STICK IN THE VINE

Chapter 6

It's Eight in the morning, Shawty comes down the stairwell. I don't know when she woke up ; I was roaming about the house looking at past memories trapped in photos.

Today's different. She's wearing a blue jeans showing the outline of her curvy waist, a cream blouse, enormous silver hoop earrings.Trialing down on black sneakers.

I'm carried away looking at this sexy beautiful woman walk down the aisle that I didn't observe the travelling bag , she's dragging behind her.

Where are we going ? She leaves the bag at the seam between the dining and sitting room, placing her BWF on it. She walks to the last seat so that she faces the sitting room.

The chanderlier hanging directly above the table; well laden with covered dishes.Portraits of Shawty stooping to kiss her mum on the hair, sits against the wall behind her. In another, she's holding her mum by the shoulder as a wide smile plays on her lips , sitting directly above the grand piano.

Alice uncovers the dishes for Shawty. Fried Chicken on a set, vegetable salad on another .She's trying to hide the surprise on her face as it's been a while since Shawty sat to eat.

" Enjoy your meal Miss" Alice says and tapers away.

Shawty begins her course, taking a bit at a time. I should go check what Nora is up to, but watching Shawty eat is having a thrilling effect on me. I imagine her taste buds celebrating, like a city getting rain for the first time in many years.

" you have quite an appetite today."Mrs Rawlings walks up, her face glistening with relief, after many days of worry ;to a seat beside Shawty.

"Morning mum" Stretching to give her mum a kiss on the cheek. Mrs Rawlings responds. Flora appears at the seam, sniffing into the travelling bag.She isn't growling, the Catrophil is working. Shawty spots her.

" Come here Flora" Shawty beckons at the dog. The dog leaps, sticks out its tongue, and waggles away, ignoring Shawty. Shawty continues to work her way through the fork and knife.

"How're you mum? Are you using your drugs ?"

"Yes, I use them, how're you?"

Shawty's fork slows down, dragging out the chicken in microscopic bits from the fork.

" is there anything wrong with you?" Mrs Rawlings says, cupping her hands against Shawty's free hand .

" When did you go to bed mum?" Shawty says, dropping the fork at side of the plate. Mrs Rawlings's face flushes, how did she know?

"I heard the door Creek."

Her mum arranges the dislodged hair over her daughter's forehead back to her ears.

" I'm worried about you"

" Mum," cupping her second hand to complete the bond.

"Mum, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me,everything is alright, mum" Shawty says, her blue eyes fixed at her mum, not the kind of fixed you have during business meetings, this is relaxed, reassuring and comforting.

Shawty lets go, dabs the corners of her mouth with the napkin, shifts her chair back to get up. She clumsily brushes a kiss on her mum's cheeks.

"" Mum, I won't be coming home soon, a week maybe, have meetings. Carl will be around to drive you wherever you want to go, alright mum?" Tilts her head down, forcing a smile at her mum. It elicits the same response, Mrs Rawlings smiles back. Shawty kisses her again, telling her how much she loves her.

" I love you too, Bye" Mrs Rawlings replies, in a bye that sounded like mothers of soldiers bading their sons to war. They aren't sure of the kind of bye they're responding to. Is it bye, that I will see you soon ? Or bye that we'll never meet again? Shawty snatches her BWF, pivots the travelling bag on its rollers, slips on her sunglasses and walks past the murals on the walls, paintings, her large marble portrait, out through the glass door. She zooms out in the Mercedes G-Wagon.

" I had it once." Racheal says, rubbing her forehead, one hand clamped on her waist. Clearly distressed, Nora has told her about Shawty ailment. I consider Nora for a moment, I'm surprised at her actions, I can't possibly tell what she aims to derive from all these, she'd been really loyal to Shawty.

" You did ?" Nora says, crinkling her brows.

" Yes, I did. Is that, is that, is that something you should be hiding from me? I will tell her anyway she comes "

"No, no ,don't.she's meant to relax and treat herself"

"Talk of the devil I'm going to tell her . I'm no stranger and shouldn't be treated as one. "Rachel says, looking out of the window as Shawty steps out of the car, but is stopped by someone. I peer through the partitioning,and its Bill Goldberg.

" Morning Shawty,"

"Morning Bill, have something to do around?" Shawty quizzes, one hand hanging on the travelling bag, the other arranging the hairs the wind spilled on her face.

"Uh, no. I came to see you actually. I'll, I'll like us to go to the park together during the weekend. I know you're goddamn, I mean, you're busy, just the weekend." His face relaxes, his thumb notching against his keys.

"Bill." Shawty raises her gaze to his stare. He looks like he's going to cry if he doesn't have a yes.

"Fine, weekend it is." She shakes hands with him, very friendly, holding her soft palm as he stares into her eyes, grinning.

"I'll pick you up, by .."

" call me." She says smiling.

She lets go of his hand, he walks backwards, but facing Shawty, smiling, says his byes, tossing his keys in the air.

Shawty walks into the office, Morning Shawty, showers on her from every side of the large hall. Brian gives her an high- five, yeah, his morale is back.

Nora and Racheal walk on each side of her,

"Nice sneakers, what's happening today?" Racheal asks, maybe by way of introducing what she wants to ask.

" wanted.." Nora's phone keeps buzzing, messages coming in nonstop as we walk into the office. I suddenly remember the no calls, just texts, she said to Jane Wilson yesterday. I drift closer, atleast this is an advantage I have over anyone not dead.

"Nert securities president, Bill Goldberg spotted with Elfash's ceo Shawty Rawlings." Nora reads aloud.

" Elfash's Shawty Rawlings rocks blue jeans on black sneakers and a travelling bag,"

"What brand are those sneakers @ YoungShawty(with makeup emojis)." Nora reads the news and comments then clicks the phone off.

"Savages." Racheal mutters.

" That's mean Racheal."Shawty says.

"So, where are you going." Racheal asks, nudging at the bag.

"Got an idea I'm working on, I will tell you soon, mum's not going to allow me work at home, watching me like a six year old. I will get a place by the end of the day ."

" Are you?" Shawty looks at Racheal, her fore head turning crimson.

" Have you started treatment? And, am I someone you're going to be hiding things from?" Rachel holds Shawty by the arms.

"We are one, remember? Family."

Shawty looks at Nora sternly over Racheal's Shoulders, Nora looks down, like a chastened child.

"You should go to hospital, but you can get these." Racheal grabs a pen and scribbles fast on paper and hands it over to Shawty.

"Get these, uh," She says, carries some files on the table, close to the gold fish, and trots out, her skirt swishing. Shawty looks at the prescriptions and looks up at Nora.

"She was here yesterday when the pains started, I didn't- "

"I understand." She says grimly, walking towards the table.

" When are you starting treatment, you shouldn't be here, you should begin. Everything is going to be fine when you're not around, I'm-"

"I'm fine, Nora, " jamming her BWF on the sofa, taking off her sunglasses.

" Get two hundred bags and heels, to the product development section. Assemble Brian and his team, I have an idea I need us to work on"

Nora's mouth slightly parts, wanting to say more"Okay, anything else?" She says.

" No, nothing"

"Okay"Nora says, pressing slowly towards the door, her phone buzzes again.

"Let's meet up.In Canada right now,on Monday-Micheal Pons" . Glaring from Nora's android screen. She looks over her shoulder at Shawty, and ambles out.

Shawty runs her hand through her hair, staring as the goldfish, wobbles inside the vase.She clutches her stomach abruptly, rushes down to the toilet. I stand by the door, I can't follow her in. So you know, ghosts respect privacy.

I hear a heavy pour into the toilet, she's puking or shitting? That's brash, I know, like what the hell is she doing? Someone help.The pouring stops, I hear no movements. Suddenly I hear a bang on the door .

What's happening? Oh, it's her head leaning against the door, because I hear her foot also lean against it. I imagine her sighing up at the ceiling, chest heaving .

"Hello, professor. " She mutters in a low voice, did she take a phone to the toilet? Oh, her jeans pocket.

I strain to hear.

" I just . Some reddish dark mucous stuffs in the toilet"

" That's goodnews, those are the corrupt liver tissues,the sarcoma. The Catrophil is working.." I don't hear any other thing, Shawty's moved away from the door.

"Alright , see you in two weeks." Shawty says, water flushes.

She comes out, walks to her swirvel chair, draws it closer to the table and rests her head.

Nora comes in.

" They are ready, and the bags are being arranged."

"Okay, I'll be down in a moment, you can stay back." Oh, oh, that's a bad idea, hardly has Shawty gone out than Nora scoots over to Shawty's arm chair, sliding out the drawers, rummaging in a burst of quick searches at the files, flipping through. She stops at one, trailing her index finger down the data on the files, freeing the file, her head low against the drawer. I shuffle closer, but she jams it close, dropping the file on the floor, as the door opens.

"What are you doing?" Racheal asks, her flat face contorted. She walks in with two built men.

"Searching for those firms we outsourced linen to last year, saw something on tv, just wanted to confirm." Nora says, forcing a smile and shrugs, still bent on the table.

" Alright, came to pick up these." She says, pointing at two large boxes with Elfash's label on them, for those men to carry. Nora rounds slowly as the men approach, her legs together, blocking the out the file on the floor . They carry it ,and Racheal walks behind them, closing the door behind her.

She quickly grabs the file and starches it into her hand bag.Then Relief washes over her features, sighing as she rests her head on the head board, flailing her hands that she almost topples the lillies behind the chair. Then gets up , swishing quickly , with the hand bag clamped closely under her ampit.What is she up to?

Down in the Product Development Section (PDS), a group thirty persons surround a large round glossy black table siting at the centre of the room, backing the small round tables with stools round them. Some folding arms listening to Shawty as she takes them through her concept.

"So, it's about giving people choices." She begins

" what's the colour of the sky at night?" She asks.

"Dark? Black. " A brunette, standing adjacent to Shawty at the other end of the table says.

"Blackish-blue sometimes if we have the stars." A squat,hairy man on the arms says in his deep voice.

" Blackish-blue but suffices ethereally with white, if we have a full moon." Brian says, squinting, trying to get where this question is leading to.

" You're correct, You can see even the sky doesn't present a shade of itself, it's constantly moving . It's also a different shade when you have a half moon, with clouds caking it, and the stars surrounding the clouds on the outside."

She pauses, picks up a remote in front of her, turns and clicks it at the white wall behind. The light in the room dims. A large slide opens up , the wall is now like a large tv set.

Shawty keeps clicking and a video begins to run. Five bags appear on screen, rotating on their axis. The bags begin to change colours.One changes from bright orange to be mottled with teal. The concentration of the orange begins to reduce and the teal becomes more visible,it changes again and both the orange and teal appear with the same intensity. With each change, I see jaws drop, mouths shaped in a wow. Shawty pauses the video.

" That is what I'd like us to do with all the fashion lovers out there, let's give them a choice of creating their shades to match their wares, not the ones we give to them." She picks up the stack of prints in front of her, picks one and passes it to the next person beside her. The person does the same till it goes round to everyone. Everyone peer at their papers.

"I've done the outline and paper work, it's all about concentration of colours. If a user wants more black than red, as the colour of her bag, she can adjust it .More of red to black, it's adjustable. If she wants the colours in equal proportion to give that shiny feel of wine and view like it's been draped in oil, glossy, silky and brilliant feeling. Let's give people options."

Brian nodding, folding his arms to his chest

"Yes, but the bag itself has no colour, you tone it yourself to your taste right ?"He says

" Technically, yes, but it'd have to have a colour in shops and boutiques, so it's going to have that which we give it, until someone buys and changes it."

" I love it" A dark girl with braces says. Shawty smiles.

"How did you come up with the idea?" The dark girl asks

"I was somewhere about two days ago, then someone asked, in how many ways can you get the colour white?" I raise my head at the sound of this, Brian raises his head at Shawty to meet her steady gaze at him. Alex Cornwell asked that question from Dean Rodriguez during the Arbitration.

"There are more than three different ways of mixing colours to get white. That shows fluidity, that gives you options. The society and competitions thread the single worn out path, the path they feel is written on stones. We have to show people there multiple ways to the same end, even if they're too adamant to accept it."She says lifting her smile away from Brian and apportioning it to everyone in the circle.

"So, let's get to work, let's do this." She says, clapping her hands.

" Yes."They say in unanimous enthusiasm, disbanding and conjuring in groups of threes and fours to the smaller round tables with stools.

"Are we using it on the BWF." A woman also in jeans, pink rimmed glasses and Long red pony tail stays back and asks as she poises her pencil on paper.

"We'll have to put that on hold at the moment Clara, after some slight hitches have been resolved" Shawty says.

Clara leaves, unsure what the issues are, people around the office don't know of the Compatz case, so she's more likely to say. "Is anything wrong with the quality? We can work on it." But she says nothing and joins a group of people .

Em, this is how the development process goes, after an idea and presentation like this, different probable materials to be used are suggested, process and techniques to be applied, how feasible is it.

Then days of experimenting.It takes about two months to get the first, let me call it specimen like first drafts of writers, it's never perfect. So another, three months of intense poring is done before you get a final product. So you should understand why Shawty cried the night of the arbitration.