Chapter Twenty-eight-2

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″What’s wrong with you?″ Kenna asks as she steps outside of the café with Dimitri trailing behind her, shoving both of his hands in his slacks’ pockets.



I frown, ″What do you mean?″



″You gave me the cold shoulder when Sam came to take our order, you started being a little bit rude just because he was talking to me and you weren’t even the slightest enjoying your breakfast when you ate as if you were in a marathon. That’s what I mean,″ She replies as she continues to look into my eyes, leaving me sighing.



″I don’t like it,″ I roll my eyes, looking away.



″Don’t like what? The food? You could’ve ordered something else!″ She exclaims.



″No! I don’t like the way he looked at you or talked to you. I simply don’t like him being there to take our order, get it?″ My reply surprised her a little bit as she blinks a few times, trying to reassure what she heard while I breathe out. ″Now, I’m leaving.″



″You’re not leaving!″ She turns to look at me as I see Gerald pulling over and Flynn quickly running to open the door for me—his eyes widening at my arm but not bothered to ask as he sees the heated conversation between Kenna and I.



″Watch me,″ I reply before stepping inside the car, glancing one last time at Kenna who has a frustrated look plastered on her face while Dimitri stands beside, not wanting to take part of the conversation but walks to comfort her.



I look up at the rear-view mirror to see Gerald looking at me, ″Straight to the office, sir?″ He asks, his voice low and hinted with slight fear.



″Yes,″ I nod.



Just like that, we’re already on the road, making me lean back on my seat—trying to clear my head from unwanted things. My eyes wander to Flynn who is currently sitting still on his seat.



″Anything happened while I was gone?″ I ask, causing him to shake his head.



″No, Mr. Ashton. Everything was fine and been handled well,″ He replies. ″May I ask about your arm, Mr. Ashton? Your condition concerns me,″ He asks, slowly incase I’m left triggered by his question but I’m not; in fact, I’m much relieved that he asked.



″I fell,″ I answer, not wanting to dread on it.



He clears his throat, ″You will recover well, Mr. Ashton but for the mean time, I will help you as much as I can—knowing that you can’t possibly write with your casted arm. I can also remind you when it’s time to take your vitamins and prescriptions for a faster recovery. Not just that, I can forward all of the meetings for today to tomorrow if you want me to, they can simply understand if I explain.″ He says.



″That won’t be necessary, Flynn. I intend on being as busy as I can, today.″ I respond.



″Of course, Mr. Ashton.″



There’s just something me and I wouldn’t really know what it is but seeing the look on Kenna’s face when she talked with Sam, that is still bugging me. The way she smiled, laughed and even grinned at the way he put his ways on flirting with her—how can she not see that coming?



He wasn’t actually flirting with her. It was more of a kind gesture with a smile here and there while he was taking our order; he wasn’t dumb enough to flirt with a married woman who appeared to be having breakfast with her husband. So . . . I might be angry for no reason, he was simply being nice.



What is this sudden feeling overcoming me?



″How long have you been married, Gerald?″ I ask, looking at the rear-view mirror to meet his eyes who was focusing on the road before glancing at mine for a couple seconds.



″Almost ten years,″ He replies with a smile. ″Why do you ask, Mr. Ashton?″ He questions.



I furrow my brows, ″Well . . . it concerns me. How do you keep up with the same person for ten years without wanting to just—well, without having issues,″ I continue to speak.



″I love her, Mr. Ashton. There’s no one better for me out there than my wife, herself. We have issues, once in awhile but that’s the beauty of marriage. You can’t simply go on without arguing or fighting but one of you has got to give in, be the bigger person.″ He replies without hesitation, ″You would understand that soon, sir. The first five years are hard but it’ll only get better,″



I stay still at my spot.



″What do you mean?″ I question.



He blinks a few times, ″You are married to the woman you love. You’ll soon see why you would want to spend your whole life with her,″ He says while I remain quiet—just nodding my head as a respond.



Flynn and Gerald might be thinking that there is something going on with my marriage, perhaps from what they saw earlier but it was just me trying to ease myself.



It was stupid of me to ask about being with the same woman for a whole lot of years when I’ve been friends with Kenna and Dimitri for as long as I can remember—never once did I get bored or annoyed by them. They have always been there for me and I have always appreciated it.



Then again, I’d find the woman I love and it will all fall into place.



″When are you taking your cast off, Mr. Ashton? I’ll set up a reminder on my phone. Also, you’d have monthly check-ups until you recover?″ Flynn asks after realising the awkwardness surrounding us.



″In eight weeks, the least. Hopefully I’ll recover as soon as I can—a lot of things are limited to me at the moment. Yes . . . I’d appreciate that, Flynn.″ I reply and he nods, his lips slowly curving up into a smile for a few seconds while I turn to look out the window, enjoying the busy streets of New York.



When I stepped inside my building, my employees looked at me in surprise—their eyes widened but they quickly covered it up with a smile, greeted me with respect. I didn’t pay much attention as I smiled but quickly made my way towards my floor, where I’d be spending hours in my office.



″I need you to write these down for me,″ I gesture towards Flynn before handing him a couple of files with my iPad, ″Don’t forget that you need to email them back to me—for now, I’ll just go through the documents manually. I also need you to record any important details as I’ll listen to them in a few,″ I add and he nods.



″You may leave,″ I mutter without looking.



Flynn nods again, walking out of my office with the important files in his hand until he’s out of my sight while I lean back on my seat before going through the recent files, trying to make sure that they are well-checked.



Just as I’m about to decline another call from Dimitri, I am left with his figure appearing inside my office as he slams the door shut behind him.



″I knew you’d ignore my calls and that’s why I’m here.″ He takes a seat in the opposite direction from me, ″What happened at the café? You were acting a little bit off and if I’m supposed to say, it also may seem that you were jealous.″ He adds.



I scoff, ″Jealous? Of who?″



″Sam, Kenna’s friend who works at the café. The one who took our order, the one you were glaring at when he was talking to her, the one who smiled genuinely and seemed happy when he saw her, the one who—″ I cut him off as I stand up, causing him to stop, a sly smirk appearing on his face.



″—that’s enough,″ I breathe out, running my fingers through my hair as I turn to look at him. ″Don’t you have somewhere to be, Dimitri? You’re interrupting me during work hours.″



He shrugs, ″Can’t help it that I’m curious. Did something happen back in Dallas?″ He asks.



I look away, remembering back of the memories in Texas—when we were practically making out in the lake and indulging in our own lustful thoughts when we were kissing intensely in our room, it was all clear and vivid but I can’t just admit of it.



″Did you guys have sex?″ He asks, raising an eyebrow.



″Of course not. We just—we kissed,″ I reply as I think back of how the curves of her body was being explored by my hand as we both leaned in towards the kiss. The way my lips ran down her neck, smelling her scent and taking in the way she craved for more; that was something to me.



″And . . . ?″ He leans in for more.



″In front of no one! We kissed when we were alone and we wanted it to happen—we were both somehow and somewhat admitting to something we both agreed in the contract, no feelings attached and for some reason, I felt something. The way we kissed . . . it was more than just faking in front of people or pretending to be in love. It felt immensely seeping into my soul,″ I furrow my brows at ways of trying to explain it, not knowing whether it’s got anything to do with my sober mind or just my own thoughts of playing games.



Dimitri looks at me without uttering a single word as he let out a sigh, ″Admit it, Aidan.″



″Admit what?″ I ask.



″You’re slowly falling for her.″