Katherine slapped Braylee across her face. “I don’t have to listen to this nonsense!” She attempted to leave the room, but Braylee was quick.
She blocked the doorway so her mother couldn’t leave. “You’re going to listen to me! Did you know you’re the reason I have such complexes!” Braylee looked around the room. “I can’t stand flowers because of this house! After daddy would beat you, he’d give you flowers to make up for it. You stayed all those years and let him abuse us in exchange for some flowers?”
Now Stephanie was crying. “Braylee please stop. That was a long time ago.”
“It was just like yesterday for me. Mama’s voice is always in my head.” Braylee started to mimic her mother. “Stand up straight Braylee, you’re never going to amount to nothing Braylee. Girl, don’t ever cut your hair, you’ll look just like a boy, and no man will ever want you.
“It didn’t matter what I did no matter how perfect I tried to be, or how many A’s I brought home; you always made me feel as if I were such a disappointment! Even now…I take care of everybody in this house, and it’s never enough.”
Her chest was heaving up and down. Katherine Hinsdale just looked right through her. “What do I have to do to get your attention, Mama? What?” Braylee looked over and saw a pair of shears on a table next to a potted plant. She snatched them up. “Do I have to do this?” She grasped a bunch of her long hair in her hands and cut it.
Stephanie screamed and got up to try and stop her. “Braylee stop! Stop…Oh god please stop!”
Braylee pushed her away and kept snipping. “Okay…I see that doesn’t work.” She threw the shears down. “Maybe I need to do this!” She started knocking the potted plants and flowers off of the shelves.
Her mother seemed to come out of her shell. “Stop it Braylee. Stop it!” She crawled around on the floor trying to pick up her precious flowers and plants.
Still breathing heavily and covered in dirt, Braylee stilled. She watched as her mother was crawling around on the floor crying out and trying to save her plants, screaming. “Get out of my house Braylee! Geeettt ooout! I wish you’d never been born!”
Her father rushed into the house. “I can hear y’all from outside.” He looked around the room wide-eyed. “What in the hell is going on in here?”
Braylee looked at him and shook her head. “I think me and Mama have finally come to an understanding.” She was devastated.
She picked up her keys and her purse and walked out of the house.
“Bray, this isn’t your fault, but you and Mama have to fix this.” The look of worry was clearly evident. “She is not taking her medicine. You do understand what that means?”
Contemplative, Braylee nibbled on her bottom lip. When she spoke, her voice was thick, “I’ll open an account with your name on it and put money in there. Maybe if she thinks it’s coming from you, she’ll do the things she needs to do.”
Stephanie nodded. “That could work.”
Braylee coughed in an attempt to remove the emotion from her throat. “Stephanie, I’ll be keeping a close eye on this account. Don’t let me start seeing you in designer handbags! This money is for Mama and Daddy, okay?” Braylee pulled her checkbook out of her purse and wrote out a thousand dollar check. She pushed it across her desk.
Looking at the amount, Stephanie couldn’t help but tease Braylee. “Not even a small Birkin wallet?”
Braylee pointed her pen at her. “I will cut you deep.”
She threw her hands up. “I was just kidding damn. Can’t you take a joke?” Stephanie turned serious again. “I do wish things were different between you and Mama. You both are just so stubborn. I know she loves you.”
Braylee couldn’t respond. One thing she knew for certain was that wasn’t true, and there was nothing she could do to change it. “Stephanie, I have to get through some paperwork before my next meeting, but keep me posted okay?”
“Are you kicking me out of your little office?”
“First, my office is not small and second, yes. I’m kicking you out. I’ll call you later.”
Stephanie got up laughing. “Fine. I’ve been kicked out of better places than this.”
Braylee smirked. “No, you haven’t.”
Chapter 4
Nate tapped once on Braylee’s door before coming inside. His voice was low—serious. “Your appointment is here.”
Doing that thing she does with her eyebrow were she only raises one of them, she looked at him, then her phone. “You couldn’t buzz to let me know that?”
He didn’t respond with the usual sarcastic scowl or even a mischievous smile. There was nothing. “No. You’re supposed to be meeting with a Victor Manor of The Manor Group, Inc. Instead there is a big ass bodyguard in our lobby with a woman. A stunningly beautiful woman.” This time, it was him who looked at her questioningly. “Does the name Gina Lee Xiou ring a bell? If it doesn’t, it should.”
Instantly, The Mask appeared. Old habits die hard. Braylee gently placed the sterling silver pen in her hand on the desk and leaned back into her chair. She steepled her fingers together and taped them on the bottom of her chin. “Interesting. Well well well…she’s here. By all means, please send her
