A NIGHT WITH THE CRAZY CEO

**BRIANNA**

The cab stopped in front of my house, I payed him and alighted from the car. I walked into the house and saw my mom sleeping on the sofa. She opened her eyes a few seconds later and sat up on the tattered sofa she was laying on. She must have heard my footsteps because she is a very light sleeper.

“You came back early, didn’t you tell me you are to get off from work around six p. m. or so?” My mom said.

“I ran away from work.” I said simply and sat down on another sofa.

“What?!” She shouted incredulously.

“Why would you do that?” She asked again.

“Something came up and I had to leave early.” I stated smoothly.

“Hmm hmm.” She hummed clearly not believing me.

“I’m telling the truth, a fire started in the cafeteria and the employees were told to go to their houses so that nobody would get hurt. Besides, firefighters are there already putting out the fire so I’ll go back to work tomorrow.” I explained seriously as if I was telling the truth.

“Alright, if you say so. Did yready. t hurt?” She asked, concern clearly dripping from her voice.

“No, I’m okay. I’m gonna go take a nap before my shift in the club tonight.” I said standing up and packing my things. My mother’s expression changed slightly when she heard me mention the club. She didn’t like me working ina club because she thinks irresponsible girls are the ones working in clubs but she understood that I gotta work there to earn more money and they pay well at the club.

“Ok honey.” She said as I walked towards the staircase and climb the stairs. I stepped into my room and dropped my things on the floor. I sat on my bed and stare into space as I recalled the conversation I had with Carlos earlier in his car. Suddenly, I burst into tears, I didn’t know the reason I was crying until I had cried my eyes out. The conversation with Carlos made me remember the things that my dad did before he finally left us. It made me remember the memory I locked deep in the back of my mind.

~~~~~FLASHBACK~~~~~

It was around ten p. m. in the night and everyone in the house were sleeping already when suddenly, a loud bang was heard. The woman of the house woke up from her peaceful sleep and sighed deeply because she already knew the person that was banging on the door. The woman got out of bed and walked out of the room. She walked over to the door and opened it. A man stumbled in holding a bottle of alcohol and slurring incoherent words. The woman sighed again when she saw the state her husband was in.

“You went out drinking again Marcus. You told me you were going to visit your friends.” The woman stated.

“What I do is none of your business woman! Get out of my way, I wanna go to bed.” Marcus said incoherently that the woman almost didn’t hear what he said.

“I’m just telling you. You know drinking is not good for the body, it can damage the internal organs.” The woman said again not moving out of the way.

“Shut the hell up Caroline, don’t make me raise my hands on you.” The man warned.

“You’re not going to sleep in this house! How do you want your children to look at you if they find out their father is a drunkard.” The woman raised her voice slightly not wanting to disturb her children.

“The worthless children you gave birth to are not my children Caroline. I accepted the first one because I thought you would give birth to a boy later but you just gave birth to girls. You can go and hand them over to their biological father.” Marcus ranted.

“They are your children Marcus. When are you gonna start treating them right?” Caroline said then asked.

“I don’t care Caro. Get out of my way, this is the last time I’m gonna warn you.” Marcus warned again. When Caroline didn’t move out of the way, Marcus dropped the bottle of alcohol he was holding on the center table and pushed Caroline so hard that she fell on the floor with a loud thud. He bent down to her level, unbuckled his belt and started whipping Caroline with it.

Meanwhile, in the children’s bedroom upstairs, the oldest daughter woke up when she heard the sound of the thud and her mother’s loud cries. She got down from her bed and noticed that her baby sister had also woken up and was whimpering on her bed at the other side of the room.

“Dad is already back with his problem again. When he wasn’t around the house was peaceful and quiet.” The youngest sister, Marianna said to her older sister, Brianna.

“I know Marie, let’s go stop him before he does more damage than he has already done.” Brianna said. They both put on their flip-flops before walking out of the room. They tiptoed to the sitting room and his behind a wall where they could see everything that was happening clearly. They watched for a few moments and when they couldn’t watch Marcus beating their mother anymore, they came out of their hiding place and ran towards them.

“Stop!!!” Brianna shouted with a loud angry voice and Marcus’s fist that was about to descend on Caroline froze in mid-air. Marie ran over to their mother who was on the floor with cuts and bruises all over her body. Caroline was barely breathing.

Brianna glared at her dad furiously. She was angry that Marcus beat her mom to the extent that she almost lost consciousness.

“What are you doing kids? Go back to bed, you guys have school tomorrow.” Caroline said weakly.

“We can’t go to bed and watch this scumbag beat you to death.” Brianna said and turned to face Marcus.

“Are you crazy Marcus?! Do you want to kill my mother?!” Brianna yelled not minding the fact that she was yelling at her father and the fact that it was night and that the volume of her voice can wake the neighbors.

“What the hell Brianna, don’t you know you’re talking to your father?!” Marcus yelled back.

“You ceased being my father the day you started beating my mother.” Brianna said.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

“You useless child! You have the gut to raise your voice at me. You and your mother are birds of the same feather.” Marcus shouted and slapped Brianna hard across the face. Brianna’s head whipped to the side as she glared at her father from beneath the curtain her long hair created.

“You’re disgusting Marcus, I wish you were never my father to begin with.” Brianna said bitterly and went towards her unconscious mother and sobbing sister.

Marcus stormed out of the house and didn’t come back home until the next day.

~~~~~END OF FLASHBACK~~~~~

**BRIANNA**

Since that incident, I vowed to myself never to let a man close to my heart. I promised myself that I won’t fall in love with any man because love made my mom weak and I don’t want to end up like her.

After my father left us, my mother starved herself for months. She didn’t eat any food and just drank only water, claim that my father would come back to us and that was what made her condition worse. She would have gotten better if she was using her pills and ate foods that would supply iron but she didn’t. She kept on waiting for a man that doesn’t even care if his wife and her children are dead or alive.

I sighed tiredly and felt a faint throbbing in my head indicating that a headache is coming. It must have been from all those  crying I did earlier. I stood up from my sitting position on the bed and walked over to the only cabinet in the room and pulled out the top drawer where we keep our drugs. I took out aspirin and popped two tablets out of it. I threw it in my mouth and flushed it down with a gulp of water which I saw on the drawer.

I sat back down on my bed and a yawn escaped my mouth. I guess all the walking I did today is taking a toll on me. The thought made me angry, my mind flashed back to when I  walking under the scorchingly hot sun all for nothing then I remembered that I’m gonna get my revenge on him tomorrow if he doesn’t fire me. I lay down on the bed and closed my eyes waiting for sleep to come and it wasn’t long before I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

FEW HOURS LATER***

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I opened my eyes slightly and used my hands to search for it on the bed because I was feeling too lazy to open my eyes and search for it properly. In the process of searching for my phone, I didn’t realize I was at the edge of the bed till I moved a little and fell to the ground like a bag of sand (sometimes I forget how small my bed actually is). I opened my eyes fully when I heard someone laughing.

My eyes settled on Marianna who was sitting on her bed laughing to the extent that she was clutching her stomach and tears gathered in her eyes. I stood up and groaned when I felt my bone snap. The stupid phone rang again and I realized it was in my bag which I had dropped on the floor earlier. I took it out of the bag and saw ‘Mr. Cole’ on the screen. I pressed the answer button and put the phone to my ear.

“Hello my beautiful Brianna.” Was the first thing I heard from the other end. Mr. Cole never cease to try to get into my pants.

“Good evening Mr. Cole.” I replied.

“How’re you doing this fine evening?” He asked.

“I’m doing great sir, you?” I responded then asked for asking sake cos I don’t really care.

“I’m also good.” He said and the line was silent for a few moments before I broke it.

“Can you please tell me why you called sir? I’m in the middle of something.” I said and Marie snickered. Yeah, I’m in the middle of nursing my broken waist(just kidding).

“Ah! I called to tell you that you should come to the club by 7:30 p. m. Two VIP guests are coming tonight and I want you to be their waitress for the night.” He stated. I removed the phone from my ear looked at the time. The time was 6:45 p. m. and that means I still had a bit of time to get ready.

“Okay I would be there by 7:30.” I replied.

“Alright then, I’ll be expecting you.” He said and hung up.

“What were you laughing at?” I asked Marie.

“I was laughing at how funny you looked when searching for your phone without opening your eyes. I would have given it to you but I had fun watching you embarrass yourself.” She replied chuckling and then walked out of the room. My cheeks heat up from embarrassing myself in front of my sister, I’ll never hear the end of it.

“Whatever!” I snapped and my phone rang out again. ‘Cherry’ was the name on the screen. I answered the call and pressed the phone to my ear.

“Hey babe!” She greeted tiredly. She must have been exhausted because of her work at the restaurant. Cooking different meals for people to eat isn’t an easy job.

“Hey Cherry. How has work been today?” I greeted back then asked.

“Work has been as tedious as ever,” She replied and asked “How was your first day of work?”

“It was bad! Can you believe my new boss was the guy I kicked at the restaurant the other day? He made me get coffee for him multiple times and then he sent me to go to his house to get something he forgot but when I got there, the security told me my boss wasn’t living there. I had to check other houses under the hot sun but it wasn’t until I couldn’t find his house that I realized that I had been pranked.” I rambled and Cherry burst into laughter when she heard my story.

“Wow! You had a much more fun day at work than me.” She laughed and I frowned my face not finding what I experienced funny.

“Its nothing to laugh about Cherry, I almost died!” I said exaggerating.

“Okay I’ll stop laughing now,” She said and finally stopped laughing.

“I called to ask if Mr. Cole told you that you should come to the club early tonight.” She stated.

“Yes he did. He said two VIP guests are coming and he wants me to be their waitress.” I replied.

“He told me the same thing so that means we’re gonna be waitresses for important guests. I wonder who the VIP guests are. Well we’ll find out when we get to the club.” She said.

“See ya at the club tonight.” I stated.

“Yeah! See you tonight.” She said and hung up the phone. Whoever the very important guests are we’re gonna find out tonight. I better go start preparing then.

TBC