"mom, please"
Those words escaped my lips as my eyes flew open. I struggled to calm my breathing as I laid still in my bed, my eyes fixed on the low hanging ceiling in my bedroom. I could feel the tears forming but I pushed them away, I did not have the time for such frivolities, not when I was already late. Alexander was going to have my head for lunch.
I groaned as I rolled out of bed. It was Monday which meant I had loads of work which I had pushed over during the weekend. I groggily stumbled into the bathroom, which was an easy feat because I lived in a cramped up apartment where the bathroom was just a footfall away from my bed. Standing in front of my bathroom mirror, I felt around for my toothbrush knocking down the sparse cosmetics which lined across the sink. picking it up, I grappled around for the toothpaste. With both in hand I went about with my morning hassle which I could never really understand, I mean why bother brushing your teeth when it still gets dirty after your first meal.
Putting my thumb over the nozzle of the tap, I sprayed the jets of water over my face without bothering with a facial scrub. I used my free hand to scrub vigorously to rid off the tell-tale signs of the uncomfortable night I had.
My life wasn't always like this, almost always but never always. Anyways, that doesn't matter because here I stood at a corner in my room barely six feets away from my bed. This corner was home to the third necessity I needed in life, my clothes.
These said items were meager to say in the least but that didn't stop them from asserting their dominance in their little corner. They were strewn about looking as haphazardly as they could get, but I couldn't bother with them especially today. Today was the day I was going to take my future into my hands.
I was meeting up with my estranged stepfather at a restaurant in the nicer districts of town, where the richer folks lived and dined. Not that I cared to impress anyone, I decided to look my best because I didn't want him to know how bad my finances had spiraled. The pay from my waitressing job at D's & Scones was barely enough to pay my rent and feed me. He wouldn't help me, only turn his nose up into the air and tell me to come back home. I am never going back there, as long as my mom isn't home this cramped up 15ft apartment is going to be my home.
Pulling up my knee length dress from where it was buried beneath other piles of clothes, I thanked the heavens that it was not overly wrinkled, before I went about the arduous task of actually dressing up. Such a difficult task but in the end I was decent enough to walk through my door without someone screaming 'Bloody Mary'. Clad in my knee length black dress and matching black pumps, I was ready to face the world. As ready as one could be with a messy mop of hair strewn around their scalp, well no one's watching me, so who cares.
I was out of the door even before the cab pulled at the curb. Thanking the driver hurriedly as I walked towards the entrance of the restaurant. I was late, fashionably late to precise but he has never understood that concept not that he ever understood anything relating to women. A hostess greeted me as soon as I walked through the door,
"Do you have a reservation ma'am?" she asked me politely.
"Yes for Alexander Baines" I replied, taking care to ensure that my voice sounded cool and to not betray the nervousness I was feeling. She glanced at the clipboard which she held for confirmation.
"This way please" she said smiling politely, gesturing with her free hand for me to follow her, she led me through the sparsely filled restaurant. I tried not to gawk at my surroundings as I followed closely behind the hostess. The place was a bit swanky with frills, lace and drapes of gold at every turn. A golden chandelier even hung from the high end ceiling, it was a bit too much for my taste, but this was the kind of scenario my stepfather loved. It screamed lavish and extravagant. I could not afford a meal in a place like this, at least not with my current income.
She led me towards a table at the side of the restaurant where the lighting did not illuminate completely. I could see my step father rapping his fingers against his knees as he perused the menu with an agitated look, a sign which indicated that his patience was at its fray ends. He looked stressed, as we got closer I could also see the tired lines and wrinkles which were beginning to mar his face, this gave me an unexplainable odd sense of satisfaction.
The hostess helped me to pull out my chair before leaving us. I had barely sat down when he looked up from his menu, staring at me with anger swirling in the depths of his eyes
"You are late," he said, not bothering with pleasantries.
"Fashionably late" I replied with a sickly sweet smile I knew he hated.
"I don't think being forty five minutes late is fashionable, I clearly state our meeting time was at twelve o'clock" he countered.
"Well, you should have picked a location which was close to where I lived if you wanted me to be there early" I retorted.
I could already feel my blood getting riled up, there was something about him which pushed my buttons and always kept me in edge
He took deep breaths, I was sure that it was to keep him from losing his temper and getting kicked out, not that I cared either way.
"I don't want us to fight, your mom wouldn't be happy seeing us like this" he said with a placating smile.
A red flag, alarm bells began ringing in my head, the fact he had mentioned my mom coupled with that smile, I knew that he wanted something from me and whatever it wasn't going to end well on my part.
"What do you want?" I asked with a stern face. A nervous smile skirted across his face before dissolving into a wide grin.
"Come-on, I am just having lunch with my daughter" he replied before pressing a bell for a waiter. 'Daughter', another red flag, Alexander has called me many names but never daughter. Whatever he needs from me must be huge.
"I am not your daughter" I counter, making sure to enunciate each word.
He snarled at me, then leaned over the table slightly; he grabbed my left hand and squeezed it tightly. I tried not to wince but that proved to be difficult as his grip grew tighter as the seconds ticked by, it was certainly going to leave a bruise mark.
"You have to be, because I have a very important task for you," he said.
I was saved from responding by the waiter who cleared his throat lightly to get our attention. Alexander loosened his grip, lifting up the menu from the table he smiled at the waiter politely. He ordered offhandedly, barely looking at the menu as he rattled off. When the waiter asked for my order, he quickly interjected stating that our orders were the same, a typical Alexander move. With the flick of his wrist, he dismissed the waiter and turned his full attention back to me.
"Lima jewelries is currently in serious debt" he said deadpanned.
I wouldn't say I was surprised, it took more time to fall into debt than I expected.
"So what would you have me do?" I replied, crossing my hands against my chest as I stared intently at him. "You want me to swoop and save your sorry ass, no thanks I will have to decline. I am not feeling particularly heroic at the moment" I added. I could see the veins popping up on his forehead, he clenched and unclenched his fingers on the table, he was having a really hard time controlling his anger and I was having a good time at his expense so I plastered a sweet smile on my face and giggled lightly as I continued to stared at him.
His control snapped, he banged his fists on the table, the occupants of a nearby table looked over in concern, but he barely noticed in his angry haze. I wasn't unaffected though, I had never seen him lose control like this in public so I decided to tread carefully.
"Lima is your mother's company, her sweat and labor built those walls and you want to throw it away over a squabble with me" he yelled
'You cut me off' I wanted to scream but held my tongue at the last minute, I didn't want this to turn into a full blown argument that would get us kicked out for sure. I listened to him rant on for several minutes about how he had given his all for my mother's dreams, when he finally paused to catch his breath, I asked
"What do you need from me"
With his anger dissipated, he sagged against his chair. We sat in silence as the waiter laid out our meal while glancing at me to check if I was alright, I nodded my head and gave him a smile. He pushed a small folded napkin under my plate and left soon after. I opened the napkin, there was a short note written on it which stated that I should scream if I needed help. I smiled and tucked the napkin beneath my tray.
We finished our meal in silence and our plates were cleared out immediately. Alexander stole glances at me as he rapped his fingers against his left knee rhythmically while tapping his foot lightly on the ground, a clear sign that he was nervous.
Tired of the uncomfortable silence which had settled over us, I asked again.
"What do you want from me"
The rapping and tapping stopped simultaneously, then he let out a deep sigh.
"Lima is in deep debt. We made a miscalculation and it backfired on causing me and my business partner to lose a huge sum of money both in capital and profits. Since the fault was from my team, my business partner has threatened to sue and if he does that Lima would have to file for bankruptcy" he lets out another deep sigh before he continues, " In order to prevent this, I offered him something valuable collateral damage"
My heart sank hearing his last words, I don't work at Lima jewelries, neither do I receive any benefits from it, so I could not understand why he needed my help except...…
"What did you use as collateral?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper. I could also feel my heart pounding erratically in my chest. His next words confirmed my deepest fear.
"You, Maya"
" No"
"I used you as the collateral, you are to get married to my business partner, Damon Amari Remington in order to save your mother's company from ruin" Alexander said deadpanned.