The Clock Is Ticking – Episode 20

Sequence 20

 

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‘That’s your child?’ she asked staring at the photo on Mattie’s desk, it was a photo of Trinny.

 

‘Yes,’ Mattie nodded her head

 

She picked up the picture and stared at it for a few minutes then she put it back on the table.

 

‘Beautiful child you have.’

 

‘Thanks.’

 

‘How old is she?’

 

‘4.’

 

‘I have a six year old boy.’

 

‘That’s nice,’ Mattie politely said but deep down she was irritated, her visitor was wasting her time asking irrelevant questions when she had deadlines to meet.

 

‘Ya.’

 

‘Sorry I didn’t get your name and what can I do for you this afternoon?’

 

‘My name is Zita,’ she smiled, ‘I heard about your work through a colleague and I

 

must say I was impressed.’

 

‘Thank you.’

 

‘How much do you charge for a photo shoot?’

 

‘Our price depends on the type of photos you are looking for.’ ‘I want an outdoor birthday themed shoot,’ she said

 

‘Oh great! We have different packages for that,’ Mattie said before she handed her the quotation with their prices.

 

‘This looks good,’ she responded after going through it.

 

‘Okay.’

 

‘I will go for this package with k25 photos and two picture frames.’ ‘Okay.’

 

‘Are you available this Friday at 2pm?’

 

Mattie flipped through the pages of her daily planner to see if she was free on Friday.

 

‘Friday is fully booked but I have an opening for Saturday 2pm. would that work for you?’

 

‘Yes that would be fine.’

 

‘Great then please fill in your details in this,’ she handed her an appointment form. Mattie waited for a few minutes until Zita filled in her details then afterwards she handed it back to Mattie.

 

‘I will make payments on Thursday is that okay?’ ‘That’s okay with me.’

 

She smiled, ‘I look forward to working with you.’

 

‘You won’t regret choosing captured moments, here we guarantee complete satisfaction with all our prints and products.’ ‘Thank you very much,’ she stood up.

 

‘I am very excited to shoot with you my assistant will send you a Prep Cheat Sheet on Friday to help you prepare for this photo shoot.’ ‘I will be waiting.’

 

‘Sure.’

 

‘It was nice meeting you Mattie,’ she extended her hand.

 

Mattie took it and said, ‘Likewise.’

 

Mattie walked Zita out of her office and when she was finally out of sight she went back in.

 

 

She sat at her desk and began to edit some photos, she was a few sessions behind and one of her clients was scheduled to submit her photos in two days time. *****

 

Zita stepped out of the office and walked down the block to where the car had been parked. Her feet were killing her she wasn’t used to wearing high heels.

 

She removed her shoes as soon as she jumped into the passenger seat of the car.

 

‘How did it go?’ He asked

 

‘Great.’

 

‘Good.’

 

He started the car and they drove off. The drive back home was a long and quiet one.

 

Zita couldn’t stop thinking about Mattie , the woman was more beautiful in person, her skin was clear and smooth plus her body was curved in the right places -not an inch of fat, no wonder Thomas was obsessed with her, how could she honestly compete with that.

 

‘I can’t allow her to have Thomas after all we have been through together, I will have to get rid of her,’ she thought to herself.

 

They got home about an hour later, he asked her to pour him a drink as soon as they walked into the living room.

 

She nodded her head and walked over to the other side of the room then she poured his drink as he had ordered.

 

She handed him the drink and stood beside him.

 

Thomas sipped on it daintily and stared at her.

 

‘Did you manage to get me any relevant information?’ he asked

 

‘Yes master.’

 

‘I am all ears.’

 

‘Well, when I got to her office she was having lunch with the same man you showed me.’

 

‘And?’ he anxiously asked

 

She remained silent.’

 

He drew in a controlling breath, shooting her and impatient glare.

 

‘I asked you a question.’

 

She bit her lower lip, ‘Master, those guys are in a relationship and from the look of

 

things, they are set to get married soon.’

 

‘What?’ he asked, his tone was raised.

 

‘They couldn’t stop holding hands and staring at each other,’ she lied ‘No,’ he yelled angrily consumed by rage and ready to explode.

 

 

Zita strolled up to him and wrapped her hands around him and tried to pull him into a kiss.

 

He pushed her off him, ‘What are you trying to do?’ he yelled ‘Can’t you see that she will never love you as much as I do?’

 

She threw herself back at him and starting kissing him while attempting to remove his shirt. He pushed her this time harder and she fell down on the floor.

 

‘Mattie is mine and only mine,’ he said through clenched teeth.

 

‘She doesn’t love you.

 

His hands began to shake in rage, he pounded the wall with his fist so hard he dented it and injured his hand.

 

‘Master!’ she stood up when she saw blood dripping from his hand.

 

‘She is mine,’ his face grew contorted and turned red as he continued screaming.

 

She silently watched as he got out of control.

 

‘Don’t you ever say she doesn’t love me ever again,’ he said when he was calm.

 

She remained silent.

 

‘You will go back to that studio and you will ensure that Mattie becomes your friend and when she least expect it, we will strike.’

 

****

 

Back at the office, Chard glanced at the computer set on his table in front of him his mind was only half on the sales concept displayed on the screen. The other half was with Mattie he couldn’t stop thinking about her if it were up to him he would spend the whole day by her side.

 

His office door flew open startling him from his reverie.

 

‘Hey brother,’ Maya excitedly greeted him.

 

‘Don’t you knock,’ she rolled her eyes.

 

‘Oh please.’

 

She sat down.

 

‘What if I was in a meeting?’

 

‘I would have joined that meeting then.’

 

He laughed, ‘I am not fine Chard.’

 

‘What’s wrong?’ he asked concerned.

 

‘Pregnancy isn’t child’s play my brother, I am tired.’

 

‘You haven’t even gone half way and yet you are tired.’

 

‘You wouldn’t understand.’

 

‘Then why are you telling me.’

 

‘You are such a bum.’

 

‘Whatever!’

 

‘Salma came home.’

 

‘What did she want?’

 

‘She asked me to talk to you.’

 

‘Don’t tell me that’s why you are here.’

 

‘She has been bugging me, what went wrong this time around.’ ‘I am trying to put my life in order.’

 

He gave her a quizzical look, ‘What has that got with dumping Salma?’ ‘I want to do away with women for now.’

 

She laughed, ‘This is me you are talking to.’

 

‘I am serious.’

 

‘Who is she?’

 

‘Who is who?’

 

‘The new girl you are sleeping with.’

 

‘I am not sleeping with anyone.’

 

‘So you want me to believe that you left Salma to be alone.’ He scratched the top of his head, ‘Well there is someone.’ ‘I knew it.’

 

‘But this time things are different.’

 

‘Oh.’

 

‘We are just friends.’

 

‘Since when do you have female friends?’ ‘People change.’

 

‘You are my twin I know you better than you know yourself.’ ‘I am serious.’

 

‘You are not joking?’

 

‘No.’

 

‘Who is she?’

 

‘Mattie.’

 

‘The last time we talked you hated her, how come you are now friends?’ ‘Well I took time to know her.’

 

‘Chard that girl looks decent the last thing I want is for you to hurt her.’

 

‘I won’t I swear.’

 

‘You like her?’

 

‘Kinda.’

 

Maya smiled, she knew her brother very well and from the way his face brightened up when he talked about her, she knew he was being sincere about how he felt. ‘So tell me about her.’

 

‘Well Mattie is different from everyone I have been with, she doesn’t judge me,

 

she doesn’t throw herself at me and she knows exactly what she wants in life, I like

 

a woman who stands up for something.’

 

‘Mmmmmm.’

 

‘What?’

 

‘I am impressed.’

 

He shook his head he knew his sister was just mocking him.

 

****************

 

TBC

 

 

The Clock is Ticking

 

Ella❣