One Night With Mr Braxton

Emma and Asher sped through the city in silence; dressed in formal attire. Since they began their journey, Asher maintained silence, refusing to divulge information on where they were headed.

” Are you a serial killer?” Emma voiced out, while trying to guess their destination.

He huffed, and kept his eyes on the road.

” Okay, I’m getting confused. Where on earth are we headed.” She deadpanned, already tired of guessing.

” Are you scared?” His question surprised her. Or maybe the fact that he responded to her.

” Pfft. Of course not!” She spoke flippantly, ” You said to dress formally, which translates to it being important. I need to know what it is, call it a heads up.”

” You don’t need to know.” He stressed with a smirk,

” If you need to meet important people, maybe your wife shouldn’t be the fish outside the water.” She slowed to a whisper, ” Trust me, they’ll know something’s up.”

” And why should I care about what anyone thinks they know?” She shook her head, she couldn’t win with him. ” Listen,” He continued, ” We’ll be the most important ones there, If not the only ones.”

” What do you mean?”

” Just, hold your horses, we’re almost there.”

Asher picked up the pace, while Emma pondered on his words; mentally preparing herself for whatever laid ahead of them. A few minutes later, she noticed the car slow to a stop. She looked around and what she saw took breath out of her lungs.

” What is this?” She squeaked,

Asher crumpled at her words, this was stupid. ” You don’t know? Never mind, this was a mistak-”

” Calm your horses!” Emma said, stopping him from restarting the car. ” Of course I know what it is, I’m just wondering what we are doing here.” She explained.

” Let’s find out then.”

Asher got out of the car, speed walked to her side and opened the door like a gentleman.

” Chivalry isn’t dead after all.” Emma stepped out of the car, still in awe at the gallery before her. An art gallery.

Asher led the way, directing them to the front door, and ushering her into the place. He watched her swallow as her steps slowed. No doubt taking in the place.

” This is- This is beautiful.” She walked on the pristine marble floors, awed by the refined black and white theme that spread through the entire space.

Something stood out to her, They were the only ones here. Her brows furrowed and she turned to her husband who stood beside her, watching and studying.

” Where’s everyone?” She asked, still looking around for someone. There wasn’t even a doorman and the place was open. Two things: Either they were trespassing or it was a private viewership. Something told her it was the latter.

” Rented the place. It’s just us.” His words confirmed her thoughts.

Asher watched his wife smile spread into a full grin. She was happy, he loved that. What he wouldn’t do to keep it that way!

” Really?!” She shrilled, picking up her steps towards the artworks being displayed. ” These are beautiful, thank you.”

Emma felt overwhelmed, surrounded by pieces from great artists, replenished her strengths and brought the desire to return to her craft. As a young child, she remembered visiting art houses with her parents, especially her mum. It was a thing with the Steele household until her mother’s untimely demise.

With time, she stopped asking to be taken out on their beautiful trips, chalking it down to the fact that it might be too painful for her father, knowing it was her mother’s favourite pass-time and date. For her, art pieces represented good memories and a way to reconnect with her creative spirit.

Hence the many pieces she collated and kept with her heart; now stolen by the ones she was stupid to trust.

Asher watched his wife analyze each piece, he supplied information on everything like some tour guide until the last piece. By the time they were done, he was surprised at the amount of energy she exuded. It took a lot to take her out in time for their second stop.

By now, Emma could perceive this was a date. She refused to dwell on it though, taking everything one breath at a time. They ate dinner, in which she did the majority of the talking-happily so- and they got on their way home.

” Thank you for tonight.” She spoke as the car stopped.

He grunted, ” One more thing before we call it a night.”

There was more? Now she was scared, taking her out was kind, getting dinner, inevitable. But more? That was pushing it. What did she do to deserve such treatments anyway?

Asher opened the door, waiting for her to step out. Emma followed him inside the house, in the living room, were: Jason, Bianca and Rebecca; fixing a jigsaw puzzle.

” Here they are! How was the date, Emma?” Bianca asked, jiggling her eyebrows, while Rebecca sported an eyeroll.

” Its- It was-”

” Mind your business.” Asher shot back, holding a scary look.

” With a face like that, I won’t be surprised if it turned out bad, put on a smile man. It’s free.” Jason dropped his two cents on the matter, still invested in the puzzle.

” Shut up.” Emma felt a hand cover hers, ” Let’s go.”

Together, they climbed the stairs while Emma held her breath- hyper aware of their interlocked hands. They stopped in front of a door and he let go of her hand.

” Wait.” He pulled out a single key and opened the door. ” Ladies first,”

Emma swooned, taking little steps inside the dark room. Nostalgic thoughts kicked in and she halted, unable to proceed into the dark. Suddenly, light flooded the room, she turned just in time to meet Asher’s hand on the flip switch.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

He nodded, silently urging her to proceed. Emma looked around, blinked and looked again. She pinched herself- an attempt to confirm if it was real. Her feet moved of their own accord, drawn by what she saw, and in no time, her fingers were brushing a set of pencils, graphite, conte-sticks, papers, drawing boards and stands, stools, easels, etc.

A walk-in Art-Studio.

Her eyes blurred and she turned back to the man who made it possible. ” What is this?” She asked in the softest voice.

” It’s yours. My wedding gift to you.” His answer was prompt, and straight to the point.

Emma felt overwhelmed, everything hitting her at the same time. No one has gone through such length for her. Not even her father. She could feel the amount of thought that went into the making and her heart filled with gratitude.

Gratitude to a man who did so much when he didn’t have to. Took proper care of her without questions asked, she never saw it in this fashion before. Lost in her emotions, she walked towards him and covered him in a tight hug. Refusing to let go for the longest period of time.

” Thank you.”

*****

Time passed and things progressed. The opening of Soul-Shoes drew closer, throwing Chara and Emma into rounds of intensive work in preparation for the Grand-Opening. Busy working on the company’s first collection of designs, Emma placed everything else in the capable hands of Chara. Only receiving daily reports on the progression of things.

Chara, in all humbleness, felt awkward, standing as the acting CEO of the company. It was nothing she couldn’t handle but in the first instance, she struggled with getting the right fits for the available positions, everything with the progress of the company was placed in her hands- something she considered a privilege and show of trust- and she couldn’t condone anything other than success.

There was no room for failure.

Her conviction showed in her attitude towards the work. Everything was going smoothly with the set up and preparations for the office launch. Emma made it clear that she was to be at the fore-front of the matter, reducing herself to being an anonymous designer who would in due time be revealed to the world.

Chara didn’t understand the basis of her reasoning but went along with it. If Emma didn’t want her name out there, she would try her best to represent her in the best way possible. She owed her so much, having trusted her and employed her father to head in the shoe constructing department- A news that brought an outpour of life and happiness in her family.

After a few weeks, Emma handed in the copy of the selected designs for the Soul-Shoes Debut in the shoe industry. Work kicked off behind closed doors, with employees working tirelessly to meet up with the deadline for the official launch. As expected, Emma was on top of the situation while she prepared for her reveal to the world as Asher’s wife.

One would think a press statement or release would do the job but that didn’t scratch it. Lately, the couple visited a lot of people- visits that consisted of Asher introducing her to ‘important people’- promising to inform and invite them for the official event.

Safe to say she was as busy as it gets.