Chapter 8

Athena was shocked at his words, "wha-what?" "Come on, Athena, let s get you out of that cloth first," he offered. Athena quickly clutched on her dress, she gulped and looked away from him, "I m sorry about that night, that shouldn t have happened. I was drunk, you were too, we didn t know what we were doing, so let s never talk about it, it was nothing but a mistake." Due to the fact that she had her eyes lowered, she missed the glint that flashed in his hazel eyes, he didn t linger to it and spoke almost immediately, "I never do what I don t want to do, whether drunk or not, but if it will make you feel better, then we will not talk about it and address it as a mistake, hmm?" She looked up at him then, not believing he had actually agreed to that, did he really? It was almost impossible for Frank to agree to anything she says at first, she would have to go on about it for days before he would even give in after nagging to her about it. "So now, get out of the water and let s get you out of that cloth," he added. "But you just…" She wanted to protest. "Athena, you are wet," he interrupted, "you will catch a cold, and besides, there is a party that we can t afford to miss, don t you think?" "I can t go in there anymore, I have caused enough mess." "Oh, you mean Henry? Don t worry, as long as his wife forgives him, then he has forgiven you," he smiled. "Oh, I m really sorry about that, I didn t mean for that to happen." "I know you didn t, now come on," Athena looked at him warily, "come on, Athena, don t make me prefer the drunk you." Athena heaved a sigh and finally placed her hand in his, she was shocked at how warm and soft it was, she looked up at him and he smiled, then gently pulled her out of the fountain, "thank you." "Anytime. Now come," he turned to walk back to the animal shaped flower he had come out from. "I m sorry but I really need to go now, I don t have a reason being here anymore." He turned to her then, "what did I tell you? I m not letting you run away like you did before, besides, we still have a party to attend." "I really can t go in there anymore, I-I don t want to see him and besides, my cloth is all wet." "Let me take care of that, come with me, Athena," he insisted and turned to continue on his walk, believing that she was following him. Athena stared at his tall back and shivered, she really can t walk home in her wet dress if she doesn t want to catch a cold but she also doesn t know if she should trust him. But he didn t hurt her the first time she was with him, except creeping into her dreams every night. Heaving a deep sigh, she followed to discover that he had stopped beside an open door, waiting for her to catch up. She licked her lips and went in through the door, he followed her, closing the door behind him and they were enveloped in darkness. "Follow closely, this is one of my secret doors to escape the house in case of an emergency," he grabbed her hand, "from here you can go into anywhere in the house. It s how I monitor things in my house without being spotted," he was dragging her in a long dark corridor, suddenly, he stopped and opened a door, the light from the room reflected on them and she could hear the music playing, "hmm, the party is getting lively," he motioned to someone to come closer and soon a man appeared in front of them. Athena gasped, recognizing him as the one who threw her out, the man noticed her fear and smiled, "don t worry, he won t touch you, not anymore," then he turned to Dodger, "get me Tobias, tell him to meet me in the dressing room and tell him to get me something from that his humongous wardrobe," then looking at Athena, he added, "everything should be in small sizes and tell him to hurry up, I don t want to wait for him." "Yes boss," Dodger answered and he closed the door. "Let s continue," he said to Athena in the darkness, taking her hand, he led her ahead until they came to a flight of stairs. He walked gingerly in the darkness, like he already knows everywhere while Athena grabbed tightly on to his hand and watched her steps as they climbed the stairs. They came face to face to a big door, he let go of her hand to push open the double doors and they were inside a place like a showroom, there was a huge glass wall before them and Athena walked close to it. Through it she could see the dancing guests, she even saw Frank dancing with the blonde woman he had approached after he left her. Her chest tightened at the sight and she couldn t take her eyes off of them, they looked graceful as they glided on the smooth floor. "Come on now, you will get to meet him again." Athena dabbed at her eyes and sniffled, "he doesn t want to see me, and I don t want to embarrass myself anymore by showing up in front of him," then thinking of something, she turned to him, "don t you feel embarrassed that you would be seen with me?" He smiled, "let me worry about that, now come. Tobias would be here soon and he can nag a lot if he doesn t see you or me," saying so, he opened a door and nudged with his head. Athena walked up to him, they went in through the door and came into another hall way, but unlike the first one, this one was lighted up and she could see everything they passed. The house seemed to be made up with doors and she had the idea that if she is to be left alone that she would get lost finding her away around. He walked ahead and she followed then he stopped in front of another door and opened it, he went in first and when she entered, she wowed. The room was big, there was no bed in sight, it looked like the dressing room one would find in a movie site where the actors and actresses could change their clothes. There was wall of mirrors that would show every length of a being and every side. Two big dressing tables filled with different kind of facial creams and everything a woman would need, a lot that Athena doesn t even know what they are for. "Now, go in there and get out of that clothe, you are dripping water everywhere. You can stay in a towel while we wait for Tobias," he pointed at a door. "Thank you," Athena murmured and did as he asked. When she went into the bathroom, she wowed again, there was a big Jacuzzi, another mirror and a big round bath. The walls were white and she treaded carefully, not willing to dirty anything. If she had thought Fred s bathroom was awesome and the best, then she has to rescore everything. She started taking off her clothes after wowing around; she was still in the process of taking of her underwear when she heard a voice that was sweet in the ears. "You better have a good reason for calling me out of the party, what the hell, Sean? I was having the best time of my life," the voice said. "You always have the best time of your life in parties, Tobias," she heard the man say. "How many times will I tell you, its TB, TB, Sean," the voice reprimanded. "I will try to remember now," she could hear amusement in his voice. "Now where is the girl you made me bring all these for? She better worth it because I am not dressing any kind of girl." When Athena heard that, she lost the vigor to meet the owner of the voice, she is not any kind of girl, she is the worst, even her boyfriend abandoned her because she embarrasses him. Her vision blurred and she tried to keep the tears from falling. "She is the bathroom, she is taking an awfully long time though, may be you should go drag her out," she heard him say and quickly dried her tears, took off her underwear and tied a towel round her chest. "Fine then, and yes, Hillary is asking about you, he just showed up." "Winning the best actor thrice has given him moral," the man said, "hurry up and dress her, I want to go down with her." "Oh, when was the last time you showed up with a date, Sean, I thought you hate every girl because of their fake lives?" "It s not a date per say," he said and she heard the door closed. "Yeah right," the voice said, "alright girl, I know you are in there, you can come out now." Athena heaved a sigh, ready to meet the person waiting for her, when she placed her hand on the door knob; she sucked in a deep breath and let it out through the mouth before opening the door. She stopped short when she saw the man in the room, wait? He is a man? But it s was not what she expected. He was dressed in a white shirt with three buttons open, a blue blazer on top it and then a blue pants with white shoes. He had make-up on and he hung his hand in the hair with a little flair of exquisiteness that she had never seen before. He looked at her, his eyes were aqua blue and she had every reason to believe that he was wearing contacts for it was too bright, his eye make-up made him look like Cleopatra. "Hmm, what do we have here?" He shook his head softly as he assessed her from head to toe, then he cat-walked to her. He stopped before her, she had stepped out of the bathroom by then and he waved his beautifully manicured fingers on her face, "hmm, when was the last time you had a hot bath, girl?" he clicked his tongue and popped the gum she had no idea he was chewing before, "your face is a little hard but nothing my make up can t fix, besides, you have a nice skin color, it won t be hard finding your tone," he took a step back and accessed her in the towel, you have beautiful legs, good thing the gown I brought had a split, it would do nice showing off those legs when you walk." "Hmm," he touched her face, "wow, your skin looked tough but it s actually soft, if I handle you in a few days, you would be awesome, huh," he sighed, and bat his eyelashes, "alright, let s get this beauty evolving, Sean aren t going to wait forever," he grabbed her hand and pulled her to one of the dressing chairs. "Hmm, let s start with the brow, its bushy, ha, you are going to take a lot of work, but nothing I can t handle," he smiled in appraisal of himself. Athena hadn t gotten a single word out and she doesn t even want to, it was her first time seeing a man acting just like a woman and looking beautiful with his Cleopatra eyes. She watched him rummaged a bag he picked from the chairs and bringing out all its content on the table. She stayed as silent as she could, maybe he won t find something he doesn t like about her, hopefully. As he trimmed her eyebrows, he asked, "so, how did you meet a man like, Sean? A man like him is not seen on the streets." "Huh?" Athena asked, trying not to get hair into her mouth. "Sean, don t you know him?" "Is that his name?" TB stopped what he was doing and looked at her, "did you just asked that question?" Athena was on alert, had she said something she shouldn t have? "Em…when I met him, I wasn t able to get his name." "Whoa, you don t have to meet him to know his name, he is known everywhere! Where are you from, the slums?" He asked casually, getting back to what he was doing. "Actually, yes," Athena whispered, getting him to stop on his action again. "You can t be serious." "I am," she hugged herself, waiting for him to repel her and call back Sean, telling him he can t work on her. "Wow, I guess he is at it again," TB whispered to himself, then he looked at her, "you want to be a model, girl?" "No." "An actress?" "No." "Can you sing?" "Well, I can." "So you want to be a musician then." "No." "Really? Then why exactly will he pick you? When Sean picks up girls from the streets, it s either he had seen a model in her or an actress or had heard her sing and figured she writes originals, so if you don t have any of those things, why did he pick you?" Athena rubbed her hand on her arm, "I don t know." "Hmm, what s your name?" "Athena." "Alright, Athena, I really don t know why Sean Brand brought you here but he wants me to dress you up and that s what I m gonna do. So, let s get this started," he smiled to her and continued trimming her brows while Athena thought on the name she just heard, Fred had said the party was being thrown by Brand s CEO, is he the one? And if he is, then what does he want from her? She has nothing, no talent or whatsoever, so what exactly could he possibly want? *** Sean was in the show room, watching the people dancing in his home when he heard footsteps behind him, he turned to see TB, who sighed and shook his head, "she is ready," he announced. Sean smiled, "I know you did a great a job." "Well, she is like nothing I have ever seen." "What do you mean?" "Come see for yourself," he left the room and Sean followed. When they got to the door of the dressing room, TB turned to him, "prepare to be amazed by the handwork of TB," he praised. Sean rolled his eyes, "get on with it." "Oh please, you are just a killjoy," he rolled his eyes and pushed open the door. Sean got in before he could motion him in but he stopped immediately he stepped into the room, awing at the lady in black before him. Her hair was wavy and falling on her exposed shoulders. Her eyes were highlighted with a black mascara, her lips like a red-red rose. The gown flew down on her body, enhancing all her hidden curves. The split was high up to her thigh, exposing a long beautiful fair leg, the gown fell backward like a blossoming black rose, giving the enticing of a black seductress. Even though the woman wearing it was shy, it didn t hide its beauty. "What did you do, Tobias?" Sean breathed, his eyes not leaving the seductress before him. "Oh, I merely just touched make-up here and there and boom, we had that. Honestly, her skin was better than I expected, she just needs a few creams and a hot bath for a few days and she would be flawless." "Then you are in charge of that," Sean ordered. "Huh?" TB was shocked, "Sean, I already have enough models in my hands, you can t add another." "Are you sulking?" He turned to him, "I thought you love dressing up beautiful women?" "Well…" he looked up at Sean and pouted, "alright fine, whatever you say, you are the boss. I need to get back to the party, my baby is waiting for me," then to Athena, he blew a kiss, "I can t wait to see you down there," and he was out. Sean turned to the woman before him and smiled, "I almost didn t recognize you, in fact, if I didn t know you were in here, I wouldn t know it s you." "You-you like it?" She breathed, scared of his response. "You look beautiful, Athena, just like I knew you were. Augustus would be flattered." "Augustus?" Athena asked, why does the name sound familiar? "The designer of the dress you are wearing." "Oh," no wonder the name sounded familiar, Frank had mentioned it to her once. "Now, let s go turn a few men on," he winked. "Oh, I can t go out there." Sean frowned, "why?" "Frank…" "He won t recognize you," he interrupted, "no one would." "But…" "Just stick close to me and you will be fine," he smiled. Athena sighed, she wanted to go close to him but she was afraid of taking a step, she has never stood on a six inches heel before, "I can t walk," she announced, embarrassed. Sean smiled and closed their distance, he showed his arm to her and she looped her hand in it, "like I said, stick to me and you will be fine," he winked, "oh and, Athena, this is just the beginning. Welcome to my world," he grinned before leading her out of the room.