Her eyelids, lined by full, long lashes, fluttered open as she struggled to adjust to the lighting in the room. Golden sun rays seeped through the tall glass windows, casting a glow on her fair skin. Her luscious dark hair sprawled across her pillow. She let out a relaxed sigh and shut her eyes, relishing in the feel of the silk sheets against her bare skin and the caressing feeling of the soft blanket over her. It took her a moment to come to, her eyes took a long sweep of her surroundings.
There was a fine chandelier hanging above her bed, the room was chill, and soft music filled the room. The only source of light was coming from the tall windows behind her. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her head, the banging in her head was the indication of the kind of night she had. She massaged her temples as it all came rushing to her.She sat up with a start, clutching the blanket over her. She looked around, this was not her bedroom, neither was it the hotel room Luke paid for, for their second anniversary. This was much bigger and more expensive. She spotted the huge mirror across the bed, she wondered how she had missed it earlier. It was a large mirror, where you could see the king-sized bed in full. She stared at her reflection, hooded eyes, pale face, with long hair tussled, and sticking out at odd angles. She looked down, only just realizing she was stark naked underneath the fluffy blanket. Flashes of images from the night before slipped into her memory. She groaned aloud and crashed on the bed.When she set out for her day the previous morning, Scarlett Knowles was not expecting that it would lead her up to this moment, naked and cold in a hotel room with memories of a wild night spent with a man who was not her boyfriend, not even in her wildest dreams…Now that she thought about it, she had been incredibly dumb. Luke had planned this grand vacation getaway for their second anniversary.One she had looked forward to, it was not every time you got an “express paid” vacation to Paris. There were many red flags that she had ignored, the first was the fact that she had to lend him some money. Then, she had not given it much thought, Luke had never done anything sweet for her in all the time they spent together. The one time he had made plans, she was not going to let anything get in the way of those plans. The second blaring red flag was the fact that they arrived to the city separately. His excuse was that he had a huge surprise for her, and that was the biggest mistake because she spent the remaining days of the vacation obsessing about the surprise, she was convinced it was a proposal. This was why she didn’t object when he picked out different hotels for them, she shut her eyes as regret washed over her. How stupid was she?Scarlett was beaming with smiles as she got out of the cab, she paid the driver and even tipped heavily. She was clad in a silver halter neck dress, that showed a nice amount of cleavage, it hung loosely on her curves. It stopped just below her knee, paired with matching silver shoes. Her hair had been styled to perfection, framing her small face. Her make-up was lightly done but it accentuated her beautiful face, she had on a small coat around her shoulders as she walked into the restaurant where she was supposed to meet up with Luke.She greeted the doorman at the entrance with a hearty smile on her face as she handed him her coat, she wanted to announce to him she was getting a proposal. That was how happy she was. However, the perfect smile was knocked off her face when she walked up to the reserved table and Luke was nowhere to be found. She checked her wristwatch to be sure, it was 7:15 pm, she was purposely fifteen minutes late. She was ready as earlier as 6 pm, but she didn’t want to come off as desperate. So, she had waited, watching the time go by, it would make him want her even more, she thought. Luke had emphasized on her being on time, he was never tardy…“Are you okay, miss?”She turned around to see a young waiter standing behind her. He had kind eyes and a polite smile. That was when it hit her, she had been standing for a while, she looked around at the other people and then she became flustered, “I am sorry.”“No problem, miss,” he tipped his head at her. “Are you here alone? The reservation is for two...”She shook her head, “No, I am waiting for my partner.”“Can I get you anything while you wait?”“Wine please, red wine will be fine,” she answered.He nodded and went to get her order, as soon as she was alone, she dialed Luke’s line but her calls went unanswered, she sent texts but didn’t get a reply in return.The waiter arrived with her wine. The smile on her face had turned into a frown, she felt hot on the inside, despite the perfect air conditioning. She peeked at her phone and glanced at the door anytime someone would walk through, yet he was nowhere to be found.A glass of wine had turned into two and then three, she was getting pitiful stares from the other guests who were coupled up. Her cheeks flamed with embarrassment, any time she caught the eyes of the waiter who had attended to her earlier. The minutes rolled by and then it was an hour. She decided she had had enough, she got to her feet, placed crisp dollar notes beside her bill, grabbed her purse and stormed off.She flagged down a cab and not long after, she was standing in front of Luke’s hotel room. She swiped the key card he had given her, as soon as she walked in, she was hit by the loud music and a very naked Luke with sweat dripping down his back gyrating on top of a lady. She froze at the entrance for a moment. The lady’s loud moans filled the room. Scarlett didn’t know how long she had been standing there, her head was blank, she was not thinking, she could not make sense of anything. Then the lady spotted her, her eyes widened in shock, she frantically tapped Luke’s arm drawing him to a halt, he turned around and when he saw her, his face fell. “Babe...”It was like his voice pulled her out of whatever trance she was in, she retraced her steps and ran out of the room. She could hear him call out to her, but she didn’t stop. Her emotions were all over the place. She could not make sense of it but she was certain of her need to put as much space between them as she possibly could. She jumped into a waiting cab and tapped him on his shoulder, urging him on. “Where to miss?” the driver asked. “Far away from here,” she replied. She peeked behind and thanked the heavens Luke was nowhere to be found. She spent the long ride analyzing their relationship, every bit of it. She realized; she had been the one overly compensating over the years. She had nurtured the suspicion for long but Luke was just so good at covering his tracks and any time she accused him, she was unable to prove anything and ended up apologizing for being insecure. This led her to ask the important question, why did he not cover his tracks this time, was he tired of hol
Scarlett sat unmoving, in her stool, her heart was beating loudly in her chest. There was no time or place where it made sense to follow a random stranger in a foreign city to his place, yet, here she was considering that very option. She could not quite place her fingers on what it was. Was it her aching heart, hurt by her boyfriend’s betrayal or was it the alluring voice of the handsome stranger with a promise to do wicked things to her body. She shook her head, trying to fight back the images her head was conjuring, images of her naked under the onslaught of the stranger’s hands and tongue. And even though, she was yelling in her head that this was a bad idea. She found herself standing on her feet and walking up to him. He looked taken aback as she approached him, “Well…” His eyes widened in shock. He dipped his hand into his pocket, pulled out his wallet and took out a wad of cash and absent-mindedly handed it over to the bartender. She was surprised. She had guessed he was
He closed the distance between them, with each step he took, the flames of her desire for him heightened. She loved the intensity of the emotions at play in his eyes as he held her gaze. There was unmistakably lust and desire. She felt a fresh pool of moisture settle in between her legs as he walked up to her. Not knowing what he wanted to do to her was doing her head in. When he was inches away from her, she held her breath and then he knelt in front of her. She was stunned as his hands slowly worked up the way to her inner thigh. She grabbed on to a chair nearby, not trusting herself to stand her own two feet without support. He ever so lightly brushed his fingers against her crotch. She bit down on her lower lip, stifling her gasp.He looked up at her, “Don’t fight it, I want to hear the sounds you make when I please you...” She exhaled. He slipped a finger inside her panties and rubbed against her slickness. “Are you always this wet?” he asked in a hoarse voice. She felt heat
TWO YEARS LATER... Scarlett snoozed the alarm for the second time that morning, her sheets felt warm, all she wanted was to snuggle in her blankets and sail off to dreamland. The piercing cry of a baby, caused her to open her eyes with a start. Almost immediately, her mother rushed in, “Scar, you are letting the poor baby cry unattended to.” “Mom, he just woke up, like literally...” she sat up on her bed. Clarissa ignored her, she walked past her to the crib and lifted the baby and began soothing him. “I told you, if you cannot sleep with him in the same room at night. I will be more than happy to help…” She rubbed her face, “Mom, I was up with him all night.” “Do not mind your mother, my little prince. Grandma is here to help.” She rubbed his back soothingly. Then she turned around, “Scarlett, I can only mother one child at a time. Get out of bed and shower, remember you have that interview with that big finance firm.” Her eyes widened in recollection; she had almost forgotte
Scarlett feigned sadness as she walked into the living room.Clarissa’s brows knitted in worry as she walked up to her with Levi on her hip, “How did it go Scarr?”She exhaled and plopped down on the sofa.Clarissa came up beside her and smoothed her hair, “It doesn’t matter how this interview went, this was just one out of the many you can...” “I got the job mum!” she cut in a cheery voice.“Holy shit!” Clarissa blurted out before she could stop herself.Scarlett’s eyes widened in alarm, “Mom!” she leaned forward and took Levi from her, showering him with kisses.Her hands went over her mouth. “You had me genuinely worried when you walked in with that long face…” she playfully swatted her arm.Scarlett leaned away from her, her eyes turned into slits as she burst into laughter. Clarissa pulled her into a hug and kissed her forehead. “I am so proud of you Scarr…”Her eyes crinkled at the corners as her lips curled into a smile. “Thank you, mom,”Later that evening, when Levi was fas
The next day Scarlett was in high spirits. She woke up just before the alarm rang, spent a few minutes with Levi. She danced and sang along to her favourite songs in the shower. She spent a few minutes styling her hair, when she put her dress and stared at her reflection in the mirror, she didn’t feel self-conscious. She felt beautiful and confident. Her overall appearance mirrored how she felt on the inside. She prepared breakfast and shared it with her mother. Even when she walked into Grayson’s, she had a radiant smile on her face. The Grayson’s floor was at the top floor of the magnificent building. It was a huge space with only a few offices, it was probably exclusively reserved for the CEO, she thought to herself.The walls of the hall were pristine white, white fine wood panelling. There were a few decorations, but they looked like it had been randomly picked out, with no specific theme in mind. There were plastic green plants in tall white vases and the
Her heels clacked noisily against the marble floors as she rushed into the Grayson building, she jumped into the elevators just before the door closed shut attracting stares from the people in the packed elevator. She had broken her punctuality streak and she had a good enough reason why. One, she stayed up all night attending to a sick Levi and slept through her morning alarm. Secondly, she had convinced herself it was alright seeing as there was hardly work for her to do at the office. Mr. Grayson was out on some sabbatical leave or whatever fancy name they called it. Lucious showed up occasionally at the office and that was it. In the first week, she didn’t mind but as the days rolled by it got awfully boring to sit alone in the large office. She clutched tightly to her bag, retreating until her back was against the wall. The elevators stopped and a few people got out, she exhaled thankful for the space. She had begun to spend time with the other em
Clarissa opened the door. “Do not tell me you are spending another weekend, holed up in your bedroom all by yourself…”Scarlett turned to her. “I have so much to do ma.”“You had a whole week, it is Friday night. I will watch Levi for you, you should be out there in the biggest city, having the time of your life!” she said excitedly.“I told you, I went in late to work today and because of that the drama king gave me truck-load of work to do and not to forget, I was supposed to be formally introduced to my boss today and I stood him up.” She explained.Clarissa shut the door and sat on the bed, “That is not your fault. Your boss has been absent for weeks, if he needed to see you, he should have informed you.”Scarlett looked at her with a smile on her face. “You are my mom, of course you are always going to have my back.”“But seriously, you need to get out there, there is a lot to do and I don’t want you wasting your youth