Jasmine.
The meeting was silent yet felt so noisy. We had all come to the kitchen unintentionally and now it felt like a bomb was about to explode."Stop making it seem like we did a bad thing to you, Jasmine, that job of yours wasn't even fit for a woman of your status," Mom said the moment she walked into the kitchen and saw me.And what was my status? No one seemed interested enough to tell me.Ignoring her seemed like the best thing to do at that moment."Besides there's something else available for you here, much better," She took a sip from my cup of coffee, made a face that consisted of disgust and annoyance, probably because of the sugary taste of the drink."You never did learn how to prepare a proper cup of coffee with the adequate amount of sugar and milk."I made a weird face at her the moment she turned her back."I can see that," The small smile on her face did not move an inch until Amanda and Charles came into the kitchen too.Amanda held unto her head, "Why is everywhere so bright, those drugs aren't working," She complained while walking to the refrigerator."Maybe you shouldn't drink much when you know you have work to do," I muttered under my breath and rolled my eyes at her. She didn't hear me though but Charles did and he raised an eyebrow at me.After my brief interaction with mom, I had momentarily forgotten about the reason I had come back to this place."Amanda," I called out."Hmmmmm," She replied. She was drinking a bottle of water and seemed like she was trying to drown herself in it."You made my boss fire me."And the warm air that was once in the room became stifled and everyone tried their best not to look me in the eyes.Amanda dropped the half filled bottle back into the refrigerator and turned to me, eyebrows raised."Yes?" She asked slowly like she didn't understand what the problem was. She was probably going to bitch about me to those stupid friends of hers and talk about how I was an ungrateful bitch."You made me lose my source of income and my home, my town, why?"Amanda raised her shoulders up and down in a shrug, "Because that job was beneath our standards, honestly I wouldn't be able to cope working there," She used her hand to fan herself like she could faint at that moment.Always the dramatic one."Well you weren't the one working there, you little devil.......""It's enough," Charles shouted, he must have gotten tired of the whole fiasco but that didn't give him the right to talk to me the way he wanted to.I was about to give him a piece of my mind but a quick look at mom made my mouth dry up."Jasmine, I assure you that Amanda didn't mean any harm. We needed you out of that job so you can start a new one, a much more better and respectable job," She started, her fingers moving upwards to her forehead to massage it."And what would that be?" I asked, I could feel most of my anger deflating at the mention of a new job.Taking that job meant much more money but I would be under my mom's belt and debt. I wasn't sure I wanted that."A job with your favorite interior designer, you always talked about her when you were much younger and now that I know her a bit, I said why not get Jasmine a job with her," Mom continued, her smile grew bigger with each words.My favourite interior designer. The famous Lana. I didn't even know mom listened when I rambled on about her and everything she did."Of course I listened, what kind of mother do you think I am?" She snapped at me.I didn't know I had been talking out loud. But this was too good to be true, there had to be something attached to it."It's a thrilling opportunity Jasmine," Charles added, thereby ruining the moment. I had forgotten others were here and it wasn't just my mom and I."But one you'll only get if you do something for us," He continued, his eyes were fixed on mine firmly, his way of telling me I had nowhere to run to or something.My mom refused to meet my eyes at this point and Amanda just couldn't stop smiling."What's that?" I asked, already dreaded the answer I was about to hear.Would it be worth the job mom had found for me?"Just something little, you know my political aspiration and how I plan to be the president soon," Like anyone in the family could forget, it was all he ever talked about."Well my rival is much more powerful than I am and would win if I didn't do anything to stop him.""What does your political aspirations have to do with me?"Charles sighed deeply, "This guy is a family guy, that's one of his strategies. He shows everyone how much he loves his family and how far he would go to protect them........"I grew tired of listening to him talk about how perfect his rival was and I was ready to move out this very moment. Was this the torture I would have to go through because I wanted to work with my idol.Listen to Charles Castor speak all day."... The thing is that dad wants you to get his rival to cheat on his family, his wife and kids," Amanda shouted over her dad's voice. It seemed like I wasn't the only one tired of listening to him talk."Woah woah woah, and how do you expect me to do that?" I asked, turned to my mom who was insistent on avoiding my eyes."Well you have to seduce him of course," Charles said with a shrug."Excuse me."I had to seduce a man that was probably old enough to be my father and break a family up. There was no way I was going to do that. I didn't follow politics that much but even I knew the man wouldn't be as cruel as my stepfather, he deserved the win more than him."I can't do that, I just can't. Get someone else to play your dirty game Charles," I shouted, my gaze was fixed on him so I knew what he was doing.Smiling. They had me cornered."Mom," I turned to the only person I knew could save me now.She wasn't avoiding my eyes anymore now but rather faced me directly."I understand you feel like what we're doing is cruel but you're the only one that can do this, Amanda is already well known as his daughter and she wouldn't be able to sneak incognito like you, you avoided everything that would link you to this family like something dreadful..," She tried to explain to me but honestly I wasn't going to have it."And what about sex workers and even the red haired girl I saw in Charles office, they're not related to him so why can't anyone of them do it?" I interrupted, satisfied with the way Charles nostrils seemed to flare up at the mention of the red haired girl.Mom flinched at that but continued, "We need someone we can trust and I promise you my dear, once you're done with this task, we're out of your life forever," She added the last part like an afterthought but I knew she meant it."Well I didn't know avoiding everything about this family would hunt me in the long run," The words came out of my mouth sarcastically and I rolled my eyes."I knew it would," Amanda said jokingly, she even added a little laugh at the end like we did when we were younger and still friends.I ignored her."So I just have to seduce him and everyone would know he can be seduced from his family,"The sound of Charles laughter have always been melodious but now, it sounded like nails scraping a wall. Harsh. Causes ear issues."You have to seduce him, have sex with him and get it on audio and video, get him to confess his plans, show him to the entire country," Charles said, the wicked smile of triumph spread on his face."What? It'll be like a live porno then. Everyone would see it," I tried to explain it to them."Of course. That's the reason why we're making you do it"Jasmine."You must be the new assistant, sorry for the rushed resumption," The red haired man talked really fast the moment his eyes landed on mine and he confirmed my identity.Charles and my mom had made me attend a one hour lecture about everything that was to be known about his rival.I had this tingling suspicion that Charles had a crush on his rival at this point."It's okay," I smiled at him, "Well I'm a bit nervous but it's okay," I admitted the truth.He placed his hand on my shoulders and gave me the widest grin of all times."You'll hardly see Mr Warner, just send him emails and schedule his meetings and such. No need to worry, he's not a really bad man, he's just human," He tried to calm me down with soothing words about how the boss was one of the best employees in the world.Mr Ambrose Warner, fifty seven years old politician with the cleanest records ever. In my stepfather's voice, no one had the right to be that clean.Two children. Twins. A grandchild from the female t
Jasmine.That goddamn son of the devil himself wasn't seriously denying the fact that we knew each other.Was he?"We don't, I met Miss Castor outside your office seriously hyperventilating and almost going into shock," His words weren't harsh but I could feel the sting on me, "They need to be some sort of orientation for staff in the office here."I rolled my eyes at his words and turned to Mr Warner."Sir, you asked me to be here," I said confidently now. Or as confident as I could be without turning to look at Alexander.His eyes narrowed down on me and while I couldn't determine if it was disappointment or annoyance, I certainly knew I had made some sort of first impression on him and my task of seducing him was going to be really hard."Yeah yeah, I need you to take down some notes during my interaction with Mr Castor......," His eyes widened this time like he had come to a realization, "How peculiar, you guys share the same last name.""It is a common last name so it shouldn't be
Jasmine."There are a lot of colors you can match together to give a room a warm feeling, once someone walks into it, they would feel this sort of connection with the ambience and might not want to leave.......""Jasmine," The voice was sharp and curt. Feminine. The reason why I dreaded and loved coming to work for the past two days."Yes Ruby," I looked up from the design I had been working on into the sea green eyes of the one person that made sure she annoyed me every single day.She grinned, showing her pearly whites."What are you working on? I called your name multiple times and you didn't even flinch to show you were ignoring me," She said while taking a seat opposite me and then propped her legs on the table.I made sure I pushed them off."Come on Jasmine," Ruby pouted."Whatever I'm working on is none of your business Ruby," I teased her, making sure my pout mirrored hers.Ruby happened to be the assistant make up artist that gave Mr Warner a push up whenever he was going to
Jasmine."The last thing I want to do is overwhelm you Miss Castor, I don't want you running away like my last assistant," Mr Warner said, his eyes were focused on the screen in front of him.Those were his first words to me the moment I entered his office. No hello, no how was your night. Nothing."Good morning Mr Warner," I greeted wearily. I still didn't know what to make of him and I have been working with him for quite some time now.I guessed he didn't expect that because of the rapid blinks that followed my words. "Good morning Miss Castor," The sides of his mouth lifted up in a small smile. "Take a seat please," He pointed at a chair directly opposite him.I took the seat while trying to stifle a yawn. Last night with Amanda had taken a toll, she wanted to talk about anything and everything that would bring me to the discussion of Alexander but this time I watched my words. I wasn't interested in talking about him. I was sure they would run into each other one day. After all
Jasmine."What? That's wrong," I denied it immediately. It wasn't the truth and was nowhere close to the truth.Ruby giggled and wriggled her eyebrows at me, "I saw both of you and I saw the way you looked at him when he walked into the office, like you couldn't believe such a fine specimen of man had graced this earth," She explained to me."What are you talking about?," I asked stupidly because I didn't understand what was happening anymore.I had only seen Alexander once and he denied knowing me. When did Ruby witness an interaction between us that involved me staring at Alexander like he was something new."You got the whole story wrong Ruby, did you listen to our conversation?" I asked her before she could reply the last question.The smile on her lips turned down and so did her eyebrows, she looked confused."I didn't listen to your conversation but I thought your facial cues were enough to show that you had a crush on him or something because he was really handsome and most of
Jasmine.Sometimes I felt like Ruby knew more than she let on, like she knew what I planned to do and was perhaps even sent by any member of my family. Charles, mom or even Amanda."That dress just hugs every curve in the right way," She screeched when she saw one of the dress she had personally picked for me. The red coloured bodycon like dress with ruffled sleeves and some sort of corset that seemed to push my breast upwards. I felt like a character from one of those medieval movies Amanda loved to watch when we were younger."This dress is too revealing," I tried to reason with her, my hand reaching towards the cup to pull it upward. There was no way I could wear this to a fundraiser event, not even to seduce a man.I could feel the stares and hushed whispers already. What a prostitute the presidential candidate had chosen as a second. Mr Warner would be so embarrassed, he wouldn't invite me for anything again and that would limit my chances.Ruby had other ideas on the other hand
Jasmine."What's she wearing?""Why would she wear something as skimpy as that? Does she think that this is a clubhouse?""Who even is she? Some sort of assistant?"I could hear the whispers from every part of the room, the women and men I was introduced to by Mr Warner and even the celebrant."And who is this beautiful young girl? I haven't seen her before....." The celebrant had started when she was done with the show of love with Mr Warner.I honestly felt the most inadequate when I stood close to her. She had the most vibrant red hair and looked really beautiful with the sort of natural makeup I knew Ruby would love to try on herself. And her clothes, they were purely designers and quite expensive.She even smelled expensive.Mr Warner placed his hand on my shoulder and brought me forward a bit, "She's my new assistant after the last one left under mysterious circumstances, I decided to show her around and allow her help me.""After all, her job is to assist right," The celebrant
Jasmine.The rest of that party passed like a blur with Gia passing drinks after drinks into my hands and making me much more intoxicated."Mr Warner, do you like my dress?" I asked after one too many drinks, resting my hand on the table and placing my chin on it so I could look at him very well.Blood rushed towards Mr Warner's cheeks and even under the dark light of the building, it was very evident."Miss Castor," He croaked out before clearing his throat, "I am sure I have told you before about how this shade brings your eyes out and makes them pop. You look beautiful dear," He smiled through clenched teeth, his eyes darting towards Alexander.I giggled like he had said something funny, drawing the attention of Gia that had been invited to talk to a group of women. Her eyes betrayed the questions she wanted to ask and the desire to leave that place.Alexander on the other hand acted like nothing had happened. I would have turned towards him and ask him why he was behaving like a j