Disclaimer: I own nothing in regard to GWTW
Author's Notes: Thank you for all the many reviews and the feedback.
Chapter Two
Scarlett had joined Rhett in his bed simply because she needed his comfort. It seemed Rhett was not as tired of her body as he had said he was. She laid their trying to decide what to do about Ashley and Melanie. What she would like to do is confront them both and tell them what awful people they were to have used her all these years. She wasn't going to do that. She could sell her mills then she would never have to see either one of them again, but the mills were a gold mine. Also, the mills were her baby. She had built them up from nothing. She had to get Ashley to quit his job. She could do that by making his life miserable and have him quit but then he and Melanie could talk bad about her and ruin what was left of her reputation. The reputation she had destroyed supporting them while they had done nothing. Their reputations were still squeaky clean. That made her even madder. She needed to calm down. No, she was not going to sell her mills. She just had to figure out a way to make them suffer for trifling with her and taking advantage of her naivety.
She got up and found her nightgown. Relations with Rhett had been very nice. Extremely nice. He had made her feel so good. She wondered what that amazing feeling was. She had certainly never felt that before last night and this morning. She had felt it again and again. Nothing a lady would feel she was sure but who cared, she wasn't a lady. She could pretend to be one just like her Pa had pretended to be a gentleman but deep down she was just the daughter of a ruthless, cunning Irish peasant. After all hadn't her Pa gotten a man drunk in order to steal his plantation from him in a game of poker. She smiled and thought, 'That sounds like something Rhett would do. Until now I never realized how much Pa and Rhett were alike.' That made her happy.
She put on her nightgown and walked across the hall to her bedroom. She wasn't ashamed. What was there to be ashamed of? She had spent the night with her husband. Her handsome, rich, smart husband. She would make him fall in love with her. Yes, indeed. When she got through with Rhett, he would be begging her to love him.
When she got through with Ashley and Melanie, they were going to think Job got off easy. Ashley and Melanie were going to find out what a cruel, cold, unscrupulous person she could be.
She called for her maid and began to plan her attack on those three unsuspecting people. Rhett would be the hardest because he always had his guard up, but she would get him. After all she was Scarlett O'Hara.
Scarlett got ready, ate her breakfast that had been brought to her room, stopped by her husband's office to give him a kiss goodbye and left the house. She knew the way to reach her husband was on a physical level. She knew he still wanted her body very much. She didn't even care if she got pregnant. If she got pregnant maybe Rhett would act loving toward her like he had when she was pregnant with Bonnie. Or like he had when they were in New Orleans. Thinking of New Orleans made her even madder at Ashley for leading her on.
She would have to tell Rhett that she no longer loved Ashley then maybe he could help her torture at least Ashley. He probably wouldn't help her torture Melanie but his help with Ashley would be good enough. She was sure her husband could think of so many cruel things to do to Ashley. She would have to have a good reason for falling out of love with Ashley or Rhett would hound her about what the real reason was. He could never ever know the real reason. It would just be too humiliating.
She drove her buggy to the store and dropped off the books. She walked around the store to make sure it was clean and in good working order. All the displays looked good. She smiled at Mr. Elsing and left the store.
She next went to Johnny's mill. She looked at the convicts and decided that she was going to have to rein Johnny Gallagher in. She decided that she needed to clean house in more ways than one. As Scarlett was looking over the books she said, "Johnny you need to feed the prisoners better."
"Mrs. Butler, don't you remember that you and I have an agreement. I make a huge profit and you don't ask questions."
Scarlett smiled when she thought, 'I've broken agreements before.' She said, "I am no longer satisfied with making huge profits at the expense of human beings."
"If you insist on meddling, I will have to quit."
"Alright. Is today your last day then? Because I am going to meddle." Scarlett didn't know why she was doing it. Yes, she did. She was doing it because of those unkind comments Ashley had made about her and Rhett six months ago. Those comments that she had foolishly let change her life. Those comments that made her think Ashley still loved her. When I think about him touching you. Such simple words and they had changed her life. Hopefully, she had found out the truth before it was too late. She and Rhett would never talk about if he had been unfaithful to her in these last six months.
She knew those comments were true about her and Rhett. Not the part about Rhett poisoning everything he touched. Well, that might be true, but he hadn't poisoned her the aftermath of the war had. Everyone using her had. She was not sweet and generous and gentle, but she was hard and cold. She was harder and colder after finding out that the people she had trusted the most had been using her. They had been freeloading off of her. Ashley Wilkes was going to find out just how hard and cold she could be. Nobody likes to be taken advantage of but least of all Scarlett O'Hara Butler.
Scarlett said, "Well? What's it going to be Johnny?"
Johnny stared at Mrs. Butler and was trying to decide if she was bluffing or not. Usually, her emotions were written on her face. Finally, he decided to just ride this out. She would soon get tired of meddling with the mills and go back to her soft life.
Scarlett said, "Too late. You are fired."
"Mrs. Butler …."
"Goodbye Mr. Gallagher. Please leave the premises. You don't work here anymore."
"When you come begging me to come back the answer will be 'no."
Johnny walked over and grabbed his hat and coat and stormed out of the little office. Scarlett walked out into the yard and motioned for the foreman to come over. The man, Joe Jackson, walked over and took his hat off. He was a man of about thirty with a pleasant face. Scarlett knew he had been in the war because he was missing his right leg. She said, "Mr. Gallagher is no longer employed with me. You are now in charge. Do you think you can do it?"
"Yes, ma'am. I can."
"Excellent. Do you know of someone who can perform your duties?"
"Yes, ma'am. My friend Carl Clemmer. He was in the war with me."
"Excellent. Let's go into the office and let me tell you what your duties are. Also, I want the prisoners treated humanely and fed."
Mr. Jackson said, "Thank you Mrs. Butler. What Mr. Gallagher has been doing to these men was inhuman."
Scarlett explained to Mr. Jackson his duties. They talked about how she wanted the prisoners treated. Mr. Jackson talked about some ideas he had about the prisoners, and she told him. "As long as production doesn't suffer, I am fine with it. I will be back tomorrow," Scarlett handed Mr. Jackson the books for Ashley's mills. She couldn't face him today. She said, "Go over to Mr. Wilkes' mill and introduce yourself and give him the books."
"Yes ma'am."
Scarlett sat in her buggy and felt good. Just because they were convicts didn't mean they should be brutalized. She had tried to stop Johnny from treating them badly before, but he had threatened to quit, and she had needed all the money she could get her hands on to support her extended family. Now she had Rhett's money to at least support her aunts. Those ungrateful hags that she felt obligated to send a check to every month. Her Pa had always treated the slaves well and she would treat the convicts just as well.
She was probably going to sell the mills but not until she had tortured Ashley. Scarlett smiled. She knew how she was going to torture Melanie. She was going to have lots of babies and act like she didn't want them. She would constantly be complaining about the trials and tribulations of being pregnant. Rhett would be ecstatic for she knew he wanted more children. Scarlett laughed out loud as she got the reins. She could kill two birds with one stone. Torture Melanie and bind Rhett to her even tighter. No, three. Melanie being miserable would make Ashley miserable.
She laughed again Rhett wouldn't know what hit him in their marital bed. She would wait until Bonnie was at least one before she let Rhett get her pregnant. She laughed all the way home. She would go out to Ashley's mill later in the week. She was going to have relations with Rhett in the middle of the afternoon. Rhett had tried to initiate relations one afternoon on their honeymoon and she had gotten so unnerved at just the idea that Rhett had given up.
Over dinner Scarlett asked, "Rhett do you have plans for this afternoon?"
"I was going to look a couple of my investments over that aren't faring very well, but I can do it tomorrow morning. Are you in need of my assistance?"
Scarlett thought, 'Yes, I am definitely in need of your assistance. Whatever that feeling was, I want to feel it again this very afternoon.' She said, "I thought after the children went down for their afternoon naps you could join me in my, I mean our bedroom and talk about our decorating ideas."
"That sounds like a lovely idea." If Scarlett was inviting him into her bedroom, he was going. No matter what the reason was.
After dinner was over, Scarlett summoned the nursemaid to come get the children and take them away to do whatever it was they did in the afternoon. Just as long as she and Rhett weren't disturbed for the next hour.
The nursemaid came and led the children to the stairs. Rhett and Scarlett followed behind them. The nursemaid said, "Mr. Butler, Bonnie is awake if you want to come play with her."
"I will play with her later. Mrs. Butler and I have something we need to discuss."
Scarlett decided that she would just start kissing Rhett as soon as they closed the door to their bedroom. He would not think she was not acting like a lady. Actually, he would think that, but it would make him happy not appall him. When all was said and done Scarlett rolled over on top of Rhett and said, "I think we need to discuss our decorating plans every afternoon."
Rhett burst out laughing and pulled her close. He didn't know what had happened and he was not going to ask. He was so happy with the change in his wife. She hadn't even brought up the possibility of his unfaithfulness. He would like to tell her he hadn't been unfaithful to her, but it would reveal too much.
They started going to the master bedroom every afternoon after dinner and having a lovely time.
On Thursday Scarlett knew she had to go out to Ashley's mills. When she got to Ashley's mills there was a lot of production. She was a little disappointed she had wanted to chew him out for his lack of production.
Ashley came out to meet her at her buggy. As she got out of the buggy, Ashley gave her an adoring look and she gave him a worshiping look.
When they got in the office, she said, "I see production is up. That is so good for once."
Ashley smiled his lazy smile that up until Sunday she had always found so attractive, and said, "Yes, but that is not my production. Mr. Jackson had a lot of orders and I had line time, so I offered it to him."
Scarlett pouted and said, "Oh Ashley, I so wish you would do better at managing your mill"
"I do the best I can."
"I know, Ashley. I guess I can't expect anything more. You are so handsome it would be too much for me to expect you to be smart too."
Ashley didn't like what she was implying that he was stupid. That he was just a pretty face.
Scarlett smiled at him a sweet smile. There was no mockery in her smile, but he sensed it, nonetheless. He dismissed it because Scarlett wasn't that smart.
She looked over the books and said, "Hopefully you will do better next week. I would like to stay but Rhett demands that I be home…., Scarlett blushed and then said, "He has decided that we will ….. take a nap together every afternoon. He would not like to be kept waiting." She blushed even more red.
Ashley knew that they weren't taking a nap. They were having relations. In the middle of the day! It was not heard of but, yet Ashley knew it was true. She scurried out the door but paused and turned and said, "Honey please try to do better. I must go."
After Scarlett left Ashley had two thoughts. Did Scarlett really think he was stupid and How did Butler worm his way back into Scarlett's bed.