Chapter 17 - A little red dress.

"Dad! Why didn't you tell me? Why did I have to find out from Xavier!"

Amelia asked and her father sighed.

"Well, you were already so upset about the marriage proposal. We wanted to give you time."

Amelia raised her eyebrow as she scoffed.

"Time? Why did you sell him the company Dad? Why?"

There was a bit of hesitation from her father's side.

"Amelia! We were in serious debt. He was the only one who could save us or we would lose everything. It was a smart decision to sell the company to him rather than watch it crumble."

"You should have negotiated something better Daddy. You could have negotiated a partnership or something."

"What's all the fuss about this now? It's not like you've ever shown interest in the company? Have you?"

Amelia shook her head slowly.

Her father was right, she had rarely shown interest in the company. But with the company, Amelia thought that it was going to be the final and only thing that would save her from the loveless marriage she was in with Xavier.

But it looked like that wasn't going to work.

"Amelia, marriages aren't perfect. They never are, just try your best and make it work."

Her Dad said softly into the phone and she felt a bit pissed. Why did she have to when she could avoid the stress and trauma of being in a relationship all together. Why bother? Amelia wondered as she rolled her eyes and ended the call with her father.

The penthouse was once again empty as Xavier had left for work. Now that her only option was to work with Xavier or stay home and continually do nothing, Amelia weighed her options.

She didn't want to be constantly running into Xavier and she most importantly didn't want him to be her boss. She would have considered applying to other places to get a decent job but Amelia really wasn't that's desperate. She very much preferred having fun than working.





The elevator opened directly into Xavier Black's private office, a huge room occupying the corner of the building with floor-to-ceiling windows giving spectacular views in two directions: Fifth Avenue to the east, Central Park just a few blocks north. The two remaining walls contained a door, a low bookshelf, and a single oil painting - a vase of flowers by Vincent van Gogh.

His work space was clean, aesthetically pleasing and unapologetically modern. From the large sheet of glass that was his desk to the foldable television screen that he most times used for video conferencing when he didn't want to leave his office.

The black glass surface of his desk was equally uncluttered: a laptop, an old leather notebook that belonged to his father and a framed photograph of his parents. Sometimes he remembered how much he missed them when he thought about them.

He was still thinking about them when his secretary Kate, walked in with her binder in her hands. Xavier knew that he wanted to talk to him about his schedule.

"Good morning Mr Black."

"Good morning Mrs Willard. What do I have today?"

He asked as he watched his laptop wearily, he knew he had a bunch of stakeholders meeting to attend and generally all lot of work to do, but as Kate started to list them all it made him exhausted thinking of how many things he had to do.

"And finally you have dinner with Mr and Mrs Reyes today."

Xavier raised his eyebrows.

"Mr Reyes? It's today?"

Kate nodded her head as she rechecked the binder.

"Yes, at exactly seven pm at Le Bernadine."

"Damn!" Xavier muttered under his breath. He forgot all about it. Mr Reyes was a very important business partner that he wanted to work with. And upon hearing that Xavier was married, he decided to invite Xavier and Amelia to dinner before he made the decision to work with him. Although, it had slipped Xavier's mind.

Now, he had to go through the stress of talking to Amelia about it. He knew she was going to be angry at him for not informing her earlier. Even more, after last night, he was sure she was ready to stop speaking to him. She could easily say no. She could also deliberately sulk throughout the dinner and ruin everything. He looked at the serious and somber Kate and an idea popped in his head.

"Here is my phone. Password 282927. Send a message to my wife Amelia informing her about the dinner with the Reyes. Tell her to be adequately prepared."

Kate's look faltered a bit.

"Sir, you want me to do it?"

Xavier nodded as he suddenly became serious.

"Yes, is there any problem Mrs Willard?"

"None sir. Its just that since she's your wife, I think you should do it."

"You have no problem doing it, so do it right away."

Xavier said sternly and sent the woman scurrying away. He felt a little bit relieved when she left, knowing that he wouldn't have to go through the trouble of looking for the right words to say.

He was finally about to continue with work when his secretary came back with a pinched expression on her face.

"Sir, it's your wife. She wants to talk to you."

Xavier collected his phone and he dismissed his secretary before picking the call.

"What the hell was that?" Amelia snapped.

"And hello to you too Amelia. Did you get my text?"

"Oh! You mean the one you made your secretary send me?"

"Yes, that one."

"I can't make it. Count me out."

Xavier resisted the urge to argue with her.

"Amelia, it's work related. I need you to be at the dinner with me on your best behaviour."

"I have plans! You didn't tell me before!"

"Ugh! What plans could you possibly have Amelia. You do nothing but spend time in that studio apartment of yours in Manhattan."

There was a short pause on the line and Xavier suddenly wished he could take back his statement. He just unknowingly admitted to spying on her.

"Are you spying on me? Shame on you!"

"I'm not. I was just making sure that you're safe...."

"Safe? Sounds pretty much like spying. Well, I'll consider the dinner."

"Thank you."

"Yea whatever. Just so you know, I actually had plans and now I have to cancel them to pretend like we're a normal couple."

"Wow! Thanks for being my wife. I'm so grateful for your sacrifice."

Xavier said sarcastically as he rolled his eyes. Amelia didn't seem to care.

"You're welcome."

That didn't go as bad as he thought it would, Xavier thought as he sighed and went back to work.




Amelia had been resting in her room with a couple of junk food and her laptop in her lap. She was chilling and binge watching the series Lucifer on Netflix. She didn't really feel up to going to her studio house to do more painting. She wished she had the courage to paint outside and try painting life like objects and painting people but Amelia was always so secretive about her art.

It was the same reason why she never mentioned it to Xavier that she had an apartment where she painted. She didn't think she was that good and compared to the millions he made daily being a CEO and running a successful company, Amelia didn't think she measured up.

She had received the text about her and Xavier going out for dinner with another couple and she had been mildly confused. She had promptly called him only for his phone to be answered by his secretary. It was then she learnt that the secretary had been the one who sent the text.

Amelia didn't want to go for the dinner, but Xavier was as persuasive as he could be and Amelia wanted to try the food at Le Bernadine.

"Hmm! What to wear."

She thought as she rummaged through her walk in closet in search of an appropriate dinner wear. She was stuck between going for a bold and sexy look or a demure and conservative look. Xavier would certainly prefer something much more conservative and demure.

"Perfect! I'll go for the opposite." Amelia thought as she picked up a dress that her mother on a normal day would have labeled sleazy but it was far from being sleazy or trashy. The dress would certainly make Xavier's blood boil either way. Out of pleasure or anger. It all depended on which feeling Xavier was going to give in to.


Xavier arrived home later than he had expected. He had been caught up in a meeting that ended too late. They had only thirty minutes left to beat the traffic and arrive at the restaurant on time and Xavier was going to use fifteen minutes to get ready.

On getting to the apartment, there was no sign of Amelia or that she was ready to leave so he decided to go into his own room and change anyways. Ten minutes later, he was ready and done. And when he came out of his room, still no sign of Amelia.

"Amelia! Amelia! We're running late!" He shouted as he banged on her door.

"Give me five minutes. I'm almost ready."

She answered calmly and he turned away from her door.

Five minutes turned to ten and ten turned to fifteen.

Xavier stormed back angrily towards the door.

"I swear to God if you're not out here in a minute I'll come get you there myself?"

"And do what?"

Amelia asked as she slowly opened her door and Xavier was stunned.

She looked breathtaking. She was wearing a crimson red off the shoulder short dress that had a high slit on the side. Xavier swallowed hard as he took in all of her. Everything about her was perfect.
His eyes were drawn to the midnight black hair that gently caressed its way down her neck, reaching to just below her shoulder blades, the curls glistening with a radiant glow. Her skin was silky smooth and golden and he imagined that they felt just as soft as they looked.

She stared at him with her large violet eyes and her full lips painted in blood red lipstick. All Xavier could think about was how much of a masterpiece she was.

He cleared his throat for a while as Amelia smiled knowingly, she had anticipated his reaction. She picked the dress exactly for that reason. To render him speechless, for a minute, he was slightly angry that she seemed to be reveling in his discomfort.

"What? No comments about my dressing?"

She asked as she walked out of her room swinging her hips seductively. Her feet were clad in black ankle strap tapered heel.

"None. You look nice." Xavier forced the words out as he struggled to look everywhere but her face. Why was he suddenly feeling this way towards her again? He asked himself in annoyance.

"This dinner means a lot to me. Mr Reyes is a very important business partner."

Amelia shrugged.

"So?"

"He believes that we're newlyweds and we're happily married. We have to pretend to be that. For the sake of this business dinner."

Amelia nodded her head slowly as she moved closer to Xavier. Close enough to smell the cologne on him.

"So, how happily married do we have to pretend to be?"

Slowly, Xavier put his arms around Amelia's waist as he pulled her closer to him. His eyes were still fixated on her violet eyes and he slowly scanned her face and his eyes finally rested on her sensual lips.

It was a slow and deliberate gesture, but Amelia understood the meaning behind it.

"Very happy." Xavier whispered the words into Amelia's ear as his hot breath tickled her ear.