One Night With Mr Braxton

” How do you explain this?!” Talia threw a newspaper at Colton’s face. ” While I thought you were hurting and tried my best to be patient, you were screwing her?!”

” I can explain. It’s not what you think-” Colton squeaked,

” What is it, Colton? Please wake me from this nightmare and explain what I’m supposed to think about my fiance impregnating his fucking assistant!” She yelled, ” Do you know what people are saying? You’ve turned me into a laughing stock and you are here, sitting in this damned office like nothing happened?!”

” I tried to stop it, okay?! I tried to curtail the news and get it sorted but those damned Braxtons caused it!” Colton stood on his feet, unable to help himself, ” Emma did this, they did this to us. She’s so jealous and upset-”

” Stop with the lies already, Colton!” She bellowed, feeling sick to the stomach, ” She didn’t direct you to fuck your stupid assistant. You did that shit all on your own and you still can’t see past your egoistic complex!”

” If I’m such a fuck up, why the hell are you still here? Why are you still putting up with my fuck up?!” He mocked, ” If I have a complex, you must have greater issues because your dumb self can’t seem to take a bloody hint!”

” Really? After everything, this is what you say? You know what? I’m done.” Talia’s eyes boiled in fury, ” I’m done being a fool and turning a blind eye to your nonsense attitude! I’m not sharing in this shame, I promise you.”

Colton’s laughter both irked and surprised her, ” What? Is that all? Emma was always the better choice. This marriage was an accident waiting to happen anyway. Good riddance!”

” If she was the better choice, why were you still frolicking with me even while she was in the picture?” She spat, ” Admit it already, you’re nothing but a man-whore who can’t help but sleeze your way through everything in a skirt.”

” Newsflash, I didn’t sleep with her. You on the other hand, were so available I-”

Talia cut short his sentence with a resounding slap.

” I hate you.” She spewed and immediately headed for the door.

” Close the door on your way out!” He called behind her, soothing the sting of pain on his face.

Talia stomped out of the office with a horrendous look on her face. She couldn’t help but notice the pitiful glances that were thrown her way, ” Nothing to see here, so do your jobs!” She lashed, and the murmurings ceased. She left Colton’s building with a scowl, headed to her car.

” Scram.”

The driver handed over the keys of the car, seeing she wasn’t in the best mood. Talia drove like a mad woman, ignoring the traffic rules as she sped through to her home with an intense pain on her chest.

******

” It’s true, he didn’t even deny it. There’s no way I’m marrying him.” Talia reported to her mother,

Mrs. Steele flipped through her file, ” Good.”

” W-what?” Talia took a double take, ” I said-”

” I heard you the first time.” She looked up, ” Colton is hardly the best fit for you anymore. I thought of settling things my way but it’s a relief he messed up. Now, we can move on without hindrances.”

” What are you saying? I just broke off my engagement with him and you are already thinking of the next fit for me?” Talia couldn’t hide the hurt even if she tried,

” Colton was a mistake. A good riddance. Why must we dwell on his stupidity?”

” Because he was the man I chose to marry. We were set to get married, mother!”

” How is that going for you?” Talia flinched at her tone, ” Listen, I understand it’s a terrible situation, and probably not the perfect time, but you need to get over whatever you’re feeling, and move on to the next thing.”

Talia let out a brief laugh, wondering what she expected coming here, ” The next man you mean?”

” Same thing.” Mrs. Steele let out a huff, ” Don’t make this harder than it is.” She watched her take a seat before she continued, ” I got wind of some news about that wench and I need you to be present while I navigate the waters of the said news.”

Talia nodded absentmindedly.

” Good. In the meantime,” She looked her over, ” Do everything possible to rid yourself of the gloominess. The man cheated, not a surprise, get over it.” Mrs. Steele returned her gaze to the file on hand, ” It’s about time we met the in-laws anyways.”

*****

Emma rounded up her job for the day, put on her shades and made her way out. She received an anonymous letter addressed to her studio, and placed it in her bag, deciding to read its content later on. Two steps away from the mailbox and she bumped into someone.

” Hey!” A familiar baritone voice said, ” Once’s a bummer, twice might just be fate.”

” Kaden.” She stated, remembering the charming man from before. ” It seems like you are everywhere. Stalking me?”

” Of course not,” He smiled, ” Maybe it’s the universe’s way of saying we need to get along.”

” We get along fine, Kaden.” She pointed out, ” It’s probably the universe’s way of demanding I pay more attention.”

” Right.” He looked her over and his eyebrow piqued, ” Where are you off to?”

” Why?”

” I’m trying to figure out if you could handle a quick dinner.”

Emma tutted, ” Are you asking me out, Mr. Kaden?”

” Nothing’s wrong with getting to know my neighbor,” He caught the less than subtle show of her ring, ” on a friendly note of course.” He added and Emma didn’t know what to make of him.

” One dinner.” She finally agreed.

” Awesome. My car or yours?”

Kaden directed her towards his car, while Benny trailed them with hers. They got off at the nearest diner available and took a table closest to the window.

The waiter took their orders and soon they were munching their way through their conversation,

” Tell me, what’s your husband like? What’s marriage like for you?” Kaden asked, eyeing her wedding band.

Emma cleared her throat and brought down her hand from sight, ” Why? Are you trying to pop the question? Cold-feet?”

” Of course not!” He laughed, ” I don’t see myself getting married. At least not at the moment.” He opined, ” You on the other hand are obviously at it, I’m just curious to know what it’s like.”

She took a sip of her drink, ” It’s beautiful. My husband makes me very happy. I only hope I’m doing it for him as well.”

” That’s… wonderful.” He said thoughtfully, ” Tell me, who is your husband? Every time I bump into you, you seem to be alone. Why is that?”

” We’ve only met twice.” She stressed, ” Not a lot of times to be making assumptions, is it?”

” Right.” He said with another one of his charming smiles, ” Forgive my shortsightedness. I just couldn’t wrap my head around why a man would let you out of his sight.” His tone was sultry, ” You look breathtaking, utterly gorgeous.”

” Kaden.” She warned, already regretting her decision to be dined, ” I already told you, I’m off the market.” this time, she flashed her ring, further stressing her point.

” I know..” He reached for her arm, ” You are just so-”

” Enough. This was my mistake. Have a good night.” She upped and left him without a glance back.

Emma made way to her car while muttering words under her breath. At this point, it became clear just how terrible her judgment was. She thought Kaden was mature enough to exhibit decency and respect but that must have been a lot to ask.

She entered the car with a scowl, and her phone started ringing- Chara.

” Hey, Chara.” Emma couldn’t muster a cheery tone as usual,

” Are you alright? Oh my goodness! You’ve seen it, right? I’m so sorry!” Chara’s concern detected in her tone,Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

” What?” Emma replied, confused at her words.

” You haven’t.” She stated, aware of its implication, ” Where are you?”

” On my way home. What are you talking about?” She demanded while the car sped through the city.

” I don’t know, maybe you should get home first?”

” Spit it out already. Trust me, at this point, nothing surprises me.” Her tone was firm, ” Chara?” Emma called and she eventually broke,

” Please don’t get angry, but an indecent picture of yours is going round the internet. We are doing everything to manage the situation and get it off but the scandal seems to be getting bigger, and I just thought to check on you for moral support.” She said in one breath, ” Now I feel terrible to be the one who broke it to you.”

Emma couldn’t speak, ” I’ll talk to you later.”

” Wait-” She ended the call and immediately turned to the internet. Her eyes went the size of saucers when she realized there was in fact a scandal about her. A nude picture got leaked on the internet, open for all to judge.

With a stoic face, she ordered, ” Head straight to the Steele’s!”