Mainstream stories from author Mi'Chelle Dodson(aka Suprina Frazier). All Rights Reserved Therein. (Publisher Website: http://www.bridgesandchannels.com)
At 3pm EST Thursday (5/28/09), some fortunate reader will win the finalFREE PASSto gain access to the VOD for TheProfessor, which is now roughly a week away from ending.
All you have to do is be the first to answer a 4-part question. Again, the contest begins at 3pm EST Thursday. It ends when someone guesses all the right answers first.
Although I’m not revealing what that 4-part question will be in this post, I am announcing the contest ahead of time in order to give people in all time zones the chance to participate this time around. However, I will give you a few hints:
The answers are mainly from my Mr., Mrs. and Miss trilogy.
The questions have to do with blood kinships.
Contest Rules:
The first person to answer correctly wins.
Allanswers must be put in the comment section. (Any answers emailed to me will be disqualified in order to remain fair to the readers who are abiding by all contest rules).
Blogger comment times will be used to determine the winner.
Those already signed up for the VOD are not eligible to participate directly in this contest for obvious reasons, but you can indirectly help a friend to win by giving him/her the answer to post in the comment section under his/her own name.
You want to read the rest of The Professor, but your money looking funny right now? Or maybe you got exchange rate issues from another country, making it impossible to join us on the VOD.
Don’t give up hope.
You can now gain FREEaccess to the VOD for the current story. Just be the first to answer the following question (Answer must be put in the comment section. Contest ends May 31st or sooner if someone wins before deadline.):
Question: What are the first names (it’s okay to use nicknames) of the 6 main men that ruled Enfield’s drug game in my Mr., Mrs. and Miss trilogy?
Contest Rules:
The first person to answer correctly wins.
Comment times will be used to determine the winner.
Those already signed up for the VOD are not eligible to participate directly in this contest for obvious reasons, but you can indirectly help a friend to win by giving him/her the answer to post in the comment section under his/her own name.
Although Megan wanted to snatch the phone to her ear, she let it ring three times before answering. She didn’t want to appear too eager, though she needed this alliance with Earl like she needed to breathe.
“What’s your decision?” Megan asked, cutting to the chase.
“Count me in,” Earl replied, formerly accepting her proposition. “However, I’d like to make a slight addendum to our deal.”
“What kind of addendum?” Megan frowned.
“I’d like us to resume our affair until you and Professor get back together.”
“What?!” Megan exclaimed incredulously, causing her limo driver to lower the glass partition to check on her.
“Is every-ting a’ight, ma’am?” the dreadlock-wearing, mahogany-skinned man asked in a thick island accent.
“Yes, everything is fine, Kingston,” Megan told her driver, prompting him to raise the partition again. “Now back to you, Earl. I know you didn’t just say what I think you said,” she stated angrily upon returning to her phone call.
“I certainly did,” Earl replied, revealing no remorse about betraying his brother again. Not on a romantic level. Not on any level.
Earl had always been jealous of Baron. He was jealous that his youngest brother was half-white and thus carried around less social stigma, grew up to be more handsome than him, and had won Megan’s heart without even trying to.
Earl was even jealous of Baron’s name. Yes, all of the brothers had been named after English peerages, but it was Baron’s name that garnered the most female attention over the years. Not even Marquess held that honor.
“I will call this whole deal off right now and demand prompt repayment of that loan I just sent you if you ever and I mean, ever proposition me that way again,” Megan told him through tight lips. “What you and I had is over, Earl. Over! Do you hear me?”
“Don’t make me tell my brother about us,” Earl countered, returning to his old way of trying to control her – through blackmail.
“Then we’ll both forfeit what we want. Except your losses will be greater. Yes, I will likely lose your brother forever, but you will lose the opportunity to finally get out of debt, your wife, kids, close family ties, and the respect of your peers,” Megan replied, unaware of her similarities to desperate Jordin. “Matter of fact, how about I tell Professor myself and just get it on over with,” she bluffed, knowing full well that that was the last thing she wanted to do. But Earl didn’t have to know that.
“No!” Earl shouted into the phone, inadvertently startling his receptionist in the next room. “I’ll do what you ask,” he added in a much quieter and humbler tone.
“Everything I asked?” Megan prompted with a triumphant smile.
“Everything,” Earl agreed, sounding like a defeated foe. He was. And it was his own fault.
“Good. Now tell me everything you know about Baron’s so-called wife,” Megan replied, frowning at the memory of how maliciously Meadow had delivered Baron’s wedding announcement to her – through an animated email full of laughing hyenas.
Pushing that painful memory aside, she forced herself to listen very attentively as Earl shared basic facts about Aurelia. Things like the fact that she was black, from the Virgin Islands, a student, a former exotic dancer, and part owner of a budding perfume company.
“An exotic dancer, huh?” Megan asked, focusing on the thing that interested her the most. The frown in her forehead was so deep that she was sure to need Botox treatments soon. The kind that Earl specialized in at his office.
“Yes, that’s how they met. She danced for him at Count’s bachelor’s party. She was really good at it, too. Made a lot of money that night from Professor alone. He was so impressed by her that he took her to the next room and…” Earl paused to chuckle. “Well, let’s just say that whatever she did to him in that room was enough to make him want to marry her.”
Megan cringed. “Do you have any idea what she did to him in that room?”
“I know what she didn’t do.” Then Earl revealed that there were certain things that Aurelia refused to do in the bedroom based on the conversation he had with Count just one phone call ago. Things that Baron enjoyed doing…thoroughly.
A calculated smile slithered across Megan’s lips at that news. She’d just garnered her first piece of ammunition against Aurelia. She planned to use it at the first available opportunity.
Concluding her call with Earl after promising to wire more money to his secret account, Megan leaned back against the limo’s black leather seat with a satisfied smirk on her face. Keep denying him the kind of pleasure he deserves, island girl. That will make it even easier for me to get what I was always intended to have, she mused.
“Baron,” Megan whispered aloud.
Then as her luxury vehicle continued to cruise through the streets of Bel Air, she closed her eyes and recalled happier times with the man of her heart’s desire. Sexual times. Times when Baron had looked into her sparkling blue eyes and declared how much he loved and adored her.
Oh how Megan wished she had just eloped with him like he wanted. But no, she just had to prolong the engagement in order to plan a wedding that would have put her cousin’s elaborate ceremony to shame.
She secretly courted a new man. A man richer than her own family. A man unrelated to the Weaver family. A man that could free her from the prison she allowed herself to be put in.
As expected, Megan’s actions devastated Baron. Earl was devastated, too, although he kept a lid on his feelings for obvious reasons. Baron became practically a hermit. Earl began to cheat on his wife even more, having been robbed of the woman he really loved.
Although Megan’s new husband was old enough to be her grandfather and was very sickly, she didn’t mind. Those very reasons had much to do with why she’d chosen Scottsdale in the first place. It would definitely explain why she suddenly wanted to volunteer more hours with the country club’s senior citizens program so close to her intended nuptials with Baron.
Megan figured that she could play the doting wife for at least five years (which was the amount of time the doctors had given Scottsdale to live), get her husband to change his will, and then soon after he died, find Baron and marry him. It never crossed her mind that Baron would eventually move on with his life. And so fast.
Megan erroneously thought that she was that indispensable to him. What other woman would cater so much to his needs like she had? She even learned Spanish and how to dance like Shakira just to please Baron.
Megan also enrolled in college for him. However, she secretly paid others to do her homework and to let her copy off their tests, which were the same things she did in high school.
Unlike high school, Megan never did finish that business degree. The college she attended was strict about their exit exams. Each student had to schedule an appointment to take his/her exam since it was not given in group sessions. A watchful moderator was present at all times.
As a result of those procedures, Megan failed all of her exams. The fact that she failed them by a mile proved that she was unworthy of any college degree. It also caused her professors to wonder if she had ever learned a thing in their classes or had indeed cheated as they suspected all along.
Baron lovingly offered to help Megan study for the retests, but she was too embarrassed to let him. She didn’t want him to know just how dumb she was. She definitely didn’t want him to make the right connection between her extremely high grades and excessively low test scores.
Instead Megan claimed that she was just a poor test-taker and would probably always be the kind of person that got overly anxious during tests. Then she used those claims as excuses to give up trying to finish her degree altogether.
Though Baron continued to try to motivate Megan to complete her college degree, he eventually let it go. He eventually let her go, too. Especially after she broke his heart.
For a long time, Megan hoped that Baron would get over his broken heart and pursue her. Yet when she recalled how principled he was, she should have known better than to expect that.
Baron would never pursue a married woman, no matter how much he loved her. He respected the sanctity of marriage unlike most of his older brothers. That had been one of the reasons she loved him so much.
As fate would have it, Megan wasn’t married for long. Scottsdale died within ten months of their marriage, leaving her a very wealthy woman since he had no other family surviving him. Now she was back in town to reclaim what she’d lost – Baron.
Earl couldn’t stop her either. Not after Megan just used a large portion of her newfound wealth to rescue him and Meadow out of the enormous debt they’d accumulated over the years trying to live the high life. Debt that Earl was too ashamed to ask his family for assistance with because it would confirm what they all suspected anyway – that he was terrible with money. That his wife wasn’t much better with it either.
Incidentally, Megan found out about Earl and Meadow’s financial problems from her uncle. She happened to call Uncle Ford on a day when he was very upset with Meadow.
During that call Uncle Ford ranted about how he was tired of seeing his money being poured down the drain by his spoiled daughter and irresponsible son-in-law. About how they weren’t even grateful for the help they received from him thus far. About how cowardice he deemed Earl to be because he wouldn’t even ask for the money himself, but rather continued to send Meadow to ask for it instead. About how if it wasn’t for his grandchildren, the promise Uncle Ford had made to his wife to look after their daughter, and the Griswold family’s reputation in the community, he would have cut Earl and Meadow off a long time ago.
When Megan decided to return to Bel Air, she called Earl with a proposition. In exchange for helping him out of his financial hole, she would gain his eternal silence about their affair and his assistance in helping her get Baron back.
Earl immediately balked at that proposition. Yes, he wanted and needed Megan’s financial support. But he did not want to help her reconcile with his brother under any circumstances. Not when he still wanted her for himself.
That’s when Megan decided to play hard ball.
She mocked Earl about his inability to take care of his wife in the manner Meadow had been accustomed to. She told him about how cowardly his father-in-law deemed him to be behind his back. About how shameful it would be to him if others, especially his brothers, were to find out just how broke he was.
Then Megan painted a rosier picture for Earl. She told him how responsible and manly he would now appear in his wife, father-in-law, and brothers’ eyes if he came up with alternative means to take care of his responsibilities. She promised him that no one would ever have to know that she was his private financial backer. Not even Meadow.
Megan was waiting for Earl’s response to her proposition even now. It had already been a full week since she made that offer. He’d needed that much time to think about it.
Megan hoped that the large deposit she wired to a secret account that she’d set up for Earl showed just how serious she was about this deal. More importantly, she hoped it served to finally sway him over to her side.
As if she’d somehow conjured him up, Earl suddenly called Megan on her cell phone.
Exiting the LAX terminal on that bright morning, Megan Griswold entered the waiting limo and headed to her new luxury estate in Bel Air. Yet despite her plush surroundings, she was not fulfilled. She could never be fulfilled without Baron.
Once upon a time Megan knew exactly what she wanted to do with her life. Marry Baron, start a family with Baron, and use her marriage to Baron to climb higher on the social ladder than her first cousin Meadow.
All of Megan’s plans drastically changed when she allowed her competitive spirit and her disdain for her cousin to overshadow good judgment. One bad decision made in anger cost her the man she loved.
If only she hadn’t…hadn’t…slept with Meadow’s husband in vengeance. Unfortunately, that man just so happened to be Baron’s second oldest brother Earl.
Earl had been secretly in love with Megan for years. In fact, he claimed to have fallen in love with her from the moment he laid eyes on her at the age of seventeen. Megan had just lost both of her parents and had come to Bel Air to live with her widowed Uncle Ford and female cousin – Meadow.
At the time, Earl was engaged to Meadow and thus not available to pursue Megan, even if she had been old enough. If that wasn’t frustrating enough for Earl, Megan had fallen madly in love with his brother Baron upon first sight, who was visiting Meadow’s home with him that same day. Combine all those obstacles with the fact that Meadow was just a better fit for Earl socially and it was easy to see why he chose to go through with his intended marriage to the older cousin.
Megan suspected Earl’s feelings all along, even subtly encouraged them whenever Baron wasn’t around. Yet she didn’t take full advantage of his affections until after yet another horrific argument with her cousin. The same cousin whom she had never gotten along with.
From the start, Megan and Meadow developed an almost instant distaste for each other. Megan thought her cousin hated her because she was younger and prettier. She refused to believe that she was hated because she milked her parents’ deaths to get years of sympathetic gifts from Meadow’s father. That she started out their relationship wrong from the jump by boldly asking Meadow’s father for a bigger bedroom, namely the one that belonged to the real daughter of the Griswold house.
Megan added to her cousin’s hatred by trying to best her at being a social darling. Thanks to those expensive etiquette classes Uncle Ford paid for; she transformed herself from a typical middleclass valley girl to a well-bred lady of the elite class. Because Megan conducted herself in a more down-to-earth manner than her snooty older cousin, she was generally liked better in their social circle.
To add insult to injury, Megan was always overly kind to Earl during his courtship of Meadow. Even more so after they finally got married. As a result of that constant provocation, Meadow sought every occasion to make Megan feel bad about any and everything.
That particular day of bad judgment, Meadow chided Megan about her pending nuptials to a teacher of all things. She told her that the real reason Baron ever suggested that they elope wasn’t because he was being romantic, but because he was simply being cheap. That Baron would never be able to ascend to Earl’s social status or net worth. That Baron would never be able to afford to keep Megan in the lifestyle to which she’d grown accustomed to over the last few years. That she would always be dependent upon the truly elite like Meadow and her father.
Then Meadow arrogantly concluded with, “As soon as my father dies, I’m cutting you off in every way, particularly socially and financially.”
Incensed by that bleak assessment of her future, a bitter Megan decided to be spiteful and hit Meadow where it would hurt the most – her marriage. Seducing Earl only required one kiss. The man instantly became an open flower, welcoming her kisses, her everything as he ravished her body over and over again that day in his office. That was also the day he confessed his secret love for her.
Unfortunately for Megan, what she thought was going to be a one-time thing, turned into three long months of secret trysts. Earl simply refused to end the affair once he finally had her. He even threatened to tell his brother about them if Megan tried to end it without his consent.
Telling Meadow was out of the question since they both had much to lose by that disclosure. Earl would lose all the social benefits that had come along with his marriage. Megan would lose all her family’s financial support, which did not include a large trust fund to fall back on because she’d already spent most of that trying to keep up with her cousin.
With the guilt of cheating on Baron piling up on her conscience and with the realization that Earl was never going to let her go, Megan began to seek another way out of her dilemma. Especially since reasoning with Earl had proven futile time and time again.
The only way to freedom Megan could find involved giving Baron up completely...at least for awhile. Although it pained her to do so and she wept bitterly for days before putting her plan into action, she eventually did what needed to be done.
Count and Jenny hit the road early the next morning. The sun hadn’t even come up yet. It was still dark outside.
Because Jenny could barely keep her eyes open after their long night of passion and then early rising, Count volunteered to cover the whole journey even though they usually shared the driving on road trips. Her soft snores and a national news radio station kept him awake.
Halfway home, Count received a call from Earl on his cell phone. It was not good news.
“Megan is coming back in town today. To stay this time,” Earl informed rather gleefully. “She thinks Professor is going to divorce Aurora as soon as he finds out she’s back and now single again,” he said not so gleefully.
“Our new sister-in-law’s name is Aurelia,” Count corrected. “Megan’s single again? That was quick. Did she divorce her husband?” He frowned.
“No. The old coot up and died on her.” Earl chuckled, ignoring the fact that he would one day be an old man.
“Sorry to hear that for more reasons than one. Either way, Megan’s singleness is no longer Professor’s concern. Besides, he really loves his wife. I can personally attest to that,” Count replied.
“He loved Megan, too, for an even longer period of time,” Earl countered. “Because of their extensive history, Megan thinks that all Professor has to do is see her again and those old feelings are going to come rushing back in.”
“Even if they do, he is going to overcome them. Hey, if Professor can push past the sexual hang-up Aurelia has and still want a future with her, he can definitely push past any lingering feelings he has for Megan.”
“Sexual hang-up? What sexual hang-up could a stripper possibly have?” Earl inquired with his previous gleefulness firmly intact again.
Count winced, instantly wishing that he had kept his mouth closed on that particular matter. Since he had already opened that door, he quickly shared the sexual hang-up Aurelia had and why. Before hanging up the phone, he made Earl promise not to say anything to anyone.
“Bad move, Viscount Weaver,” a drowsy Jenny said from the passenger seat. “Earl is the last person you should have told that kind of information to. He’s going to use it against baby brother at the first opportunity.”
“If he knows what’s good for him, he’ll keep his mouth closed as promised. Otherwise there’s going to be a nice knuckle sandwich waiting for him,” Count replied, more than willing to put his considerable boxing skills to use on Earl if he betrayed his confidence.
“All I ask is that I get a ringside seat to the main event. Because somebody needs to pop that particular brother in the mouth…hard,” Jenny replied, thinking that Earl should have been popped in the mouth a long time ago. She almost did it the night he tried to come on to her. It was the same night she met the Weaver family for the first time.
Had Ana Maria not entered the room at that exact moment, Jenny probably would have slugged Earl. Thankfully, he has kept a respectable distance from her ever since. Had he persisted, she might have had to tell Count about that encounter. Or worse refused to marry into the Weaver family altogether, thereby forfeiting all the happiness that she has since enjoyed with her wonderful husband and his less dysfunctional relatives.
“Way to go, Professor,” Count said as Jenny left the table to console their sister-in-law. “Way to make your new wife feel real comfortable in her new home.”
Baron hung his head in guilt and shame. “Sometimes I really put my foot in my mouth around her.” Then he briefly shared how he’d upset Aurelia in the Bunting kitchen in his zeal to change the bad eating habits of her family.
“Yes, you have definitely been putting your foot in your mouth lately. Both feet,” Count agreed after hearing that short account of the St. Croix incident. “But why? Are you anxious over your marriage? Feeling insecure?” he asked, sounding like the psychologist that he’d almost been before changing his major to law.
Baron took a deep breath and blew it out. “Yes, I’m very anxious and insecure,” he admitted. “I’m so afraid of this marriage not working out. Of Aurelia leaving me just like…”
“Megan did,” Count finished for him, nodding in understanding. “That’s why you keep tripping over your own feet, putting said feet in your mouth, and also going out of your way to spoil Aurelia.”
“Wait a minute now. You know I’m a generous man by nature,” Baron protested.
“Of course you are. Yet based on the things I’ve heard Aurelia gushing about to Jenny during today’s visit, you’ve gone beyond your usual generosity with her,” Count replied. “I mean, you actually reversed poverty in the whole Bunting family. Had her grandparents still been alive, you probably would have spoiled them rotten, too.”
“Probably,” Baron acknowledged. “But as you know, I could certainly afford to do what I did several times over.”
“Don’t remind me.” Count rolled his eyes. “Now although being generous with your wife and in-laws is not a bad thing, going overboard out of fear is. You have to understand that fear is a monster, Professor. A monster that seeks to control everyone, particularly the people that submit to it. Fear is also usually at the root of every control issue.”
“What do you advise?” Baron asked, needing to gain a different perspective of the situation.
“I advise you to face your insecurities head-on and then share them with your wife. Trust her to understand. Invite her to help you get over them. If I remember correctly what you told me about Aurelia, she has a few trust issues of her own. Something to do with a cheating ex-boyfriend?”
Baron nodded. “You’re exactly right…about everything.” He took a deep breath and blew it out. “Thanks for the sound advice. Now I need your advice about something else. Something that I may need to help Aurelia get over.”
Count listened quietly as Baron shared the specifics about Aurelia’s encounter with Oliver. The frown in his forehead grew deeper and deeper with each new piece of information. When the candid disclosure was over, he said, “I have but one question for you.”
“Shoot,” Baron prompted.
“If for some reason Aurelia is unable to get over that painful part of her past, can you be satisfied with what she is willing to do in the bedroom? Not just now, but for the rest of your married lives? Because if not, this thing is going to be like the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden all over again. You’re going to want it to the point of utter distraction and cause even more damage to your marriage.”
“Okay, that’s technically two questions,” Baron teased before turning very serious again. “However, the answer to both questions is yes. I can be satisfied with what Aurelia is willing to do…forever.” I have to be, he added to himself.
Count smiled. “Good.” Then he issued some tips on how Baron could gently help Aurelia get over the sexual abuse in her painful past.
Those tips were simple: Be understanding, be loving, be patient, and lastly, be a motivator for change.
“Prayer wouldn’t hurt either,” Count concluded.
Baron grinned. “Mama and Uncle Miguel would love that last thing for sure,” he said, referring to their devout Christian mother and Catholic priest of an uncle.
“Most definitely.” Count chuckled. “One last piece of advice,” he said, about to bring this impromptu counseling session to an end.
“I’m all ears.” Baron leaned closer.
“Go find your wife, apologize for being a control freak, tell her that she can change anything she wants in this house, and I mean anything. Then give her the biggest kiss you can muster.”
Baron smiled. “I was going to do that anyway.” He rose to his feet even as he spoke.
“Well, be quick about it then. One minute of unresolved conflict in a marriage is a minute too long,” Count said, quoting their wise mother.
Baron was out of the room before that quote was done. He took the stairs two at a time upon hearing female voices on the upper level of the house.
After following Count’s last piece of advice to the letter, Baron found Aurelia quite forgiving. She even escorted him to their bedroom so that they could make up in style.
Meanwhile, Jenny slipped back downstairs unnoticed. “I don’t know what you told Professor, but he’s up there practically ramming his tongue down that girl’s throat,” she said, entering the dining room where her husband was wiping down the table he just finished clearing.
Count grinned. “Is she liking it?”
Jenny chuckled. “Very much so. Matter of fact, they might be a while, if you know what I mean,” she replied, walking over to her husband.
“I know exactly what you mean,” Count replied, pulling her close. “Open wide, lady. It’s time you got a little tongue lashing of your own.”
Jenny’s subsequent chuckles were swallowed up on a heated kiss.
Still on the newlywed side themselves, they ended up going upstairs to one of the guest rooms to satisfy another type of appetite. They stayed there all night.
Baron and Aurelia didn’t mind. They were too busy making love in their own bedroom to care one way or the other. It would be much later when they discovered that they had overnight guests.
Two days later, Count and Jenny came to visit the Alcove Weavers. They were in the area on business and wanted to stop in for dinner and a few hours of fellowship before heading back to Bel Air. Count also wanted a good look at and a good drive in Aurelia’s VW that Baron paid to have restored while they were still in the V.I.
While Count and Jenny took the car for a spin around town, Baron cooked dinner for them all. Aurelia acted as his sous chef. She chopped, diced, and organized all the raw ingredients that went into the meal. Together they made a perfect culinary team. As a result, the meal was ready and waiting for their relatives by the time they returned from their drive.
“Aurelia, I noticed that the house and even the furniture is still the same as it was before,” Jenny said over dessert, finally changing the subject from cars. That particular subject had dominated the first part of mealtime thanks to Count’s infatuation with their sister-in-law’s classic vehicle. “Although it might be a bit premature to ask this, do you have any future plans to redecorate?”
“I plan to do more reorganizing than redecorating since I really like the layout of the house and the furniture placements,” Aurelia replied from her place at the end of the oval-shaped mahogany table.
Jenny smiled proudly. “I can’t tell you how glad I am to hear that,” she said, forsaking her delicious strawberry shortcake for the moment.
Baron chuckled from the head of the table. “You would be glad. Especially since you’re the one that decorated the house in the first place.” He grinned over at his interior decorator of a sister-in-law, who was sitting to his right.
“Did you really?” Aurelia asked, learning something new today.
“Yes,” Jenny replied.
“You did an excellent job,” Aurelia complimented.
“As always,” Count added to that compliment before returning to his half-finished dessert.
“Thank you both.” Jenny smiled at her sister-in-law and husband in turn. “I tried to put my interior decorating skills to work in the master bedroom, too, but your stubborn husband wouldn’t let me near that room,” she turned to inform Aurelia.
Aurelia chuckled, making light of that reference to her husband being a bit of a control freak at times. “I hope I don’t meet any resistance when I move your upstairs gym to the downstairs guestroom. That way you can go from working in your office to working in your gym right next door,” she said, now addressing her husband.
“Sounds like a great idea to me. It would definitely be more convenient.” Baron smiled.
“Then I want to turn your former gym into a private dance studio for me. I want to put mirrors on one whole wall, take the carpet up, and then buff and shine the hardwood floors underneath. Maybe add in some free standing ballet barres,” Aurelia continued.
“Another good idea.” Baron nodded his approval.
“As for the master suite—”
“No! The master suite stays the same,” Baron interrupted firmly, cutting Aurelia off mid-sentence. “I love every piece of furniture in that room. Had it all custom made to my specifications from trees that I chopped down myself.”
“Don’t be too hasty with your no’s, Professor,” Count cautioned evenly, looking at the dark thunder clouds forming over Aurelia’s head. “After all, that is your wife’s bedroom now, too.”
“Exactly!” Aurelia agreed with her brother-in-law. Then she turned flashing eyes of ire to her husband. “Had you simply waited ta hear what else I had ta say ‘bout de matter, you would’ve learned dat de color scheme was de only ting I wanted changed, not de furnishings demselves. You would have also learned dat I love dat furniture and have no desire ta eva change it, particularly ‘cause you put so much time and energy into having it made.”
“Aurelia,” Baron began apologetically.
“Save it, you…you…control freak!” Aurelia retorted, rising to leave the room before she said even worse things to him in front of company.
