chapter 8: Lifetime Headache

While Diva was at her grandma's place, busy executing her top-secret mission, Blaze was attending an important conference.
"Good morning, Mr. Hudson. Thank you for giving us your time," greeted the project manager of Megamile Corporation.
Blaze just nodded and motioned for them to continue the presentation of the new project proposed by their partner company.
"I am Mr. John Walters. Today I would like to��" the words of the representative of the Megamile Corporation were interrupted by the sudden ringing of a phone.
A frowned crossed upon Blaze's forehead. He hated any disturbances during the forums. Just as he was about to open his mouth to complain, his eyes fell on his own phone. Instantly, his eyes widened. It was the first time he hadn't silenced his cell phone before a meeting.
What's wrong with me? he screamed in his mind. He cursed Diva internally for making him go crazy, and by crazy, he didn't mean crazy in love.
Blaze cursed Diva, even more, when the name flashing on the screen was hers. Why couldn't that girl leave him alone?
"Um, Mr. Hudson?" Mr. Walters called out reluctantly.
"Uh, I'm sorry for the disturbance. By all means, continue," Blaze said and cut the call.
"Okay. As I was saying, today the project is about��" Again, the representative was cut off by the familiar ringing of the phone.
Blaze formed his fist into a ball and wondered out of frustration, does that woman not understand that when someone declines a call means they are fucking busy?
He again slid the red hang-up button on the screen to the left and motioned for them to continue.
The representative hesitated before starting again. This time even before he could get a word out, Blaze's phone started ringing.
Out of curiosity, wondering who might be bothering their CEO at this time of the day, Thames Walker, the Chief Operating Officer of the Kiwi Inc. sneaked a peek at Blaze's phone screen. A knowing smile formed on his face as soon as he saw Diva's name flashing on the screen. "Sir, it's just Mrs. Hudson calling. You should pick it up," Thames advised.
Blaze almost flinched at the mention of her name. He glared at Thames sideways, which he didn't notice at all.
"Oh, my! So even Blaze Hudson gets calls from his wife at work. How sweet!" gushed the Managing Director of the Megamile Corporation.
"No, it's not like that," Blaze tried to deny the claim because it started to embarrass him.
"Are you guys having a fight? If so, you should resolve it as quickly as possible," Thames said, completely oblivious to the glares he was earning. "Oh, knowing Mrs. Hudson from yesterday��s interview, you guys probably aren��t fighting since she seemed so understanding. Are you just too shy to talk in front of us, sir?"
Everyone laughed at Thames�� question.
"You don't have to be shy in front of us, sir. It's just us," said Kiwi Inc.��s Chief Technology Officer.
Some of these idiots are getting demoted for sure, Blaze decided. Taking a deep breath, Blaze said with a calm expression, "No, it's okay. It will hamper the meeting. Besides, I don't like my private life getting mixed up with my professional life."
"That won't do, young man. The wife comes first. Make her a higher priority. You guys got married recently. You don't want a divorce within a week, do you?" the old-aged president of the Megamile Corporation joked, making the others around the conference table burst out laughing.
"Finally, Mr. Hudson will understand our hardships," Thames chimed in. He couldn't count how many times he was scolded by Blaze for forgetting to silence his phone during a meeting, but now he could rest easily, knowing his superior also had a wife.
I'll make your life full of hardships, Thames. Just you wait, Blaze shot him another death glare.
"As I said, it's alright. She won't mind. She understands that I am busy��" his words died off in his mouth as his phone started chiming again.
"Now, don't be shy. Go ahead and pick it up," the president encouraged.
Blaze could swear he had never felt that much humiliation in his entire life. He wanted the earth to swallow him whole. If it was possible, he would spend all the money he had ever earned to make the embarrassment go away. It would remain as a black stain on his life forever.
Blaze heaved a hopeless sigh and got up from his seat. He went to stand in the corner of the conference room.
"He's so shy," everyone cooed in a hushed tone, finding the antic very cute for some reason. The always serious Blaze Hudson was getting calls from his wife��of course, they found it amusing.
Blaze inhaled a deep breath before receiving the call. Before he could even speak, Diva started, "Mission Newspaper was a huge success!"
"What mission?" he frowned.
"I told you in the morning, didn't I?" Diva huffed. "Never mind. Since I'm so kind, I'll tell you again, so, listen this time," she ordered.
If Blaze knew that not paying attention to her words once meant listening to them all over again, he would have paid attention the first time.
Lesson learned��always pay attention to what Diva says, otherwise, she will keep repeating it until I don't listen, Blaze thought to himself.
Diva started, "Since the interview from yesterday was published in the newspaper..."
Blaze regretted ever picking up the call. He should have blocked her, or he could have turned his ringer off. He felt stupid for not thinking of simple ways to solve the issue.
The damage was already done, so all he could do now was bear it. Blaze connected his AirPods, and put one in his right ear before returning to the conference table.
"Already done talking?" Thames inquired.
Blaze waved his hand, motioning that it wasn't anything important.
"Aw, that's a shame." Thames sounded disappointed.
Blaze narrowed his eyes at him, plotting roles to demote him to, and sat back on his seat.
"Please, continue," he told the others.
Everyone nodded and returned to their professional mode, while Blaze was crying invisible tears from Diva��s non-stop chirping. He couldn't grasp a single thing from the meeting, from the basic idea to the execution.
He tried his best to multitask��listen to both Diva and the presentation, but all he achieved was a headache. Therefore, he made a mental note to watch the recording of the meeting at home, so he could make a decision about the project.
When the meeting was nearing its end, and Diva still wasn't done chattering, the project manager, Mr. Walter asked, "So, do you like the idea, Mr. Hudson?"
On the other side, Diva was saying, "You know, Grandma was so close to finding it out, but me being my grandma's brilliant granddaughter, I managed to pull it off. But, I think Grandma was still a little suspicious. What do you think grandma suspected this time?"
Mixing it all up, trying to keep his conversation as short as possible like always, Blaze responded, "Yes, Mr. Grandma."
Mr. Walter's eyebrows rose in surprise as he uttered, "Mr. Grandma?"
Everyone was staring at Blaze in astonishment.
Blaze gasped, realizing what he had just blurted out.
On the contrary, Diva was offended. "My grandma isn't a mister. My grandpa was." Blaze��s comment reminded Diva of her late grandpa. " My grandpa was very gentle and sweet, unlike my grumpy grandma..."
While Diva kept rambling in his ear, Blaze stared off into space, the second-hand embarrassment making him want to disappear at that instant.
Someone please just send me to the moon, Blaze begged in his mind.
Even though his cheeks were probably burning out of embarrassment, he corrected himself, "That was a mistake. I meant Grandpa. I don't know why the project idea reminded me of my grandpa since he was very much like that. More production with a low budget was his motto." That was a lie.
His grandparents died before his birth, so he wouldn't know. He didn't even comprehend what he was saying at that point. Was Diva��s stupidity rubbing off on him?
"Oh, I see," replied Mr. Walters, slightly confused.
Everyone nodded their head, still not buying it completely but left him off the hook since he looked like he would die if he were anymore embarrassed .
"So, do you like the idea of the project?" Mr. Walter asked again.
"I need some time to think about it," Blaze told them with a straight face. But the truth was, he had no idea of what the project idea was. "My assistant will contact you."
After some more discussion, the meeting was concluded. When everyone left the conference room, Blaze let his shoulders slump in defeat and relaxed in his chair, Diva still blabbing through his AirPods.
"Did you catch all that?" Diva finally asked.
Blaze felt grateful to God that she was near the end of the conversation. He just hummed in reply, his lips twitching upwards in satisfaction.
"Just 'hmm'? You did understand, right? I don't mind repeating," Diva told him.
Blaze's eyes flung open in horror. Just the thought of her rambling for an hour all over again��it was an absolute nightmare.
"I understood everything," Blaze lied. He didn't catch anything other than hearing the word 'Grandma' over and over again.
"Great then! Oh, I have an important meeting now as I am in my office. See you later tonight, Blaze. Bye!" She hung up the call, and Blaze released a sigh of relief.
He never felt that much mental exhaustion. His both ears were hurting, and his head was aching. He wanted to hang up on her in between her chatter, but he knew she would find a way to contact him anyway.
How did his life turn out like this?
Whilst Blaze was rethinking the past few hectic days of his life, he heard the conference room door open and his assistant came in.
"Sir, what are you still doing here?" Atlas asked.
"Atlas, get me some aspirins," Blaze ordered, massaging his temple with his hands.
"Why?" Atlas furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.
"I'm having a goddamn migraine," Blaze groaned.
"Sir, you don't have migraine issues," Atlas reasoned out while looking for aspirins in the emergency first aid kit in the room.
"I do now. They started four days ago." That was since the day he married Diva.
Being a businessman, who always thought about profit, Blaze didn't want anything more than to help out his twin by marrying Diva. Without even asking for anything, he did gain something�� a lifetime of migraines.