Grayson could keep his secrets-for now. My focus lay solely on the enigma that was Vladimir Sedof, the man I was yet to meet but was already turning my life on its head. I snapped my phone out and scrolled to my 'stagram page, typing furiously. I had less than a thousand followers, but the good news was that, I had followers who had celebrities as friends, followers like my sister. Just last week, Anna was followed by Roger Simps, lead singer of direction. Not only has she caught the attention of a member of a popular boyband, this boyband have twenty million plus followers! All I needed was to get Anna to repost my 'stagram story and I will show Vladimir Sedof the power of social media.
Finger poised on the post button, my immediate obstacle made itself known. Anna was a wuss. She was probably going to go straight to mother with it and then mum and Grayson were going to yell the heavens down on me. Mum and Grayson would be mad at me, there was no way to work around that, but if Anna refused to help me, this story will simply be just another rumour roaming in cyberspace, and my brilliant plan to ruffle Vladimir Sedof where he was hiding will be dead in the water.No! I couldn't allow that to happen.Hitting the delete button with a vengeance, I shut off my phone and paced angrily. What was I to do now?Making Vladimir uncomfortable enough he had to come and see me, if for nothing else but to shut off the public agitations was the only solution I could come up with, but how in God's name was I supposed to make the public agitate on my behalf?Wait.....what if the news didn't come from me?
I opened my phone and scrolled back to my page again, this time going through my friends list. I knew of only one other person who could do what I wanted and do it well. RuPaul Carrington.
He was the third son of an actual lord but he was a veritable vagabond who smoked like a chimney, had more tattoos than sense and loved his dresses. The Lord was not only displeased with him, but he in actual fact disowned him. Penniless and broke, Jason alias RuPaul had sold himself for a while on the street when his weasling ways got him not just in bed with everyone but in their secrets too. He became an informant for every journalist in town. He has cleaned up his act now and is actually getting a degree in journalism but he has his own online blog with a huge following and that was what I needed.My phone's screen lit up with an incoming call and my heart literally stopped when I saw my boss's name flash across the screen. Oh, shoot! I was meant to start my new job today. In the midst of all the horrors of last night, the gallery had completely slipped my mind. I swiped right and accepted the call and wondered how to explain the precarious situation to Mrs Lou."Hello."
"Josie? Are you alright?"
"Yes ma'am, I'm perfectly fine." I replied immediately and wondered what she'd heard that made her worry about me.
"If you are perfectly fine, why have you chosen to skip your first day? I expected better from you."
"I'm sorry about that. It's just that I had a family emergency..."
"Really? What happened?" Her tone became concerned again and I wniced.
"Um... I... It's a bit complicated.. I can't really tell you what it is right now."
"You don't know what your emergency is or you can't tell me? Well, that excuse is new, if nothing else." She hung up on me before I could say anything else.
I was about to call her back when I took note of Ru's last update which was three hours ago and stared at his picture.Gone were the makeup, earring and flashy scarfs. My friend the drag queen was gone, hidden beneath the simple denim blue shirt and plaid pants of a weekend manager -or newest intern at the limelight magazine, judging by his caption.He really is pretty, I thought distractedly. He always had been, but without the makeup and brazen attitude, he looked very beautiful, approachable....and very effeminate, the very reason his father had disowned and thrown him out into the streets.When he was not partying it up -even then- RuPaul lived on social media, the first with the breaking news and celebrity gossip. He had managed to gain quite a reputation for himself and I needed that popularity right now, but he had chosen that exact time to become an intern and ditch social media. I stomped my foot angrily and cursed my luck.Damn it, damn it, damn it. Wha
Putting the matter of my job firmly out of my mind, I sashayed back to my terrified driver. I was going to concentrate solely on what I could control and nothing else.Unfortunately, my job -if I haven't been fired yet- was not something I could control at the moment. Even if Mrs Lou were to give me my job back, I couldn't work until I'd ascertained that my father was just fine."To the Gran hotel, please." I murmured once I was back in the car. He nodded dully before making a u turn and driving away from the creepy house of mysterys. I made myself a promise to tip him generously, he had more than earned it.The drive back to the city would take over one hour and an extra one hour hour to get to the prestigious hotel, meaning the paparazzi would be waiting for at least half an hour, depending on how early or late they got to the hotel. I spent that time making a reservation online for a conference room at the hotel.I heard several disgruntled murmurings as I
"Jo? Are you alright babe?" Rupaul asked some minutes later.We were both standing at the hotel bar, furtively looking out for the paparazzi we just ran from."No." I answered forthrightly. There was no point lying to RuPaul. He was one of my closest friends and confidante. Besides, he knew me better than I knew myself, he'd figure out the truth anyway and get mad at me for lying to him. I had enough of those waiting for me at home. Right on cue, I felt my phone vibrate and Anna's name flashed across my screen."Oh my poor baby." He hugged me to him and made soothing noises. "What can I do to help?""Let's go somewhere without people. I just want to pretend that everything is fine, for a few hours.""Sure thing love." He took me by the hand and we walked deeper into the hotel and took an escalator, before we emerged in an underground parking lot.** ** ** ** ** ** **"Have you lost your mind?! Eesh, I am certain that you never h
All eyes in the room swung to this new unexpected entry. He was tall, pale, huge and intimidating. Male virility oozed from his every pore. Where Grayson made me feel like making slow love, Vladimir put me in the mood for hard, sheet burning, bed breaking fvcking. I'd made a step toward him before I knew it, only mother's painful grip on my wrist stopped my momentum.What was wrong with me? "You're here? Oh, please do come in." Mother rambled fearfully, her words barely making any sense as she pushed herself into his line of sight, effectively hiding me behind her. "How are you here? You shouldn't be able to step foot on this property without permission." Grayson exclaimed, his eyes murderous. Okay, who was this man that raised Grayson's hackles just by being in his presence and simultaneously elicited such fear from my mother? Could he be.... Vladimir? Wasn't he supposed to be out of the country? "The maid let me in." He answered smoothly before t
Nails dug into my armpit as I was dragged roughly to my feet. I gazed into furious brown eyes and promptly shrunk from the anger in them. "Do you have no idea how epically you just fucked everything up?""St....stop." I stuttered out as my brain rattled from the force of his shaking.Grayson stared ar me in horror and pushed me away. I collapsed on the floor once more but this time, my shock at Grayson's rage paralysed me. I'd known Grayson majority of my life and not once have I seen him react so...... brutishly."How dare you lay your hands on my daughter?" Mum thundered."I don't know Mrs Braille, I thought if I shook her, she might regain some of her senses." He stated bitterly.Anna ran over and helped me back to my feet. Why is he so....angry? No, that word didn't qualify. Grayson was livid, his rage barely contained and God help me, I couldn't begin to comprehend why."What I'm I doing here Josie?" Grayson asked in a more controlled t
(Author's Note; The story is written in primarily Josie's point of view, but from time to time, we will see things from Grayson's and Vladimir's point of view. This is because a lot more things are in play here, most of which Josie is unaware of at this stage, but it's important that you my dear reader are aware of them so you can understand the book.) Grayson's POV Stupid. Egoistical, nosy and oh so fucking stupid. I kicked at a daffodil and I watched it snap back into place, only serving to irritate me further.I stepped into the lush garden and stepped on the flower, but still, it wouldn't stay down. I proceeded to stomp the living daylights out of that stupid, bright, flashy thing.I wanted to shake that girl's stupidity loose. Stay out of this. That was all I fucking asked. For her to stay out of the issue until I resolved it in a few days.Did she listen? Nooo. Not the mighty, smart, can d
Grayson POVTechno lights flashed across gyrating bodies as the speakers blared an upbeat tune. I waded through fun seekers having a good time, getting every inch of me groped by beautiful men and women alike. If it were any other day, I would have taken one of the eager beauties up on her offer, but no amount of f*cking was going to erase this tension. Not when the ticking bomb only ticked faster. Besides, there was a strong chance I wouldn't live beyond the next hour once I confessed how much I just fucked up my mission. I found him sitting with his back to the dancefloor. Stravos was wearing a plaid shirt and what appeared to be black slacks, looking like the poster child for serenity even though I knew he was feeling anything but. He might appear to be unaware of his surroundings but I knew for a fact that not a single movement went unnoticed by him. It was a trait I used to envy, until I knew how he came by it. He looked old, tired, and out
Grayson's POV (Continued)"That's not important right now. It's our existence which you're risking that you should be focusing on." He began."I didn't ruin anything!" I spluttered."What was your one purpose? The one reason why you are always around the Brailles? Hmm?" He raised bushy eyebrows at me and managed to frown with his eyes.My anger snuffed out of me like a candle in the wind. "To protect them" I replied in a monotone."Wrong. You were sent there specifically to protect Josie. No one else. But what did you do when you got there? You forgot your duty that's what.""It's not that...." I announced weakly."I might be old but I ain't stupid. I already told you a sure fire way to rein in the girl but you refused." He admonished."Rein? No one alive can control that little imp. I'm certain the only reason none of her stupid decisions have ended her life is pure luck and nothing else.""But if she was