in paradise?” She corked an eyebrow and took a seat. Emma held a permanent scowl,This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

” I see you haven’t changed.” Emma remarked curtly, her tone took her by surprise.

” I see you’ve grown teeth.” Mrs Steele raised her hand and a glass of water was brought to her, ” What do we owe to this… unscheduled visit?”

” Don’t act dumb. Take responsibility for what you did.”

” I think you are mistaken.” She circled the tip of her cup, ” This is my house and I will not be disrespected. If you are here to do so, I suggest you leave.”

” Take the pictures down!”

Mrs. Steele let out a short laugh, ” Leave us.”

It didn’t take a soothsayer for the employees around to scramble away, giving the women some much needed privacy. Mrs. Steele got up on her feet;

” I’ll forgive you because you seem to be in a tight corner.” She remarked, ” Is this about the dirty pictures floating about?”

Emma’s eyes shot daggers, ” The ones you put out.”

” You have no proof of that.” Her gaze felt mocking, ” I’ll take this as your plea for help and tell you what it’s going to cost.”

Emma stilled at her words, and the atmosphere felt heavy.

” If I am going to help you out, you must resume providing designs for Steele-Shoes. I mean, you are a part of this family, and should contribute your quota to the growth of the company. My helping you would be an added bonus.”

” You must be joking.”

Mrs. Steele remained unruffled,

” Tell me, what’s wrong with Talia? After stealing my life’s work, you should at least show a bit of shame.” she hissed,

” Do not bring my daughter into this.”

” I don’t care about her. It’s just baffling that you want my help when you have Talia.” Emma looked around, feeling a wave of nostalgia from the irony of the situation, ” Where is she? Is this another sick plan of hers to dupe me or is it just yours?”

Before the words were out her mouth, the door to the living room opened and Talia came in,

” Screwing your ex-boyfriend.” She replied, having eavesdropped on their conversation. ” What? Cat caught your tongue?”

” You mean fucking the man who cheated on you with another woman?” Emma taunted, ” It’s a good thing you snatched him, I can’t be caught with a man unable to hold it in his pants for two seconds.”

” You’re just pained he didn’t stick it in you!” Talia raged, ” Nobody wants a broken slut, Emma.”

” Keep telling that to yourself and you just might become the evil stepmother of a thousand children.” She clicked her tongue, ” His shaft is probably buried deep into another woman, he’s on a mission to make you look stupid, Talia, and he’s doing a good job at it.”

Talia retracted, burned by the slapping truth. Before she could muster a reply, her mother intervened;

” Enough!” She yelled, getting between them, ” Talia, to your room, Now!”

” But-”

” Now!”

Talia scrambled away with her tails tucked between her legs, holding back hot tears. Mrs. Steele turned over to Emma with blazing eyes,

” You are quite something,” She muttered, again.” What will it be?”

Emma scoffed; the audacity of this woman infuriated her,

” Read my lips. I will never work for you. Not now, not ever.” The iciness of her tone left the room a little chilly as they shared opposing glares. ” I have wasted my time.” She announced, and without further ado, made way to the door.

Talia sat on her bed with an unreadable expression. She heard the wench leave and knew it was a matter of time before her mother showed up. When her door squeaked open, she didn’t bother looking up.

” Prepare yourself.” Her mother’s voice broke the silence, ” You will meet Asher Braxton and do everything in your power to bring him on his knees. Can I count on you?”

Talia chuckled, ” Don’t humour me, mother.”

Mrs. Steele drew closer to her, ” Do you know the best way to kill a bird?” She leaned into her ears and whispered, ” By taking away its wings.” Her hand trailed the symmetry of her face, ” Just be prepared and leave the rest to me.”

*****

Asher sat in his office, looking through some files when a message popped into his phone. Recently, there’s been a lot of suspicious messages that hinted at his wife’s safety. Despite his attempts at figuring out the perpetuator of the crimes, every trail led to a dead end.

He beefed up the security on Emma despite her reservations but he still felt a sense of foreboding that he couldn’t shake off. He picked his phone, and another message from the hidden source laid unread. The next second, he jolted from his seat, dressed up and fired a text stating his car be made ready.

‘ Your beloved wife is here. Tick-tock.’ The text was another barely dressed picture of Emma, this time around, with a scarf around her mouth.

Asher drove like a maniac, shooting like an arrow into the city as he made way to the address sent to him. Only then did he realize it was the Steele Family house. The gates automatically let him in and in seconds, he stood in the living room of his supposed in-laws.

” That was quick.” Talia came out first, ” Welcome to our home, I’m Talia Steele.” She introduced with a sultry smile, reaching for an handshake.

” Where is she?” Asher made no move to acknowledge her. ” Where is my wife?”

Talia didn’t relent, ” I should be asking you that,” She opined, drawing closer to him, ” Since she’s your wife, I’d expect you knew everything about that.”

Her hand trailed his bulk shoulders, ” Touch me again and lose those fingers.” He said, his eyes meant every word. Talia retracted her hands, burned by the intensity of his gaze.

” Who do we have here? Mr. Braxton! A pleasure to finally meet you.” Mrs. Steele showed up with a smile. Noticing the tension, she said, ” Oh, forgive my manners. This is Talia, heir to the Steele-Corporations and my daughter.” She emphasized.

” Where is Emma?” Asher cut through, his irritation apparent to all, ” Why did you bring me here?” He asked again, as realization dawned on him.

” I apologize for my unorthodox ways in seeking an audience from you,” She began, ” I’m afraid your wife is doing the most to smear your name right now. Those were pictures in Colton’s possession.” She raised her hand and a maiden presented him an envelope, ” It seems like she’s into role play but that’s besides the point.”

Asher tore open the envelope and more pictures of his wife poured out. His face hardened. ” Anything else?”

Unprepared for such answer, they lacked words to say,

” If that is all, then I’d like to make myself clear.” His gaze fixated on Mrs. Steele. ” Let this be the last time any of you both appear before my face. In the time when I cross paths with you again, don’t blame me for what I’ll do.”

Asher left the house without a picture. The women were left dumbfounded and watched his car drive off without a word. Inside the car, Asher puts a call across one of his men.

” Mr. Braxton.” A voice filled the car space.

” Put a trail on my wife. I want reports on everything and everywhere she goes. Do you understand?”

” Yes sir.”

*****

” You can’t go in there, ma’am!” Rebecca slammed the door shut at Asher’s secretary.

Ever since their little tiff, she hadn’t set eyes on Asher and decided to seek him out with an olive branch- take outs from the best Italian place in the city. Unfortunately, he wasn’t around to welcome her but she was determined to wait until he returned from whatever meeting that held him.

Rebecca placed her bag on the glass center table and helped herself with some water. While gulping down its contents, an idea popped into her mind. What better place to snoop if not his office? Immediately, she headed towards his neatly arranged desk, taking a glimpse at every file and document available to her.

Letting out a chuckle, she plopped on his chair, enjoying the masculine scent that emanated from being in his environment. Her eyes caught the drawers and she returned to her job- this time around, mindlessly peeking into every document there is.

She continued till the last drawer, which held a single file. Her interest piqued and she took out the file, noticing some dust particles sprinkled atop it. Her eyes turned into saucers upon reading its content. She jolted from her seat, and made sure the doors were locked and windows blinded before she returned to the table.

Her hands shook as she took out her phone, took a picture of evidence, returned everything to its place and left with a cloud on her face.