It is Either You, Or No One

Georgia Fay came out of the room, holding a pink lipstick on her hand, and a mirror in the other hand. She checked her reflection in the mirror as she applied the lipstick on her lips and nodded in satisfaction, she was the perfect definition of beauty.

"You look really handsome today" Georgia commended, looking at her husband, Mark Dreal in admiration.

"What do you mean?" He frowned, knotting his tie.

"I mean you look great" Georgia smiled and took her bag from the couch.

"You mean, all these while I have not been handsome? You are indirectly saying I am ugly, is that it?" Mark stopped halfway through knotting the tie and raised his head to look at Georgia.

"That is not what I mean, I love your tie, that's it" Georgia said softly, trying to control her outburst.

"Reserve the compliment for some other time, I have a lot of things to do today, I really do not want you to ruin my day" Mark said carelessly.

"Me? I don't get that" Georgia smiled, hoping he didn't mean what he had said.

"How do I look?" Georgia asked, dropping the mirror in her bag.

"I hate your cloth" Mark stopped knotting the tie and looked at her like some ant that he would be willing to trample under his feet at any moment.

"What is wrong with it? You loved it the other day. Remember the day we went to Louis's party?" Georgia gave a charming smile, hoping he would remember. He had held her hand that day and kissed her in the midst of all his friends.

"Listen to yourself! Today is different from the other day. Are you not aware of the tending? You will remain stuck in this cloth forever just because you heard me say I love it some years ago? I hate the cloth already" another word from Georgia would make Mark walk over to her and pull the dress off her if she would not take it off by herself.

"Not some years ago, and it is not even up to a year since we got married" Georgia snapped.

"Are you sure? I think it has been over ten years that I have admired the cloth. Your old face too points how long it had been" he pulled on an annoying grin.

Georgia ignored the words, even though it hurt her, she could not help but believe she was really getting old. At thirty two, she was looking like a woman in her sixties, at least that is how Mark paints her everyday.

"But, what is wrong with it?" She was getting late already, Georgia had a hard time getting dressed, deliberately choosing to wear this because Mark had said he loved it. She could not believe he was saying another thing now.

"It is too short, are you a pervert?" Mark glared at her.

"What?" Georgia looked at the cloth, the gown stopped a little above her knee.

"If I instruct you not to wear something, as your husband, you should listen to me" he growled.

Just like he stopped her from having friends!

"Can we quit this early in the morning? I have an appointment with a patient today, it is almost time that I meet her" Georgia sighed in frustration.

"If you knew that, you should not have asked me to access your dress for you. What is more important? Me or you work?" Mark questioned.

Was that what he was thinking? She would be selfish to leave without doing as he had instructed, Georgia gave a rueful smile.

"I almost forgot, I am sorry" deep down, Georgia was hoping they would stop the drama and she would get to work fast.

"I am angry already. Go wear another cloth" Mark continued knotting his tie, his back turned to Georgia.

"Can you help me choose? I had a hard time selecting this one. We might as well save each other the stress of wasting time" Georgia bite her lower lip, that was almost out of bounds.

In reply, Mark shot her an angry look before turning his back to her again.

After a long search for a cloth that seemed good in her wardrobe, Georgia finally found a long jacket over her gown.

"How about this?" Mark crossed his legs and was busy pressing his phone when Georgia came back to the sitting room.

"Too short and body revealing. Don't you know how old you are? You are supposed to know all these clothes don't suit you. You are some years over thirty for crying out loud!" Mark banged his fist on the table, dropped his phone and stood up. He walked inside, brushing past Georgia.

He threw her a long gown after spending a long time in the room, all through the time, Georgia was checking the time.

"Wear that, and be fast with it" he resumed his seat and continued pressing his phone.

"This seems to be too long," Georgia complained, quickly smiling to stop Mark from shouting at her again.

Mark accessed her when she was done wearing the gown, he pointed to her heels.

"Only young women wear this, I hate women who wear it" he took off the heel shoes for her and threw it across the room.

"What am I supposed to wear then?" Georgia stared at him, wishing she could give him a hard knock in the head.

He shook his head slightly, his brown hair made Georgia dizzy as she noticed it. She could feel her cheek burning under his gaze. She hopes he doesn't notice it.

"I don't know, but as of today, as long as you remain my wife, you are not allowed to wear heels, I had a bad experience with women who wear it". Was he finally going to tell her about the women in his past? The thought warmed Georgia's heart. She had always wanted to know about them.

"So?" She asked eagerly.

"So, get rid of all the heel shoes you have." Disappointed, Georgia realized that was all he would say.

"I will," she smiled sheepishly.

"And, what is this?" Mark touched her face.

"Where? My makeup?" She glanced at him, whatever he was thinking, she was not sure.

"If you like it, I can use it everyday" she faked a smile.

"Get it off" Mark grabbed a tissue paper from his pocket and wiped a bit of it.

"I hate women who wear makeovers, they are usually the ugly ones, trying to hide the fact that they are ugly with the make up" Mark held her hand.

"I only used a little of it, but if you don't want it, I can get it off" Georgia bite her lower lip.

"And, this earring of yours doesn't suit you. Are you a slave?" He thrust the tissue paper in her hand and released it.

"You admired it the day I brought it home, why the change of mind?" Georgia frowned, daring to look at him.

"You bought it yourself?" Georgia could bet he was holding his breath, what exactly is wrong with him?

"Yes"

"I hope you know no one should give you any gift aside from me. If you ever receive any gift from anyone without my consent, you will be in trouble, a big one." Just when Georgia was going to demand a reason why she should not accept a gift from anyone he raised his hand to her head and patted her.

"You will never know the intention of anyone, it might be bad when it comes to gifts"

"I will not" all her protest melted under his touch.

"And, this your hair, I hate the smell of it. Wash it off" Mark took off his hand from her head and went some distance away from her.

"But, I used shampoo, there is nothing wrong with it" it was obvious his touch had an effect on her, because instead of her words coming out angrily, it came out as a weak protest.

"Get rid of the smell, I hate it" he sat back on the couch and started pressing his phone again.

Some minutes later, Georgia got back from the bathroom, having washed off the make overs and her hair. She took off her earring already, and was now wearing a sandal.

"How do I look now?" She dried her hair with a towel.

"I will meet you soon, I love you" Mark said to someone over the phone.

Georgia was sure she heard Mark say the L word, he had never said it to her all these while they had been together. Always making excuses for not saying it. The other night he had told her he hates to express his feelings with words. So far, he had not done anything to her to show he loved her, or maybe she was greedy. She shrugged.

"Who are you speaking with?" Georgia questioned, running the towel over her hair.

"Someone very important" he dropped the phone on the table and smiled.

"I don't seem to get what you are talking about" Georgia frowned.

"Don't worry, Erica, you will become aware of things as they are soon. A surprise." Georgia's heart raced, Mark had never done anything to surprise her before. She was definitely going to wait for this.

"I cannot wait, Mark. I love surprises" Georgia said, a smile on her face.

'You are getting old, and that smile doesn't suite you. A frown will be better " Mark winked at her.

"Here, help me with my hair, I am late to work already. If you help me to dry my hair, I might be a little faster than doing it myself" when Georgia expected him to ignore her, he took the towel from her and proceeded to help her dry her hair.

"Can you do me a favour?" Mark said behind her.

"A favour?"

"Yes. Can you do something for me?" He asked quietly, gently drying her hair.

"I will be willing to do anything for you" Georgia turned to him, holding his hand to stop him from drying her hair further.

"Quit your job" at first Georgia didn't understand what he was saying. She laughed.

"Is that supposed to be funny?" He asked coldly.

"Why not? You are asking me to quit my job, right?" Georgia held on to his hand, she could not help but admire his soft pink lips.

"Yes. I hate to see you work" his brows came together on his forehead.

"I cannot. Ask for another thing" Georgia released her grip on his hand and turned her back to him so that he could quickly get done with drying her hair.

"You're selfish, you know that, right?"

"Mark, you know how much I love my job, and you know my reasons for preferring being a therapist to any other profession. Don't act like you don't know it."

"I know, Erica, I just hate to see you work" Mark sighed and continued drying her hair.

"You don't have to worry about me, I will never get tired or sick. My work is my cure for any sickness. And I can live forgetting about my past thanks to my job." Georgia smiled, he seemed to be really concerned about her. The thought made her sigh in relief.

"Erica..." Mark turned her around so that she could face him.

"What?" She smiled.

"I hate to hear your voice, I am sick of it." What that was supposed to mean made no sense to Georgia, she raised her brows, confused.

"Stop this talk early in the morning, you don't have to tell me you hate me if you are not going to tell me you love me" Georgia walked over to where her bag was and picked it, she went outside, banging the door after her.

Georgia opened the car door and got inside, she was about to start the ignition when she thought about what she said, she wondered if she had made Mark angry.

Mark closed the door after him, the sun glasses he was wearing made him look like a rock star, that had made Georgia attracted to him the first time she saw him. He was different from every other man in her life. She was not surprised when she proposed to him herself and the next few days they were married.

The car roared to life and pulled out of the compound, he wasn't frowning so Georgia was sure he was not angry.

Her phone beeped, then rang before she could check the message.

"It has happened again" a female voice at the other end said, in between sobs.

"Hold on, I am coming right away. Get to my office ASAP" Georgia turned on the ignition and speed out of the compound.

Georgia got down from the car, managing to grab her bag before heading to her office. A lot of people greeted her while she was going but she couldn't return it, she had a lot of things going on in her mind. Forgetting about the patient that would likely be waiting for her in her office, her mind drifted back to the moments with Mark.

The first time she met him, Mark had sat alone, drinking from his cup, perhaps he was drinking soda, because after getting married, he would not drink anything other than that. She noticed he was lost in thought, she resisted the urge to walk over to him and ask him what he was thinking about. To Georgia, Mark was the only one who got her attracted to him at the first sight. His curl brown hair - it was dyed white when she first saw him- added to her attraction for him.

Not more than a few months of dating, Georgia felt they had known each other well enough to get married. She was not a fan of something long, she love things to be very fast. She got bored of the other men in her life because she spent a lot of time dating them, they outgrown each other.

Even now, she doesn't regret that they are married. She loves that he kept her secret, even if he was not going to tell her he loved her, she would wait.

"Good morning, Georgia." A voice interrupted her thought, she raised her head sharply in the voice's direction.

"Oh! You came a little early today, you don't have an appointment until noon." Georgia smiled at Ivory, one of her patients who had a hard marriage life, and would not get divorced.

"I know, I can wait around. I get bored at home when there is no one around." She waved her hand at Georgia and walked off.

Opening the door to her office, Georgia got inside. A figure sat in the chair, head on the table a gentle sob was coming from the person.

"Are you okay?" Georgia dropped her bag on a table and walked over to her.

"I am not..." she raised her head, eyes swollen, tears running down her pretty face. Her hair was rough, she had probably made no attempt to make it look good.

"I think we need to report this man for abuse, how can he do this to you?" Georgia walked over to her and held her face.

"I don't want to." She shook her head firmly. "I don't want to report him, he is all I've got" she broke down in tears again.

"I know Amy, but you cannot let him continue harming you like this, you're not weak, and you have to show him." Georgia fumbled with the drawer and pulled out a tissue paper, she wiped Amy's face with it.

"Can you believe what he said? He said..." Amy shook her head, more tears flowing down her face.

"It is okay, I will get you something. You care for chocolate?" Georgia winked at her. Amy would never reject chocolate even if she is sick.

"Yep." Amy gave a nod.

"That is not a good idea. Not good enough for me to agree with, I am sorry Mr. Goff George." The investor dropped the file containing what George had in mind to do, dawdled the name, making George more annoyed.

"I understand that you are scared because this is the first time I will be making such a big decision, but you have to trust me here." George placed his hands on the table, a slight frown on his face.

"I have no problem with you making new and big decisions, looking at things now, you made it this far by making scary decisions that sometimes get me scared..." Harv flipped through the pages of the file furiously.

"If that is it, then you should be willing to do this. I have a long day today already, don't stress me out." George glanced at his wrist watch, it was almost time for him to go to gym, but he would not leave his work for anything. He has to sort out things with this damn hardened investor sitting opposite him. He wondered why he had chosen him in the first place.

"Here look at this," Harv pushed the file to George, who in turn glanced through it, there was nothing really wrong about it.

"I don't find anything wrong with it, let's not play hide and seek here, I have a lot to do." George said impatiently.

"A lot? Like?" Harv asked tauntingly, while also turning on a projector.

"I am still yet to figure out who made you my business partner,"

"You're stuck with me forever. Let's just get to know each other." Harv laughed, George grunted before joining in the laughter.

"You see this company over here?" Harv pointed to a figure on the screen.

"I am seeing a scribbled drawing, no company of this sort exists." He took his hands off the table, turning fully to look at the screen, a smile playing on his face.

"I have a long way to go teaching you. I had better start now or I will get old explaining things you have no slight idea of to you." With a remote, Harv changed the display on the screen.

"Grey beard will look hot on you, I can't wait to see that." George laughed.

"This is just a description, you don't expect me to draw a real company just because I want to explain something to you. I am not an artist."

"This company..." seriousness back in his voice, Harv turned to look at George, his face was focused on the projector. "They had the same plan you are talking about. We can say they are thriving with it, maybe because they are the first to have something like that." George nodded to show he was concentrating.

"That was around five years ago. The next year after they established the innovation, two other companies joined in making the same thing. Can you imagine what would happen?" Harv changed the display on the screen.

"The supply has gone up, if they have the same number of consumers that were available the first time, it is possible the first company will get a loss in income." George said thoughtfully.

"Exactly! That was what happened. Three years later, five more companies were created with the same idea as their concept. Until now, I have no clue how many companies are doing this same thing. Probably more than fifty. Do you realize what will happen if we embark on this?" Harv dropped the remote he was using to control the projector and swirled the chair to face George.

"Yes, I am very well aware I am not the only one doing this, I did my research." George shrugged.

"That is it! You will not want us to do this if what I have shown you is true."

"What you show me is making me more excited to get started fast. You know how good something is by the number of competitors." George relaxed in his chair, already imagining a big company. That meant more to his net worth.

The coffee that had been on the table since they started the conversation was already getting cold, but it was better than nothing, especially if Harv was going to make George see how wrong he was. Harv took a sip from it and gently placed it back on the coffee tray.

"Do you even think?" Harv folded his hands in his chest.

"Going out of bounds, man." George shot him an angry look.

"I have to ask, Mr George, I have to ask. Because sometimes I find it difficult to believe the way you reason. I am sorry if that hurts, but we are talking about my money and yours here. Get something to drink if that will clear you eyes a little." Harv pushed the second coffee cup to George.

"I don't need that. I only need you to tell me what is wrong with what I told you. It all has to do with being unique. We have a lot of competitors already, I am aware, tell me a thousand risks here and I will tell you one benefit of doing this." George clenched his fist.

"We have a lot of competitors already! That's the risk! We don't have a lot of consumers! That is another big risk. There is no way we can get more consumers than their are already!" Harv tapped the table as he said each word.

"Very soon you will brag about the many companies you partner with, with this your stupid mindset?" George held up his clenched fist.

"You call me stupid?" Harv growled.

"No, I only called your mindset stupid. You are not stupid, you have a good deceiving feature, anything else about you is nothing to write home about. Don't be deceived by anyone." George blared, banging his clenched fist on the table, some quantity of coffee spilled on the tray.

"George?" Eyes widened, Harv shifted his chair backward.

"I am trying to be reasonable here, I forgot you are nothing close to that. There are not enough consumers, what does common sense tell you about that? - that is if you have sense though." George gave a sarcastic laugh.

"We only have to create more awareness, make people want what we produce. We give discounts, earn the trust of even other people who have been customers to our competitors. What do you think?" George stood up, walking over to Harv.

"I think you are unrealistic, there is no way this is going to work. Instead of wasting our time trying to make something old new, trying all your strategies- that I even do not think I can relate with- we can make something new instead." Harv folded his arms.

"Instead of starting from scratch, we can build on this, make a brand out of this. There is always a missing link somewhere, we can find it, add it and take advantage of it and make another name." Harv advised.

George got to Harv and sat on the table directly facing Harv.

"We are going to waste a lot of money by doing this. I don't see a future with this." Harv argued.

"Why is it that all you see is money? We are going to help people here with this. Focus on what you're giving first!" George tapped Harv.

"Money matters, you know..." George waved Harv to a stop.

"We are going to make a ticket to go to a beach for two hours, anyone who gets the product from our company will get access to the ticket." George could not believe he was just saying that! He should have thought about it some moment ago! It would have saved him from this long argument.

"That's a gimmickry idea!" Harv's jaw dropped and he shot his brow at George. Did he know anything about sales at all?

"That is all you have to say, Harv? Is that all you will say?" George pursed his fist and clenched his fist into tight balls. As much as he tried, he could not contain himself, within seconds he erupted into a volcano.

"Yes, that's all. Maybe when your reasoning gets back to normal, we can discuss things better. You are right, I shouldn't have engaged you this far when you are stressed already. I will get going now." Harv stood up.

With swift movement, George held Harv's collar, pulling him closely.

"What do you just say? That I am abnormal? Is that what you mean?" George glared at Harv, fire in his eyes.

"Mr George..." Harv couldn't finish what was in his throat when George slapped him hard on the face.

"Don't ever tell me I am abnormal. If I were abnormal, I would not be here, I would probably be in a physiatrist hospital by now." George slapped Harv again.

"I am going to show you what abnormalities really mean. You will tell the difference when I am done with you." George pinned him to the wall and blindly ran blows on his face. Harv held out his hand to save his face from being battered.

The door opened and closed gently, Harv turned in the door's direction.