Chapter One: We Are Leaving Tonight
This man cannot be serious!
"I do not understand why I have to go with you, I know nothing about bioengineering and no offense dad, but I do not want to spend an entire week of my summer vacation with your balding, middle-aged geeky friends! I really do not understand what I'll be doing there, please don't make me go dad, pwetty- pweetty please." I shot dad my best sulky pout, crossing my arms over my chest and pretending to give up on the scrumptious breakfast he had whipped up for me.
Dad only sighed jadely, the kind of sigh you make when you have had more than enough of something and I narrowed my eyes at him as he patted the corner of his lips with a napkin and took a swig of his remaining coffee. I cleared my throat and threatened him with my eyes and "assassin" expression, he looked to be prepping himself to walk out of the conversation like he did yesterday and this time I was not going to allow him. I had hidden his car keys, this man clearly does not know me well.
"How many times do we have to talk about this, honey! No, don't give me that look. We are leaving tonight, you have already been catered for, no cancelations can be made, I do not want to be a liability. You are not seeing the bigger picture here, you will be vacationing in paradise while I work my butt off! Do you know how beautiful Bassadune is this time of the year? And you have been nagging me about letting you visit grandma because you need a change of scenery, I am simply granting your wishes, Barsami, the genie, at your service."
I rolled my eyes to the back of my head as dad bowed his head and donned the biggest smile ever.
Huh! Barsami! I am not surprised; he has never been good with names.
"Me saying I need a change of scenery did not mean I wanted to be flown out to Bassa with your colleagues and share a building with them for a whole week!" I argued, maintaining my sullen expression with bratty toddler-like prowess. "Besides, I am sure you are the only one who is going to be taking his daughter with, it is going to be too awkward for me to be around those senior citizens, I am sure all they talk about is science and you know that science is really not my thing."
Unlike my dad who is literally a modern day Einstein, I inherited my mother's more social, interpersonal, artistic intelligence, hence I suck at math and most sciences, so I hate anything that has to do with the subjects that make me feel like pulling my hair out every morning when I have to wake up and go to school.
My dad's side of the family all have healthy sets of brains and the kind of logical, mathematical intelligence I only dream of having. One of my uncles is a neurosurgeon, another an aeronautical engineer, my aunt is a cardiovascular technologist and then there is Dad.
On top of being the Chief Operating Officer of one of the biggest companies in the continent and the biggest pharmaceutical company in the world, dad is a diverse scientist: a microbiologist, physicist, epidemiologist, chemist, cytologist, product development scientist and all the other -ist I have forgotten- and he's still studying, he does not mind being a student his entire life.
I could never!
My mother was a dancer and singer; they met while he was on vacation and two polar opposites attracted. I can't imagine how I am going to survive in a room of people who are most likely going to remind of the biggest nerd at school- who is dorky, has no social skills whatsoever and is an absolute weirdo.
I will not be dealing with several other Miles Genburse, not on my last two weeks of summer vacation!
"You will be fine, honey, trust me, us science guys, are not as bad as you think." I scoffed humorlessly at his words. Easy for him to say.
"Are you still punishing me for kicking that perverted, bastard cop in the nuts?" I asked him as he began clearing the counter and depositing our dirty dishes to the sink.
"Not at all, sweetheart, that's old news."
"Are you sure, daddy dearest?" I cocked a brow, my tone hinting at my skepticism.
"Hundred percent!"
I don't buy it.
He must still be punishing me for that 'incident'. A few months back, Frobecka: my best friend of since forth grade, and I encountered an unsightly, overweight, drunk police officer who was also a butt grabbing perv and long story cut short: he groped Becka and my ankle paid his saggy balls a visit. I almost got charged with assaulting an officer of the law and I was grounded for a whole month. I think dad is still holding that against me, that's why he is forcing this trip on me. I only knew about it two days ago, he made it seem like a suggestion, but now he's telling me our flight is tonight and I basically have no say in the matter.
Gosh I can't with this man!
"You know I would have taken mom…. she would have been thrilled, she loved Bassa." He enunciated in that low- tuned voice, outstanding at inducing sadness and I was hit hard by guilt.
We lost mom seven years ago, just three days before my eleventh birthday, she was shot thirteen times by her scorned lover. I knew that she was having an affair, she would bring that bastard over every time when dad was away on business and as young as I was when the affair began, I knew what was going on. To this day, I am still encumbered by guilt, I blame myself, because I can't stop thinking that if I had disclosed the affair to dad, the outcome would have been different, and that mom would still be here. Now I feel even more guilty because I am the only one who knows about the affair since the bastard shot himself after killing mom. I preserved mom's image as the good, faithful, dotting wife by doing so, but unwittingly made it harder for dad to heal.
After mom died, dad has never been the same, she meant so much to him and I had to be the one to convince him to avoid dying alone and start dating, two years ago. The night I learned that mom was gone forever, I made a promise to myself: to always be there for dad when he needs me and to dedicate my existence to making him happy.
So if keeping that promise means wasting an entire week of summer vacation and throwing myself in the deep end, then so be it.
"You should have told me earlier so I could prepare myself mentally." I grumbled, but not as fiercely as before, now my unyielding spirit was obviously spurious. "At least promise me that you will ensure I have as little interaction with your work buddies as possible, especially your boss!"
Dad always speaks so fondly of the almighty Damien Bradley Lane Blackwood, but never forgets to mention his less than undesirable characteristics. From what dad has told me about him; which is a lot, I have summed him up as a classic, ruthless, won't hesitate to chop your head off, movie drug cartel leader. He sounds like someone who should be the head of the Russian mafia or something- and trust me I do not want to see myself anywhere near him, I am sure a single look from him is enough to ruin a person irrevocably.
"You do not have to worry about Mr Blackwood, he is a very busy man, he will probably not even notice you and his flight is separate from ours so you will not be seeing him tonight."
Boy was I relieved to hear that. I had accepted that I was not sleeping in the comfort of my bed tonight, but I still decided to play with dad a bit.
"Alright honey-"
"Yes bee?" I interjected, cutting him short and he gave me his signature 'don't do that' playful glower.
"I have to get to work, hun, there are a few things I need to wrap up, remember that Bassa won't be a vacation for me." Dad hastily packed up his suitcase and his laptop, flinging his suit jacket over his shoulder. I could tell that he was running late, so I decided to strike while the iron is still hot and frustrate him a bit for grounding me last week.
"I have all your car keys and I won't tell you where they are if you do not let me go to Becka's." I thought I had asserted some seriousness with my countenance and the austerity of my tone, but dad just chuckled and wore a look of triumph.
"Well luckily for me, I do not need keys when I have this," he waved his phone in my face as I frowned bitterly, "nice try, honey, you are still grounded, you can't leave the house until Greta gets here, but you can invite Becka over. Alright, honey, behave yourself and say if you need to buy something you'll need for the trip and I will wire you some money … oh and check your phone. Love you." He gave me a quick peck on the lips.
"Love you too dad." I watched him dash off before retrieving my phone from my sleeping shorts pocket. I face- palmed myself hard as I watched myself sneaking into his office and taking his keys, then tasting some of his bourbon- I had forgotten about the surveillance cameras! I know dad would not in any given day condone under- age drinking, so he really must want me to tag along with him to Bassa badly enough to let me drinking his expensive, foreign spirit slide.
I sent dad a text: Alright you busted me, I'm still going to face the consequences later aren't I?
Daddy: You sure know it, hun.
That said, I am going to have as much fun as possible in Bassa and give him a more solid reason to punish me.
I contemplated googling dad's boss but I decided not to. He is probably some middle-aged geek with a potbelly, who wears huge, unflattering glasses and has a collection of the most unfashionable, tacky, oversized, vintage suits. I mean dad is an exception, he is fit for his age of forty two and still hits the gym four times a week to maintain his muscular build and thanks to me and my exquisite taste, he is quite fashionable and his dress is very decent- BUT, I have seen some of his colleagues, I know how these science people are, they are not the most attractive people in the world.
Mr Blackwood's resumè is even longer than dad's, so he must be worse than a typical sciences man.
That's what I thought- and I couldn't have been more wrong.
Chapter Two- Is He Married or Not?"Is this how it's going to be every time we go out now?" Becka emitted a long puff of air disdainfully, peering over her shoulder and facing me with a sneer. Just like myself, she was not particularly fond of Greta: the woman on dad's payroll.Because of some past transgressions, especially the most recent ones( trust me, peer pressure is very real), dad hired Greta, a thirty year old, uptight, strict as a wicked Catholic high school nun, walking prick, to be my bodyguard, babysitter or parole officer or whatever she is- because dad staunchly believes that I now need someone to follow me everywhere I go and keep me in line.And trust me, I am no delinquent or scoundrel, I just somehow always find myself at the wrong place, at the wrong time, with the wrong people. To be honest, I do not have the firmest backbone and I am putty and easy to manipulate, that's why I prefer self-conceited, self-assured, stern, dominant, older men. I do not like authority
Chapter Three- I Need To Know Who This Man Is"We will only be gone for a week, no need to pack up the whole house!" Dad's speech was much exaggerated as he shook his head, unimpressed by my heaps of luggage."A man would never understand," I told him, my breathing a bit labored from fighting with my stacks of clothes, but I had to hammer down the clothes with my fists and sit on the suitcase to finally get it to close because dad would not have allowed me to take out another suitcase from my closet, "wow that was a workout! No don't look at me like that, men have it so easy, you have no idea, talk to me once you are a woman.""More like talk to me never." Dad chuckled humorously, but not at my words, because one of my nails snapped in half while I was attempting to lift the hefty suitcase from a resting position. I should have used the handle, how stupid of me!"What did I tell you about those witch claws of yours?""Ouch!" I cried out and proceeded to slap him on the arm for finding
Chapter Four- Don't Shoot, It's Me I was deeply absorbed by my dirty thoughts. I can't believe that such an absolute hottie exists, like are you telling me that I live in one planet with this beast of a man?!"Scarlett?" Ceska called out, picked up the magazine and snapped her slim fingers in my face. "You were literally not even blinking." "Yeah I know," I fanned my face with my hands, "he is really, really hot! That's the man of my dreams right there, he can bend me over the nearest surface he finds any day!" Okay, I might have sounded too thirsty. Ceska's eyes went over the cover before returning to me and she blushed deeply. "You are not the only one who thinks so! Imagine having to see him almost everyday." Her face deflated and this emotion I couldn't read washed over her. "Huh! I would do anything, give anything to have that man as mine… but men like him would never notice women like us."On that depressing note, Ceska placed the magazine in her bag, stood up and took the co
Chapter Five- We should really stop meeting like this Oh- my- fucking- glob!It's him! He is the man on the magazine cover!That voice… That is the voice Ceska was getting off to! I just met Damien Bradley Lane fucking Blackwood and completely humiliated myself in front of him! Fuck! Is this even real life?!For a moment, I did not know what to do with myself, I just stood in the middle of the passage, slightly trembling and gaping like I had dislocated my jaw. My head immediately snapped back as soon as I recovered from the shock and I stared at the closed door again. Bitch what the fuck! My insides were sizzling, I had to resist the strongest urge to scream. No! Everything was all too surreal to me! How could that man in there be my father's forty five year old boss! How is a that a Science man?! I was a whole cocktail of emotions as I found my way back to my father's room. It was the only other room I had memorised and since I had no idea where my "actual room" was, I had to
Chapter Six- We've Already Met "Bumblebee? Hey, Scar?" I groaned in a whiny manner as that soft voice slithered into my ears and tried to rouse me from sleep. I mumbled something before I rolled onto my other side, away from the disturbance. "Wakey, wakey, sweetheart. Come on, Scar, it is time for you to get up, sweetheart." My eyes fluttered open and the first thing I saw was dad's tie, one of the most hideous ties I have ever seen in my entire life, dangling in my face. I grimaced as soon as I laid my eyes on it and dad chuckled at my sour expression before he tucked my hair behind my ear, leaned in and kissed my forehead. "Good morning." I sat up and stretched out my arms while yawning. I was not well rested at all, yet it was apparent that it was well into the morning hours. "Morning to you, sleepy head," Dad teased, diverting his attention to the brief case he had laid on the bed, "so, did you have a nightmare? Must have been a bad one, huh!" He continued to tease while I fro
Chapter Seven: Be Bold and Get His Attention •|•|○|••|○| "This opportunity will-" Fuck this! I groaned out my frustrations as I long pressed the delete button and deleted the entire paragraph. I can't do this, I can't. This resume stuff is making me desperate, I have already stuffed my face with sweets and I'm not a stress- eater at all. I just do not want to embarass myself. That's why I was beginning to think that a joint would've done the trick right now- imagine that- I abhor smoking in every form there is. Go to Bassa they said, you'll have the time of your life they said. I didn't see myself sending this resumè tonight, and dad was going to kill me. I just couldn't get over the fact that thee Damien fucking Blackwood was going to be reading my shit. As if things couldn't get any worse, my phone chimed, a notification of a message from an unknown number. My eyes were as wide as saucers when I read the text, which was nothing but an email address. Shit! I rolled off
Chapter Eight: At The Wrong place at the wrong time I can't believe I just did that! This is insane! My fingers trembled in the height of my panic as I scrambled to find a solution. He had not opened the text yet, thank goodness! I deleted the picture and quickly exited the chats before I did something stupid. "Scar!" Becka called out, snapping me out of my reverie. "Huh?" I had not heard a single word she said. Becka sighed and I could just imagine the sullen, cheeky pout she must have donned. "You suddenly went quiet, I hope you're not getting up to something, hmmmm, I don't know, like unsending the picture." "Becks I have to go, gotta work on this resumè, bye." I did not allow her any room to say anything; which was likely to be her asking for evidence that I did not do exactly what she suspects I did. I revisted the chats and there was still nothing from him. I doubt he even saw the notification, he would have said something if he did… right? I just hope that the photo did
Chapter Nine: The Darker Side Of The Fairytale My eyes fluttered open and I immediately regretted coming around as a sharp pang of pain ripped through the side of my head and made me groan. My head had never felt so brittle, yet moving it was an accomplishment received after surpassing a difficult level of challenges. My eyes peeling open felt to be an illusion as I could not see anything but darkness. I tried to reach for the back of my head but I could only get limited movement out of my arms before a force held them back from moving. What is going on? I asked myself, feeling a wave of lethargy hit me hard. I staggered in and out of consciousness until I felt my mind awaken and made a few very startling discoveries. I was blindfolded, the darkness I was left in was due to the silky cloth laid over my eyes, tied behind my head. I was also on my knees, kneeling on what felt like an old bed mattress, both my hands were cuffed onto something close to limit my movement. I could feel th