Love and Death

A piece of a KitKat bar lay on the edge of the bed; the wrapper finding its way to the wooden floor. The telephone hung down from the hook, dangling off the nightstand. Tissues and emptied ice cream buckets lay all over the bed. A pigsty of a room in shambles with the owner splayed out in the master bathtub with a gown on from the Victorian Antique shop. Drunk.

An abrupt -and definitely rude- knock finds itself rapping on her loft door. She sleeps through it.

It comes again and it wakes her this time. She rubs her eyes and yawns, lazily pulling herself out of the tub just to settle ungracefully on the marble, finding a bottle from last night with a mouthful of the bitter rum inside... She excitedly scrambles for it as she calls it, "Good Soup!"

Finally stepping out of the rooms of sin and cleansing, she finds herself face to face with the people deterrent. Not deterring enough, she thinks and opens the large red and black door. Her most annoying subordinate smiled brightly in her face, knowing they just irritated the piss out of her body. Literally. But the gown hides the growing puddle shooting down her legs until it's strolling its way towards the door.

"Are you...peeing-"

She blinked. "Think you could do better?"

An uncertain and slightly disgusted groan finds its way to her ears. She rolls her eyes and moves off the puddle, shaking her feet in the process and going back into the bathroom.

"What's your business with me today, Jared?"

He proceeds into the loft, avoiding the piss puddle with disdain. He looks at the bedroom threshold, figuring it was best to stand there instead of going any further. He begins to speak but is immediately cut off by the Bluetooth loudspeakers blasting Bobby Womack and the shower turning on.

"I can't hear you!" She loved giving Jared the run around when he came unannounced...

"I'm serving you!"

Everything went silent. Except for the shower and her stream of piss...

"Serving me what now?"

She scrubbed herself clean with the power of Jesus and the speed of a woman and hopped out of the shower deliberately, kicking the rum bottle to the side and entering her bedroom. "What is it?"

"Your father is requesting an audience and he needs you to look over these documents. It's 11'o'clock right now. He is expecting you in an hour and thirty... I think he's fixin' to hand you the Galabiya Reign."

Her eyes grew wide and she snapped her head in Jared's direction too quick for his liking. He chuckled nervously as she -very nakedly- waltzed over to him and snatched the documents from his hands.

"He totally is handing me the Galabiya..." She sat down carelessly on the bed and laid back, one leg up and the other dangling off her Egyptian and California. "Today is going to be amazing, Jared. Are you ready for it?"

"As long as your father doesn't stare me down with that look like he smells your flatulence, I'm ready for anything."

She laughed hysterically and slams the documents down next to her. She gets up and breathes deeply, clasping her hands tight in front of her chest, a motion she does every time she is excited. "Then let's get it started."

"Get dressed first. You've given me an entirely free show, sweetie."

She smirked and looked at him with lustful eyes. "Ah, yes... you liked it, didn't you?"

He couldn't deny she was beautiful and had an amazing pair of lips, but how could he tell his boss that?

"I-I... well, you- it.."

He stammered and raised his brows, inhaling sharply and looking down at his shoes, uncertain of how to proceed due to the unexpected question.

"It's okay. You can tell me." She gained on him and he started to hyperventilate in his mind, keeping relatively cool... at first. He put his hands down in front of him and interlocked his fingers. "No."

He turned quickly and walked to the front door. "I'll be in the car."

"Hah! Pussy," she called after him, and the door slammed as a response. She loved pressing his buttons.

~

"This has been a long time coming and a long time ago I was coming... in your mother. And now I have a gift for you for being my only child who has stood by me for all these years; trials and tribulations solved by the one and only, even my personal mistakes, you have cleaned up before and after me. I'm ready to retire now. I trust you with this business, so I expect better than I ever could've done. And I do great a lot. So, sign this and this... and probably definitely this one. Give it to Jared when you're done and the hobby horse is yours for riding."

She was blazing inside. Nothing but victory and success in her path and love for money and family business in her heart. Her soul screeched with great jubilee at having bagged the Galabiya Reign VIP club. It was a cosmic success and she would celebrate generational wealth beyond the grave. Her plan for this company became her vision, and her vision became her reality as she signed that paper with her blood, sweat, and tears.

"I will always make you proud. And I will always do better than you, dad. Thank you."

A warm embrace was shared between two entrepreneurs, but the real work weighed heavier on one than the other. She was excited to be the new CEO, but was she truly excited to be the driver of this particular boat?

"I know becoming a full-fledged CEO can be hard, so I've hired a new assistant tailored just for you. Jared will always be your ride or die. But why have just one when you could have an empire of subordinates, am I right? Anyhow, meet Duane Eric Bruneau. In other words, your second prisoner with a salary."

Mr. Chausiku, her father, shared a booming laugh with the arriving man. He walked over to her father and gave him a hug, surprising her quite a bit due to the fact that her father only ever shared approving glances and brisk handshakes. He thought no one was deserving of his kindness except those who have a hunger, a drive for success, and power.

This man had an insatiable hunger for it.

She could tell by the threads he stood tall and confident in and the way he walked into the room like he was sorely missed there. She didn't like his confidence, it was too arrogant. But he was a beautiful chocolate man and she couldn't deny that. His smile could melt a billion hearts.

She was excited to have a fortunate assistant, but she could tell he would be trouble. She was a great judge of character, but on occasions, she would let that slip from her grasp and be the victim of someone's trysts. She vowed to herself, her mother, and future children to never be the victim again, maybe a survivor, but even that is a bit far-fetched. She'd have his crumpled soul on a platter before ever letting someone get past her guard again.

"So, I have my last few meetings of the day in about ten minutes. You should get started on some work, we have a lot to do. Give those papers to Jared ASAP and get started. You need to get to know each other more as well to ensure this association won't be for naught. Steep!"

She smiled at his inside joke, in the end, recalling the things her mother would say in regard to big issues or new opportunities. If she or her father were in a situation or a jam, she would always tell them to steep, meaning to stay calm and take it slow, letting the lesson sink in. Other times, it was just to be in the moment with something new so it doesn't go completely to one's head, meditate on it.

She hummed thoughtfully at the mental image of her mother's laugh, rocking back and forth with her in a hammock in the burning summer heat. Life was amazing then, no cares, no responsibilities except learning the ways of the toilet and telling her parents when she peed on herself until she was seven.

"You miss her, don't you?"

"My mother told me this: 'Life is like a cup of tea; warm and inviting. But, depending on who made the tea, it can be bitter and unsettling. Prepare your own tea if you want it to taste how you like.' And for some reason, between that and steeping, it is the most memorable thing she had ever said to me. I'm starting to think that message will come into play soon. I do miss her. I want her back but I know she is at peace, so I won't mess with it."

"You were closer to her than your father, weren't you?"

She looked up and realized her father had already left the room during her reminiscence of Bernice Chausiku. She looked at Duane, nodded slightly, and turned away from him, heading to the door.

"Yeah... So, I need to account for some things, get a hold on our hardest partner right now, and finish some sales inventory. I also need the blueprints for the BST Project; our partners at Dispel Sharings want to move forward now, so we should get started on that. They are hosting the meeting today at 4. Sharp."

She smiled quickly, not letting him get a word in and she moved past him quickly. He noticed her smile never reached her eyes. He shook his head and turned around briskly, following after her and getting started immediately on the tasks at hand. She is definitely going to be difficult to crack, he thought. He would break her down in due time and claim the business for himself... somehow. He just needed to wait and listen, probably pull some strings, and get her to trust him.

"Zenobia Chausiku..." The man spoke aloud to himself, finding joy in repeating her name, watching her from his place in the dark security room. "I'll have you soon."