Her parents looked at her with interest.
“Oh, my dear.” Her father said. “That is wonderful. I can tell it’s pretty serious.”
She nodded in confirmation.
“When are we meeting him?” her mother asked.
“Soon.” She answered. “But I’ll be precise when we decide.”
“Are you getting married?” her mother asked. “You’re too young.”
“Hey, you were twenty when I married you.” Her father reminded her mom. “She’s twenty-two going on twenty-three.”
Her mother shrugged resignedly.
“How long have you known him?” her father asked.
“For a long time,” Zee answered wit
Zee sat before her dressing mirror and watched her phone ring, the name, Stanley flashing across the screen. She was dressed in a little black dress, her hair held in a single braid that lay flat on her head and flowed down to rest on her back. She was wearing a black choker and other red accessories, her lips painted a bright shade of red lipstick. Her eye makeup as usual was smokey. She had her trademark nose ring in her hand, about to put it on but she was reminded of Michael’s warning-when I say I don’t want to see it on you again, I mean it… She hesitated for a moment. It wasn’t like she was going out with Michael. This was Stanley and he already knew who she was. If she appeared differently, it would look like she was trying to impress him or it would look like she was trying to c
As Zee parked her truck in the parking lot of the Oxbow hotel, she sighted Stanley waiting for her outside his car. Concerning his dressing, his attempt at decorum impressed her. Instead of saggy jeans and a T-shirt bearing vulgar texts, he was wearing a fitted dark green shirt atop white pants and dark sneaker boots. His stud earrings were still on though and he was looking good. As soon as he sighted her truck, he walked over to meet her. She stepped out of the car and they hugged heartily before separating. “You look so pretty, Zee. I’ll be the envy of the room.” Zee smiled. “Thanks. You look great, like a gentleman in many ways.” “Thanks. You can say that again. Let’s go.” He took her hand and they walked towards the glass heavyset double doors of the restaurant. The door attendant upon seeing them opened the glass door and greeted them to which they answered politely. Quiet live piano music filled the room from a corner wh
A small smile touched his lips as he perused Zee from head to toe, his eyes finally coming to rest on hers. “Elizabeth, my, you look fantastic.” Inara’s eyes traveled between Zee's and Michael’s face intermittently. Zee’s eyes fell. “Thanks.” She responded, her voice slightly croaky as it came out with the hint of a wavering whisper. “Fancy us meeting here. I see you even know Mrs. Arnold.” Zee lifted her gaze back to his and gave him a slight nod while Inara smiled at him. “We are best friends,” said Inara. “I’m surprised you know each other.” “We do,” Michael responded, snaking an arm around Zee’s waist and pulling her close to his side. “She’s my girlfriend.” Inara was confused for a moment as she looked from him to Zee. Didn’t Zee just say she was there on a date? “I thought you said…” she began but caught Zee’s entreating look and furtive shake of her head which told her not to ask the question she had been about t
Michael looked at Zee. She carefully avoided his gaze. Then he looked at the red-dyed-haired boy who was looking at him expectantly. At the same time, he pulled Zee closer to his side as if he could not get her close enough. Now, he knew why she was there in the first place. What a coincidence. It was almost laughable. Only, this was not funny to him. First, she had said that she had no plans for the rest of the day, but here she was, throwing lies all over the place. She had even told this guy that he was her big brother. How clever. He did not have time for this. “Elizabeth.” His voice was dark and rough as he said her name like a command and reluctantly, she looked up at him, her fear-filled eyes, clammy. “Who am I?” he demanded. Zee started
As she wept, Michael gave her six more hard spanks, so that she was crying profusely and desperately blubbering out promises “I’ll be good… Michael p...please.” He paused with a determined raised hand, his muscles rippling underneath the arm of his fitted suit. “Will you lose the nose ring?” “Yes, please.” She blubbered. She couldn’t believe that Michael would punish her like this. No one had ever raised a hand to her before. She was practically a princess for God’s sake and she always had her way. This had to be karma because of what she had always done to Inara. She was sure of it. His palm came down punitively on her bottom again, eliciting a cry from her and more tears. When will he stop? Christ, she was dying. “Michael, please.” She pleaded. “I’m begging you, please, I’ll be good.” He paused again. “Say you’ll be good three times.” “I’ll be good…I’ll be good…I’ll be good.” She tearfully ran the lines in quick succession. She would
Zee couldn’t get into her room fast enough and she was so exhausted, she found herself going to bed early after taking a pain killer. When she woke up few hours later, she was relieved to find that the ache on her bum was almost gone. The wall clock told her it was 10:12pm. She had thought the time would be later than that. Her stomach grumbled and she went into the kitchen to find some food. The house was quiet because everyone had gone to bed. She got some bread, made herself a cup of cold tea and rapidly consumed it in the kitchen. As soon as she was done, Inara’s call came in. She didn’t feel like talking to Inara right now. She had already seen several missed calls from her. She didn’t want to talk. After the phone stopped ringing, she rose and found it ringing again. With a sigh, she forced herself to take the call. “What do you want?” she asked rudely. “You sound irritated. And what do you mean by what do I want?” “Why d
The following day, Zee spent time with her family. She helped her parents with typing the information regarding each of the artifacts in their collections. Then she spent time playing with her brother. She didn’t receive any call from Michael and she didn’t call him either. Why would she want to call him? She dreaded his call. By sundown, she received payment from the couple whose restaurant she had named and she was so excited she decided to celebrate it by going out alone. She went to a club and made sure she sat at the bar, drinking glass after glass of alcohol and acting all giddy at the bar side. Her phone started ringing and she managed to fumble for it in her purse. The name flashing across the screen was Inara’s and she picked it up. “Hi, Sweetness.” She drawled, projecting her voice because of the music.
Lemuel rang Michael’s line with Inara waiting curiously beside him. “He did not receive it?” “Yeah. And I cannot blame the guy. He could be asleep or not be close to the phone or busy.” “The explanations are endless. So maybe we could just keep him out of the picture?” “Not a chance. I’m already redialing his line.” “Lemuel please, at this point I’m asking that you reconsider.” “Why?” “Because…” Inara found herself searching for the best way to put her point across to him. “Well, let’s just handle it this time and if it happens again, then you can call him. What do you think?” “Hmn.” Lemuel sighed, thoughtful. He listened to the line trill until i