A total Obsession

Chapter 2 - Make up

 
Mina sat at her desk in the design studio. She was looking at the fashion designs for a new magazine that her company had recently accrued. She put the designs on the whiteboard in front of her and she pouted, pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows, a series of expressions that meant she was very much in debate with her own mind over what would look best on the centre spread.

"I thought you might need a coffee when you saw all of those this morning.." Petra her assistant said. "Raymond will be here to talk new designs today too.. it's gonna be a fun packed day for you." She smiled placing the coffee in front of her.

"I need to make sure that I get out of this office on time today, unlike my husband I can't just decide to not turn up to Nell's recital.. one of us has to always be there." She told her.

"Speaking of...
She walked out and came back in with a huge bouquet of flowers. "These literally just arrived for you.."

She looked at the card already knowing who they were from. She read it.

Mina,
My life and my love, I always feel like I let you down and I don't mean to, it is never intentional. Just know that I'm gonna spend a whole week at your beck and call very soon.
I love you
J xx

Mina couldn't help but smile. The thing is though she just couldn't mask how one sided things were. He had always promised that if and when they had children he would split the load 50/50 because he knew his wife was just as career minded as he was. Things in the beginning were good but that was mainly down to the fact that she had taken a year out for maternity leave and was a home maker for that time, making life easier. As soon as she returned to work expecting a little give and take with her husband, it got worse. His hours became longer, his starts became earlier and his business trips more frequent.

She knew he wasn't having an affair and his job did have him being a busy man, but it just meant that she would work all day, cook, clean and see to the kids. Her hours had more than doubled and she just found no time for herself or to be the wife she wanted to be for her husband. Even the Intimacy between them was limited and few and far between.

Mina began her day. She had back to back meetings. One with Raymond her boss, he always talked over his thoughts and work with her. He was also very demanding and Mina always had a headache after he left. "I want to send you to Milan for the shoot of this cover.." he told her.

"Raymond, how can I go to Milan?." She said to him. "What am I supposed to do with my kids?."

"Jonte would have his own kids for 2 nights surely..."

"It's okay them being there with him at night but what about the rest of it, lunches, uniform's pressed, bags sorted, house sorted...

He stood next to her and turned her to face him, he held both of her shoulders. "You are the best woman for this job and you know it... if you're husband doesn't even know how to look after his own kids by now then something is seriously wrong... my reckoning is that you need to loosen up, let go of the reigns, nothing is going to happen to your kids in 48 hours." He told her.

She smiled. "You're right...I would love to do it.."

"That's better.. Now sit and let me talk through the plans with you.. as this will be the week after next." He told her.

—————

Jonte ate lunch at his desk, he looked around at the pictures of his kids and wife, he sighed. He knew that he didn't give his wife and family the time that he should. Amanda knocked on his door. "Come in." He called.

The door opened and she walked in with a smile. "Kris Bertram is here to see you.."

"Ah yes show him in.." Jonte said and straightened his tie sitting more upright at his desk.

Kris walked in after Amanda had shown him to the door, he was a long time friend of Jonte's and was down from out of town. "Hello my brother!." He said as Jonte rose to shake his hand with a smile on his face. "I thought that we could have a bit of a get together and a catch up seeing as it's been a long time."

"well as you can see I'm busy working, you should've called we could've arranged something... As it stands I've got a few meetings today which is gonna take me right up until about 9 o'clock tonight." He then smiled. "but how the fuck are you man, it has been a cool minute since I last saw you... how is Bernice and the kids?."

all good, she's back at home in Atlanta... I was passing through on business myself but realised that you barely ever pick up yo phone nowadays so I thought a face-to-face, person-to-person meeting was needed.." he said with a smile.

Jonte wasn't as pleased to see him as he tried to express on his face. He had left his past behind for a reason, and when people started to show up from that past it gave him a very bad feeling and one that he just couldn't shake.

"How about I stay in town for a while and we catch up properly.. people back home have been missing you man, it's like you fell off the face of the god damn earth" he said with a grin.

"Don't for one minute think I'm getting back into anything, you know those days for me are over... I'm all about my family and making my money the right way now." Jonte said.

Kris smiled and put his hands up. "Brother, I didn't say a word...but I will say this, yo past is harder to outrun than you think.. especially when you're Jonte mother fucking Ralston.

Jonte felt uneasy.

—————

Mina had left work rushing out of the door to head to Nell's ballet recital. She was still excited and turning over the thought of being offered the Milan design shoot. She couldn't wait to speak to Jonte about it.

She ducked and weaved the traffic to get to the school on time. Such was her life juggling work and kids. She finally arrived and got to the main hall just as the curtains we're being pulled back and the smiling faces of the kids ready to start were revealed