“You don’t have to punish me to prove any point. I already apologized, and I learned my lesson. Punishing me won’t make me feel any more sorry than I already am. One thing I can assure you is that I won’t lie to you about anything going forward,” Benne promised.
“You had better not, else I really won’t forgive you,” Celsie warned, “Anyway, we still can’t let others know about our relationship. At least not yet,” Celsie suggested.
“And why is that?” Benne asked, watching her thoughtfully as he took a sip from his glass of juice.
“Even though I want to be in a relationship with you, I don’t want the pressure that comes from being in a relationship yet. Everyone is going to have an opinion on our relationship if we make it public now, especially if you reveal your identity anytime soon. So I’d rather we work on our relationship first. Let’s take our time to build what we have before involving the likes of Anita,” Celsie said, trying not to let her concern show in her voice.
“You do realize that Anita or any other lady doesn’t stand a chance where you are, right?” Benne asked just to be sure.
“Hm,” Celsie grunted noncommittally.
“You don’t sound very confident,” Benne observed with a sigh, “Don’t worry, you will be with time,” he promised.
“Still, we can’t let them know yet. Please,” Celsie insisted.
“Okay, let’s reach a compromise. Why don’t you treat me normally when we are alone, and then when anyone else is around we can pretend like nothing is going on between us,” Benne suggested instead.
“Hm. Sounds like a fair deal,” Celsie said after a while.
“Now that we’ve settled that, how was your meeting with Anita? What did she want?” Benne asked curiously as they both set down their cutleries.
“Gossip as usual. At least now I know for a fact that she is interested in you.”
“Why? Did she say something?” Benne asked curiously, and Celsie’s gaze moved away from him guiltily as though she was contemplating whether or not to tell him something.
“Not directly. Just that the CEO is her ideal man,” Celsie said, choosing not to say everything else Anita had said.
“And what did you tell her was the reason I was close to you?” Benne asked, remembering what she had said in the car earlier.
“Oh, that! I told her my best friend is your brother’s fiancee,” Celsie said with a shrug.
“I don’t think she’s going to like that in any way,” Benne said with a grin.
“At least it’s better than telling her you favor me because I’m in a relationship with you, right?”
“Are you scared of her? You know you don’t have to be, right? I can handle her,” Benne assured Celsie.
“I was scared of her, but not anymore. I can handle her myself. But first, I need to do the dishes,” Celsie said as she stood up to clear the table.
“Let’s do it together,” Benne suggested as he stood up and joined her in clearing the tables.
They both moved to the kitchen and while Celsie washed the dishes, Benne rinsed and dried them.
Once they finished and dried their hands, Benne turned to Celsie, “Are you in a hurry to return to your apartment, or do you have time for dessert and a movie?”
“Uhm… I’m sleeping over, so I guess I have all the time,” Celsie said with a shy smile.
“For someone who wasn’t interested in being in a relationship, you’re doing quite well for a first-timer,” Benne said with an encouraging smile as he took her hand and led her to the living room.
“Considering how quickly you dozed off the last time, let’s talk for a while before we see the movie,” Benne suggested once she was seated, and then he excused himself to go get the dessert.
He soon returned with a tray of apple pie which he set on his thigh as he sat down beside her on the couch.
“This was what you brought to my apartment the first time you came pretending to be my neighbor,” Celsie said with a smile when she remembered looking through her window to see her one night stand standing in front of her door.
“And you pretended not to recognize me,” Benne reminded her with a chuckle.
“How could I not? Did you really expect me to open the door and be like ‘Hey! Weren’t you the guy I met at the club last night? Wow! What are you doing here?’ Was that what you were expecting?” Celsie asked with a roll of her eyes as she picked up a slice of apple pie and bit into it.
Benne guffawed at that, “Not exactly. But pretending not to know me was a little extra,” Benne said as he picked up a piece of the pie and also bit into it before turning on the television.
They ate in silence for a while until Benne broke the silence, “So did you really mean it when you said you wanted me to remain your driver? Even when we are dating now?”
“Yeah. Why? Do you have a problem with it?” Celsie asked, cocking her head to the side to look at him.
“No. As long as it allows me to spend more time with you, I’m cool with it,” Benne assured her.
“Me too,” Celsie said as she snuggled closer to him and rested her head on his shoulder while her eyes remained on the television screen.
“Can you see the television clearly without your glasses?” Benne asked curiously as he ate with his left hand while his right hand rested lightly on her back.
“Yeah,” Celsie said with a nod as continued to nibble on the apple pie.
“Uhm… Celsie?” Benne called cautiously, making Celsie sit up and look at him as she could guess he wanted to talk about something serious.
“Yeah?”
“I don’t know if this is a good time to suggest this, but I’d love you to start receiving therapy. I spoke with the doctor…” Benne let the rest of his words trail off as he looked into her smoky gray eyes.
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.