Upon waking, the room is full of smoke I wave my hands around trying to fan the smoke away from my face. I'm coughing. I realise I'm in my bed. Quickly, I jump out and open the door, where flames are blazing throughout the house.
'Mum! Dad!' I scream. Their bedroom door is locked. I use my body weight to bang into the door. I fall to the ground when I force it open. When I look up, I'm no longer in my house. I'm surrounded by trees.
'Zurielle!' Ace calls out. I stand up. It's dark, and all I can see are trees.
'Ace!' I call out to him. Relief washes over me as, Ace steps out from the trees, we smile at eachother, and suddenly a gunshot goes off.
The colour drains from Ace’s face as he presses his hand against his abdomen. Removing his hand, he looks down. Blood. He has been shot.
'Ace!' I scream as I run towards him. He falls to his knees, revealing Red Back standing behind him with a gun.
'No!' I scream. He grabs me by the hair and pushes me back. Instead of landing on dirt, I land inside some kind of box. It's the cupboard he locked me in. He closes the door and locks it.
'You are mine, Zurielle! Until you learn to obey me, you will stay in there!' He yells.
'Ace! Ace! Don’t die. Please don’t die!' I scream.
'Zurielle! Wake up!' Ace yells. I sit up suddenly, drenched in sweat, and gasping for air. Ace is sitting on the bed in front of me with his hands on my shoulders. I burst into tears, after reliving the house fire and the night Ace was shot. Ace pulls me into his chest.
'Shh… it’s okay. You’re safe. It was just a bad dream.' He whispers, rubbing my back.
'There were flames everywhere, I broke into my parents’ bedroom only to end up in the woods. You were calling out to me trying to find me. Red Back appeared, he-he shot you and locked me in that cupboard again. It felt so real Ace, it felt so real,' I cry.
'I’m safe now Zurielle. So are you. No one will ever harm you again. You have been calling out for me a lot in your sleep recently, but tonight you were hysterical. I had to wake you up. I think you may be suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. You never really had the chance to talk to anyone properly about everything you have been through and you still haven’t taken your parents out of that cardboard box. I noticed you hid them in a cupboard...' He says, concerned.
Wiping the tears from my face, I look into his eyes.
'I don’t want to talk about it, any of it. I just want to pretend none of it ever happened,' I sob.
'It has been incredibly difficult for you, Zurielle, but it's haunting you. You can only avoid these things for so long. They will always come back to you. Perhaps, I can organise to get you some counselling or see a therapist?' He suggests.
He is right; I can’t keep putting it all at the back of my mind. The truth is, it's not just affecting me at night. I have become quite jumpy at work when colleagues greet me and talk to me, unexpectedly. Sometimes, in the elevator, I’m claustrophobic. It feels like I’m in that locked cupboard. Being sexually intimate with Ace is the only thing that pushes it away.
'Please, Zurielle, I think it will help you a lot if you speak to someone,’ he reassures me.
'You're right. I need to deal with these traumas. I don’t want to do it alone.'
'I’ll go with you.'
I nod and close my eyes for a moment. I'm leaning against Ace's chest, and he caresses my face until I fall asleep.
When I wake up, I stretch my arms out and look around, adjusting my eyes. Ace isn’t in the room. I turn and look at the clock. 9.43 am. I hurry out of bed and into my wardrobe throwing something on as quickly as I can. I'm meant to be at work at 9am. Why didn’t Ace wake me?
Once I'm dressed, I race downstairs to find Ace in the kitchen.
'We're late for work and you aren’t dressed?' I say, confused. Ace smiles and hands me a mug of warm almond milk.
'I wanted you to sleep as long as you could, since you haven’t been sleeping well lately,’ he frowns.
'What about work?' I ask, sipping the drink.
'I’m the boss. I don’t need permission to take the day off. Besides, I’m more worried about you. I have organised for you to start seeing someone, to help you through things. We see her this afternoon,' he smiles.
'Oh, that was quick.'
We arrive at the building and we are called into an office. A woman shakes my hand.
'You must be Zurielle. You can call me Libby.’ She smiles. 'Please, take a seat.’ She gestures.
Ace sits on the two-seater couch; I'm feeling quite anxious about being here. I sit next to Ace as close as I can. He takes my hand, holds it in his lap, and caresses the back of my hand with his thumb.
'Zurielle, I want to talk to you about your life before you met Ace. Let’s begin with your home life, growing up, and anything over those years that made you uncomfortable. Also any traumatic events that may have happened.'
'Okay. I'm an only child. I had a really good childhood. My parents were always there for me. I did well at school and at piano. My fondest memories are playing the piano for my parents. They loved it when I played for them. They would always stop what they were doing and stand near the piano and watch. Nothing bad ever happened while I was a child, but when I was a teenager, I did start to become uncomfortable around people. Mainly at my dad’s work functions and public events where there were lots of men,' I admit.
'What made you uncomfortable being around men?' Libby asks, curious, and scribbling on her notepad.
'I-I um, they... the way they stared at me. I didn’t like it and I was more uncomfortable that my parents noticed too. I was constantly stared at by men I paid them no attention. In fact, Dad told me how proud he was that I was so attentive at the speeches. I ignored the stares and inappropriate comments they made, when no one was looking.'
Ace is a little annoyed by what I have said. He relaxes and rubs my hand.
'It’s okay, Zurielle. I’m not annoyed at you,’ he says reassuringly. I nod and force a smile.
'Did your father ever say anything to any of the men about their inappropriate stares and behaviour towards you?' She asks.
'I’m not sure. His business suddenly went downhill. It would explain why he lost so many clients if he had warned them. He always reminded me not to trust men, any man, that they are selfish, and only want one thing from me. I knew he meant sex, even though he didn’t directly say it. He said they will use me, toss me aside like a toy, and I will get hurt. That I need to find a man who loves me for me. Who knows I’m intelligent, kind and compassionate. Probably an impossible task, he once said.' I frown at the memory.
'Well, you're here with Mr Brightly, so it wasn’t an impossible task,' she smiles reassuringly. I smile back, before smiling at Ace.
'Oh Libby. If only you knew how impossible Mr Brightly is.' I smirk.
'I would love to hear all about it.' She smiles, and looks at Ace and I. I giggle as Ace sinks in his seat a little, nervously.
'Uh oh...' Ace whispers. I laugh and begin the story of how we first bumped into eachother.
We tell the story of how Ace and I met and our other run-ins. Libby laughs at our regular run-ins, especially at me kneeing Ace in the balls in the stairwell.'This is a very romantic and hilarious story. It sounds like this is also new to you, Ace; learning to socialise and being in a relationship. Is there a reason why you stop pursuing relationships with people?' Libby asks, focusing on Ace.Placing my hand on Ace’s back, I give him a nod and an empathetic smile.'It’s not just me who needs to heal, Ace,' I say reassuringly.He nods and sighs, and tells Libby about the horrible upbringing he had with his mother, and his first serious long-term relationship with Ava, who his mother convinced him to date. Then how after a while his mother convinced him to propose to her, only to find her cheating on him. And then how his mother passed away, but not before reminding him he was a disappointment to her.'Since that day, I haven’t pursued a relationship; friendship or romance,' Ace expla
The next day, I'm head-deep in my work. It’s almost lunchtime.'I have a, um... meeting. Will you be fine for a few hours?' Ace asks.‘Yep. I want to catch up with Cleo at some point. I’ll find her and have lunch with her.' I smile. Ace kisses me on the forehead and leaves. I have been going to all his meetings. Strange he doesn’t want me to attend this one.Stretching my arms out, I stand and take the staircase to the ground floor. I'm not comfortable being in the elevator on my own; the stairs will be the better option for now.Cleo runs up to me and embraces me in a tight hug.'Funny, we work in the same building yet we never see each other,' she jokes.'We have to make more of an effort to see each other. Also that's why I'm here. I'm hoping we can have lunch together.''Sure. I’m having lunch with the receptionists and a couple of models across the road. Come with me. You know the models. Have you met the receptionists?' She asks.My mind flashes back to when I threw cold tea at
Halfway through the work day, I suddenly remember Cora’s offer about having a girl’s weekend away glamping.'Ace, do you have anything planned for us this weekend or next weekend?''Not yet. Do you have something in mind?' He smiles.'Cora invited me and some of the other ladies to a weekend away glamping.''Glamping?' He says and raises an eyebrow.'Yeah. It’s camping, except we do girly things like paint our nails and have facials.' I laugh.'I’ll make sure you have the weekend free to join them, but I’ll organise a bodyguard or two to go with you. I’ll ask them to watch from a distance, so it will be less noticeable. I don’t want paps sneaking around, or potential threats anywhere near you.''Potential threat?' I ask with worry.'I don’t know Mark’s whereabouts, or if he plans on staying true to his word by staying away from us. My being a billionaire puts you at risk of being ransomed by thugs.''Oh... you know what? Don’t worry about it. I think I’ve changed my mind.' I say with
Hailey is literally sleeping on top of me, like I'm some kind of teddy bear. I can feel her drool dribble down my neck. I push the strands of her brown hair off my face and roll away from her. A moment later Hailey snuggles into my back and mutters something meant for Jack in her sleep. I try not to laugh and eventually fall asleep.'Rise and shine my Queens!' Cora stands in front of our beds looking like a soldier. She is wearing cargo pants with black boots and a green tank top.'Oh... were we meant to bring clothes like that?' Hailey asks, as she pulls out ten different little dresses from her bag.'Don’t forget swimwear underneath your clothes. Unless you prefer to swim in your birthday suit and wear solid shoes and pants, or your name is Hailey, and you didn’t bring any.' She laughs, and Hailey rolls her eyes at her.'I brought a couple sets of trackie pants. Here, you can wear these.' I say, handing her a pair.I'm wearing trackie pants and a crop top with boots, and my bikini u
As the sun rises, the sound of a helicopter is heard hovering in the sky. We jump up and down, and wave our arms in the air, trying to get the pilot’s attention.We slump in disappointment, as it flies past us. Sighing, I lean against a tree.‘I’m so tired, and so hungry I can barely stay awake.’ I sob.‘It’ll be okay.’ Hailey says and hugs me. I bury my face in her shoulder and look up to see Carol giving me a sympathetic look. I grab her arm, and pull her into us, hugging them both.‘I’m sorry I slapped you, Carol.’ I cry.‘No, I should be the one apologising. To both of you. You might be a little on the crazy side Hailey, but you’re quite fun to be around and you’re definitely not a bitch. If anything, I have been the bitch. Zurielle, I’m sorry about what I said about you and Ace. I was jealous because I had a crush on Ace and he turned me down a couple of years ago,’ she confesses.‘I had no idea that you liked Ace that way. He hasn’t mentioned it.’‘I used to like him. I moved on
We arrive at the penthouse, where, Martin, our chef is in the kitchen with heaps of already-made food for me to eat. I eat more than two meals. After I’ve finished, Ace suggests a shower before I sleep.‘Do I have to? I can barely keep my eyes open,’ I grumble.‘You have a bird’s nest in your hair. You don’t want the dirt on your face going onto your pillow. I’ll help you wash, then you can stay in bed and rest for as long as you want to.’ He smiles.‘For a whole week?’ I ask, and he laughs.‘If that's what you wish.’ He takes my hand, leads me upstairs, undresses me, and I step into the shower and instantly relax under the hot water. He rubs soap all over my back and down my arms. I apply double the amount of shampoo I usually would to get all the dirt out of my hair.After rinsing out the shampoo, Ace applies the conditioner and runs his fingers through my hair, to remove knots and twigs. I wash the rest of my body while Ace gets a fresh towel for me. I step out and accept the towel
I spend the next two weeks working from home until the media storm dies down.On Friday, Ace returns home, and it's the same routine as always: I stop what I'm doing, run to the door and jump up for him to catch me, and wrap my arms around his neck, and kiss him passionately.Some days he carries me straight to the bedroom where we ravish eachother, or sit on the balcony with coffees, and chat, or relax on the couch and watch a movie. Yesterday afternoon we didn’t even make it to the bedroom. We ended up halfway up the staircase completely nude. Thankfully, Martin and Belinda had gone home.‘You might want to change out of your track pants. Not that it bothers me, but, I’m taking you out tonight.’ He smiles.‘Where are we going?’‘I think it’s time we visit your friends and have some fun at the Snake Pit. What do you say?’ He asks with a grin.‘Yes!’ I run upstairs, excitedly, and step into the shower. I run into my walk-in wardrobe and toss different dresses around, trying to choose
After a magical night on the Yarra River, I’m engaged to Ace, and we beam with happiness and don’t stop smiling at eachother.‘Well, Mrs Brightly. Looks like we have a wedding to plan.’ He smiles.‘We do.’‘We’ll announce it to the media on Monday,’ Ace says, kissing my forehead.Hailey, Carol and Cleo come over to the penthouse the next day with a pile of bridal magazines.‘Oh, this dress is so you!’ Hailey squeals.‘It is very nice,’ Cleo agrees. Hailey turns the magazine around so I can view the dress.‘It’s nice, but it might be a little too revealing.’‘Well, you do have a great set of boobs Zurielle, so you should totally flaunt them.’ Hailey smirks.Ace enters the room, takes the magazine from Hailey and scrunches his face up.‘Hailey, I can practically see her nipples. I’d rather not have Zurielle’s boobs on the front cover of every magazine,’ he says.‘Okay.’ Hailey rolls her eyes. I giggle at them, before Martin places a large platter of savoury nibbles down on the coffee ta