Chapter 354 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“This whole thing is crazy,” Harry said, and Benne nodded before going on to tell him about the information Alicia had sent concerning the Miller family, as well as the foundation that was offering Celsie a job.

“If it’s what I think, then they’re trying to remove her from your side. Maybe you should let Celsie take the job,” Harry suggested.

“Are you crazy? What are you talking about?” Benne asked, looking at Harry as if he had lost his mind.

“Before I say what I want to say, what is Barry’s role in this? Why did you reach out to him?” Harry asked curiously.

“The easiest way to find something tangible against them is to find out something they did that no one else knows about. Something that can bring them down. I can’t put investigators on their tails since even that won’t tell me enough. We both know that Barry is the best when it comes to stuff like this. If Barry hacks their phones and systems and he finds something that I can use to bring them down, then it makes the work easy,” Benne explained, and Harry nodded.

“You have a point. So I stick to my suggestion, while Barry works on this, allow Celsie to accept the job,” Harry suggested.

“No. There is no way I’m taking that risk. Why should I expose her to such when I don’t even know what their plan is?”

“If she doesn’t accept this offer, they will come up with an alternative plan. And most likely, it will be a more dangerous plan. At least we know that this is their plan. Why don’t we pretend to be stupid and go along with it to see what they actually want to do while Barry does his job? You could even offer to become a sponsor too. Invite those ladies and talk to them without Mrs. Miller’s knowledge,” Harry advised, and Benne became thoughtful.

“We don’t know how she is connected to the owners of the foundation or what she offered them. The last thing I want is to reach out to them, and they inform her about it,” Benne said, and Harry paused to think about it.

“Just tell them you want to be a sponsor to support Celsie since they offered her a job. And trust me, if they are greedy enough, they will accept your offer without telling Mrs. Miller about it, even if they have any dirty dealings with her. You can also have someone keep an eye on Celsie to make sure she is safe. Let’s use this to buy enough time until Barry gets us some useful information. It’s safer for Celsie this way,” Harry suggested, and Benne nodded.

“I think I agree with you. I will talk to Celsie and hear what she has to say before I proceed,” Benne said with a smile, grateful that he had a best friend like Harry.

“If you don’t want to get involved, I could talk to them myself,” Harry offered.

“Nah. I can handle that myself. You have no idea how relieved I feel now,” Benne said as he stood up, ready to leave.

“I’ve always been the wise one,” Harry said with a grin, and Benne shook his head.

“Unfortunately, you lack wisdom when it involves your personal life,” Benne muttered as he headed for the door.

“I heard that,” Harry called after him, and Benne turned to look at him as he opened the door.

“You were meant to hear it. I hope you’re coming tonight?”

Going there meant he would have to face Jade again. They had said their goodbyes already, and he didn’t want to go through that again and have to start struggling with thoughts of her.

“I haven’t made up my mind yet. If I can’t make it tonight, I will drop by the house before your parents leave to say hello to them,” Harry said, and Benne shrugged before walking away.

It was obvious to him that Jade was going to need all the help she could get to bring Harry to his senses. He was more than willing to help.

Once it was closing hours, Celsie exited her office, glad that she had been able to accomplish all her tasks for the day, and grateful that she could leave for the day.

As she stepped into the elevator she couldn’t help thinking how much she had changed within the last couple of weeks. She never would have thought that she was the type to be excited about the end of a work day, or about not taking any work home, but here she was, looking forward to spending the evening with Benne, Sonia and the rest of both her family and Benne’s family.

Thinking about family, her thoughts drifted to her conversation with Sonia that morning, and she let out a sigh as she walked out of the elevator. This didn’t change anything. Loving them and wanting to spend time with them didn’t mean she wanted to get married. She was just going to have to find a way to communicate this to Benne soon, so that he wouldn’t get his hopes up.

As she stepped out of the company building, her heart fluttered when she saw Benne standing beside his car without his coat, while he waited for her to join him. She lips curved in a smile when he winked at her, and she walked over to the car.

“Did I keep you waiting?” She asked as he walked towards her to meet her halfway.

“You didn’t. I was early, ma’am,” he said as he stopped in front of her.

“Ma’am?”

“You haven’t asked me to stop being your driver yet, have you? I think I have my roles mixed up,” Benne said, and Celsie giggled.

“Why were you early? Are we going somewhere?” She asked curiously.

“No. I was worried about you. I wanted to come down to your office to check on you and spend some time with you, but knowing whom I’m dating, I wasn’t sure you would be comfortable with that, so I had to wait,” Benne said as he embraced her.

“Benne…” She protested, knowing that people were probably watching them.

“Everyone knows that we are in a relationship already, and even if they didn’t know already, I’d like them to know now,” Benne murmured as he held her in place.

“But this is work environment,” Celsie said weakly.

“I knew you’d say that, and that is the only reason I’m doing this outside the company building after work hours. I’m not your boss right now, I’m just being your boyfriend. So embrace me or I’m going to have to grab your arse,” Benne warned, and Celsie’s lips curved as let herself relax.

It was difficult to argue with the man when he was being this way, especially when she really wanted to bury her face in his chest and let his scent calm her.

From the corner of her eyes Celsie saw Cora standing by her car and watching them, so she grabbed Benne’s ass, surprising him, “How does that feel?” Celsie asked in amusement when Benne broke the hug to look into her face.

“You want to know?” Benne asked, wanting to return the favor, but she moved away with a giggle.

“No, thanks. I was just putting what you taught me into practice,” she whispered to him, and Benne looked to the side and saw Cora who was getting into her car.

“Smart girl,” Benne said with a grin as they both returned to the car.

Once they were both seated inside, Benne turned to her, “So how do you feel now?”

“Much better,” she said with a warm smile as she took off her glasses and looked into his eyes.

“I’m glad. We will be stopping by our apartments to join the others before heading to my house, I hope you don’t mind?” Benne asked as he turned on the car’s ignition.

As much as she was enjoying his company and that of the others, she also missed her apartment and her personal space, “I don’t.”

“Alright. This morning you mentioned something about wanting to stop by a department store later in the day, should we stop there before going home?” Benne asked, and Celsie nodded when she remembered what she needed to get.

“Yes. Let’s stop by a department store. I need to get my shower gel,” Celsie said, and Benne gave her a nod as he drove out of the parking lot.

They were both silent for a while until Benne turned to spare her a glance, “What are you thinking about?”

Celsie smiled, “Your dad’s reaction when he sees Jade. I think he’s going to be very happy,” Celsie said, and Benne grinned.

“Your dad asked you and Sonia to remind us about our dad’s birthday, didn’t he?” Benne asked, and Celsie shrugged.

“Don’t tell anyone I told you that.”

“Thanks. I’m glad he did,” Benne said, and Celsie turned to look at him.

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