The air in the living room felt thick with unspoken words, the silence a suffocating blanket after the bombshell on the television she had just switched off. The news crashed into her like a heavy wave and slammed Garnet into the cold, hard reality of her new life. Thor, her husband of a whole three years, had not only accepted her proposal for separation with the emotional depth of a handshake goodbye, but he was already parading Andrea Whitlock, her supposed "friend," as his new girlfriend all over media merely two weeks after. They were the sweethearts of the media and she could not even open any social media apps without being confronted by the smug glow of happiness on their faces in every picture, the sickeningly adoring captions, they had even been given a relationship name, “AnTh” how ridiculously juvenile. All of it felt like Thor was spitting on the ashes of their marriage while laughing and it hurt.“It couple," the headlines crowed. "Thor Smith rebounds with stunning Bill
Thor adjusted his cufflinks, the glint of platinum catching the strobe lights like scattered diamonds. A journalist was coming to do an interview for the segment the magazine was doing on him. The newest and youngest billionaire in the city. The air thrummed with an anxiousness that he masked perfectly with his easy smile, he felt a flicker of unease but kept it down knowing that the reporter would probably smell it like a shark smell it blood in water. He might hate dressing up and acting like a puppet in front of all these people but he reminded himself that it was just temporary and soon he would no longer need to dance to their tune.Andrea’s father had insisted that a spread needed to be done to celebrate his success with the contract he had won and done justice to. It was ridiculous that just a year ago no one even knew of him and now, he was the golden boy, the architect of a billion-dollar deal that had saved not just his company after that Virus attack, but revitalized the c
Thor adjusted his cufflinks, the glint of platinum catching the strobe lights like scattered diamonds. A journalist was coming to do an interview for the segment the magazine was doing on him. The newest and youngest billionaire in the city. The air thrummed with an anxiousness that he masked perfectly with his easy smile, he felt a flicker of unease but kept it down knowing that the reporter would probably smell it like a shark smell it blood in water. He might hate dressing up and acting like a puppet in front of all these people but he reminded himself that it was just temporary and soon he would no longer need to dance to their tune.Andrea’s father had insisted that a spread needed to be done to celebrate his success with the contract he had won and done justice to. It was ridiculous that just a year ago no one even knew of him and now, he was the golden boy, the architect of a billion-dollar deal that had saved not just his company after that Virus attack, but revitalized the c
Thor adjusted his cufflinks, the glint of platinum catching the strobe lights like scattered diamonds. A journalist was coming to do an interview for the segment the magazine was doing on him. The newest and youngest billionaire in the city. The air thrummed with an energy that made him feel uneasy but he masked it perfectly with his easy smile, he felt a flicker of unease but kept it down knowing that the reporter would probably smell it like a shark smell it blood in water. He might hate dressing up and acting like a puppet in front of all these people but he reminded himself that it was just temporary and soon he would no longer need to dance to their tune.Andrea’s father had insisted that a spread needed to be done to celebrate his success with the contract he had won and done justice to. It was ridiculous that just a year ago no one even knew of him and now, he was the golden boy, the architect of a billion-dollar deal that had saved not just his company after that Virus attack
Thor, still grappling with the aftermath of their fight and the lingering sting of Garnet’s words, approached the topic of visit with trepidation. Garnet, a porcelain teacup poised halfway to her lips eyed him knowing that he wanted to say something to her. Thor's hesitant but still as proud as ever cleared his throat , "Hey, so…there's something I need to tell you," had shattered the morning's fragile peace."Okay. What is it?" she asked, her voice guarded and obviously still annoyed with him. His news, she sensed, wouldn't be sunshine and rainbows.Thor fidgeted, running a hand through his already tousled hair. "My grandfather…he invited us to visit him."Garnet frowned. The mention of Thor's family always seemed to bring a cloud over his usually contained personality. She on the other hand did not care, besides it was going to happen anyway.“Good.” she said simply, “when do we leave?”.He snorted, a humorless sound. "Good?” He said. He was surprised as she asked no questions at al
In a cafe downtown far far away from all the pretty and pricey cafes that she normally frequented, Andrea sat waiting patiently at a table with its chipped edges in a corner of the room where she could see whoever came into the cafe but she was not seen even though her dark sunglasses did not make her look inconspicuous because it was a little weird to see someone wearing glasses indoors. Soon her phone rang and she looked at the phone and looked outside and saw Bill looking around in confusion then she picked up the phone.“You are in front of the right cafe, just come inside, I am sitting on the last table at the other end of the window.” She directed.Bill came in and looked in the direction she had described and he sat opposite her then looked around at the questionable environment while Andrea beckoned to the waitress.“What would you like?” She asked when she came before them and pulled out a notebook from her yellowed apron.“I am fine.” Bill said in disgust when he looked at
“Mom, please don’t leave me alone, I’m scared.” The little boy cried as the woman gently hushed him.“I will be back for you soon, i promise. Just wait here like a good boy while I go and look for daddy okay? I will be back in a minute.” She reassured him and when he nodded even though his big eyes were brimming with tears she patted his head affectionately.“My brave boy, stay strong for me okay? And no matter what you hear don’t come out until I tell you so.” She hugged him and tried to hide her tears from him. When she was sure that he was hidden out of sight she left him, running in the opposite direction and some minutes later there was a flash of light and the loud rat tat tat sound of machine gun fire.The little boy flinched in fear and put a fist in his mouth to stop himself from crying out loud and silently rocked himself while tears streamed down his cheeks and he waited in the damp dark undergrowth of the tree for what felt like eternity for his mother to come back and ge
“Why are you just sitting here when breakfast has not been set on the table? Is there any depths of laziness you will not stoop to?” Beth scowled in irritation when she saw Thor sitting on a chair at the bare dinning table.He immediately jumped up and stood at attention, slowly creeping away from her as she came closer so that she would not batter him with slaps this morning.“Sorry mother in-law, I have made breakfast but since no one had come down yet I did not want to serve the food so it won’t get cold.” he said and ran off into the kitchen where he put final touches to the morning meal he had prepared.There were no servants in the Woods family so Thor had to do all the chores alone, he washed the dishes, cooked the food, cleaned the rooms, did the laundry and any other menial tasks that needed doing. Despite all of this he was still termed a “lazy bum” by members of the family who would not lift a finger to do a single chore or even offer some help.Once upon a time the Woods f