1 Danger Coming My Way

Arriving before a megayacht where my mum's party was held, I held on to the black duffel bag where my change of clothes was kept. The bag was a fashion crime compared to the glittering gold Ellie Saab cocktail dress that I was wearing. I intended to avenge myself for being kidnapped to attend this luxurious gathering of pretentious socialites in honor of my brother's wealthy best friend's arrival in the country.

My phone was ringing and I was struggling to find it in the duffel bag.

"Where are you?" My mum was screaming against the band playing in the background.

"I'm here, mum. You need to calm down!" I screamed back.

"Don't you dare raise your tone at me, Artemis! Jason and Greg are already coming. You better get your ass up here in the yacht!" Mum barked, enunciating the 's' sound in 'ass' a little more clearly and ended the call.

I signaled the chauffeur that I am getting inside but never left his post outside the passenger car door to make sure that I am really getting in.

An hour ago, I was in my office at the company which my brother and I own and run when Alfie, my mum's secretary, entered with the security in suits.

"You're coming with me, Miss Artemis," he said in serious and demanding tone.

I took off my eyeglasses and my attention away from the computer screen. I stood and said annoyingly and surprised, "What is the meaning of this, Alfie? You can't just barge in like that!"

He sized me up and down and I saw disappointment in his eyes. He touched his earpiece and said in one breathy voice, "We gonna need an hour."

"Care to explain what is happening here, Alfie?"

"Madame H is holding a party at the yacht to welcome your brother's best friend, Mr. Gregory," he explains in his usual gay manner with a hint of excitement.

"I still don't get it what it got to do with me. And Gregory? The "super wealthy guy" (quoting in the air) that Jason met when he was in the university, like what, ten years ago?" I protested with sarcasm. "And Jason didn't breathe a word about it, and so did mum."

Alfie sighed deeply and approached me. "Miss Artemis, please forgive me. I was just abiding your mum's orders. She wanted you to be there tonight. And you know, we both don't want to disappoint her, right?" He said as he was trying to pat my shoulder. He shook his head and I know what it meant. The daughter of the owner of world-renowned modelling agency who wears green hoodie, black ripped jeans and combat boots in the office is just simply unacceptable.

I shove his hand away from my shoulder and faced him, "And if I don't want to?"

He just rolled his eyes, "Can we not just go through that again? We would just get you out of here against your will then your mum rushing in like a raging bull in your house, while all of us fearing for our termination," he said almost pleading.

I know escaping is a futile attempt and in a few moments, we were out of the all glass high-rise building where my office is in, one of the few things that my beloved deceased father left to us.

Alfie did not utter a word when we were driving home as he felt my ominous aura because of my mother's manipulative and unwanted presence in my life.

He made me wash up and left me with the make-up and glam team to help me prepare for the evening.

This happened more than a few times in my entire lifetime. Hera Goldberg is not exactly your regular mum. She was born poor and struggled through life working as a waitress until she rose to fame as a model. Then, she met and married my dad and had my brother Jason and me. Dad helped her put up her own modelling agency which she dedicated her whole life to and that is what made it ultimately successful. She had everything she wished for in life except for a daughter who would follow her steps and a supportive husband who would understand choosing her career over family.

When mum's agency went off, it affected our family that it led to their divorce. Surprisingly, dad won over the custody of Jason and I; or, we just didn't know that my mum deliberately gave it up.

Dad died when I was fifteen and Jason was already working in dad's company. According to dad's will, I have to live with mum until I am twenty five years old in order to get my inheritance. Maybe dad wanted me and mum to restore the maternal bond that we didn't have before. And I am trying to honor dad's wish so here I am, unwillingly submitting to my mum controlling my life.

I was truly convinced that mum has no mother genes in her since her only way of connecting to her daughter was kidnapping her and forcing her to train as a model, walk in the runway and posing before the camera which I did for the past eight years.