"Well, hello to you too," he replied dryly, adjusting his glasses with dramatic flair.
"Oh, I missed you so much, Daddy. How was your honeymoon? It was adequate," he added in a sing-song voice, mockingly playing both parts of the conversation.
Drake cleared his throat awkwardly.
"Daddy, quit it!" Queen snapped.
"Okay, okay!" Richard relented, finally picking up the sheet and scanning it, while Queen began tapping her foot at 120 BPM.
"She terminated her contract," Queen blurted, unable to wait another second.
Richard sighed and adjusted his glasses again.
"Well," he said finally, "she is well within her rights to do so."
Queen whirled around to face Drake, eyes narrowed.
"Did you know?"
Drake looked up from his chair.
"I have no idea who or what you’re talking about," he replied, hands raised in surrender.
Chayara. She sent an email this morning from an attorney."
"I didn’t know but why not speak to her." Drake advised.
"Your husband is right. I know this is business and you have to handle it that way but she is also family and it looks like that’s why you are pissed. Because you didn’t expect to be dumped by soone so close." Richard added.
"No. that’s not it. Chayara is good at what she does. Sales of our designs have skyrocketed since she began consulting. I cannot find a replacent and honestly, I am getting tired of pleading with her. It took months to get her as a consultant." Queen explained.
"No one is indispensable, Queen. When you take over this seat, you have to realise that."
Queen turned to Drake. "Talk to her!"
"Yes ma’am." Drake gave a mock salute.
*****
Chayara smiled as the knock ca on her door. She had been expecting it all morning. Her lawyer had confird that the termination letter had been emailed. Chay took a final look at herself in the hallway mirror and, satisfied, opened the door.
"Hey, Newly Married," she said sweetly.
"Cut the crap, Chay," Queen snapped as she strutted into the apartnt. She was wearing her business face, the one she reserved for contract negotiations.
"O...kay," Chay said, drawing out the word and closing the door behind her with a soft click. Her heartbeat quickened, but her face remained calm and composed. This wasn’t about Queen. Not anymore.
Queen turned on her, eyes narrowing. "Are you going sowhere?" She scanned Chay. "You look like you’re heading out for a job interview."
Chay looked down at her outfit as if seeing it for the first ti: tailored black pants that hugged her hips perfectly, a crisp white blouse tucked in just so, black stiletto heels she hadn’t worn since Nita bought it for her during a shopping spree a year ago and a delicate pair of gold hoops swaying from her ears. Her hair was slicked back into a high ponytail.
"Is that... makeup?" Queen’s eyes widened. "And jewelry? Who are you?"
Chay laughed with genuine amusent. "Queen, I do own more than sweatpants. I have a business eting today. And errands."
Queen blinked. "You’re wearing mascara."
Chay tilted her head. "I might’ve gone a bit too far with that one."
"Oh, for—what the fuck is going on, Chay?" Queen burst out. "You quit. You didn’t even talk to about it. And now you’re what... what are you doing?"
"I’m starting a business," Chay replied. "I didn’t an to blindside you, I swear. I just... I don’t want to chicken away which is why I made moves instead of talking about it."
"You’re starting sothing of your own?" Queen asked in disbelief. "What’s the point, Chay? Nuro Corp has always been waiting for you. I an, we used to joke even when we were still in school you knew better than our top designers. You were fifteen."
Chayara folded her arms, her face calm. "That’s the thing, Queen. Nuro Corp isn’t just about clothes. You’re in beauty, lifestyle, tech, entertainnt, philanthropy, gas, real estate."
Chay kept going. "But Nuro Clothings is just one cog in the machine. It’s sothing you keep around to generate passive inco while you chase newer, shinier empires. I want sothing that’s mine. I want to build sothing from the ground up, where my ideas aren’t filtered through your board of directors. I want sothing with my na."
Queen cocked her head slightly. "Your na is Nuro, Chay."
"But I want Chayara. I want to be seen. I want to hear my na in a room and know it’s because of . I don’t want you to be the one to rescue out of situations. I want my na to speak for . My na, Chayara."
"So what you’re saying..." Queen narrowed her eyes. "Is that you’ve decided to be my competitor."
Chayara nodded. Slowly. "I guess so. Though I doubt you’ll have to worry about anyti soon. I an, I haven’t even finalized my brand logo yet."
Queen walked around the room slowly, circling Chayara. "I know your work, Chay. I’ve seen what you can do with your art and designs. Don’t flatter by pretending you’ll take long. I give it six months before your na is trending."
She dropped her designer tote on the coffee table with dramatic flair and closed the space between them. Without a word, Queen reached up and slipped the band out of Chayara’s hair, letting her tight curls tumble around her shoulders.
"It looks better this way," Queen said, almost wistfully. "There’s so sexiness to it. Trust , your sex appeal will get you through the door before your brilliance does."
Chayara blinked. "Wow. Um. Thank you? I think?"
Queen didn’t smile. She looked her square in the eye and placed both hands gently on Chay’s shoulders. "I love you, Chay. I really do. You’re one of the best things in my life. But if you’re going to stand across from in the sa arena, you’d better have a spine of steel because I will crush you the mont you beco a threat."
Chay stared back, heart pounding in exhilaration. Taking on Queen Nuro was invigorating.
"I’d be scared," Chay said with a snort, tucking a stray curl behind her ear, "if I didn’t know you’ve always been this competitive.."
Queen gave a playful roll of her eyes and tossed her perfectly glossed curls. "Well, I do always like to win. Is that a cri?" She looked around the apartnt. "Anyway, you ready to head out?"
@AVP: Thanks for the push. You are the reason I picked this up once more.
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