Maxwell

The very next day,

I had to leave home early for work that day, so I did not have the time to see Ella before leaving.

All through the night I had thought about her and could not sleep well. I loved her so much, and she meant everything to me.

I had hurt her feelings and I knew I was so wrong.

Today the representatives of The Bella Beauty Awards (BBA) are coming over to work on this day. This was the second day of their inspection.

They checked the head office yesterday. Now they are checking the production site of Skin by Nature.

"Baby I'm leaving!" I shouted from the first floor, but there was no response. I did not expect any response anyway.

"Bye love, we'll talk later this evening." I said and bolted out the door.

I was so sure Ella was still angry with me.



AT WORK

"Good morning Mr Maxwell."

"Good morning."

"Good morning Sir."

"Good morning."

Everyone looked prepared this morning and to my thinking this inspection is supposed to go well. Ella had earlier scared me by saying she was not sure Skin by Nature stood a chance of bagging an award, but she is so wrong.

I walked into my office and was closely followed by Emelia.

"Good morning Mr Maxwell"

"Good morning Emelia. How is your morning going?" I asked her without even looking up at her once!

"It is going fine Sir. The team here is already so ready for the representatives from The Bella's Beauty Awards. We have everything in place, and we await their arrival." She said.

"Oh, that's very good Emelia. We had better be ready, there must be no stone left unturned." I said finally looking up at her and smiling.

She smiled back at me.

"You can go now!" I ordered.

"Of course Sir. Thank you, Sir." She said and walked out of the office.

She was wearing a white shirt with a black office skirt, which was kind of the uniform here.

The corporate workers at the production site wore white on black while those at the head office wore white on blue-dark blue.

***

"You are so welcome!!" I could hear Emelia say.

I knew the representatives from The Bella's Beauty Awards were here already, and I was starting to feel a little tensed in my stomach.

"Oh, I am Emelia Ma'. I am the head supervisor of this unit. This is Skin by Nature production site." I could hear her say.

I knew it would not take a long time before Emelia would be at my office to summon me.

"Sir, the representatives are here." Said Emelia immediately. She walked to my office.

"Yes Emelia, I am very aware. Go and make them comfortable, I will be right there in a minute." She stared at me.

"Emelia, I just have a few moments to brush things up. I will be with you soon."

"Alright Sir." She walked out.

I took a deep breath and a few more deep breaths. I could not understand why I felt so tense all of a sudden. I had prepared for this for weeks.

I stood up to take my leave, swearing as I felt a tight knot in my tummy, my stomach knotted in pain.



***

"Oh Mr Maxwell!" I looked up to see a lady smiling at me. I have never met her before.

"Hello Ma'am, how did you know my name?"

"Oh, "she started, beaming with smiles.

"I was at the head office yesterday. I met with Mrs Ella, your wife-first lady of Skin by Nature."

"And you are??" I asked, narrowing my eyes, acting like I suspected something.

"Mrs Mia Soo." She said, extending her hands to me.

"Oh Mrs. I know you now. My wife talked about you." I shook her hands.

"Very well then." She said. "Are you ready Sir."

"Oh yes of course, Ma'am."



***

"The Bella Beauty Awards has been around for decades. It honors beauty brands that create quality products." Mrs Mia Soo said as we walked round the production site.

"Yes Ma'am." I replied coyly. "I knew this award meant the world to me and, Skin by Nature brand.

"Mr Maxwell, you are to show me around the company, then me and my team are to take note."

"Yes Ma'am. Very well Ma'am."

***

I took the lead and walked her down to the site where chemicals are stored.

"Mrs Soo,"

"Yes, Mr Maxwell."

"This is the beginning of our productions."

"Okay..."

"High quality raw materials and chemicals are sorted by our trusted vendors."

"And what kind of vendors if I may ask?" She had a serious, no-nonsense tone.

"To be honest Mrs Mia, Skin by Nature imports a lot of our products, but we still also source some products from locals around us."

"Hmm. What products do you source abroad??" She asked.

"Quite alot, glass, steel, silicon, oil palm, honey, black soap..."

"Now that's quite the list." She said, looking impressed. "But does that mean these products can not be sourced here at home??" She asked, looking really serious.

"Skin by Nature has lots of consumers, some at home, some abroad. Getting products from all over the world shows our beloved consumers that we care about versatility and inclusiveness."

"Hmm that's a very clever response." She nodded and moved away while I followed suit.

I could see the other representatives scribbling words on their notes and I wondered what they were writing.

"It better be good!" I thought.



****

"So Mr Maxwell, what is this place?" She asked.

"Oh, here is just a space where we unpack and store the raw materials."

We walked past it.

"And here is where the main production takes place."

"Oh wowww."

"Yes." I replied, feeling really proud of myself. "Finally, I had impressed Mrs Mia Soo."

"I have never seen anything like this before," She said.

She stared straight into the large bowl before her. It was filled with a white creamy substance churning at high speed.

"Come here, come take a look, Mr John." Mrs Mia Soo called to Mr John, one of the representatives that was sent to Skin by Nature. He wore an all- black suit just like the rest of the many representatives.

"Oh wow Ma'am." He said and he immediately started taking notes. "This is incredible," He said.

The workers at the production site made me so proud. They were all dressed well and moved about their work despite the presence of the representatives of The Bella's Beauty Awards.

I watched with awe as they mixed and turned the ingredients together, not caring about the presence of the representatives.

Emelia had really prepared them for this.

I looked at Emelia, she had been standing by my side all this while. I gave her a knowing smile, and she smiled back at me.

There were really huge tins that contained different powders and liquors and also different mixers. Our production site was filled with different quality machines that worked non-stop producing high quality products.

"Mr Maxwell, I must say that I am indeed impressed," Mrs Mia Soo said to me.

"Thank you, Ma." I blushed.

I took her to our laboratory.

"Here Ma'am is where we test our products. We have the most qualified and the most sort-after professionals, Micro-biologists, chemists, lab technicians, you name them. At Skin by Nature, we ensure that our products are safe for consumers."

"Hmm. Very thoughtful, Mr Max."

"Finally Mrs."

Mrs Mia turned and stared at me. "What more Sir."

"This way." I showed her. "But...It must only be you that can see this place....."

"Urrmm Mr John, you and the others can stay back here." She ordered, despite their protest.

We walked down the hall and I spoke as we moved.

"After testing our products in the lab, they are finally ready to be packaged. They are packaged thoughtfully with quality glass bottles, steel or silicones... depending on the products Ma'am."

"Hmm....."

"Yes Ma'am."

I took her to a secluded room in the hall. It was gated with a metaldoor. The door could only be opened by a code.

That code is only known by a few select persons and those persons has sworn never to tell.

"Please Ma'am." I pleaded with Mrs Mia Soo, and she looked away so I could type in the code without her seeing.

I hurriedly typed in the code to the room while I spoke.

"At Skin by Nature we pride in our products, we sell a range of body lotions, serums, body washes, hair care products and all these gems are stored here."

The metal doors opened to reveal a room filled with various beauty products. All beautifully arranged.

"Wowwww I have never seen a store room this big and beautiful and colorful. Oh, it smells so good too."

"Yes Ma'am." I said, giving a slight bow. "And that would be all Ma'am."

****

BACK AT HOME

"Ella! Ella!!" I called my beautiful wife.

I walked hurriedly up the stairs to our master's bedroom.

"Ella guess what??" I asked immediately I stepped into the room.

I found my princess walking out of the shower, she wore a bathrobe, and she looked really beautiful in it and I thought : "Oh I really came on time...."

"Oh Ella, I missed you today....."

"Really?" She asked coldly.

"Of course babe."

"Good to hear." She replied, not even looking my way.

I sensed that Ella was still angry with me from yesterday's fight.

"Ella baby. I am so sorry....how long would you make me plead?"

"I do not understand Max, what you are saying." She said non-chalant. She gave me her back and started applying a body lotion.

"Hmm that scents nice." I said but she gave me no response.

"I love the scent of that. Is that our latest tropical mango body lotion? Hmm, I so much love its scent, you know we did a really good job this season in mix matching our scents." I said excitedly, but there was still no response.

I watched with lust in my eyes as Ella applied the orange glow beauty on her skin. She smeared it all with her hands and I salivated at it's scents.

"Can I help you with that?" I could not help but ask. "I mean to apply the lotion...." I said, giggling like a child.

"No thank you, Max."

"Are you just coming back from work??"

"Is it not clear??" Ella replied with a sarcastic tone. I could see that she was not ready for any form of conversation.

"Ella are you still upset with me?? About what happened last night??" I asked, shocked.

"Oh Max why can't you just leave me alone??" She shouted. "You are suffocating me, please leave me alone!!" She thundered.

"Okay.." I replied feeling defeated. "I am leaving."

I picked up my suitcase from the bed and headed out of our master bedroom. "If my wife doesn't want me here then it's fine.

"After a long day at work, this is what I'm greeted with-violence." I was talking to no one in particular but I was sure Ella heard me.

I walked out the room and hit the door close behind me.



***

ELLA

Immediately Max left, I picked up my journal and started to write down my thoughts. I have chosen to love myself despite everything, including Maxwell....

"This evening was going to be a beautiful one." I thought. After all, Max would not be on my skin this night.

I was still very much hurt by how he spoke to me last night and I never plan to speak to him ever again even if I'm still his wife, even if I'm still living in his house.

If avoiding Maxwell was going to make him see my value, then I would avoid him. After all, if he had valued me, he would not have dared to call me thrash......