The Banks siblings lived in a tiny rented room at the top of Ma’s Bakery. They had been living here for the past seven years, ever since they lost their parents. Amber had stumbled upon this place by accident.
Their late father had mortgaged their house to fund a business plan that had failed miserably and upon their parent’s death, all the money left from the insurance coverage was used to either pay for the funeral or to settle their late father’s loans.
Their relative had decided early on that they would not be able to take the two orphaned children in, especially not when they had three other little mouths to feed. So they tried to send Amber and her brother to the orphanage. Amber refused and in the end, they were left to defend themselves.
It was a cold winter’s night when the owner of Ma’s bakery, Margaret Cornwell found Amber peering through her frosted windows. Anson had been sick and they had not eaten for days. That fateful night, Margaret took the two starving children in and they stuck with her ever since.
Work at Ma’s Bakery was hard, with Amber doing most of the heavy workload and Anson helping out whenever he was not too overwhelmed with his studies. In exchange for their labour, they were given a fair wage and allowed to stay in a little room above the bakery.
“Maybe you shouldn’t work there,” Anson threw a worried look at his sister as they entered their humble abode. Their place was small but orderly, with minimal furniture and clothing. Anson made it a ritual to pull a ‘Marie Kondo’ once a month to keep their place neat and livable. He plonked himself down on a makeshift bed - a worn-out green textile sofa which had seen better days. It doubled as a lounging area by day and a bed by night. Amber’s bed, a simple mattress covered with yellow daisied bedsheet lay close by.
Amber gave her brother a mocked look, “What? And give up having you buy me a mansion when you graduate?” Then a yawn took over, she stretched her arms as far out as she could and popped into the adjoining bathroom. Anson rolled his eyes and shrugged, curled up onto his bed and closed his eyes.
The bathroom was poorly lit and extremely narrow, offering no luxury whatsoever, but it gave Amber the privacy that she so hungrily craved. For in the bathroom, Amber could lather her hair and bathe herself in scented shampoo and body wash, the only things she allowed herself to indulge in.
As the scalding hot water splashed onto her skin, she began to wash her hair and soap her womanly curves. Steam rose from the bathroom floor, lacing around her body and over her head as bathed herself clean, only to stop short when her fingers touched her neck. The memory of the man sexually assaulting her came rushing back like a tidal wave, sending a shiver down her spine.
Jerk.
She shook her head, wiped away a tear that had formed at the corner of her eyes and quickly scrubbed at her thighs furiously - she scrubbed so hard her thighs became raw and red. It felt filthy, where he had touched her earlier. She wished never to see the man again.
Outside, Anson began to snore as the sun started to peek over the horizon, signalling the dawn of a new day.
***
Fabian Williams woke to the sound of his phone ringing. It was a traditional ringtone, he never did understand why people downloaded songs for a ringtone. Ringtones were meant to tell you to answer the phone, not for you to break into a dance.
Damn.
He was just having the most wonderful dream – the redhead, she was in his dream.
He lifted his head from his silken whiten pillow and took a peek at the screen on his phone which lay next to him. He groaned. All phone calls were meant to be answered, except for this one.
The name ‘Mrs Williams’ flashed across the screen.
He rolled his eyes, rejected the call and slipped his head under his pillow.
The phone rang. It was Mrs Williams again.
Fabian sucked in his breath and rolled his eyes. There was no escaping this woman’s phone call. He knew her too well.
Grudgingly he sat up and flipped his pillow aside on his massive king-sized bed before pulling off his covers. Fabian Williams was half-naked, with only a long pair of pyjama pants on. At over 6’ tall, Fabian had a perfectly sculpted body – he was tall, lean yet muscular and broad-shouldered with dark brown hair and piercing black eyes. He was devilishly handsome and he knew it. But on this particular morning, he felt anything but good looking. With his bare feet on the ground, he leaned forward and cupped his face with one hand, peeking at his phone. His dark brown hair was tousled and short bristles were forming around his mouth and chin.
Why can’t she just leave me alone?
The call ended, just to start again.
There was no escaping her.
“I’m busy.” He set the phone to speaker mode and walked himself to his window. It was a wall to ceiling feature which overlooked the hills of Silicon Valley.
“It’s your father’s birthday Fabian,” a woman’s voice bristled through the speaker.
Fabian did not answer, he stood silently watching the sunrise with his arms crossed.
“Fabian?”
“I’m busy,” he growled. He was lying, the fact was, he was quite free today with only a TED talk to attend in the afternoon. A week ago, he had cleared his schedule, especially for today. But at the sound of this woman’s voice, he felt his heart hardened. He would have gone to see his father if SHE had not called.
“Your father doesn’t have much time left Fabian. He wishes only to see you.”
Williams Senior turned eighty this year and was dying. He had a stroke a few years back and had been confined to bed ever since. Fabian had not been back to see his father in a year.
“We have nothing to talk about.”
“Fabian!”
“Good day Mrs Williams.”
With that, he ended the call. He hadn’t realized it, but his breathing had become rapid. The call affected him more than he would like to admit.
Fabian turned away from the window’s panoramic view and headed down the linear stair rails to his kitchen, his mind still lost in a web of memories from yesteryear. “Good morning sir,” a sprightly voice called out from a lone white illuminated box that sat unobtrusively in the middle of his marble benchtop, bringing Fabian’s mind back to the present. It was the only presence he allowed in his house. “Morning V,” Fabian opened his mirrored double-doored fridge and pulled out a glass of orange juice. V was his ubiquitous virtual assistant - the brainchild of Fabian Williams and one of Virtuex Holdings’ top selling innovations. “What would you like to have for breakfast today?” the voice quipped. V had access to every part of the two-tone modern house, from Fabian’s master bedroom all the way to his garage in the basement and was, therefore, able to cater to all of Fabian’s commands. He did not feel like eating. Not after answering the phone call earlier
The La Fire Club was abuzz with excitement. As Amber walked into the dressing room to collect her uniform, she saw women primming themselves in front of the vanity tables with lights, looking even more made up than usual. They were chatting with each other excitedly, some giggling, others gushing and a few were even adding more padding to their push up bras.“Amber! How do I look?” a busty blonde quipped, turning around to face Amber. Her breasts were practically spilling out of her corset.“Um…chesty?” she wasn’t exactly sure what to say but the answer seemed to satisfy the blonde who went back to facing the mirror, apparently to add even more padding.Amber made her way to the back of the dressing room where she found Lola, sitting crossed legged and alone on the sofa where they first met yesterday. Unlike the other girls, Lola had a book on her lap and a pen tucked neatly behind her ear.Amber had to smile, she liked Lola. The girl was as honest as anyone
“Now, now Fabian. I’ve sent you Amber, so please remove the scowl from that handsome face of yours,” Madam Cecil teased, pushing Amber towards Fabian who remained seated on the sofa. Amber felt like a piece of property and did not appreciate it. “Madam Cecil, I’m only here for waitressing works,” she said exasperatedly, suddenly wondering if she should be wary of Fabian Williams. Did a sleazy beast lay beneath the facade of this handsome man? She could feel her heart beating faster. Fabian waved his hand at Madam Cecil, “You may leave us now.” Amber shot Cecil an anxious look and to which the older woman replied, “Amber my dear girl, Fabian is one of our most well-behaved customers here. You’re in good hands.” With that, the head hostess turned around and strode out of the room – her hips swaying against her insanely tight pencil skirt and heels digging into the soft carpeted floor with every step before she finally closed the door behind her
Amber was dreaming, but like everyone else who dreamt, she did not realise that she had tumbled down the rabbit hole…. ‘She was standing alone in a semi-darkened room and mist surrounded her. A single window was positioned above her, allowing a little bit of light to stream down into the room. “Hello?” she called out nervously, trying to see what lay ahead of her. She took a few steps forward cautiously with her arms stretched out, not wanting to knock into anything when suddenly she bumped into something soft. She looked down and gasped. The mist that enveloped the room earlier on began to dissipate to reveal the body of a battered man lying at her feet. He was chained in shackles and curled up like a cat. Then to her horror, the man stirred. Amber tried to run but for some reason, her movements felt heavy, as if she was underwater. She could hardly move at all. Help! She wanted to call
The journey home for Amber was a daze. She had no idea how she managed to even make it back in one piece. What had Anson done? He normally couldn’t even hurt a fly! There must have been some kind of misunderstanding.Her hands trembled as she fumbled with the keys to the door. They jingled too much and she couldn’t fit the key into the lock.Damnit! Open!Frustrated, she kicked the door only to let out a little yelp.Calm down. I need to calm down.She took a deep breath and slowly inserted the key into the keyhole again, this time, it worked and the door creaked to an open.Although it was nearing dawn, the room was still quite dark and while the windows were left open, Anson had drawn the curtains to a close.“Anson?” Amber whispered, closing the door behind her. Then in the corner of their little room, right beneath the window sill, Amber saw her brother, huddled under the curtain that flap
The line sounded too cheesy to be a threat.“I know what your brother did.”“Excuse me?” Amber frowned into her phone. It sounded like a ripoff from the 1997 horror flick ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. And because of that, Amber had trouble taking the call seriously at first.Until the caller said, “I can prove his innocence.”That sealed the deal for her. As much as she had tried to encourage Anson to turn himself in to the police, deep down, she had been filled with dread. The alleyway was a blindspot and all evidence pointed to Anson. There were witnesses from the first night when Anson had a heated verbal exchange with the man. And he had touched the knife with his bare hands for goodness sake!So when the mysterious caller dangled the key to freedom for her brother, of course she had to take it. But Amber was no fool, she knew there would be a catch.“Who is this?” she whis
A numbing icy wave washed over Amber upon hearing Liam’s words. They repulsed her. “What do you mean?” she asked, taking a cautious step back, bumping into the door from where they had entered earlier and shredding her palms with her clenched fingernails. Anson instinctively stepped in front of his sister, shielding her tiny frame with his own. His body language practically screamed, ‘Stay away from my sister!’. At this, Liam began to laugh as if Amber had just asked the funniest question. He laughed so hard he had to hold his sides and the siblings stood silently watching him rocking back and forth in his swivel chair, waiting for him to catch his breath. She took his laughter as a sign of him not lusting after her body; which in a way came as a huge relief. Even Anson started to relax a little. Perhaps Liam Smith wanted something menial, like a week of housekeeping perhaps? It was a naïve thought, but for a moment Amber truly thought all would be we
What have I gotten myself into? Amber wondered as she stared at her reflection. In the full-length mirror that hung from the crimson white walls of the dressing room stood a stranger. Is that me? She gaped, peering into the mirror and raised her right hand, waving it slightly. The redhead in the mirror waved back. She could not believe her eyes. Standing in front of her was a beautiful, elegant and sexy looking woman. She blinked, feeling a little like Cinderella. Except Cinderella had never been auctioned off dressed like this, she thought wryly before her reflection tugged at her attention once more. Her eyelashes had been curled up to bring focus to her emerald eyes and while her face had largely been kept to a bare minimum, it was clean and glowy with only a faint red tint to her lips. Her neck looked extra slender, and it was all due to the silken black kimono with gold butterflies that parted suggestively at her shoulde