Revenge Or Lust

"What do you want?" Christina crooned into the mouthpiece.

"You know!" The male voice on the end answered

"I have no idea" Christina giggled...like a girl.

"You just want me to spell it all out. I see" the reply came, "well I wish you were here with me"

"And if I was?" Christina asked flirtingly

"I'll kiss you you so hard that you'll lose your senses. Our bodies will be so close that even air won't get through. And I'll slide my hands down your waist to the small of your back..."

The deep muskiness of his voice made Christina shudder.

"Mr Feyton, you're being a very bad boy" Christina slurred

"Just for you, soon-to-be Mrs Feyton"

Mrs Feyton, it surely had a good ring. Hearing this sent flutters to her brain, butterflies to her loins.

"Keep talking like that and I'll have to keep you up all night"

"If that's my punishment, then I'll be yammering all day".

She giggled again.

"What'll you do to me" she asked, eyes wide and lips moist.

"Ma'am your one o'clock is here for you" kendall interrupted.

"Okay. Let him in five". Christina almost cursed but replied.

She waited till kendall left the office then went back to her call.

"Honey, I'm so sorry. I got a meeting right now. I'll call you as soon as I'm done...so sorry" Christina pleaded.

"Don't sweat it. I understand completely. Go do your thing. I love you and happy birthday"

"And I love you too, baby. Later"

At the sound of the dropped call click Christina tried to put herself together into business mode. She looked around her table and put everything in place.

Clearing her throat, she rang kendall to let the client in.

She was trying real hard to keep Charles off her mind. Thoughts of him was making her soggy between the legs and that was very distracting. The swinging doors and the incoming man was all the switch she needed.

"Mr. Blackwood, it's a real pleasure to finally meet you" Christina stood to shake hands.

"The pleasure is all mine. And call me Oscar" He replied, accepting the handshake

"You're most welcome Oscar. Please have a seat" Christina said and pointed to the soft sea blue cushion.

Their hands lingered in each other and their eyes held each other's gaze

"Beautiful eyes you got there. So expressive" Oscar observed

"Very constructive compliment Mr. Blackwood. Oops, Oscar. Yours aren't so bad. Very captivating" Christina replied, not to be outdone and joined him on the cushions, "Now that we have our beautiful eyes out of the way, I know that we are going to have a very successful business relationship. Here at Make-it-shine we try to make your events glow and shine.

"Well, hopefully. So I'm thinking of organising a Blackwood year end party, no innuendos." Oscar Blackwood went straight to action.

"Well none picked...Oscar" Christina replied with a smirk on her face." So a relaxed setting. Got any place in mind?" Christina scribbled into her writing pad.

"Well...the Blackwood rooftop"

"Okay, would that be a relaxed evening setting or an actual party"

"How imaginative can you get?"

"Quite I would say. I could give a party that would give the blogs fodder for weeks"

"I could hold you to that one day. But No. We'll be needing a mixture of the relaxed and raucous all at once" Oscar explained. "get the bloggers talking but keeping the investors honourable"

"I catch your drift. Intense and yet not wild. A little Romance with a twinge of truancy"

"Perfect." Oscar clapped.

She'd hit the nail on the head. Hopefully the execution will be so on point also. She exuded the aura of one that could do just that. Her office effused such meticulous flair.

Spacious, approximately 200 sq. ft. A Corner office with floor-to-ceiling windows offering stunning city views.

The cushions were comfortable and modern.

Creamy white and pale gray paints mixed to give the ambience with warm cedar on the bottom part of the walls. A Plush area rug set before the fireplace in a subtle floral pattern.

A simple and yet elegant desk, standing before the windows, with a beautiful wooden finish. Matching bookshelves filled with business and self-help books. Inspirational quotes and artwork adorned the walls. A Framed photo of she and Charles sat on the Elegant desk. A vase with fresh sunflowers also sat on the desk.

Her Macbook was opened on her desk. Everything tidy and arranged. Soft, soothing music wafted through hidden sound system that Charles had had installed. And the smell of lavender made to calm ones nerves.

"So I'm thinking a Masquerade party. Color coded, low lights and romantic music. The food will be catered and alcohol will be served. I'm also thinking a venetian theme mixed with the masks, bringing the excitement of dancing with an unknown person. Three course meals and champagne. A chandelier on the dance floor with a live jazz band." Christina explained, lost in her imagination.

"Woah slow down, you're just coming up with all this just like that?"

"Well, it's my job. Of course, there are details to be straightened out"

"You've got hell of an imagination. I like that" Oscar said and then added, "you know what? Wow me. I'm giving you full rein"

"Full rein?"

"Full rein. Pass an estimate through my office and expect approval"

"Okay, you won't be disappointed " Christina beamed.

"So that will be all...I'll be taking my leave" Oscar stood to leave.

His bouncy hair waved in the whiff of the air conditioners breeze. His black pupils dilated, piercing holes in its gaze. There was a slight grin clinging to the corners of his lips, as though he knew his power. His black shirt clung to lean frame. His black Ararè suit sat effortlessly on him cuffed off by a gold watch. The only non-black item on him.

Christina stood up to walk him to the door.

"We really appreciate your patronage Mr Blackwood, sorry Oscar. As for your event, we'll be sure to make-it-shine"

"I'll be counting on that" Oscar replied as he stepped out of the office.

Interesting man, Christina thought.

"Kendall! Please I need you in my office" Christina softly told Kendall.

"Okay Ma'am" Kendall replied.

Christina sat at her desk and closed her eyes. She was trying to imagine how it would all play out. Every contrivance, every nook and cranny and how best to go about it. Kendall knocked and came in.

"Kendall, we just bagged one of the most luxurious jobs ever. We are gonna organise a party for the Blackwood firm"

"Wow! Was that really Mr Blackwood? When he signed in he just mentioned Oscar. By God he is handsome" Kendall said and bit her lips.

"Well you'd better rein it in. You are too young for him."

"I'm 20. Hence 100% legal and certified. And this titties are a man grabber." Kendall said and shook her rack.

"Damn girl. Focus!" Christina chided.

"You sound so ghetto. Sound like Karen"

"Ya I do right? Well she's my best friend."

Karen was Christina's best friend. They'd shared many great times. Karen's family had moved into Christina's neighbourhood when the both girls were 13. Their friendship had taken the both of them through college and till date as adults. Karen was now into real estate and Christina had gone into events management. Good times they'd had.

Karen was meant to come over that day for her birthday. 20th August was making her 27. Karen always came around on her birthdays and she always went over on Karen's.

"I so love her braids. You know, like how the black cornrows blend again her bronze skin, so sweet" There was so much excitement in her voice

"You could get yours braided too."

"It wouldn't suit me. Except I dye it first" Kendall looked at the fringes of her blonde hair.

"Hell no. You know that Charlie used to have a thing for blondes"

"And he's ending up spending the rest of his life with a brunette. Funny enough that's the best choice he could ever make. Hell, if I were a boy, I'll so wanna get it with a girl like you"

"Awwwwn" Christina crooned,"thanks a lot" she stood to give kendall a hug

The two women held each other for a while, soaking in the feminine bonding.

"We've got a lot of work to do" Christina said when they broke the embrace

"Okay then, Let's get started" Kendall clicked her pen and held her pad.

How far had she come? Was it luck? Maybe a little. But hard work had done a lot too. She'd rolled up her sleeves and made things happen.

And she knew that if her parents could see her now, they'd be proud of the woman she'd become.

Christina turned the key in her car and watched it come to life. It had been a gift from Charles and she'd loved every rev and glide in the s-class ever since.

She pulled up into Oakley and the German beast glided onto the tar on the road. But even as Christina drove home, her mind dwelled on her life's story. The tribulations she'd overcome from such a young age. The pains and the struggles, the concessions and obligations, the sweat and the blood.

She was 11 years when she was carted off to her grandma. Her mom and dad, honest people, had both died in a ghastly motor accident.

On the same day, in the same minute.

She waited for her mom to come pick her up from school but even way past the pick up time, nobody came. Rather, there was a cop car pulling up into the driveway. Her teachers glanced her way as they spoke to the cops.The solemnity on the face of her teachers when they came towards her was glaring.

Even in her young age, she knew that something was terribly wrong.

"Hey Christina, I'll be the one taking you home. Grandma will come and pick you up okay?" Mrs Thompson tried to sound as upbeat as she could.

"What about my mommy?" Little Christina asked.

"Ummm, she had a little delay. This nice cop will take us. Come with me"

As they moved towards the patrol car towards the patrol car, Christina knew deep down in her guts that her world had just been completely overturned.

The officer was nice. He bought her ice cream and waffles. Took her on a joy ride with Mrs Thompson. They had so much fun. She later realised that the were waiting for her grandma to come all the way from John Creek to Bainbridge. Later too she found out that the nice cop was Mr Thompson.

When her Grandmom arrived at the police station, Mr Thompson was radioed, and little Christina was driven to the station.

"Hey Baby!" Her teary eyed Grandma hugged her with such ferocity.

"Where's my mommy"

"Christina, I'm so sorry" Grandma said and broke down, "whatever did I do to make all this happen to me? Oh Lord, what did I do" her words came in jerk and breaks.

It wasn't even two years back when she lost her husband, Christina's grandpa, to cancer after a long fight. And now her daughter and her son in law. Worse, this happened on their anniversary. The grief was like a itchy, raw and open wound. Gnawing and chewing it la way into her soul.

The tears were falling from little Christina's eyes as she screamed.

"No no no. Where is my mom? I need my mommy" she was going hysterical.

"I'm sorry baby. But your mom and dad were involved in a ghastly accident and they both...they both lost their lives at the spot" Mr Thompson bent down and explained.

"That's a lie. That's a lie." Christina kept on screaming as her Grandma tried to hold her down.

She threw the ice cream to the floor, and struggled in grandma's arms. Her eyes were red, her voice hoarse and her chest burned. She couldn't think and the air seemed so thin. The faces of her parents flashed before her eyes and they stung even more.

Her mom's beautiful face and brown hair swayed before her steamy eyes. Her father's handsome face and strong frame waved in her mind. She'd seen them this morning and now she was being told that they were gone, forever.

The idea wasn't one she could stomach. The earth reeled and her limbs felt weak. She felt the vacuum and saw herself falling down the eternal darkness. She heard the voices, low and panicky but saw no faces.

She could make out the beeping sound but had no idea where it was coming from. The pain in her head was overwhelming, she groaned.

"Baby, you're awake" Christina heard Grandma say.

Turning to her Grandma, it all started slowly coming back.

Hospital, an IV line running into her. The beeping of the electodiagram was the sound she'd heard when she came to. Then her Grandma's red and soggy eyes reminded her of it all.

The headaches tripled and the tears threatened. But she was too weak to even shed more tears. She simply closed her eyes and went back to sleep.

Later when she woke up again, the room was empty. And in the comfort that a hospital bed could offer, she wept.

Her tears fell and fell. Grief enough to make the stomach hurt.

She and her mom had made plans to go to the park that weekend. Her dad had talked about a summer vacation. She had so much she wanted to say. But there was noone to make these plans with anymore. Noone to ask her about her day anymore.

She could remember all the pain. Changing school to go live with Gradma, switching schools, new friends, Karen.

Christina turned the corner and her house was in view. Instantly, she felt as though something was off. But then her memories had jolted her, so she assumed that the eerie feeling she was getting was from all those memories. She turned into her garage and parked her car.

She could swear she'd heard a little rustle inside the house. Some tension spread through her shoulders and ice spread through her veins. Her mind was just running wild, she told herself.

Charles was meant to come pick her up for her birthday party. Just a little thing. She, Charles and Karen.

She inserted her key and turned the knob and her heart skipped.

The lights came on so suddenly and the screams were so deafening. Christina's eyes shone and her ears rang.

"So what's the expected return rate, Mr Feng?" Charles asked.

"45% during the first fiscal year, 49% during the second year and a steady 7% increment for the years to come" Mr Feng replied.

The conference room had just 5 people in it. Mr Charles the CEO of Feyton Industries, Mr Feng who was the head of accounting and sales. There was also Miss Cherry Kingston, head of research and the mind behind the Chicken wing project. Mr James Collin, an external contractor, was also present. Stacy, Charles' personal secretary was also present.

The chicken wing was a revolutionary project on drones. Faster, sharper, smarter drones. Feyton Industries was looking to take over the market by the scruff of its neck. Hence the hush hush on the project. The fewer the people, the fewer the probability of a leak. Yet there had been news of just that. Rumours of the opposition working on this same project.

"If you see in these charts" Feng used his pointer to indicate a point on the chart, "you'll see the expected impediments in swarming the market"

"Is it something that we can overcome?" Cherry asked

"Well that is up to you. The quicker we are able to enter the market, the easier we can hold the market before the opposition wakes up" His Chinese accent still tainted his otherwise clean English.

"How far away are we?" Charles asked turning his eyes to Cherry

"All things being equal, 3 months" Cherry replied

All eyes turned back to Feng.

"That could work"

"Make it 2 months" Charles said.

Cherry was about to object but instead swallowed her words and nodded.

"So Mr Collin, you have seen it all. We are expecting killer adverts and reviews. We need the world to talk about the chicken wings. We want that woman strolling into KYC talking about the Feyton Chicken Wings. We want children in the cafeteria talking about Chicken Wings. Can you make that happen?"

"Of course. I don't think we need to go into my portfolio. We've made it happen with the micro cams and the market swarmed around that. We'll do it again. Scratch that, we'll do you one better" Collin replied, smug confidence smeared his face and words.

A smile crept across Charles' face. Those half-smiles that creased the edges of the mouth. More of a smirk than a smile. He tasted the pride in Collin, but also knew that he could back it up to the letter. Collin was a man that got the work done. If he needed to get the word out, he go the word out. Advertising concerts, billboards, television, radio, word on the streets, whatever means necessary.

So when Collin said he'd do one better than the last, his word had weight.

"Well, we'll see" Charles passively replied.

"We will" Collin quietly replied.

They both knew the game they were playing. Charles seemingly unimpressed in Collin's portfolio while being fully aware of his prowess. Collin acted unscathed by Charles' passive gaze. They had been playing this game for years. And the results were satisfactory for both bodies.

"Well seems like we are all on track. Good job everyone. Very good job" Charles commended. "We at Feyton Industries want to change the world and we are pushing in the right direction. My Father built this company from the scratch, a book publishing firm. Through grit and hardwork, sleepless nights, sweat, pains we built this to be one of the leading technology stronghold. I want it to stay that way. Leading and not trailing. Each lady and gentleman in this room has had a role in this movement and your efforts are highly appreciated. Our bank accounts don't feel so bad too."

There was snickers all over the room. The Feyton family was known for paying well.

"The point at the end of the day is, keep what we began rolling. One day, we will dwarf all our competitions. So if that is all, we can all get back to work."

The smiling faces slowly packed up their things and slowly left the conference room save for Mr Feng.

"You know, your father will be a very proud man. What a fine leader you have become."

"Well I had an excellent teacher"

"You know, your father never lost faith in you. Even when you had your rebellious streaks. Sometimes he just wanted to strap you to the table and whip you silly."

"Geez, I can only imagine. I was in college, if I wasn't rebellious then, when would I be?" Charles replied jocosely.

"Well an apple wouldn't fall too far from the tree. Back in the days, your dad and I did some pretty crazy things. Damn, we smoked so many blunts a day that just coming close could get you high", Feng snickered, "but at last we grew up, became men. The day your daddy said he wanted to start a business, I doubted. I'm not going to lie, I doubted. Yet he pushed, and when I later became part if it all..."

Emotions pushed into his voice. Charles understood. Mr Feng and his Father had been friends for over 40 years. Longer than he'd even lived.

"You'll be alright. It's obvious, you have your father's determination." Mr Feng packed up his file and made to go.

"Hey" Charles called out, "thanks dad"

Feng smiled. He loved Charles like his own son.

Charles walked over to the window and looked out. His father had created a company but he had produced an industry. And he was fucking proud of all he had done.

He had money. Loads if it. He had a fully functional business. And finally, he'd found a woman that meant the world to him. Could his life be any better. Yeah, she loved him back just as much.

He brought out his phone just to see her picture. She had the most beautiful brown eyes he'd ever seen. And even though he'd normally had a thing for blondes, he'd fallen head over heels for this brunette. She'd made him feel, made him love, made him willing to give off all his wealth just to spend a moment with her.

Charles felt like he had all a 30 year old man would've ever wanted. Money, success and a woman that craved him as much as he craved her.

But even through all his splendour, there was that crack that nibbled at his mind. He picked up the phone, a crease rumpled his beautiful brows, and he called Stacy.

"Yes! sure." Stacy replied on the phone.

Charles looked across the office space, through the glass walls, and saw Stacy catwalking towards the conference room. Right Where he was.

'Stacy, you're really beautiful.' Charles once said during one company party. He said it and stroked her dirty blonde hair.

And after a few drinks, some flirty gestures and a little stroll in the garden, they'd kissed. Not just a peck on the lips. No, but lips locked like a pit bull's grip.

He'd apologised and they promised to forget all that and put it behind them. And they had. It was just a week after that incident the Charles met Christina. And since then he had put everything, absolutely everything about other women behind him.

"Sir? You called"

"Yes Stacy. Please have a seat"

Stacy sat down and watched Charles take in the the view before him. He was a fine man. 6ft 3', broad shoulders that slayed the navy blue suit he wore. Wavy black and long hair that almost touched his shoulders. His green eyes left a woman thinking about them long after he was gone. The very thing that happened to her since the day they kissed.

"Stacy, since you came here, you have been very helpful to the growth of this company. For that I am very grateful."

"Well thank you sir. I really appreciate the commendation." Stacy beamed.

"You keep me organised. Without you, I'll be a big mess. Thank you Stacy."

Stacy misted and held her heart.

"There's this teeny thing that I want you to also do. Show how committed you are to the companies growth." Charles said and sat at the edge of the table right in front of her.

"You have a friend at Blackwood right?" Charles asked and when Stacy nodded, he continued "I want you to use that your friend to get me more information about what's going on there"

"But sir, that would be manipulative. Using my friendship in that way will be, just wrong."

"It's for a greater good. You were the one that told me about them having information on the chicken wing. It's simply business. We're simply using our resources to get what we want. I just want to know where my leaks are coming from so I can plug it"

"Well, if you put it that way. I'll see what I can do"

"Excellent. Thank you for your loyalty, it'll never go unnoticed"

"I do hope so. Can I go? I have tons of files to log into the computer"

"Sure, thanks again"

Stacy started leaving the remembered something and wheeled around

"Your lady called. Said that you should call her back"

"Okay. Thanks for the heads up"

Charles rooted his phone and called Christina.

"Hey Baby. Been thinking of you all day" the female voice said as soon as the line connected.

"Oh yeah? Same thing has been happening to me too"

"And yet you didn't call me" Charles could hear the pout in her voice

"Sorry baby. I was held up in a meeting. Mr Feng put us in a long ass meeting. You know how it is with him"

"Ya. And you love him like that"

"I really do, don't I?" Charles did love him, "know someone else I love?"

"Your secretary?" Christina replied sarcastically

"She ain't bad, you know" mischief in his voice

"You'd better take your eyes off her ass"

"I've never even looked at them. My eyes are stuck on yours"

"Like you could" Christina replied and giggled.

"You're the only one I want and that's all that matters. I'm going crazy just thinking of you"

"Oh really?"

"Every single inch of you"

"What do you want" Charles heard Christina croon into his earpiece.