Mr. Blackwood, ever the gentleman, followed a few steps behind Anna, his eyes taking in the way her brown hair cascaded down her back like a chocolate waterfall, catching the light with subtle auburn highlights.
They had come to one of the biggest Boutiques in the city. Mr. Blackwood wanted to get her new clothes as her old ones had been burned in the fire. For the past week, she had been wearing his shirts to stay at home and even though she looked beautiful in anything, he wanted to watch her in her feminine energy; he would rather see her in a sexy gown than a baggy top and jeans.
They had already made two picks, but Mr. Blackwood was not impressed. As they walked through the cloth racks, suddenly, her steps faltered. She stood before a rack of shimmering gowns, a deep emerald green catching her eye, it was just the same color as her pretty eyes.
The gown flowed like liquid silk, stepping closer with excitement in her eyes, her fingers traced the delicate design embedded on it, a longing flickering in her gaze. But then, her brow furrowed as she noticed the price tag – a number of digits that made her heart skip a beat.
Mr. Blackwood, sensing her hesitation, approached with a gentle smile. "It is pretty." He muttered.
Anna turned to him, a conflicted smile playing on her lips. "Yeah, it's beautiful, but..." she trailed off, gesturing to the price tag.
"But what?" he prompted, his voice laced with amusement. “Come on, go try it on.” He instructed.
Anna hesitated for a moment, then, a playful glint in her eyes, she nodded. Disappearing behind the dressing room curtain; Mr. Blackwood stood there waiting patiently.
Moments later, the curtain rustled open. Anna emerged, the green gown clinging to her curves like a second skin. The emerald shimmered under the soft lighting, highlighting her porcelain skin and the warm glow of her cheeks. Her hair, left loose and cascading down her back, framed her face in such an appealing way that it turned heads.
Mr. Blackwood stood speechless, his breath catching in his throat. The dress, beautiful as it was, paled in comparison to the woman wearing it. A shiver ran down his spine, a mix of admiration and desire that he couldn't quite explain. How could one lady be this pretty?
Anna, catching his gaze, blushed. She spun around self-consciously, the fabric swirling around. "Do you... do you like it?" she asked, her voice barely a whisper.
Mr. Blackwood, his voice husky with emotion, simply replied, "You are absolutely breathtaking, Anna. I think you should add it to the cart."
Anna smiled. “Thank you,” she said shyly.
Just then his phone rang and he checked the caller ID. “Anna, I have to take this outside, meanwhile you should pick more clothes, both your home wears, formal attires and even party clothes, whatever you need, I am sure they sell it all here. Also, I don’t want to catch you checking the Price tags again.” He warned with a frown.
Anna laughed softly. “Okay Boss, thank you so much.”
He huffed and shook his head, then he walked away.
As he left, she changed out of the gown before continuing her adventure through the clothes rack. She ran her fingers over the soft lace of a lavender top, admiring its delicate design; this would look good on her.
Suddenly, a voice startled her. "You like that one, ma'am?"
Anna turned, not expecting to see a young woman with fiery red hair and piercing blue eyes standing behind her. The lady’s clothes screamed expensive boutique, so Anna couldn't quite place if she worked there. Which sales girl wears such an expensive outfit?
"Uh, yes," Anna answered hesitantly, feeling a bit weird since this lady was looking twice as polished as her, she had difficulty believing she was a sales girl.
The woman's lips curled into a smile, but it wasn't friendly. It was cold, mocking. Then, in a flash, her smile was gone, replaced by a frown that creased her pretty face.
"Tell me, darling," she drawled, her voice dripping with disdain, "what does it feel like to be loved by Maxwell Blackwood?" she asked with a slightly tilted head.
Anna felt a shiver crawl down her spine. The woman's sudden shift and pointed question sent alarm bells ringing. "Excuse me?"
"You heard me," the woman snapped, her eyes narrowing. "What's it like to be his latest arm candy? Do you enjoy the fancy dinners, the expensive gifts? Does he whisper sweet nothings in your ear? Has he taken you into the red room yet? Does he like it when you scream his name?"
Anna's confusion morphed into anger. "Who are you, and what do you want?" Why did this lady sound like she knew Maxwell too well, and what red room was she talking about?
The woman threw her head back and laughed, a harsh, humorless sound. "Oh, honey, everyone knows who I am. And what I want? Simple. I want what you have because it was once mine. I want Maxwell Blackwood."
Anna’s expression changed immediately, with the desperation on the lady’s face, there was only one name that came to her head. “Linda Jules?”
Linda smiled immediately. “A-ha! You see? Even you know, you must have heard about me, I mean, I used to be you, Personal assistant to the CEO and not just in office affairs,” she said with darkened eyes.
“Right! Megan has told me about you.” Anna smirked as she folded her arms, wearing a more confident look on her face.
“Ah, of course, dear old Megan, she was always a loudmouth, is she still bitching around with women?” Linda shot back at her.
“Oh, that is not the only thing Megan told me, she also said you were sort of a Nutjob.” Anna chuckled.
Linda frowned immediately. “Girl, you better watch your tongue before you lose it. Now that I am here, let me make it clear, I don’t know how you remained invisible from my radar for eight long months, but thanks to your poor boyfriend who you dumped for a richer guy, shame on you by the way, I now know about you. Listen to me, I hear he fancies you, well don’t get carried away, there is nothing special about you, you are just snacks and will be discarded when he gets tired of you.”
Ana laughed again. “You sound like you are speaking from experience, it must have hurt you a lot when he kicked you out of his life.”
“Yeah, go ahead and have a laugh, it won't last long. You are just a poor, cheap woman, a gold digger, you are there for the money and he is there for your body, you can never have what I have with him.”
“And what exactly is that if I might ask?” Anna asked in genuine curiosity. “He must have thought of you as so much a threat to get a restraining order against you.”
“Don’t try to sound smart because you are not. I have come here to warn you, stay away from my Man or start watching your back.” She fired at Anna.
“Is that supposed to scare me?” Anna muttered as she took a step closer, with her eyes glowing with a look to kill. She had been holding in a lot of anger for Jimmy, but maybe she could just take it out on Linda.
“Oh, you should be scared, Annabel Joseph. You are not even from around here, you could go missing over the night and no one would notice.”
At the heat of the moment, Mr. Blackwood returned. “Hey, sorry I took so long, there was some problem at the…” he suddenly paused when he caught sight of the lady beside Anna. “Linda?” he muttered in surprise.
“Hello Hun, missed me too much?” Linda asked with a grin on her face and Anna groaned, clenching her fists.
Maxwell immediately turned to Annabel. “Anna, could you please give us a few minutes?”
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, I will be at the front desk.” She blurted and walked off angrily.
Mr. Blackwood turned back to Linda while she smiled at him seductively, a look of excitement in her eyes. “What are you doing here, Linda?” he asked with a frown.
“Come on Baby, don’t act like you didn’t miss me, I am sure those sex toys you keep locked up have missed my body.” She chuckled.
Mr. Blackwood groaned and rubbed his temple, the last thing he needed right now was a Linda problem. “Do I not have a Restraining order against you? you know violations can land you a few months in jail.”
“If I was going to risk going to jail for my love, then I would have violated the order very long ago. I don’t think you have been keeping up with the dates, your restraining order was valid for one year, well that ended last week my beloved, so I am free to be around you again.” She giggled.
MB clenched his fist. Of course, it has been a year already without her trouble, how time flies! “Wait a minute? Were you at my place last week? And how did you know I would be here? Were you stalking me?”
Linda slowly walked behind him, placing her polished nails on his shoulder and then she hugged him from behind. “Oh honey, I am hurt by the fact that you didn’t recognize me the other night. But don’t worry, I didn’t come here for you today, we will have our moment soon, right after I take out the obstacle.” She whispered into his ears.
MB pulled her arms off him and turned to face her. “Listen here young lady, I thought one year would be enough to knock you out of this delusion. The two of us are done, we had a deal and that deal is over. Stay away from me and Anna or you would have bigger problems to worry about than a restraining order.” He strictly warned.
Linda smiled. “You can pretend all you want, Lover boy, you can't deny that you have missed this banging body. Don’t worry, I didn’t let anyone touch it.” She winked at him. “I will see you around, Hun.” She smiled and walked away with her back, her eyes fixed on him.
MB growled in frustration, Linda was going to be a problem and he knew it.
TBC!!