The air hung heavy with the scent of jasmine and the joyful thrum of laughter from the revelling partygoers in the ballroom. From the corner of his eye Thor watched as his wife and Bill left the hall hand in hand, with a charming smile he managed to extricate himself from Laverne and Andrea’s hold.He knew Garnet was feeling humiliated and hurt thanks to his actions but he shrugged off the creeping concern and told himself that the pain in her eyes did not bother him. After all, he was only paying back what they had given him. Her family must be stupid to think he would be so generous with them after how they had treated him all these years, this was just the beginning because he intended to make them pay for all they had done to his family.Having excused himself from the boisterous crowd and its endless rounds of clinking champagne flutes and music, Thor silently followed Bill and Garnet into the moonlit embrace of the garden. Even though it had seemed like he had not being paying at
Ignoring the guests curious glances at them Thor took Garnet up to their room and dropped her on her feet and Immediately he did that she rushed back into his arms, startling him with the fierceness of her touch and hug.“What are you doing?” He said as he put his hands on her shoulders and tried to pull her away but she stuck to him like glue.“Please touch me, relieve this fire, please I beg you Thor.” She moaned feverishly while struggling to loosen his tie then proceeding to the buttons of his shirt.Thor grabbed a hold of her hands and stopped her from proceeding and she looked pitifully at him for a moment before rising to her feet and trying to kiss him. He was stunned by her behavior but he held her down to prevent her from kissing him.He had thought that all her theatrics was just because she wanted to distract him from what she had been doing in the garden but her actions made him realize it was more than that. The Garnet he knew would never throw herself in his arms and beg
The first sensation was warmth. Not the sun-drenched kind, but a clinging, insistent heat that seemed to emanate from the center of her being and radiate outwards. Garnet stirred, muscles protesting against the unfamiliar position she found herself in. Disorientation gnawed at the edges of her mind, a cottony fog obscuring the memory of how she'd ended up sprawled across a vast, silk-sheeted bed, nestled against the hard contours of a chest rising and falling with steady breaths.Then came the scent. Spice and musk, a heady mix that sent a jolt through her, prickling the hairs on her arms and tightening the knot in her gut. It was unmistakably Thor’s scent, magnified, amplified to an almost nauseating intensity.Panic, cold and sharp, cut through the fog. Garnet's eyes flew open, slamming against the dusky light filtering through heavy drapes. Her gaze landed on the strong line of Thor’s jaw, the dark stubble that dusted his cheekbones. His arm was draped over her waist, heavy and pos
A mug of lukewarm coffee sat untouched in Garnet’s hand, the steam swirling into the air like wisps of guilt. Shame gnawed at her insides, its acidic bite worse than any hangover she had ever experienced.Yesterday, fueled by a concoction of paranoia and anger, she had accused Bill of drugging and taking advantage her. The words, harsh and accusatory, hung in the air like thunderclouds, threatening to unleash a storm of righteous anger. But the storm never came. Thor as usual, calm and unflinching even in the most treacherous moments had simply gone and gathered all the evidence he could find and displayed it before unceremoniously kicking Laverne out of their lives. After that he had disappeared, leaving her to wonder where he had gone and she had gone home after work waiting for him to return. She had spent all night pacing about and wondering where he was. The truth had at last laid to rest the seed of paranoia which had taken root deep in her mind from the first time she had met
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 h
Edward’s knuckles were white as he gripped the file folder, the weight of its contents pressing down on him. He had spent days hunched over dusty ledgers, blurry surveillance footage, and cryptic emails which had eventually painted a picture, a dark canvas splattered with the names of the some of the elite of the city, The Big Tree they called themselves. The very organization That Thor had seen among the box in his grandfather’s home which had held some of the momentos of his parents lives. He had not known what to expect but surely not this, its tendrils weaving through business deals gone sour, livelihoods shattered, and in Bill's case, lives stolen.Thor sat across from him, eyes expectant and afraid of what the thick folder held. It had been weeks since Edward had gone on this fact finding mission and he had been worried about him but Edward was a capable man and he had proved that by coming back not just unharmed but with the fruits of his labor. The fire crackled in the hearth
The metallic hum of servers echoed through the sterile data center, a symphony of digital activity composing the lifeblood of Titan Industries. Thor himself, a titan of the tech world, surveyed the blinking LEDs and whirring fans with a proprietary gaze. His brow, usually a sculpted stoicism, furrowed with a gnawing unease. The morning had begun with a tremor, a subtle glitch in their financial software that left a bitter taste on his tongue. It was a whisper, a canary in the coal mine, and Thor's instincts, honed by years of navigating the treacherous terrain of the technological jungle, shrieked a warning.He strode towards his Chief Technology Officer, Anya, a whirlwind of purple hair and steely resolve. "Glitches, Anya? In our system? That's like finding an errant brush stroke in the Mona Lisa."Anya, ever the calm counterpoint to Thor's tempestuous nature, pursed her lips. "It is just a hiccup, Thor. We're running diagnostics."Hiccup? Thor snorted. This felt more like a full-bl
“I am sure it is perfect!” Garnet squeaked and ran out of his office before he could insist.The thought of being in that room with all those toys made her skin tingle. Ever since that night she found herself getting lost in her fantasies about Thor and even though he never tried to share the bed with her she realized that she craved his touch and it embarrassed her.She just could not understand how he was acting calm in the face of the destruction being wrought on his company. Titan Industries was the trending topic everyone.*The polished mahogany doors of the auction house loomed before Garnet as she paced through the hallway. A tremor of unease ran down her spine, recently she had thought that she and Thor were getting better in their relationship but he suddenly seemed to withdraw from her without any cause. He had been the one to inform her that they would be attending this auction for the Cheryl Buck Charity and now he was the one running late. She hated to be alone at these
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
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
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 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
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 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,
The early morning sun, a pale ghost against the dew-kissed windows, found Garnet still in bed, a half-finished mug of chamomile tea sat untouched on the bed stand beside her. Sleep, that elusive butterfly, had finally fluttered in after several hours of tossing around restlessly in bed. Atlas’s exit last night had left behind a gnawing anxiety that had her twisting the sheets into tight knots and being unable to sleep. Today, the silence in their home felt more pronounced, the air thick with an unspoken question: what was coming after, would he grant her wishes?A sharp rap at her door startled her into wakefulness, shattering the fragile peace she had been enjoying. She sat up, heart hammering against her ribs like a trapped bird. Who would be knocking on her door so early in the morning? Crystal usually let her sleep in for as long as she wanted and would not come up unless summoned. Was Thor back with some scary pronouncement? She climbed out of the bed and padded to the door and
“Well well well, if it isn’t Garnet.” Andrea said jovially and leaned forward to kiss the sides of Garnet’s cheeks while Garnet stood stiffly and stared at Thor who looked back at her nonchalantly.“What are you both doing here?” Andrea asked.“The same thing as you I expect.” Garnet answered churlishly. “Celebrating freedom.” “What a surprise , I did not expect to see you here."Bill," Mr. Smith's voice, a practiced charm, cut through the music. "Garnet. What a surprise." His smile was polished, devoid of the cracks their divorce had etched.Garnet's smile was like ice cracking. "And I did not expect to find you celebrating, Richard," she replied, her voice laced with venom. "Though I suppose drowning your sorrows in champagne is one way to deal with a failed marriage."A humorless chuckle escaped Thor. "Hardly a failure, my dear. Merely a...reconfiguration." He gestured towards Andrea. "I’m sure you know Andrea. She has graciously offered to help me with the transition."Andrea’s fe