A Baby For Billionaire Knox

THEME: A fugitive

FLASHBACK

GOLD MYNES MODELLING AGENCY

“I can’t find her around.” Vins said over the phone as his eyes searched the hall filled with people.

“I can’t find her too.” Mary Ann replied as she walked down the hallway.

“So what do we do?” He asked.

“I’ll try to find out from.. someone.” And then Mary saw Mrs Elaina Martins with the executive worker.

“I’ll call you back.” She ended the call.

“Hello, Mary Ann.” Mrs Elaina Martins greeted as their gaze met.

“Good day ma’am.” The exchanged pleasantries.

“Wow.. it is so good to see you again.” Mrs Elaina Martins smiled.

Mary Ann faked a smile. “I am glad to see you too.”

Mrs Elaina nodded. “Have you seen Knox? Does he know you are around?” She asked.

“No. Actually, I have been trying to find him.” Mary Ann replied.

“He is in the dressing room.” Mrs Elaina responded.

“With.. Eretia?” Mary Ann asked.

“No she couldn’t make it to the show. Knox said she is feeling unwell.” A pitiful look crossed the old lady’s face.

“Okay.. I’ll just check on him.” Mary Ann said.

“Alright. See you later, Mary Ann.” Mrs Elaina walked away with the executive worker.

Mary Ann walked away quickly. She dialed Vins Bond number again.

“Hello?”

“Eretia is not here.” She said.

“So where is she?” Vins demanded.

“Well.. I don’t know yet. But I’ll find out soon.” Mary Ann responded.

“I thought you said she is living with Knox Martins.” Vins cleared his throat.

“Yes they are staying together. No.. I don’t know if she is still living with him. I mean.. I don’t know if the contract she signed would have ended by now.” Mary Ann sighed.

“What about Knox Martins? Find out about her whereabout from him.” Vins Bond suggested.

“I am trying to find him.” Mary Ann strode towards the dressing door. “Get ready.. you may need to drive to his home if she is there.” She said in a commanding tone.

A wicked smile formed on his face at the thought of him alone with Eretia. “Sounds good.” He said.

“I’ll get back to you.” And then Mary Ann hang up the call.

She stepped into the large room. It was a bit crowded with stylists working on models. She looked for Knox Martins and she found him with the famous clothe designer. They were engrossed in a conversation.

Knox Martins typed on his phone quickly before looking back at Ria Robert. And then Mary Ann went to him. “Knox.” She called.

Knox’s head snapped up and their gaze met. “Hey.. Mary Ann.” He looked surprised to see her.

He didn’t send out an invite to her because he got swamped with too much work to even remember her.

“Hello.” Mary Ann greeted Ria Robert.

“Oh Mary Ann, meet my business partner. She is Mrs Ria Bryant the CEO of Ria Robert Couture.” Knox did a brief introduction.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.

Mary Ann plastered a fake smile on her face. “Oh wow! It is really nice to meet you in person. I purposely came for the show so I could see your designs.” She lied.

“Really?” Mrs Ria smiled.

“Yes! I am a huge fan of your designs! I am Mary Ann.” Mary Ann said with a half smile.

“Nice to meet you, Mary Ann.” Mrs Ria shook hands with her.

And then Mary Ann looked back at Knox. “Can you spare me a minute?” She requested.

Knox shook his head. ” Sure. I’ll be right back.” He said to the famous clothe designer.

“Well I am happy with what’s happening here today. You have done a great!” Mary continued her facade.

“Thank you, Mary Ann. And I am sorry for not sending you an invite.” Knox apologized.

“No, there is no need to apologize. You must been too busy to even remember everyone.” She smiled.

“Thank you for understanding.” Knox smiled in return.

“But where is Eretia? I haven’t seen her since I came in.” Mary Ann looked around pretending to find her.

“Eretia is not here.” Knox replied.

“But why?” Mary Ann demanded.

“Eretia is not feeling too well so I asked her to stay back and have a good rest.” Knox focused his attention on his phone and typed on it.

Mary Knew knew it was a good time to question him about her whereabout. “So.. she is still staying at your place?” She chirped in stylishly.

“Yes.” Knox replied without looking at her.

Soon Knox Martins, you’ll come to me for comfort.

“Excuse me sir.” A feminine voice said.

And Mary and Knox turned to face a lady in black suit.”Yes Anne.” Knox said

“Miss Bella is here to see you.” Anne informed him.

“The CEO of Bella Fashion house?” Knox furrowed his eyebrows.

“Yes sir.” Anne smiled.

“Okay. Please take her to my office. I’ll be right there.” Knox responded.

“Okay sir.” Anne walked away.

Knox typed the last words and read it within him. ‘I hope you are feeling better? The show is moving as planned and no problems. And mom sent her greetings to you. I’ll be home soon.’ He sent it to Eretia.

“Mary Ann, I am so sorry. I have to attend to Bella. So why don’t you join mom in the hall and keep each other’s company?” Knox dropped the phone into his pocket.

“Okay.” Mary Ann murmured.

“We’ll talk later.” Knox waved and went to Ria Robert. He said few words to her before moving out of the room.

Mary Ann clenched her fists, her knuckles almost cracking. She hated the fact that Knox didn’t pay attention to her. So she moved out of the room to call Vins. “She is at his place.” She whispered.

“Well I don’t know his place.” Vins replied.

“He lives alone by the beach.” Mary Ann walked faster.

“There are many beaches. Which beach?” Vins questioned.

“I’ll text it to you.” Mary Ann said in a low tone.

“Hold up.. what if he shows up?” Vins Bond said loudly.

“I’ll distract him while you are at his home. Don’t waste too much time with her.” Mary Ann warned sternly.

“I can have fun with her before doing my job.” Vins Bond chuckled.

“Whatever! Just do a clean job!” Mary Ann snapped at him.

“You can always count on me, my lady. And I won’t mind a night with you after the job’s done too.” Vins Bond coaxed.

Disgust filled her on hearing his words. Mary Ann ended the call quickly and she sent a text to him. Now all she needs to do is be with Knox Martins so he won’t think of going home now.

*****

It was getting to the end of the show. Knox Martins said few words to the crowd and stepped down the stage.

Mary Ann’s phone beeped. It was a message from Vins.

‘I am at his home now.’

‘Have you seen her?’ Mary sent it back to him.

‘No.. I am still trying to get in.’

‘Don’t waste too much time, the show is about to end.’ Mary typed quickly.

‘Sure. Trust me to do a clean job.’ Vins texted back.

Mary Ann stood up and said to Mrs Elaina. “I need to use the toilet. I’ll be right back.” She moved out of the hall and made her way towards Knox’s office. She would start a conversation to stop him from going home. She had the perfect plan in her head.

Mary Ann bumped into Anne. “Oh.. I am sorry.” She apologized.

“No, it’s alright ma’am.” Anne smiled.

“Please excuse me, is Knox in his office?” Mary Ann asked.

“Yes Ma’am.” Anne replied.

“Thank you, Anne.” Mary walked quickly to his office. She opened the door and popped her head in. “Can I come in?” She asked.

Knox Martins was preparing to leave. “Yes. But I was about leaving.”

“Can you spare me a minute?” Mary Ann requested.

Knox looked at his wrist watch. Obviously he was in a hurry to leave and be with his girlfriend.

Mary Ann stepped in. “I understand that she isn’t feeling well and you want to go and be with her. But can we talk?” her voice was calm and low.

Knox Martins stared at her. “Sure.” He moved away from his desk and went to her.

“I can tell that what you feel for Eretia is strong.” Mary Ann knotted her fingers.

“I love her.” Knox Martins said confidently.

“Yeah.. I know Knox ” And then she started towards him. “But don’t you think that’s strange?” She mumbled.

“What do you mean?” Knox scrunched up his face.

“Don’t act like you haven’t noticed some strange things about her.” Mary Ann answered.

Their gaze locked and they stood staring at each other eye to eye. “There is absolutely nothing strange about her.” Knox answered.

“Come on Knox. Please just try to think about it.” Mary Ann pestered.

“What?”

“You fell in love and she reconciled you and your mother.. in one week. You never believed in love until you met Eretia and now you can’t live without her. It looks like she has cast a hex on you or something. And you-”

“Mary, please stop it. There is nothing strange about Eretia.” He interrupted her.

“Betty Lawson saw everything! Her shiny eyes and glowing bracelet! It is pure magic!” Mary Ann blurted out.

Knox Martins closed his eyes. He remembered that Eretia had erased Betty’s memory to hide her secret but it must have been that she told Mary about what she saw before she left the country. Maybe Eretia also needs to erase Mary Ann’s memory to keep her secret. He thought.

“That lady you are seeing isn’t an ordinary human. And you need to stay away from her.” Mary Ann sounded concerned.

“Please let us talk about this.. some other time.” Knox raised up his hand in surrender.

“No Knox!” Mary Ann blocked his pathway. “You have changed.” She brought down her voice and her hands rested on his chest.

Knox Martins stepped back as if she had burned him. “Nothing changed.. I only fell in love.” He muttered.

And anger crashed over Mary Ann. “What’s so special about Eretia?!” She demanded.

Knox didn’t say anything. He just stood there and watched her talk. “Knox, listen to me.. I love you and I don’t want you to get hurt. Eretia isn’t good for you.” She faked a sad face.

“What about you?” He asked.

Mary Ann leaned in and looked into his eyes. It was an act to stop him from getting home on time so Vins could do his job. Her hands went around his neck and brushed his hair.

“Knox..” She murmured seductively.

“No.. no.. Mary Ann.” Knox pulled back.

She eyed him when he turned away from her. “Listen I keep telling you that we can’t work out. I am so much in love with Eretia. And as my friend, I feel you shouldn’t make things more complicated for me.” He said with a serious face.

Mary Ann stared at him and thought of another way to distract him.

“You have to accept it that I am in love with another woman.” Knox grabbed his keys on his desk.

“I’ll go ahead now.” He sounded resigned.

Mary Ann blocked the path to the door and in a swift movement, she tiptoed and fastened her lips on his. Her tongue pushed into his mouth with her hand in his hair. Knox shoved at her still trying to be careful not to hurt her but she held him close.

He didn’t open up to let her kiss him deeply. His phone beeped in his pocket. A first ring. A second ring and he pushed her away.

Fury crashed over him as he stared at her with a wide eye. Her chest rising and falling. She couldn’t move but tinge of happiness rose within her because she had kissed him.

His phone buzzed and he turned away to pick it. It was Eretia. “Hello?” He said.

“Kn..”

He didn’t hear her clearly. ” Hello Eretia.” He said loudly.

“Sa.. ve.. me.” Eretia whispered.

And those words echoed in his head. Save me? What was going on with her? He wondered. Knox heartbeat rapidly and without saying anything to Mary Ann he rushed out of the office.

Knox Martins wiped his mouth as he raced to the garage. His thought was only on Eretia as he drove home at an high speed. He has a high hope that all was well with her.

Mary Ann called Vins Bond and he told her that he had murdered Eretia in Knox Martins home. She was happy! Soon Knox Martins would be hers.. alone. She thought.

“You know that bitch turned me on so badly.” Vins chuckled.

“So why didn’t you take advantage of her?” Mary Ann smiled wickedly.

“She was too strong.” Vins Bond admitted.

“So you can’t win against a woman?” Mary Ann mocked him.

Vins Bond was silent. Anger boiled within him at her words. She was indirectly calling him a weakling?! He thought.

“When do I get the rest of my payment?” Vins asked.

“Tomorrow.” Mary Ann answered.

“No.. I want it tonight.” Vins Bond said in a stern tone.

“I need to be sure if she is dead before I pay you off completely.” Mary Ann gritted.

“Then if you won’t dance to my tune, I can as well call Knox Martins right now and tell him everything.” Vins Bond hang up the call.

Mary Ann redialed his number but he didn’t pick up. He wanted his payment!

‘Come and get your payment.’ Mary Ann sent it as a text to him.

‘I want it in cash.’ Vins texted.

‘I’ll be waiting in my car outside the agency.’

‘No. I am a fugitive. I can’t be seen by anyone. So I’ll decide the meeting place. No deal? And I’ll call Knox Martins.’ Vins Bond threatened her.

‘Okay. Deal.’ Mary Ann replied.

‘I’ll send an address to you soon.’ Vins Bond responded.

Mary Ann walked to the garage and waited for Vins text. Seconds passed and his message came in.