Lilly looked at her Boss. A steady storm of anger was blazing through him. His jaw was set in a hard line, eyelashes slightly narrowed. She knew that it would be a grave error for him to get his hands on Zee right now.
“Mama Lil, please kindly step aside.” He told her. His voice was not raised, but it was laced with rage.
“Michael, please, whatever the problem is, it can be resolved, but not in the state you’re both in, especially you, Michael.”
Lilly was the only Staf that called Michael by his name whenever she wanted. Lilly was like a second mother to him ever since she had come into his home. He sometimes sought her advice, mostly over emotional matters. Plus, she had been with the Rays for a long time. That was why he called her Mama Lil. Even his siblings called her that way. Although it was Princess who had given her that name.
“You don’t want to know what she has done,” Michael said. “Please, just step aside and let me deal with this.”
Zee's heart was still pounding as Michael carried her back to their bedroom. Once he opened the door, a sniffle escaped her lips and a fresh outburst of tears took over her, surrendering her to body wracking sobs. Michael knew she was crying out of her fear of him, thinking he was still going to drill her. He could feel the slight tremors of her body against his. “Shh.” He said gently. ‘I’m not going to touch you, I promise.” he assured her, walking inside the room, shutting the door, and setting her down on her feet. “Stop crying, it’s okay. I’m not that angry anymore, I promise. Come here.” He hugged her and kissed her sweaty forehead. “It’s okay, Baby. Stop crying.” He gently caressed her hair, speaking softly to her. He soothed her that way until she stopped crying. “That’s it.” He encouraged. “Come with me.” He released her from his embrace and stared into her damp eyes. “Trust me, okay?” She nodded. “Come and sit with me. I want to listen to you
The following morning, Michael brought Zee breakfast in bed. He had made it himself. The breakfast consisted of banana pancakes and richly made coffee. She thanked him and enjoyed it. Later, under a surreal-looking sunny sky, Zee found herself learning self-defense moves with a security agent Michael had assigned to help her. They were in an open field somewhere in the Ray estate. Michael was drinking chilled soda as he watched Zee from the car. Dressed all sporty for the lesson, she was sweaty and exhausted. The lesson had been going on for an hour. She gave him a pleading look in between blocking a mock punch directed at her face. "I'm tired." She gasped out, frowning with exasperation, her voice, whiny. It was the fourth time she was telling him that. She had started complain
Michael's eyes were shut as he waited for the result of her decision. Frankly, he could not predict her action right now, and he didn't even want to do that. "Kill me now, Zee." He urged her without opening his eyes. Zee still had the gun pointing at his chest. Her mind was a whirlwind. A heavy feeling of dejection had overcome her system. It told her that love conquered all. Still, her finger went for the trigger and touched it. She knew that they could both hear the cock of the gun. She noticed no tension from Michael. What a Don, she thought. Then she pulled the trigger, releasing a couple of bullets as her shots were fired. *** Michael slowly opened his eyes and saw her. Zee had her back to him. She had turned and taken the s
In Michael's absence, Zee didn't go searching for a job. She found that now she had the freedom of doing so, the drive was not as strong as it had been. Admittedly, most of her actions were borne out of rebellion. When Michael called and inquired if she had started searching, she said she was taking her time. He had just laughed it off and wished her well. Zee was bored out of her mind by the second day, so she decided to travel back to her home state. She didn't tell Michael. They were both good now, so she didn't see the point. She had gone by road, driving there on a whim after shopping for bedroom groceries in their bedroom. When she was back home, she called Glory and informed him that she was back in the state, saying Michael asked her to pick up something from a client. She told the same lie to her parents
"Hey, Darling." Michael's deep voice filled the phone. "Hi." Zee forced a smile. "How are you?" "Fine, thanks. You?" "Great. Thanks," she responded. "Where are you right now?" "I’m in the bedroom." "I see that you're about to go to bed." "Yes, Sexy Guy." Zee decided to flirt in order to lighten her fear. "Hmm. I see someone is boldly flirting on the phone." "Only with you, Sir." "I prefer it that way." "It's part of the rules." She said teasingly. *** LEMUEL AND INARA'S PHONE CALL "Hi, Baby Girl, how are you?" Lemuel's voice came through the phone, warm and deep. "Fine. Thanks." "Where are you?" "Bedroom." "Which one?" Inara paused in confusion. "Which one?" "It could be the guest bedroom? We both know that you like to sleep there sometimes." "Oh, yeah that's true, but I am
MOMENTS BEFORE THE PHONE CALLS It was evening and hours after the successful shooting of Lemuel's Orchard Mist Advert, Starring Michael. Sitting down over a drink at the luxury hotel restaurant they were lodged at, Lemuel and Michael were watching a clip from the ad. They had their eyes glued to a tab withstand on the table they were occupying. In the video, he was in a dark suit inside a red luxury car. He pulled up before an exotic movie theater, sprayed on the orchard mist perfume, and stepped out of the car, a small smile on his lips. His amber eyes were alluring. A group of people, around ten in number, who were around outside the building, turned in his direction in admiration. Michael paused the video. "At this point, there will be some visible aroma digitally done so when they start inhaling the sweet scent and running over to you..." Lemuel tapped the play button and the people began inhali
"Must we stay outside to welcome them?" Inara asked. "Can't we just stay indoors?" "We could, but there is no point. Each time my husband is back from travel, I have to welcome him out here. He prefers it that way." "Oh my God, that's my mum and dad for you." "I know." "Well, we can just pretend not to know that they are back," Inara suggested. "You're right." Zee agreed. "Let's go back inside." They held hands and headed towards the entrance of the house. They had barely taken more than five steps when Zee's phone started ringing with Michael's ringtone. She paused with a sigh, making Inara pause alongside her. "What is it?" Inar
As Inara whipped past her, a wave of regret hit Zee over trying to blame her. She hadn't meant to. She had been driven by fear, knowing that Michael would punish her, but might be lenient if he believed that the whole thing wasn't her idea. Michael's leniency was barely bearable, so she had to protect herself by thinking of herself first. Zee hastened her steps so that she would try and catch up with Inara. She managed to reach a foot behind Inara by the time they closed in on the stairs. "Inara." She called, hoping to make her pause, so she could render a quick apology. "Leave me alone!" Was Inara's response as she ran up the stairs and she didn't stop until she was inside the guest bedroom. Zee was just reaching the door of the guest bedroom when Inara slammed it shut. "I'm sorry." She still apologized. "Tell that to the guys," Inara said tearfully and dismissively. "They don't care about whose idea it wa