I clamp my mouth shut and grip at my chest, afraid my heart may jump out as the plane takes off. My eyes are shut and I hope when I open them I will be on the ground, safe.
I hate heights, and most importantly, I hate things that leave me not in control. In a matter of seconds, it can crash you into a ball of fire and twisted metals. That is not a good way to die. At least, not for me.
How i wish i had my morning drink!
After taking off from the runway, the plane levels out a thousand feet above the ground. Still, it doesn’t put my mind at ease. I’m still nervous and squirm in my seat, waiting for the unknown to happen.
Someone laughs behind me and I wonder if I am the object of amusement or if my fear is that apparent and also amuses them. I turn my head and find Mr. Thorne and his mistress staring at his tablet and a small smile on his mouth. My fears are forgotten as surprise replaces it. After all, he knows how to smile.
The girl lifts her head and meets my eyes.
“You look familiar, ” She states.
“You’d remember me if we’d met.” I say and mean everything I say. I have been told my first impressions are indelible.
Mr. Thorne looks up at me, his eyes narrowed. He clearly takes offense that I am being rude and offensive to his mistress. Maybe if I told her how I rode him the night before, she wouldn’t take a gander at me like I’m a stain on this spotless plane.
“I remember now. You are the assistant.” She tips the bridge of her nose.
“Yeah. Above and beyond in every way.” I state. My statement is addressed to Mr. Thorne in the hopes of jogging his memory from last night.
He never glances up at me. And I decide to turn back on my seat.
“What happened to not bringing your assistant to such trips?” I hear her murmur to Mr. Thorne.
“She is my assistant for a reason,” He replies in not subtle way.
“But you complain she is incompetent.” She argues.
He sighs but doesn’t respond. I check my phone when I get a notification that I have a message. It is from Cassandra and immediately starts to feel guilty. I stared at it for a while before deciding to open it.
He is with her, isn’t he?
I read its contents.
I run my hand over my eyes, pressing them shut, but no relief comes. I am confused if I should tell her what happened last night and don’t know if I crossed the line of what she wanted me to do with her husband.
He didn’t come home last night. I am sure he was with her and just told me in the morning that he had to fly out.
When I don’t respond, she texts again. I reread her message as it dawns on me that he lied to me last night as well. He left, claiming to be on his way home to his wife. He obviously went to his mistress.
He is with her. What do you want me to do?
I text back, angry that I fell into his game, and I am overcome with a strong desire to punish him.
Find a way to convince him to tell you who he is going to meet. If you can get him to allow you to go with him, even better. Note down their names and anything they say that you may think is important to me.
She responds quickly, and I’m perplexed as to why she’s less concerned with the mistress and more concerned with his business.
I meant how to punish your husband and his mistress.
I clarify.
She is involved in something nefarious and relies on my husband for assistance. If you do what I ask, we’ll be one step closer to getting rid of her and finalizing our agreement.
I desperately want to escape Cassandra, Mr. Thorne, and their twisted lives. I even tell myself that once this assignment is completed. I’m over being Karma. I plan to open a beauty salon with the money I will be paid. It was my childhood ambition. I still have an idea of how I envisioned it to look. And that is all the encouragement I need to keep going.
Alright. I will find a way
I text her back.
You will be saving a family.
She replies, her words become another justification to my list of why i am Karma.
I decide to investigate Mr. Thorne’s mistress further. I google his name in the hopes of finding a photo of her in it, and I do. Ava is her name. Her elder brother is acquainted with Mr. Thorne, and she appears to have known him her entire life. So she’s not just some random person he met at a bar or something. She is part of his life. The task of getting rid of her may be more difficult than I anticipated.
Time rushes and we find ourselves outside Dubai international airport. And I can’t hide my excitement as I snap a selfie. Mr. Thorne shakes his head and Ava stare at me like I am a primitive human that is overwhelmed by its first encounter with civilization.
A white Audi stops in front of us and a man steps out. His face masked with fear.
“You are late.” Mr. Thorne roars and the man coils back hoping to disappear.
“My daughter...” He tries to explain but Mr. Thorne wants to hear nothing about it.
“Get in and drive and once we arrive leave my keys with me.” He orders.
The man looks up at him, attempts to open his mouth and speak and gives up on realizing the man before him is no human but a devil. He grabs the shopping bags from my hands and the suitcase on Ava’s hand. Once he is done loading them into the car. We settle in, Mr. Thorne choosing to sit on the rear seat with Ava and I sit at the shotgun.
I stick my head outside like a kid and take in the magnificent scenery that is Dubai. I have heard of it, read about it, see it on videos but experiencing it first hand is out of this world.
I want to see Burj Khalifa, the man made beaches. I want to experience it all but I doubt Mr. Grumpy is capable of understanding such human desires.
We get to our hotel and just like instructed. The driver leaves the keys and disappears. We are staying at the Atlantis Palm. The staff are welcoming, and seem familiar with Mr. Thorne insinuating he comes here often. He seems to be in a rush and i barely get to take in my surrounding. They take our luggage and lead us to our rooms. One of the staff leads me to mine when we get to 15th floor as Mr. Thorne and Ava continue going up.
Once the door is shut I take in my the inside of my room. oh my, everyone should experience this luxury at least once in their life. I am glad i took this job, my other jobs take me to dingy pubs while this has made me access all the finer things in life.
I throw myself on the bed, landing softly. A week a go I would not believe that there were people that lived this lavishly. I did think it was just an exaggeration of Hollywood movies but now I believe, they underestimate it.
I get up from my bed and go to the glass door that lead to a balcony. I note beach below me and the train moving above the waters. I pinch myself to make sure i am not dreaming. I am in Dubai. I will take all the pictures and videos I can and post them on my social media. I am sure they will find their way on my ex-husband’s feed.
My door unlocks and listen to the approaching steps. I grunt. I don’t look round. I don’t need to. His smell is already axed in my brain.
“These were not mine.” Mr. Thorne says and i finally turn. The shopping bags i had earlier are on my bed. “They were meant to be yours.” He clarifies.
I am torn between asking him, how he managed to get in my room and asking why he bought me those clothes or whatever is in the bags.
“Are you trying to buy my silence with material things?” I decide to go with the later since it angers me more.
“Why?” He asks like he don’t remember we slept together. “You don’t dress to the standards of my assistant and didn’t want you to embarrass me on this trip.” He carries forth.
He really knows how to rile me up. “Get out!” I yell at him.
“It is my money paying for this room.” He counters.
“Okay fine. I want to go to home.” I say in a childish way.
“You are my assistant I pay you to do as I want.”
“Why did you bring me here? I walk back in, “based on your mistress you don’t travel with your assistant.” I ask him.
He sighs theatrically, “Mistress?” He questions in a believable shock but I know he is good at pretending.
“Yes. You left your pregnant wife at home to gallivant with your mistress.”
“Pregnant wife?” Again, he says with a believable shock like he had no idea his wife is pregnant. I don’t believe him.
He storms out of my room without saying anything, leaving me with an unexplainable sense of unease.
Next Chapter will be from Christian Thorne pov
Chapter 16 is now available at inkitt
Username: ivybrown179
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