Josie's POV
Silvery hues glittered across my princess Diana bedspread, giving her green dress an otherworldly colour. Her crown shined in much the same way.
Tomorrow was the start of my dream job. I might simply be a lowly intern at St Patrick's art gallery, but working in an art gallery has been my dream since I was a child. I may not be the next Picasso but I felt at peace only when I was lost in the world of my next creation.
In the last year, getting a job-any job- has been my sole purpose in life. Because that job was my ticket out of this hell hole I was trapped in. Case in point, the aggrieved yelling that just disturbed the quiet of the night.
With a heavy sigh, I approached my window and closed the heavy curtains before getting back in bed. Someday soon, I was going to leave this house. I just had to hold on to my sanity before that day came. The sound of glass smashing was hard to sleep through, especially when it was accompanied by lots of screaming and more items being destroyed. I groaned and debated ignoring them, but that wasn't an option.
My first day on the job was tomorrow and I needed to get some decent shut eye if I was to be at my best tomorrow and knowing my parents, this could go on for hours. Shoving off the duvet irritably, I stomped out of the door and down the short hallway to the living room before making a right that would give me a front view of the kitchen. Angry words slithered over my body as I stared at the two people who had just been smiling for the camera a few short hours ago. They were still wearing their tux and evening gown, but they were anything but civil and loving towards one another now that the paparazzi was gone.
"You're the biggest mistake of my life." Mrs Braille snarled from her position on the floor. I was unable to see mum except for the tips of her disheveled hair but I could hear the anger and tears in her voice.
My dad replied in a voice damaged by years of smoking almost immediately "Ditto. Why do you think I drink so much eh?" He was a large man, but he didn't come by his girth naturally, the years of drinking and partying having added a lot of flap to his medium weight.
Now he used all that formidable size as a weapon as he towered over his wife. "You drink your life away because you ain't got no brains...." Whatever my mother wanted to say was lost beneath her loud wails.
They came from nowhere. One second I was deciding how best to interrupt my parents' fight and in the next second, the front door was busted down and six men clad head to toe in black stormed into our house. As stoic as I was, at that moment, I was betrayed into giving a shout of alarm.
They wasted no time in converging on the three of us and before I could say jack Robinson, both my parents and I had been detained by the men in black. Two others went deeper into the house and soon a female voice could be heard screaming before the sound was muffled. Anna! What were they doing to her? There were sounds of scuffling before my younger sister was dragged into the living room and pushed to the floor. I struggled in the arms of the man holding me captive but he only clamped down harder on my shoulders. I yelped in pain.
"Who are you?!" I yelled frantically, my words tinged with anger and a hint of fear.
Why were these dangerous looking men barging into our house in the middle of the night? Not that it would have made a difference if it was during the day, but this night time attack gave it a more malevolent air. None of the men in black deigned to answer me. It was as if they never even heard me speak, but the man holding me clasped his gloves hand over my mouth as they concentrated their full attention on one person in the house, my father. "Vladimir wants you." A thick heavily accented voice rumbled. While I had never heard the name before and only felt confusion at the man's rasped words, mother went sheet white as dad trembled on the spot. Really, he was just shaking as a leaf as he stared at the man in black with a face devoid of colour.
"N..no..no. I will pay him. I promise I will. I just need a little more time." Arthur Braille babbled even before any questions or accusations were made. No longer was he the powerful CEO of Braille enterprises, now he was just a scared man about to wet his pants.
"Oh really?" The huge man drawled sardonically. "Why you not tell him?"
"I'll tell him that, as soon as I can. I promise..."
"I do you one better." The man announced ominously, cutting Arthur's words short. "I take you to him. Now." He declared roughly before knocking dad square on his jaw. Dad crumpled on the floor without so much as a whimper. Anna and mum screamed their distress at the top of their lungs while my own screams were muffled beneath the steel cage that was paraded as my captor's hand. Try as I might, I couldn't pry his hands off and he didn't let up even as his hands constricted my airways, making it hard for me to breathe. Soon enough, my vision began to spot because of the lack of oxygen. Just when I was about to collapse, I saw the men carting father away. I bit down savagely on his hand just as the world turned dark.
Josie's POV"Josie?" Someone tapped my cheek over and over, calling my name urgently.When I couldn't take the tapping anymore, I held their hand and grumbled "I'll live if you stop hitting me."A soft exhalation displaced wisps of my hair before my head was lifted gently. I opened my eyes to see wide blue eyes an exact replica of my own gazing back at me. Anna.My sister won the jackpot in the gene lottery. She had skin so fair and pale, it was milky white. Delicate features and pretty blue eyes reminiscent of the blue sky.I was the washed out version of her.I got nothing of mother's features but everything from dad and let me tell you, my father is no looker. But today, Anna's pretty features were marred by anguish, her eyes wide as saucers and filled to the brim with unshed tears."What's wrong A..." I started to say before it all came back to me. The men. Dad! I rushed to my feet, pausing to let the
Josie's POVGrayson went pale and Anna's eyes got so wide I was afraid it would pop right out of her head. I could do nothing but stare at my mother incredulously. My father? Stole from someone? That was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard. We came from old money. We were f*cking rich, damnit! There was no reason in the world for my father to stoop so low as to do something like that. His pride would never let him."You might want to elaborate on that mother." I stated in a low tone. I didn't want to accuse of her making up things, but it was a close call."Elaborate on what? Vladimir is a bad man. Your father worked for him, then he was stupid enough to steal from him and now Vladimir has come for his pound of flesh!" She thundered with wild eyes.Anna gasped. I slanted her a look and she covered her mouth. This was not the time for her theatrics."The last
Josie's POVThe building was an entire block of skyscraper comprised almost entirely of glass. We had to park in an underground parking lot used by visitors. They had a freaking lot solely for visitors! Rather than walk back outside, we took an elevator and emerged on the ground floor, that was apparently manned by the biggest bodyguard in history. He was at least twice of Grayson's size and not a single hint of fat anywhere. Why would a cooperate have such a behemoth manning their front desk? Grayson walked ahead and flashed his badge at him. He nodded and pressed a button. The steel glass separated and we were let in to the grand reception. Without pause, Grayson turned his attention on the model parading as a receptionist."Good morning to you all, welcome to Ryki's. What can I do for you today?""Good morning ma'am, I'm special agent Callahan from the FBI and I'd like to see Mr Sedof."Special agent? Since
Josie's POVThe hive was a local bar in Newark and an hour away from our home in Milpitas. It catered mostly to blue collar clientele. I've only been there once before with Grayson. Well, not with exactly.The thing was, Gray's dad was a construction worker, not the owner, just a regular employee and his mum was the daughter of a congressman. Many people -mostly his mum's parents- had been against their relationship because of the huge difference in their social class. Unfortunately, theirs was not a love that could withstand the derision from society. On more than one occasion, my mother had referred to Grayson's dad as 'that bum that's leeching off Louise'. Let's just say that my mum was one of the few people who put their condescending thoughts delicately, others were as blunt as a sledgehammer and uncaring if he was within hearing distance. By the time Grayson was four, Mr Callahan couldn't take it anymore, especially when he lost his
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 i
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