The fundraiser started out calmly as supposed, starting with a red carpet event hosting the city’s A-listers. There was a crescendo of excitement that filled the air as the magnificent doors of the grand ballroom swung open revealing an illuminated staircase which led to a world of dazzle.The cameras flashed like celestial fireworks, paparazzi screaming at the wide –eyed celebrity capturing the excitement that fluttered in the air, dressed in their designer gowns and tailored tuxedos but when Emily grazed the red carpet with her dazzling black ink gown that swept the floors gracefully, the cameras flashed in a frenzy, there was an uproar and Emily could barely contain herself – her heart thrummed with anxiety as she tried to latch unto Ethan who didn’t offer a great support system.Ethan was in fact – drunk and Emily could tell from the way he downed wine glass after glass on their way there.“Slow down, will you?” she tried to caution but Ethan threw her a venomous look at her“Why?
The goose bumps grew even fatter on Emily’s flesh, minus the cold wind, it was Jackson’s lips on hers in front of paparazzi. It was the electric buzz that coursed through her veins, setting her alight because the wrongness of it was enthralling. The mix of guilt and pleasure stirred in her stomach, she wanted to be drunk off itJackson’s lip was soft and tender and it captured hers in a magical haze – the wetness of his tongue swiping on her bottom lip, it felt invasive but yet dazzling in a way that felt difficult to understand yet explain. Suddenly she pulled away breathless with her eyes searching Jackson’s – searching but she wasn’t sure what. Her cheeks reddened and she took one step back even with Jackson’s hands were still closed around her wrist and the grip seemed to tighten when she stepped back, his eyes nearly pleading.But before Emily could react further, Ethan stepped between them and in one swift motion he dealt a striking blow to Jackson’s jaw, nearly sending him to t
The buzzing were loud again in Jackson’s head and he could feel the walls closing, trapping him in a trauma he couldn’t escape from. He could hear the gunshot again – the pain exploding his knee like it was happening all over again.“Jackson!” he could hear his name in the background but his head swirled with memories of his father. He was his father’s favourite – “Jackson!”This time the person was visibly shaking and when he came to, it was Emily holding his stare and when he looked around they were in the emergency room, he wondered when they arrived there, from the fundraiser to the hospita;. He had been out of it since Emily broke the news to them.“I’m fine” he wanted to say but the look on her face showed that she wasn’t buying it, he didn’t even believe it himself. His head swarmed with a lot of possibilities and none of them had a happy ending, it scared him, reaching the darkest part of him that he hid all his traumas.“Where’s mother – Ethan?” he asked, trying to steady his
“I won’t ask again Hatton, next time I’ll do worse than pushing your little brother down the hill” Frank Weatherbee had said, and promise was laced on every word even though Ethan was reluctant t call his bluff. What could big old Frank Weatherbee do anyways?But that day Ethan had visibly let his guard down when he saw the missing test scripts in his locker and with the principal looking down his shoulders behind him with a grim look of disappointment on his face. There was no point in denying, in fact it was even impossible to deny, not with the evidence stacked neatly in his locker.“Ethan Hatton, you’re a model student and I do not expect such criminality from you. Your parents will be invited to school and you will face a disciplinary action to determine your fate in this school” it was a swift statement that required no response as he had already turned away from him. Shame burned his face and it didn’t help that the entire school population kept their eyes fixed on him. It was
“Amanda?” Ethan held the look of surprise on his face as he took her appearance in. It had been more than ten years since he saw her last – since the terrible rumor that he started and she was forced to transfer schools. She had grown taller, much taller than he remembered even though he still towered above her effortlessly. Her hair was still brown even longer with the lushness that he remembered, silky and smooth and when he tried to look at her face, the guilt consumed him. Her eyes held the anger that had festered all these years and he knew damn well she wasn’t here for a reunion.“Remember me now?” she sneered “It’s been what now? Thirteen years and you sure grew up well”Ethan still stood dumbfounded until he managed to catch himself and he looked at her, really looked at her. He took hold of her wrist and pulled her with him outside the emergency room and he set her in front of him.“What are you doing here especially talking about my brother and what not? What are you doing
It was a constant torture for Emily following the weeks of fund raiser red carpet and Mr. Hatton’s sudden heart attack, but even with him responding to the treatment she still felt the aftermath of Jackson’s sudden but sweet kiss in front of the paparazzi. Before she got married to Ethan, she had a lived a life of cleaning toilets and being a total nobody with no idea what the next day was going to hold but at that moment, she was followed by a flock of paparazzi just as she stepped outside after her GED exams.“Emily!! Look here!”“Why are you just taking the GED exams?”“Are you an Ethan going to get a divorce now?”“Are you having an affair with your husband’s brother”“Emily, a statement please!”“Emily is it true you’re the bastard daughter of movie producer Mr. Brown and your mother is the former actress Alyssa” The question rang louder above the others so desperately that she was forced to hear it.Emily stopped in her tracks, her hired bodyguard nearly knocking into her in the
“Mother!” Emily said in shock and the woman quickly sprang out of the bed, taking the covers with and at the same time leaving Mr. Brown naked on the bed as he quickly struggled to save his dignity, but Emily was already bolting out of the door just until her mother caught up with her, pulling her by arm with a desperation to her stance.“Emily wait! Let me explain” she pleaded and Emily turned around, coming face to face with the woman she was even yet to acknowledge as her mother even.“Explain what? You have nothing to explain, I’ll just be on my way” she said turning to leave but Alyssa held her back still and when Emily looked over her head, Mr. Brown was now fully dressed and was approaching them, his expression particularly blank.“Just let’s talk about it first” Alyssa held on.“There’s nothing to talk about, I shouldn’t have come here at all. I came looking for Anita but obviously she’s not home and I should be going”“Who’s looking for Anita?” Emily suddenly heard her voice
By the time Emily stepped out of the Brown’s estate, she had tears spilling down her face and her whole body rocked with emotions that she couldn’t control. She felt the queasiness return, the nausea rising from the pit of her stomach back up to her throat until she was bent down by the at the side of the flower garden spewing her guts, with her head suddenly swimming. She grabbed her stomach viciously because it was the only thing that kept her mind sane, the seed growing in her stomach – Jackson’s seed.Her mother had cancer? She was spiraling and had ran out of the house the moment the words came out of the woman’s mouth unable to wait for her to explain more. She didn’t want to hear, she wasn’t sure she could handle it. How does one even respond to something like that? What kind of reaction was befitting for a bomb like that? How does she - ?The questions flew in and out of her head with no way to stop them until Victor her body guard came running her towards her, and he grabbed