70

“Why did you not tell me you were sick?” His breath brushed on her face giving her a tingling sensation.
Alexa fought the annoying urge of giving in and frowned her face. She turned to the opposite side and folded her arms.
Who the hell was he trying to trick with his handsomeness?
He used his fingers to draw back her face to his sight and caressed it, removing dangling hairs that covered her eyelashes.

“I heard you were planning on starving to death .” He planted a kiss on her forehead and went ahead to widen the curtains. Sunlight flashed on her forehead and made her eyes glow.

“Why are you here again? If you are here to argue with me on how childish I am then.....the door is that way ” She pointed her fingers towards the door. Coming down from the bed, she pulled shut the curtains and hopped back on the bed with her legs crossed.

”About that.....I am really sorry. I did not mean that .”
His apology surprised her the most. Did he really just apologize to her? Wait?! The big boss just said the words SORRY!
She definitely had to make sure she heard those words well. What she knew about him was that he never took SORRY as a word in the dictionary and always assumed he was right when, though, he was wrong.
So hearing that word affected her heart really well. She adjusted her gaze to him and smiled. At last, a nice and happy feeling she had been waiting for.

“But it seemed like you did. I am also sorry for breaching the contract. I am not meant to be seen around with the opposite sex, yet I defiled that order. That person is actually my friend and roommate in the US.”
She explained. Although they were both at fault, moreover, she was the main cause of the argument and would feel guilty if she did not explain the whole thing to him.

“His name is Felix, he was a good friend during my adulthood. He just came back from the states and we met up for a chat ”

“And who said I was angry about that?”
Ray retorted after her explanation. In fact, he was not angry but jealous after reading about their intimate days.
The most annoying part was she even shared an apartment with a random man all alone. Who knows what must have transpired between the two.

“I thought that was why you were angry. Seriously, then why were you angry at me?”
Her weird face just made him chuckle more. She was left with no words to say. If he was not angry about her spending time with him, then what exactly was he angry about?
She did feel a little sting in her heart when she heard he was not angry about that. Alexa wished for him to be furious about that and nothing else.
Days that passed from their incident made her wonder how she felt about her CONTRACTED husband. Although this was a contract and in fact, a marriage one where they were only in it for benefits.
One wanted an Heir and the other wanted to get back at her family, it was a WIN WIN solution and no feelings were meant to be attached to it.
However, Alexa's heart could not help but blush at his presence which made her more of a fool.

“You did not trust me and thought I was seeing a girl. If it means getting rid of her pictures and belongings, I will do so. Just stop avoiding me .”
So that was the reason? Alexa interrogated herself. Somehow, she felt disappointed at his comment.

“Oh No! Do not do that. I will be disrespecting the dead. You look super tired. When did you last sleep?”
The deep question bothering her finally got blurted out.

“Last Two nights. There are some issues at the company that need me to fix and no one else. I have been up all night drafting and proposing contracts and all. ”

“I hope your presence here does not affect your work. If so, then just go. I am fine as you can see ”
Alexa said. She did not want to be a hindrance to his progress or be a burden to him. She might as well hang out alone without him.
His brows greased together as he stood up.

“You are chasing me? Miss Parker, your boldness level has increased so much .” His lips moved in a tempting but yet sexy way. He lowered his head and met with her lips. His breath danced on her lips and she gulped anxiously.

“Me?” She feigned innocence. “Mr. Hudston, you have also become too demanding. Your contract requests are also unbelievable too. I want an adjustment. ”

“Go ahead..........”

“I do not want to stay at home at all. I hate that house. It is so empty that only Auntie Ran is there. That reminds me, how is Miss Naomi?”
She totally forgot her talk buddy. Her last action made her remorseful. She felt bad for how she walked out on Miss Naomi the other week. She never deserved such rudeness.

“I fired her! She was being too careless with your safety. You will get a new one before this day runs out .”
Ray shifted away and laid on the wide hospital bed. His head resting on the soft wood.

“FIRED HER?” Alexa exclaimed and sat up to face him properly. That was just too harsh for a middle aged woman who worked to survive for her kids.
Alexa's guilt increased. She just let a woman take responsibility for her stupid and ignorant behavior. Truly, maybe she was a fool.

“You can not make her pay for what she did not do. I am the one who ran away and decided to stay away from the house. Miss Naomi just could not do anything about it. She is Innocent ”

“What if something had happened to you during your course of running away? Besides, that was her job, to keep you safe and take care of your needs and she failed .”

“You! Have you ever had a girlfriend before?” Alexa smacked her curiosity once more for getting the best of her. Wasn't it so known that the boss had never been in a real relationship before?

“Uuh?”

“................”
Her question made him confused. How did she enter into such a question?

“No wonder. You are so heartless. She is just a woman trying to survive. Who knows what she is doing now?”
Pity once more filled her. Where could she be working that will pay her huge salary and make her feel human?

“In this life, being too soft would only make you look stupid. She deserves it and there is nothing I can do about that. Bringing her back would make me break my words and that I can not do ”
Ray learnt that quote from his mother. He was never raised to be soft rather be one who was going to take a no for an answer, stick to their words and most of all, refuse to let themselves be pitied by others.
So he was not that surprised when he fired the maid who had worked for him for the last nine years in the blink of an eye.

“You sound so cold. Who did this to you?” Her hands went to his chest to feel his heartbeat. They were so cold too.
No single flushing was seen on his face just his normal blank expression. She could not help but wonder how harsh life must have been for him to learn life that way.
A give and take world.

“Let me guess your mother right? She was too harsh on you even as a kid? Now I can imagine how it is like to have a harsh mother when growing up. I have an idea, I am quite okay. Let us walk around for a bit .”
Alexa pulled him off the bed and headed for the door to wear her slippers.

“Hey! Wait up!” He rushed over to her.

“Close your eyes .” Alexa tiptoed while blindfolding him before leading him out of the car. She pushed open the door by plugging in the key and pulled him inside.
The room was dark and dusty. This was her old but favorite spot in the entire world. It contained memories both good and bad.

“Open your eyes.......TA.....DA ”
He removed the knot on the blindfold and looked around. He was confused where he was and as usual kept his blank and poker face.

“You are not surprised or shocked at all?”
He shook his head as a NO. Alexa sighed and pulled him over to the table and switched on the play toy.

“This is a gift from my mother. She gave it to me and called it Mr. Fluffy ”
She showed him the Teddy bear and smiled. Her childhood years were ones that were so filled with happiness not until her mother was killed.

“She told me that she would always be here with me when no one is around. I thought she was lying not until I saw her passing away ” She sniffed back her tears and opened another dusty carton.
She sneezed from opening them one after the other. He reached into his pocket for a tissue and blew her nose.
Her slight yet cute sneezing made her charming and exotic.

“You are allergic to dust. Stop opening it, I have a better idea .”
He held her back from touching the last carton and took her out of the basement.
They were in her old house where she celebrated her last seventeenth birthday with her mom.
She sat on the couch and drank a cup of water. The house was still kept clean and was paid to be cleaned every day.
Selling off the house meant she was also selling good memories, although she rarely visited here.

“You lived here before moving out? It is still neat .” He complimented and went over to the kitchen side.

“Actually my mother did, she is late though. We had lots of good memories and if I rent it out, I would not be okay with myself. So I decided to keep it ” She entered the cover of the birthday cake. It was still fresh for over 8 years after lots of preservatives had been sprayed on it.
She carried a part of it in her hands and smiled. Her first time having a cake and a bad thing happens that same day. What a bad day!

“That is not eatable at all ”