Her red dress pooled at her feet immediately she stood, the figure hugging dress fitted her like a glove, accentuating her beauty and if there was one thing Kelly Hepburn was, it was beautiful. Her blonde hair was styled into a curly messy bun at the nape of her neck with few strands let loose by the side of her face, giving her an appealing look.

Kelly's full lips curved into a sensuous smile that filled up her face and the joy that suddenly overcame her seemingly made her glow and although it had looked impossible, Kelly looked a hundred times more beautiful when she smiled.

"The lady in red," Said the voice of the person that had elicited such reaction from Kelly. Alexander wrapped his arms around her dainty waist, pulling her slowly towards him.

"Stop it, people are watching." Kelly said shyly although her insides were burning with ecstasy, his touch on her skin making it tingle with pleasure.

His voice was husky with desire and his eyes held mischief as he pulled her even closer, ""Well why don't we give them a show..."

Kelly opened her mouth to speak, perhaps a word of protest, she'd never know for before a word could come out of her mouth, his lips were on hers, and he tasted so nice, the taste of peppermint enveloping her. The kiss started out gently at first, she heard him groan in pleasure and she arched her back, her hold on him tightened as his kiss became more fiery with obvious desire, Kelly let out a moan as his hand slipped to the lush curve of her bottom, he squeezed it softly even as the palm of his other hand gently covered the back of her neck, tilting her head upward as he deepened the kiss.

“Oh Kelly…” He moaned before pressing her against him, hard, the full evidence of his desire obvious to her, excitement coursed through her and she felt daring enough to snake an unsteady hand through his shirt, she ran her palm against the hardness of his chest, she could feel the pounding of his heart and she smiled coyly; she made him feel just exactly as he did her.

“Fuck it!” He said just as he suddenly placed his hands on her bottom and lifted her up against himself, she reflectively wrapped her legs around him aware of the fact that she could now feel all of his hardness, she pressed closer to him and an inevitable moan escaped her, he placed her on the table behind and buried himself deeper into her straining against the soft fabric, her hold on his neck tightened, “Oh Alexander…” She moaned, her finger digging into his skin, she wanted him, she wanted him to take her right her, right now on this table and she made her desire evident by pushing violently close to him, her hand settled on his manhood, she guided it to her now wet panties and thumped against him.

“Shit Kelly!” He groaned just as he felt her move against him gently at first, his mouth left hers and slid down to her neck trailing soft kisses on her collarbone, “take it slow my little tiger, we don’t want to start what we can’t finish now do we?” His warm breath on her chest caused her to shiver. Kelly’s heart pounded ferociously against her ribcage, she’d never felt anything like this before and as she felt his fingers gently caress her nipples through her cloth, she arched her back, urging him to do more, to pull at it and do whatever he wanted with her, she was at his mercy now, she wanted him to do all sot of things to her but just as soon as his fingers had brushed on them, he moved it away.

She pushed her chest to him, her nipples hard, “Please…” She begged in a small voice that drove him crazy with desire.

“Would you rather this instead my little red?” He asked just as his fingers pushed aside her wet panties, Kelly gasped…

"Oh Lord!" She murmured to herself when her eyes snapped open and she caught sight of her surrounding, it was the same one she'd woken up to everyday for most of her life. The room was a small one, when she was younger she used to call it her pink shoebox, being able to make joke out of her living situation helped her live with it, not that there was much she could do about it if she wanted. The place she now called a room was originally the pantry, twelve years ago when she was brought to her aunt’s place to come live shortly after her parent death, her aunt’s husband had argued about there not being room for her, she was just eleven but Kelly could remember the feeling of confusion that she’d felt when she’d heard them discussing it, there were only a family of three, a daughter Kelly’s age mate and in the house were two spare rooms left but her Uncle had insisted one of the rooms was to be kept for when they had guest and the other rom was for his meditation and he had been the one to suggest they convert the pantry to her bedroom, they had a small sized store they could use as the pantry, her aunt had eventually caved after her Uncle had said she was after all little and won’t take up much space but it had conveniently escaped their minds that Kelly wouldn’t be small forever and now she was twenty three years old living in a pantry that had been renovated for her eleven year old self.

She didn’t own many possessions but still her room was crowded, as she stretched to reach her glasses, her leg hit the box of books that had been meticulously placed on a shelf above her bed and all the books came down on her.

“Ouch.” She whisper yelled as a book hit her gob smack on the head, Kelly consoled herself with the memory of the dream she’d just woken up from. It wasn’t the first time she’d dreamt of her boss, Alexander Hanks was the most breathtakingly gorgeous man Kelly had ever seen and she considered herself one hell of a lucky woman to be working for him considering how much of an unlucky person she’s been for the most of her life.

Alexander was the CEO of the real estate company founded in his family by his great grandfather in the 1800s, his family was considered one of the richest families in the world and Alexander Hanks was listed yet again last year in the list of top ten eligible bachelors alive and Kelly like thousands of girls had a crush on him but unlike thousands of these girls, she saw him almost every single day of her life and had the privilege of working with him and she could even dare dream that not only did he notice her too, Alexander might just have a mini crush on her too or was there another explanation to why he’d said to her just yesterday after she’d stayed up late compiling the information he needed to make a presentation,

“Oh Kelly, I honestly don’t know how I’ve survived without you but now that I know what having you in my life feels like, I swear to never let you go.” And he’d winked… Alexander Hanks had winked at her Take that you swan necked thousands of Alexander admirers, Kelly Hepburn was winning!

It might seem a little pathetic but the presence of Alexander was the one thing that kept Kelly happy these days, he was the one good thing in her life and despite her Uncle’s terrible treatment to her and her cousin’s constant bullying, Kelly stayed strong and never let it get to her, daydreaming about a beautiful life with Alexander distracted her from being as melancholic about her situation as she supposed to be and eventually it had progressed into dreaming about him at night and she woke up with a huge smile ready for whatever the day was bringing.

She had gone through most of her life unnoticed and friendless so it had come as a surprise and it was a new experience when Alexander’s treatment and interactions with her were friendly ones, Kelly had been stumped on how to act in face of such niceness. She got up from her bed careful to avoid hitting her back on one of the numerous shelves in her room, her clothe stuck against her back and she winced. She stretched her hands upwards and pulled it off before turning her back toward the mirror and staring at it, long lash mark scars designed her back, some were old, some overlapped and then the most recent from last night had bled and the dried blood had stuck to her shirt.

A flash of memory hit her; it was Uncle Tom raising his whip to hit her but that wasn’t what Kelly saw, all she saw was the pure hatred and lack of feeling in his eyes as the whip came down hard on her skin, tearing through fabric. It was one of the nights he was frustrated and angry, he’ll drag Kelly off to his ‘meditation room’ and poured out his anger on her and no matter how loud she screamed, no one ever came to her aide, it started years ago and Kelly was almost used to it, it no longer hurt like the first time.

Kelly was thirteen when she was hit for the first time; she barely knew what physical pain felt like after been sheltered all her life. She could remember her screams and Kelly knew if she tried hard enough, she could hear a thirteen year old girl’s heart wrenching screams echo through the whole house as the whip came down on her bare back repeatedly… Kelly had gone unconscious for an hour and had woken up amidst her tears and blood still in the same room, she had hoped it was a nightmare and would open her eyes to find her parents doting upon her, her mother cradling her and her father in his usual bright colored, badly buttoned pajamas handing her water and offering to sing her favorite song from Lilo & Stitch but she’d opened her eyes to an empty room and to find out she’d soiled herself during the ordeal.

“Hey love.” Kelly said bending down to scratch behind the dog’s ears, he barked in delight. He always placed himself in the front of her bedroom and waited for her to come out and if too much time went by without her coming out still, he’d begin scratching at her door and barking furiously until Kelly opened the door.

The dog, Skip had been a birthday request for Jennifer from her parents five years ago but by the time they’d gone through the process of adopting one, she’d lost interest and wanted to have nothing to do with it again, Kelly who had always wanted one, was happy to adopt it. Their love was a mutual one, Kelly considered Skip her best friend and treated him as one, her confidante.

“How’s my best friend in the whole world doing today?” She asked rubbing her nose against his, Skip barked and turned towards the door.

Kelly stared out the window, “A good day for a walk huh? C’mon let’s see what the day has in store.” She said laughing as she led him out the hallway, her mood lifted already, they took a turn and inevitably landed in the kitchen where Aunt Maddie was sitting prettily sipping her usual morning coffee.

She looked up and gave Kelly a bright smile. “Someone definitely slept well.” And Kelly smiled right back, her aunt had been nothing but good to her and she’d never let her know about her husband and child’s terrible treatment towards her, it’ll break poor, soft hearted Aunt Maddie and the last thing Kelly would ever do was intentionally hurt someone.

“Want to share?” Aunt Maddie asked jolting her back to the present; Kelly gave her a confused look in return,

“Share what?” She asked

“What has you smiling brightly?” And her thoughts went back to the dream about Alexander, her cheeks reddened at the vivid eroticism it had entailed, she clenched her thighs together as a feeling dawned on her.

“No!” She said immediately.

“What’re you sharing?”

Jennifer asked walking in. Kelly hated Jennifer as much as the latter did her but she couldn’t deny the fact that she was beautiful. She had thick, curly red hair that she’d invested enough energy and time into and it was worth it, her hair was her best feature but she also had great shape and a doe-like big, brown eyes that could get almost anyone to give in to her request but despite her angelic outward appearance, Kelly knew how much of a rotten person her cousin was, she’d after all experienced it. The only person who showed her warmth in the house was her aunt and many a times, Kelly had thought of going to her to vent out about how she was being treated by her husband and child but she’d never gone through with it, the one time she almost did was her final year in high school where Jennifer had practically forced her to attend some jock’s party and then pushed her into the pool but when she tried to come out, Jennifer and her friends had surrounded the pool, each ready to push her back in the minute she attempted climbing out, she had been the gang’s source of entertainment for the night until they got bored and went back inside, falling over themselves with laughter. Kelly had stayed in the pool until the last of them left the poolside and she finally started the long walk back home, Jennifer was supposed to be her ride back home. It had been winter and Kelly walked home alone on that cold, lonely night, she was sick as a dog for days.

“Well Kelly was just about to share what’s got her in such a good mood, weren’t you?”

Kelly turned away, “Of course not Aunt Maddie.”

Jennifer rolled her eyes in irritation, “no one wants to know what it is so you can keep your boring ass secret to yourself because meanwhile, I have important news and I am ever willing to share… Drum rolls please.” She said turning to Kelly who gave her a blank stare in response.

”Kelly, drumrolls!” She screamed eliciting an immediate reaction as Kelly promptly began hitting the table, initiating the anticipation sound.

“Okay enough, enough!” Jennifer said waving her hand dismissively, “Kelly’s trying to ruin my mood mom.” She said in a whiny voice.

“Just get on with it Jennifer or I might just wilt from wait.” Aunt Maddie said in an exasperated tone.

“Anyways, guess who just got a new hot, popular boyfriend, that’s right… I did!” She announced giving Kelly a smug look as if to say, ‘look at what I’ve gotten in addition to having a family that loves me’ and it was how Kelly really felt about Jennifer, despite the mutual hate, she envied her, she had the family, money, looks and could date anyone she liked, Kelly didn’t even have a comfortable room but rather than choosing to dwell on that at this moment, the thought of Alexander comforted her yet again, at least he was hers, she had the possibility of having someone that’ll make Jennifer green with envy, it was just time now, Alexander was a man who went after whatever he wanted and Kelly knew she wasn’t fantasizing this time around, Alexander Hanks wanted her, her Kelly Hepburn!

“Earth to you fool!” Jennifer said snapping in front of her, she was pulled back from her reverie.

She scowled in response before pushing back her glasses, “I was listening.

Jennifer rolled her eyes, irritated, “really? Because I’m pretty sure you hadn’t heard me say my new, very rich, successful and popular boyfriend has invited everyone for dinner at his place and you’re allowed to tag along, it wouldn’t be unfair of me to hinder the one chance you might have of being in the presence of someone like…”

“Okay now that’s enough Jenifer, what time are we expected?” Aunt Maddie interrupted.

“Dinner time.” She answered curtly and began typing something on her phone, Aunt Maddie got up and dumped her finished cup of coffee amongst the pile of dirty dishes on the sink.

“Get rid of this Kelly, you know how much I hate seeing dishes piled.” Aunt Maddie said softly with a smile and Kelly hurried over to get started with them, that was what she’d been about doing yesterday before Uncle Tom happened.

”My room is dusty Kelly, I’m heading to the gym and I need it spotless before I come back.” Jennifer said before turning on her heels and walking out. Kelly sighed as she mentally went through the list of things she had to do just this morning; washing and putting away the dishes, cleaning the rooms, folding and putting away clean clothes, weekly scrubbing of the toilets, making breakfast.

Skip barked at her pleadingly and she turned to the dog with an apologetic look, “Sorry buddy, I promise to make it up to you some other time.”

**** **** **** ****

Kelly stared back at her reflection in the mirror, displeased with the woman staring back at her. Her blond hair lay limp on her head, she’d attempted to use a curling iron on it but it hadn’t worked out or more like she had no idea how to achieve that look. She ran her hand through her black dress, the color fitted with her skin and enhanced her favorite feature; her eyes, she shook her head wryly before putting her glasses back on, her eyes were already hurting from the few second she’d taken it off dreaming of being a beauty without their imposing forever presence. She went downstairs to join her aunt and Uncle.

Aunt Maddie’s husband, Uncle Tom was a huge man with a superior aura on him, Kelly always cowered in his presence and that was why he found it easy to torment her both verbally and physically.

He stared at her with undisguised hatred, “she’s coming with us?” He asked his wife.

”Of course she’s coming Tom,” Aunt Maddie answered in an obvious tone, “this is the first time any of Jennifer’s boyfriend has asked to host our family and Kelly is family.”

He didn’t say anything else and simply stared daggers at Kelly who had quietly settled herself in a corner hoping Uncle Tom would ignore her presence eventually.

Jennifer walked into the room and Kelly saw her parents glow with pride at how beautiful their daughter looked, she was dressed in a beautiful mustard jumpsuit with black floral pattern for sleeves, and her hair was put up in a high ponytail, Kelly grudgingly agreed to herself that her cousin looked magnificent.

“Let’s go, he sent a car and our ride has been waiting for minutes.” She said before running outside, Kelly saw her parent exchange a look and aunt Maddie mouthed ride? And they smiled brightly before hurrying after their daughter.

Kelly was suddenly overcome with a feeling of fatigue as she realized the full extent of tonight’s event, Jennifer was going to be showing off her new man who was definitely going to be rich and also a pompous ass who’d show off his wealth and the whole ordeal would bore Kelly to death but she knew she had to suck it up and get over this night no matter how exhausted she’d become from just thinking about it.

She went outside and joined them in the expensive looking car Jennifer’s boyfriend had sent, Kelly had to admit even without meeting him that he was at least a thoughtful person, from the dinner invitation to actually sending down a car to pick them up, at least she was making a difference from the assholes she regularly dated, Kelly was happy for her.

She zoned out on the conversation occurring in the car as it was just Jennifer chattering about something unimportant but her parents dutifully listened raptly, instead she busied herself with staring out the window, the car sped along the road heading to a territory unfamiliar to Kelly, it wasn’t long before she saw a mansion peak out from far, hidden amongst trees and as the car got closer, the house took on a more noticeable shape.

“Wow.” Kelly breathed out despite herself, the house was gorgeous.

“Please come in,” The butler said bowing slightly to them and Kelly almost scoffed, a real life butler, what was he? The crowned prince of some exotic country? But with the exquisiteness of his home, Kelly realized she wouldn’t be entirely surprised.

“He’ll be with you shortly, meanwhile what would you like? Champagne? Wine…”

Uncle Tom cut him short, “wine would be great.”

The butler nodded and retreated leaving them to themselves.

“Goodness me Jennifer, you really went out big this time.” Aunt Maddie said, her voice laced with excitement.

“Who is he? He has to be someone extremely wealthy, I mean look at this place, and it has such unique interior, also don’t get me started on this rug which has to be the plushest one I’ve ever come across..” Uncle Tom said tapping his foot lightly on the large center rug.

Jennifer smirked, “you’ll see.” And Kelly could tell from her confidence, this was someone popular but what she didn’t understand was why suddenly an uncomfortable feeling settled in her stomach and when they were served their glasses of wine, she downed all of the content in her glass in one gulp, she immediately felt lightheaded.

“Hey!” Kelly scolded, “you better get your act right and don’t you dare embarrass me or I’ll make sure you’ll wish you’d die alongside your parents!”

“Don’t speak such things…” Aunt Maddie weakly came to her defense while Kelly could only stare wordlessly, Uncle Tom chuckled to himself.

“I hope I didn’t keep you waiting for long.” She heard a familiar voice say and her head whipped around so quickly, she felt her neck was going to snap but that was the least of her worries because coming down from the stairs in the most casual outfit Kelly had ever seen him was Alexander.

“Baby!’ Jennifer said before rushing into his arms and even though he wrapped his arms around her, Kelly’s eyes met his and she almost died from shock, Jennifer’s boyfriend was Alexander Hanks and she’d never know if it was because she’d had too much to drink at once or if it was the shock of the scene before her but she threw up ugly all over the plushest rug Uncle Tom had ever come across.