His Mistress, Her Nightmare (COMPLETED)

Wishful Thinking

"Soooooo." My mom starts. My parents brought me into their room, minutes before my graduation celebration. Family is already here and so is Ella. "Your dad and I thought this through." They're attempting to tell me what my graduation gift is. I know it's not a car, because the one I have is just fine. "You better love us, little girl." My dad points. "Daddy you know I do. What is it?" I ask anxiously. "Here." My mom hands me a small envelope. Okay, so maybe it's money. I open the envelope and it's not just any money. "$20,000?!" I yell. They can't be serious. My parents are wealthy but this is a lot. "Here's the stipulation!" My dad says. I knew there had to be a catch. They've always given me a few hundred a month, before I started working. Nothing ever this huge. "We know you're not gonna want to stay here, after being on your own, for four years. Most of this money is going to be for your own place." My dad says. Wow. I can't believe this. Either they're really proud of me or they feel bad for me and the whole panic attack thing.

"So you have two options. 1. Pay for a whole year, at a nice apartment complex, that we approve of. Or 2. Use it as a down payment, for a house." My mom says. I do have a couple thousand saved up and my credit score is like 710, so I'd actually be able to pay my mortgage. "I don't know if I can pay you that much." My dad says. Here he goes, with the family business mess. "Babe, you know she doesn't want to work there." My mom says. Thank you. "Well give me my money back!" My dad yells. My mouth drops. "I'm just kidding, baby." My dad laughs. He's going to make me have a heart attack, now. "But what ARE you going to do?" My mom asks. I quickly tell them about my run in with Kai. I hope it's promising, because I'd love to work for them. My parents both hug me and I thank them ten times over. Now it's really time to celebrate.

A few hours into my party, I found myself looking at all of the pictures I've taken of either myself or of friends. I had a nice camera and laptop, so editing was never an issue. I already updated my resume, with all my experiences and now my degree. "Girl I know you not up in here working." Ella plops down, beside me, on the living room couch. "I told you. This is too big an opportunity to waste. I want to send him my info by today." I reply. "I guess. At least take another shot." She smiles evilly and hands me a shot of God knows what. "Alright but this is the last one. I'm still recovering, from my birthday." I say and take the shot. Gross, Hennessy. She hops back up and joins the rest of the party. My crew is out back, in the gazebo smoking. My parents approved of Blacks only, no weed, no cigarettes. Plus, it's far enough away from the house. I finalize everything I want Kai to see and send it off.

I head out to the gazebo and find my people. Even Ella and Amerie are out here, chilling with them. It's not often I see that. "Finally ready to come back to us?" Zora questions me, as I step foot inside. "Yes. I have sent the email, so now we wait." I answer. "No, NOW, we drink." Ella says, making everybody else cheer. Devin playfully rolls his eyes. "I see I'ma be taking care of somebody tonight." He jokes. "I promise you won't have to." I laugh. And for the rest of the night, I enjoy my family and friends.

I wake up the next day, around 11AM. Everybody left, close to 2AM and it baffles me, because it was Sunday. Today, I'm home alone, with Cody of course. My mom's out shopping, for a new dentist office, down the street and my dad is visiting his newest apartment community, in Buckhead. I'm hoping to hear back from Kai, today or tomorrow because tt's been a few days and I really would like to start soon, if they'll have me. Sigh. After showering and getting dressed, I make my way into the kitchen, to make some lunch. "What are we having today, Cody?" I ask. He just wags his tail. He'd eat anything I feed him. As I take out the bread, for this basic tuna sandwich I'm going to make, my phone dings. I don't think anything of it. I check my phone and nearly drop it, when I see Kai's name pop up, in my email. "My uncle would love to meet with you, Charity. If you could come in, tomorrow around 10AM, that'd be great. I know it's last minute so just let me know what works for you." I read Kai's email out loud. "Ahhh!" I scream, scaring Cody. "Oh, I'm sorry." I gently grab him and hug him. "Rainey's got an interview tomorrow." I sing. I rush back into my room, leaving my unmade sandwich, to pick out the perfect outfit.

***

I sit and wait, in the lobby of Lewis Masterworks' biggest studio in Atlanta. There are a few. I check my Apple Watch, again in hopes of it getting closer to 10AM. I got here at 9:30. There were a few other people in here, for what I assume to be interviews as well. I don't know why I assumed I'd be the only one. I roll my eyes at myself. "Charity West." The front desk clerk called my name, for me to come up to the counter. "You will be meeting with Mr. Kai Lewis, for part one, of the interview stage. His office is the second door, on the left." She says. I'm interviewing with Kai?? Where's his uncle?

I ignore my thoughts and head down to Kai's office. "Nice to see you again, Ms. West." Kai greets me. "Likewise! I'm so glad you emailed me back." I say, while taking a seat in one of the chairs, in front of his desk. "Of course. I told you I'd put in a few words and to be honest, I did a little homework." "What do you mean?" "Have you ever searched your name, in Google?" He asks. My heart sinks, knowing that the whole Marcus thing would definitely pop up. "Hey, no worries! I'm very thorough." He says, reassuring me that it wasn't an issue. "So what all did you see?" I ask nervously. "Everything that matters. We're not here to pass judgment but we do want to make sure that the people we hire, can uphold the standard and service we provide. I know shit happens, excuse my French, but sometimes things are unacceptable." Again, my heart sinks. "Let's move on to your work." He says, surprising me. Did he see the incident or not?

"I really liked this one. This is my favorite." He pulls up a picture, on a projector. Can't believe he has one and it looks so clear. It's a picture I took about two years ago, of my parents. "Aww, my parents' anniversary." I smile. We picked a perfect sunny day, to go to the park, with a lake. They both matched each other and it went beautifully, with the greenery in the background. "Now, I will say that if you work for us, we would like for you to branch out more. Most of your pictures are clearly taken at a safe distance. You need some close ups and group photos, in your portfolio." Kai says. I can agree. I've always played it safe with only one or two people. "Thank you. I definitely will work on that. Now that I've graduated, I have more time to focus on photography." "Good idea. You're well on your way."