“Okay. Tell me honestly, from the little time you spent around her, and from the little you know about me already, did you really think she was good for me? Would she have been perfect for me?” Benne asked, wanting to know how much Celsie knew him.
Celsie sighed, “I think she probably would have complicated your simple life. She lives an expensive lifestyle and you won’t be able to afford it,” Celsie said before looking out of the window instead, “Her car is no longer here,” Celsie said with a slight frown when she observed that a different car was parked in the space where Anita had parked her car.
“I guess she decided to leave after I asked her to butt out. Since she is gone, let’s go somewhere else,” Benne said, feeling relieved now that he had listened to Jade and had told Celsie the truth about his relationship with Anita.
He was glad that Celsie had been able to see through Anita on her own, now he didn’t have to worry too much about her hanging around with Anita anymore.
“Where do you suggest we go to?” Celsie asked as she took out her journal, wanting to see if there was something on her list that they could do.
“Somewhere that isn’t on your list. Girlfriends are spontaneous, Celsie. It’s boring when you have to make a list for everything. Sometimes you should just go with the flow. Let’s just drive around so that I can show you around the city,” Benne suggested.
“Can we go to your friend’s house before going home? I will like to have a good look around. I wasn’t able to do that the last time cause I was in a hurry to get to the office,” Celsie said, surprising Benne.
“Why do you want to see the place?” Benne asked in confusion. He would need to call the butler to inform everyone that they were coming so that they wouldn’t blow his cover.
“I don’t know. It just looked really lovely. At first, I thought it was a hotel. Can we just go there? Your friend won’t mind, right?” Celsie asked hopefully.
Benne’s lips pulled curved at the side in a smile when something occurred to him, “Do you realize that today makes it a week since we met?”
“It is?” Celsie asked in surprise. It was just a week? Why did it already feel like she had known him for over a year? How come it was only a week yet she was so comfortable with him? This has to be the longest week of her life.
“Yes. Would you like us to spend the night over there? We can go to the office from there tomorrow,” Benne suggested.
“Didn’t you say it’s your friend’s family’s house? Will they be okay…” Her words trailed off when she remembered that if they had been okay with him bringing a lady over to spend the night the last time, then they would be okay with her sleeping there too.
“Don’t worry, no one is there apart from the Household staff,” Benne assured her.
“Oh! But I didn’t plan to spend the night…”
“Spontaneity, Celsie. You said you want to see the place. We could just go back home, pick up whatever you need or get them on the way, and then we can drive around the city before heading there in the evening,” Benne said, suddenly feeling the urge to see her in his house. He wanted to see how much she liked the place, and how she would relate with his staff.
Celsie sighed, “Are you sure it’ll be okay? Isn’t it a bit impromptu? We could just do that next weekend. Besides, are you forgetting dinner with the neighbors?” Celsie reminded him.
“Oh! I almost forgot about that. Alright then, next weekend it is. After work on Friday, you’re going to pack up all you need, and then we can spend the weekend there, cool?” Benne asked as he turned on the car’s ignition.
“Cool…” Celsie’s words trailed off when her phone started ringing and she took it out from her handbag to see that Anita was calling, “Hey!”
“I’m sorry I had to leave. Something urgent came up,” Anita lied.
“Oh! It’s fine. I hope everything is fine?” Celsie asked.
“Yeah, my dog is feeling sick so I have to take care of it. Let’s hang out some other time. Just the both of us, okay?”
“Alright. Take care… Of your dog,” Celsie said before hanging up.
“Her dog is ill, huh?” Benne asked in amusement since he could guess the call was from Anita.
Celsie grinned, “Yeah. I guess you were right,* she said, remembering all he had said a while ago about her always coming up with excuses using her dog. That was a pretty silly thing to do for someone who looked as smart as Anita.
“Do me a favor, don’t let her know you are aware she is my ex, okay?”
“Why?” Celsie asked in confusion.
“We agreed not to tell anyone. And I also want to see what she is up to, and why she is trying to matchmake us. Just play along, alright?” Benne said, and Celsie nodded.
“Cool.”
After his phone call with his siblings, Bryan moved around the house aimlessly in search of anything he could do to while away his time until Sonia returns from her shopping with Mia. He paused when he suddenly realized what he was doing.
Why was he waiting for her and trying to while away his time? Surely his life wasn’t so boring without her that he didn’t have better things to do in her absence. He didn’t need Sonia or anyone else in his life, Bryan thought with a scowl as he moved over to the living room and turned on his Play Station console. He set up the game and started playing as he tried to get thoughts of her out of his head.
As he played the game against the computer his mind flashed back to his time at the game arcade with Sonia the last time, and how she had cussed every time she lost a game. He grinned to himself as he repeated some of the cuss words she had used, every time the computer won against him.
He sighed when after playing several games yet Sonia remained on his mind, and then he dropped the game pad on the table. What was he going to do about this sudden attraction to Sonia? Now that he had kissed her, he knew it wasn’t going to take long before things progressed from just a kiss. Only God knew how far he would go the next time.
His eyes drifted to his phone on the table when he heard his message notification tone, and he reached for it.. He raised a brow when he noticed that the message was from an unsaved number, and his traitorous heart skipped a beat when he clicked on the message and realized it was from Sonia, because of her picture which was attached to it.
His lips curved in a smile before he could stop himself when he saw the picture she had sent. Typical Sonia. It was a selfie of herself with a goofy expression on her face. Her eyes were staring at her nose like she had crossed eyes, and her tongue stuck out of her lips like she was making fun of him. The accompanying text read, “Miss me?”
He really wished he could say he didn’t miss having her around the house. Somehow she had been there for only a couple of days, but his home already had a different feel without her in it. Even though they argued and fought most of the time, she was still the most exciting and beautifully exhilarating lady he had come across.
“Wait, what? You’ve got to slow down, Bryan!” Bryan cautioned himself in alarm when he realized what he was thinking.
This was a major danger signal. How could he be already thinking that the green-eyed witch he was trying to get rid of was the most exciting lady he had come across? Yeah, maybe she was, in all honesty, but he didn’t even like her! Or did he? Bryan thought with a slight frown. No, he didn’t like her. Even though she was fun to be around, she was also stubborn and annoying, and those weren’t attributes he wanted in a lady.
He would be damned if he ever admitted to her that he missed her anyway, Bryan thought as he responded to her text, “No. The house is more peaceful without you.”
After sending the text it occurred to him that he didn’t even have her phone number the whole time she had been under his roof. How had he forgotten to do that? He asked himself as he tried to save the number she had used in texting him. What other name could be more appropriate for someone like her other than her original title? Green-eyed witch.
He had a satisfied smile on his face after saving her number and raised his head when he heard the sound of the doorbell. He sighed in relief knowing that it was probably his manager at the door with the production team, so he directed his wheelchair to the door and opened it to see his manager standing there with the CEO.
“Hey!” Bryan greeted them as they both walked into the house, “Where are the others?” He asked as he looked behind them before looking from his manager to the CEO.
“I figured I get some things straightened out with you before they get here,” the CEO said as he looked around the house, before looking at Bryan, “Where is she?” He asked, referring to Sonia.
“She went out to get some clothes,” Bryan said as he turned his back to them and returned to the living room, leaving them to follow him.
“Good. So we can talk comfortably,” the CEO said, without making any move to sit down. He stood in front of Bryan with a serious expression in his eyes.
“You do realize that this show is a perfect opportunity for you to break up with her, right? I understand that you messed up by proposing to a stranger, but you can fix it now. All you need to do is subtly make her act up during the show, and push her until she does something to you that your fans will consider unacceptable, and then you can break up with her. That would reduce the backlash you are likely to receive,” the CEO suggested, while Jeff took his seat on one of the sofas in the living room.
“Why do I have to make her act up and then break up with her on the show?” Bryan asked with an annoyed expression, not liking what the CEO was suggesting.
“You no longer want to end things with her?” The CEO asked with a slightly confused frown.
“I know I want to end things with her, but that doesn’t mean I want it to be at her detriment…” His words trailed off when he recalled that he had been planning to do exactly that when he invited Matt over initially. He had wanted to set her up with Matt and make it seem like she was trying to ruin their friendship by seducing Matt, so why was the idea sounding so annoying to him now?
Perhaps it was because he was a man of integrity and he was only trying to uphold his standing agreement with Sonia. She had promised to end things between them herself, so he was going to let her do it. It was better for them both that way.
“If you don’t do it when you have the chance, how else do you intend to end things between you both? Perhaps you have changed your mind and you want to continue with the relationship?” The CEO asked suspiciously.
“Of course, not! Just let her be. We will end it when we end it,” Bryan said, not willing to give out the details of his agreement with Sonia.
“You do know that she is using you, right? I did some background work and confirmed that the sales of her books have more than tripled since she met you,” the CEO said, making Bryan raise a brow.
“Have you read any of her books?” Bryan asked, making Jeff who was watching the exchange between them, look at him curiously.
“Am I supposed to?” The CEO asked with an incredulous snort.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.