A Stolen Kiss From THE CEO!

265 A Good Samaritan

“I’m meddling!” Denise slowly dropped her spoon and glared at Tom.

“Babe, you know I don’t think or feel that way about you.” Tom pleaded as he watched Denise rise to her feet and tower above him while spewing invisible fiery darts with her narrowed eyes.

“If you don’t think or feel that way, then why would you come down here and feed me such crap? Did Leon put you up to this?” Denise asked angrily.

Tom stood up and tried to hold her but she pushed his hands away and scowled at him.

“Answer my question, Tom. Did your ungrateful friend put you up to this? I sacrificed our...” Denise emphasized the word, ‘our’, “...special dinner night just to attend to his hurting wife because he wasn’t there her.”

“Babe...”

“Don’t babe me!” Denise flashed Tom a piercing look. “How could you choose to ruin this moment by telling me such rubbish? Although I wasn’t expecting anything from anyone, a little thank you, Denise, for taking good care of my wife would suffice. But, did I get a thank you from the almighty Treshvire? No..ooo! Instead, he had the nerve to send my fiance to tell me that I’m meddling!”

“Sweetheart, I’m sorry for upsetting you, I just wanted to...” Tom didn’t get to finish his statement again when Denise fired back at him.

“You didn’t mean to do what, huh? You come here in the pretense of checking up on me, only to end up being a messenger boy for your almighty friend.”

.....

“Denise!” Tom’s eyes widened. “Why would you say such a thing? Do I look like Leon’s messenger boy? Come on! You just hurt my feeling with those words.”

“You asked for it when you chose to cough out that...that...that...” Denise ransacked her brain in frustration as she sought a less vicious word to qualify Leon with.

“Babe,” Tom pulled Denise into his arms with lots of resistance, “no matter what you call Leon, he remains your best friend husband, and both our friends.

“A good friend doesn’t behave that way,” Denise pouted angrily.

“Yeah!” Tom sighed. “To be honest, I called to check up on him and that was when he started complaining about everything and...” Tom hesitated before completing his sentence, “...you.”

“I see!” Denise nodded her head slowly as an evil smirk danced at the corner of her lips. She released herself from Tom’s arms and walked towards her desk.

“Well, since you’re acting like a good Samaritan, who is willing to take all the insults for his friend, then take this message back to him.”

Denise slowly turned to Tom, who had moved closer to her and was staring tenderly into her irked eyes.

“Tell him that if he hurt my best friend in any way, I Denise Walter, and soon-to-be Denise Miller with visit him with the fury of a wounded lion.”

“Is that all, my queen? Tom asked animatedly making Denise chuckle.

“You’re so silly!” Denise playfully punched Tom in the chest.

“Ouch!” Tom winced in pretense. “You’ve broken something!”

“I’m going to break more things if you keep bringing such annoying messages to me!” Denise plucked his nose.

“On a more serious note, I’m so sorry for making you angry.” Tom pulled Denise back into his arms and softly kissed the tip of her nose.

“You’re slightly forgiven.” Denise smiled at him.

“Can I do anything to make it up to you?” Tom asked while stroking Denise’s hair.

“Yes!” Denise whispered something into Tom’s ear that made him erupt with laughter.

“You are so naughty, baby! But, consider it done.” Tom beamed and tenderly kissed her.

————–

After a busy day of work, Denise and Ella both left the office together and went to a clothing and jewelry store, where they bought lots of items.

In the course of shopping, Denise acquainted Ella with Leon’s message to her.

“He said that!” Ella stared at Denise with perplexity. “I can’t believe my ears.”

“Don’t worry your head, sweetie pie,” Denise said in a confident tone. “With the way, I handled my Tom, he would never come to me bearing such a message, again. The person I’m patiently waiting for is your husband. If he ever steps out of line and hurts you in any way, I will sharpen my nails and claw the life out of him.”

“Slow down, mama bear!” Ella chuckled as she kept trying on one clothing after the other in the changing room. “Leon is my baby and I can’t stand anyone hurting him. If he has to suffer a little pain for staying away from home, it should come from my hands.”

“So, has he decided to move his stuff back home after you spoke with him this morning?” Denise inquired while helping Ella to zip up a dress she was fitting.

“No! We haven’t spoken since he left my office,” Ella sighed.

“From the way he left my office angrily, I’m certain he does not intend to come back now. Maybe I’ll just give him the space he asked for.”

“Are you sure about that?” Denise asked worriedly

“Yes, I am!” Ella replied optimistically. “When Leon told me that I could keep my pregnancy after I threatened him with divorce, I inwardly felt sorry for him. You needed to see the amount of pain in his eyes. It felt as though I was putting a gun to his head.”

“But can you stay without him if he chooses to stay for as long as a month without returning home?” Denise asked with a hint of concern cloaking her voice.

“Sincerely, I do not know.” Ella frowned. “But, I’m willing to give it a try. At least, he’s not staying over at a hotel which would have been a source of concern.”

“Oh! So where is he staying?” Denise asked.

“At our second home,” Ella smiled. “This afternoon, I made a few calls and I found out that he moved his stuff to our second house. I was even told that he had been in a bad mood ever since he arrived there. This makes me want to cut him some slack.”

“No, don’t go soft on him just yet.” Denise cautioned.

“He needs to know that for a marriage to work, it would take a lot of sacrifice from both parties. You, my friend, have made a lot of sacrifices in this marriage.”

“That’s true!” Ella nodded her head in agreement.

“Need I remind you that your love for Leon is the reason you’re not on good talking terms with your mum or your relatives back at Springchad? Because of love, you have continually taken rejection and insult from his mum and sister. So, I don’t see why he can’t handle this one thing you desire. If he loves you so much, he should be willing to stand by you throughout your nine months of pregnancy.”

“Hmm... I just hope I’m not pushing him away with all my harsh words and conditions because I can’t afford to lose him.”

“You won’t lose him,” Denise said reassuringly. “You both are meant for each other. It has been written in the stars. You, my dear Ella, hold the key to Leon’s heart. You alone are the only one that can tolerate him and his excesses as a wife.”

“I just miss him,” Ella sighed. “I miss everything about him. Do you know that at some point when he visited me in the office, I was desperate for him to hold me closely?”

Closing her eyes briefly, Ella wrapped her hands around her body and imagined Leon was holding her in his arms. She smiled as the feeling of being in his arms warmed her inside out and eased her troubled mind.

Denise sighed inaudibly as she watched Ella swim inside her desires. She wished there was a way she could magically teleport Leon to Ella’s current location and have them enjoy each other’s warmth.

“You know what?” Ella suddenly shot her eyes open.

“What!” Denise stared at Ella quizzically.

“Leon’s birthday is coming up in three days.” Ella’s face lit up like a thousand shimmering stars as she spoke.

“Really!” Denise smiled.

“Yes! Although he told me that he doesn’t like celebrating it. I intend to throw him a surprise birthday party at his office.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Denise’s eyebrows raised as she spoke. “Why don’t you invite him home instead? You could fake that something bad happened to you. Then when he comes home to check up on you, he would be surprised by a few loyal friends and family.”

“Leon doesn’t like strangers coming over to his house, so that wouldn’t work perfectly.” Ella countered Denise’s suggestion. “Beside you, Tom, and his family members, who are free to come and go as you please, our home remains out of bound to strangers.”

“Wow! That’s a bummer!” Denise pouted.

“Also, with the level of security guards watching this house, the surprise birthday party would end up not being a surprise to him after all.”

“Yeah! You have a point! I didn’t think about that,” Denise concurred.

“This is what I’ll do. I’ll pretend to be visiting and then together with the help of his secretary, you, Tom, and some top management personnel in his company, we will give him the best surprise ever.”