One Night With Mr Braxton

” Surprise!” Chara and a couple others yelled when the door opened.

” What in the world?” Emma tried to stabilize her breathing.

” I’m sorry we startled you.” Chara said and a chorus of agreement followed, ” This is your party, Emma. Don’t be shy!” She urged her into the living room.

Emma took in the lounge party in awe, slow music played in the background and there was a light chatter in the air.

” Excuse me everyone,” the public address system caught the attention of the people, ” Can we raise our glasses to toast our beloved Emma Braxton, the strongest woman I know.” She remarked and the intimate congregation clinked glasses and cheered.

Asher, watching the event from his home office, joined the party, raising a glass to the one person he figured didn’t want to see him at the moment. After thorough checks of the footage, he discovered he didn’t sleep with Rebecca. He was out of it and even defenseless to her motives but something made her retrace her steps and take some pictures of them instead. Whatever it was, he remained grateful as it helped him avert a crisis that would have lasted his entire life.

He watched Emma smile as she interacted with Chara’s father and knew he wasn’t wrong to invite the Soul-Shoes employees for the intimate event. The fact he couldn’t put a smile on her face irked him to no end. Meanwhile, Emma socialized with a glass of wine in hand, breezing through the employees from Soul Shoes but wondering the whereabouts of her husband.

She couldn’t help but wonder if he was somewhere, enclosed in ‘her’ arms for the night. The picture of him-barely clothed and in her arms etched within her mind. She hated that despite the lovely party thrown to encourage her, she couldn’t bring herself to be happy. There was something missing. The music went off and the lights dimmed.

A blue light enveloped the room and a deep voice spoke from the end of the room;

” Good evening ladies and Gentlemen. I am Asher Braxton.”

Gasps were heard around the room, including Emma’s,

” This week has been a hectic experience for my wife, who suffered all sorts of backlash from the world and even from myself. This might be the chicken way of getting out my wife’s shit list but I’ll take it if I get to see a well rested smile on her face.” His gaze fixated on the woman that took his breath away. ” I am sorry for being one of the burdens you are saddled with and promise to use the rest of my life showing you how committed I am to making you happy.” He raised a glass, ” Cheers to my super woman, Cheers to you, Emma.”

The handful of people raised a glass and Emma held back tears. She couldn’t help but notice how he toasted to her, without the burden of the last names she had to carry. Just her, just Emma. The party moved on but Asher’s eyes never left his wife. Neither did hers.

It didn’t take long before they drifted to each other.

” Can I have a moment with you?” His voice was clear and pleading. Emma nodded, overwhelmed by the emotions coursing through her.

They left the party, hand in hand, and marched into their quarters. Immediately the door shut behind them, Asher took a few large steps and went on his knees. She didn’t realize how far away she was until he spoke;

” I’m sorry.”

The words hung in the air, and she slowly turned around, ” Asher…”

” I promise I didn’t touch her, I was drunk and somehow she took advantage of that but I swear I didn’t betray you.” He begged, urging her to see reasons, ” I couldn’t betray you, Emma.”

Loss for words, she drew closer to him, and squatted. ” I’m sorry too, you know.”

” No, you have nothing to apologize for. I stupidly let that man get into my head and hurt you out of jealousy. They used my unreasonable jealousy to trigger me and I stupidly let it happen…”

Emma drew closer to him, breathing the same air he did, ” Don’t beat yourself up. We both did this. I can’t claim to be innocent when I wasn’t plain with you. I let you continue in confusion when I could have handled things better. I’m sorry.”

Their silence felt pregnant.

” The contract,” Asher finally spoke, and she swallowed. ” Let’s end this.” A frost covered her face,

” Why? Am I that terrible you can’t spend any more time-”

” Don’t! Don’t finish that sentence.”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Emma got to her feet, feeling ashamed of herself to have thought he felt something for her,

” Why? Isn’t it the truth? You know what, I’ll make things easy for you. Tear the contract, I don’t think I can continue in this anymore.” Her voice broke towards the end.

Within a second, Asher stood before her, hindering her from leaving.

” Yes. We need to shred that contract. Because it kills me to be in a fake marriage with you when all I want is the real deal.”

” W-what?”

” You heard me.. I can’t wait another second to legitimize our marriage, Emma. I don’t want a marriage of convenience. I want you, everything about you. Would you please put me out of my misery and shred that damned contract?”

Emma couldn’t speak, she couldn’t muster up enough words to express her emotions. She opted to show instead and their lips connected. Asher wasn’t having it, he broke the kiss and held her face in his palm.

” I love you.” He declared, waiting patiently for something. Anything.

Emma choked on her emotions, she couldn’t believe her ears.

” You don’t need to-”

” I love you, Asher. I love you so much.” She cut him off with a smile that mirrored his own upon hearing her.

Asher picked her up with a smile, her thighs crossed behind his torso and her back pressed against the wall.

His eyes lit with joy, ” Say that again.”

” I love you, Asher Braxton!”

Their lips connected fiercely, and together, Asher led them to bed. For the first time ever, they consummated their marriage.

******

The next morning, Emma woke up to an aroma of freshly made food. ” Asher..”

” Get up already sleepy head.” He opened the curtains and light flooded their room.

The floor littered with their clothes and it didn’t take long before she blushed red at his naked upper half. A soreness ate within her.

” Get up and eat breakfast.” He noticed her lingering gaze then added, ” Don’t get shy on me now. I’ll be back soon.”

Emma watched him walk into the shower and immediately got on her feet. She threw on some clothes and her ringtone crowded the air. Chara was on the line.

” Hey!” She greeted, stepping into the balcony.

” Hi Emma!” Chara’s voice held excitement. ” How are you doing? You slipped off before we could get to the sweet part.”

” There was more?”

” Yes, but that’s past now. I called to share some good news-” she paused, ” Well, I hope it’s good news.”

” Spit it out already, Chara.”

” The Soul Shoes are doing awesome and I might have bought out the Steele shoes during its state of bankruptcy.” She vomitted, leaving Emma stunned to react. ” Did I cross a line?” Her tone was worrisome.

” No. I was just- I wasn’t expecting that.”

” Shit! I knew it was too soon. I’ll quickly dispose-”

” Its okay, Chara. I didn’t see that coming but it’s fine. Like it or not, it is my father’s sweat and if anyone should own it, it better be me.”

Chara let out a sigh of relief. ” Thank Goodness.”

The room door opened and Asher walked in with a towel in his waist.

” I’ll finish this conversation later.” Emma ended the call without waiting for a reply.

” Who was that?” Asher asked, feeling her gaze on him,

” Just Chara.” She chirped, drawing close to him.

” And..”

” She got my father’s company.” Emma couldn’t get used to referring to Steele Shoes as a company affiliated to her. ” Apparently its currently a subsidiary for Soul Shoes.”

” How do you feel about it?” Asher asked, noticing her heavy countenance.

” I don’t know, It’s precious to my mother. Which directly makes it important to me. I don’t want it in the hands of a stranger.” She explained, ” But I don’t feel strong enough to restore it to its former state, not after how they handled it.”

” You don’t have to decide now.”

” I know.” She sighed, ” Can we please drop it?”

Asher raised his hands in surrender, ” I guess I’ll have to hold on to my question.”

” Might as well get it over with.”

” Would you like to see them? Your step mother and sisters?” He asked and she shook her head.

” I can’t see them. Not right now.” She voiced her thoughts, the pain fresh in her mind.

Asher made to speak but his ringtone wafted into the air. He excused himself and what he heard sent him down a spiral.

” Rebecca’s dead.”