Queen Media Collective

Brian went silent on the phone. He could not believe what he was hearing. Lacey was done and all he could hear was dial tone.

“What did I do? What happened?”

Those were only some of the questions running through the head of Brian as he tried to wrap his mind around Lacey not coming back home. Here he was trying to figure out how he woke up with Lacey married and in his shower still and just like that, she is gone. The pieces were scattered all over the place and he only had himself to pick them up. Then he began to wonder about the late-night meeting Lacey had when the additional money showed up.

“Where is that envelope? ”

Brian tore through the house, looking under the couch, through trash cans on countertops until he found it. Of course, there was nothing in it that could help him find out what was going on. All hope seemed lost but in his haste of looking for that envelope, he noticed an envelope that was addressed to Lacey with the address listed that appeared to be her office. Brian immediately threw on his black hoodie, some jeans and some shoes and bolted for the door. He was determined to find out what was going on and how he could bring back Lacey.

Meanwhile, Lacey was in tears. Billy and Charlotte had effectively ruined what she had been protecting for all these years. She cherished her relationship and marriage with Brian and now it had all come crashing down.

“Are you happy now Charlotte?” Lacey said through the tears.

“I’m ecstatic Lacey. The sight of your pain delights me.”

Billy was just as thrilled in the background. While Lacey was one woman he was with, he had plenty others, including some that Charlotte did not even know about. But Charlotte didn’t care. She wanted the power and Billy had it. Charlotte was used to having everything she wanted and when she didn’t get it, she made sure to secure the power and money when her father was not around to take care of her. While Billy wasn’t the ideal husband, he did offer money and take care of her. In his own strange way he cared for her, but she knew he was an unfaithful husband.

“Billy, go do what you do. And you can even do her if you want. I’m going home. My night of satisfaction is over.”

As soon as Charlotte closed the door of the secret location, Billy made his move toward Lacey.

“You ready to go another round.”

“No.”

“Wrong answer.”

“You all already made me leave Brian with the photos. Are you all trying to take my soul too?”

“Yes Lacey. We are.”

Billy unleashed a devilish smile as he moved even closer to Lacey.

“Now get those clothes off. It’s time to go another round or two before you disappear.”

As Billy was busy taking advantage of Lacey, Brian was busy trying to find his love. he was determined this was not going to be the end of them. He needed answers and he needed them now as he plowed through the city of Atlanta until he got to Lacey’s office. When he got there, he was amazed at the layout. The building was huge and the office, as listed on the envelope, was on the 17th floor. Brian entered the building and made his way up, not know what to expect. As the door opened, he noticed the door to Lacey’s office was open and as he went in, he startled the janitor, who was there cleaning up as usual.

“Have you seen Lacey?” Brian said as he tapped the janitor on the shoulder.

The janitor let out a yell and reactively Brian raised up his hands.

“I’m not here to hurt you. I only want to find Lacey. Have you seen her?”

“No I have not. I see her sometimes in here working late, but she has not been in here for a while working late.”

Just then it was confirmed to him. Lacey had been somewhere else when she said she was going to work late that night, but the question was where? Brian looked around for any other clues that could have been there, but he found nothing.

As he drove home, he continued to think about things. Where was she? Where was the car? Who did she go see? Was she cheating on me? All these things were flooding Brian’s mid like a rainstorm. He would continue to drive around the city until daylight came. Still, there was no Lacey and he knew he had to return home and get ready for work. The life he woke up to was no more. Lacey was gone.

Brian was a man confused. Was this real, was this fake and just what is going on? After that long night of searching, Brian had worked up an appetite so before he made it back home, he stopped at Waffle House around the corner from his house, got himself an All-Star breakfast. As he was eating his waffles, he looked up and noticed Charlotte walking right in the door and she was heading toward the counter right where he was.

“Hello Brian. How are you?”

“I’m not sure how I am supposed to respond to that.”

“Well, respond with a simple ‘I am fine’ or ‘today has been a bad one’.

“Well, it has been a bad one.”

“I’m sorry for that.  Do you mind if I sit down?”

Brian accepted Charlotte’s apology and allowed her to sit down and they continued to chat as both finished their breakfast.

Meanwhile at the secret location, Billy woke up from his rendezvous with Lacey in handcuffs. He was obviously stunned and wondered what had happened.  He looked around and noticed there was no one there. There was dead silence in the secret location. Lacey’s clothes appeared to be gone and she appeared to be gone as well. And as he was looking around, he saw a note on the bed next to him and as he read it, you could see the anger growing in his eyes.

“Dear Billy,

Hope you enjoyed the rendezvous. By the way, I took pictures of you in some compromising positions. I’m sure the world would love to know about you cheating on your ‘wife’ with everyone in Atlanta and your other business too. Since you and Charlotte have taken my happy life, I am going to take yours too.

No Love,

Lacey”

“This means war Lacey. This means war. Just wait until I get out of these handcuff Lacey. I promise you will regret this.”