Chapter 2

“Stop the car right here, John.”

“Of course, sir.”

He parked the Lincoln Continental on the quiet street, in front of Kristina’s address. It was a small blue house, no more than a single story. With a freshly cut lawn and neatly trimmed hedges, I’d say the place was well maintained.

John opened the car door for me. I nodded in thanks and stepped out onto the pavement. I covered my face slightly to avoid some of the light from the setting sun. Walking up the path to the front door, I rang the doorbell.

Not before long the wooden door swung open and shut. “Heya!”

Air caught in my throat.

Wow.

Kristina always looked good, but damn, today she was stunning. Her dark hair was left to hang at shoulder length, as opposed to how she usually kept it up in the office. The silvery indigo dress meshed well against her brown skin. It was a spaghetti strap dress, cut low to show some cleavage. The satin material clung in such a way that accentuated the curve of her sexy hips. It was perfectly fitted to her toned body, not too loose nor tight. Just enough to be hooked, and just enough to be left to the imagination.

“Hey, Earth to Tommy. We going somewhere or are you gonna stand and stare at me all day?”

I cleared my throat. “Pardon me. You look different–nice, I mean.”

She smiled. “I’m glad you noticed.”

“Anyway, we should be off,” I said, extending an arm. “After you.”

“What a gentleman,” She said, taking the cue to walk in front of me down the pathway.

If only she knew.

Now, I had a nice view of her from behind as we approached the car. She had never worn anything so form fitting before so I had to take advantage of the view. Her long legs were accentuated by the platform shoes she wore. They made her a little taller despite being rather pintsized. To top it off, her ass was fantastic. Clearly, she worked out, but wasn’t rail thin. It was somewhat muscular, but had a nice little bounce.

My driver greeted Kris as she approached. They exchanged some pleasantries as he opened the backdoor for her. She took a step inside, and I followed suit. John shut the door, before he climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled off.

“You weren’t kidding about the high life, huh?” she asked, I’m guessing a bit mesmerized by having a driver.

“Well honestly, anyone could employ a driver. A lot of people don’t think of doing it though,” I shrugged. My family had always valued time more so than money, so if they could pay someone to make their lives easier they would.

“Haha, well I haven’t seen one since the time I was in a limo. Can’t fault me for being excited.”

“I suppose not,” I said, with a wry smile. “Tell me, are you this excitable over little things?”

“Shut up,” she said with a playful swat to my arm. “A regular Joe would find most things like this fun.”

“Don’t be amazed by tonight. It’s times like these I wish I could be normal.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The best parts of the affair are the food and drink. Nothing much to write home about.”

“What about the people?”

“I smile and nod and reiterate a statement. Throw in a witty comment here and there and zone out,” I said. Nobody talked about anything interesting, let alone useful at these functions. I’d rather watch paint dry.

“Yikes, is it that bad?” she asked, eyes wide.

“Yes,” I said. “You remember the last board meeting we had?”

Usually having new staff members was no problem, but that meeting ran 2 hours longer than it needed to, simply because nobody listened to each other. We were stuck listening to and answering the same questions over and over and over…

“Oh no,” she shook her head. “It can’t be that bad.”

“It is. Just enjoy the d'oeuvres.”

“So, you wanted me to suffer with you.”

“Did I mention there will be drinks?”

She laughed. “Well, I hope it’s not too boring. I’m sure we could make the best of it.”
—------------------------------------------- -------------



“Wow,” I said, looking around. The hall was located inside a hotel. It didn’t look like anything special on the outside, but the inside was larger than I thought. We had to walk down some long carpeted hallways, with tables, chairs, and sofas along the path until we neared the spot for the event. Once we did the coat check together, we milled about the last hallway that would greet us before we entered the ballroom space.

Over here, the lights were brighter, allowing you to better see the people milling around all dressed up in suits and evening dresses, little tables and chairs for guests, and a mini bar with a couple of bartenders taking orders. The murmur of the groups of people, mixed with the sweet smell of food being cooked definitely made the place feel alive.

“Didn’t I tell you to not get worked up?” Tommy said with a smirk.

“Oh, stop. This is beautiful. Haven’t seen any event this nice since my sister’s wedding.”

“The aesthetics are nice, but what’s inside will be soul crushing.”

“Come on. It seriously can’t be that bad,” I said, eyeing the table full of a variety of cheese and crackers behind us. “But if it is, we might as well look on the bright side.”

I reached for his arm, pulling him towards the table. Tommy sighed, but there was no hesitation on his end to accompany me. Sometimes he just acts grumpy to not say how much he enjoys stuff.

We picked up tiny saucers and napkins. There were a lot of different cheeses available. I had no fricken clue what anything was besides cheddar. Tommy was picking up some crackers when I nudged him in the arm.

“Hey, what’s that one?” I pointed at the white blocks.

He shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be a snob? You should know all these cheeses.”

“I’m not into cheeses that much–”

I picked it up with a toothpick and held it to his mouth.

“...What are you doing?” he frowned.

“Try it.”

“Why should I ?”

“I want to know if it tastes bad.”

“So, I’m your guinea pig now?”

“You brought me to suffer, so why not?”

“I’m not eating that.”

“Yes, you are.”

With a groan, he slightly opened his mouth. Smirking, I shoved the cheese into his mouth. Glaring at me, he chewed and swallowed.

“It was weird. Sort of chalky and hollow, but soft?”

“Okay, so that’s a negative,” I picked up another cube that had little splotches over it and crammed it into his mouth. “How about that one?”

This time he burned bright red as he swallowed. “Would you stop doing that? It’s embarrassing.”

I tried to hold back a laugh, but failed. “What’s it like?”

“Spicy,” he grumbled.

This time I picked up three cubes of sharp cheddar on a single pick.

“No.”

“Please? It’ll be the last one I promise.”

“Do you think I can just unhinge my jaw?”

“You can try.”

“I’m not eating those like that.”

“Come on. You said this was boring. This is entertaining.”
“...If I do this, I get to cram whatever food down your throat. Deal?”

“Deal.” It was a no brainer. I lived for moments like this. Anytime I could get the boss to do something stupid like this, it was usually hysterical.

He tore the toothpick out of my hand, took a breath as he eyed the bright orange obstructions and shoved them into his mouth. I couldn’t keep it together when his cheeks puffed out, as he made a concerted effort to chew them.

The next thing I knew, a large man with gray hair came up behind Tommy and clasped his shoulder. “Mr. Murton, long time no see!”

His eyes widened, and before he turned around, he shot me a glare medusa would have been proud of. Of course, I had to cover my mouth because it made me laugh even harder.

Red in the face, Tommy faced the man between bites. “Yes…Mphter Ruslin…”

The big man paused, but then gave a hearty laugh. “I see you’ve been enjoying the appetizers, eh? You certainly could use some more meat on your bones.”

Once he finally managed to swallow the last bit, he sighed. “I guess…please excuse that display. It wasn’t my idea,” the boss said, as he glanced over at me.

“Oh? Who’s this little lady here?”

“This is Kristina Lewis, my trusted secretary.”

“I see, I see,” the man said with a wolfish smile. He extended a hand to me. I grasped it with a firm shake.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said warmly. “Thanks for putting up with Tom. We both know he can be a bit of…party pooper.”

I chuckled, whilst Tommy rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, Mr. Rosalin. How have you been? I expect business is good?”

“I’m quite fine, Tom. You know there’s no need to be so formal, that was just in jest. Business is fine, but it could always be better as you know,” he hummed. Rosalin turned his attention back towards me with a grin.

“You see, I’ve known Tom here since he was a young boy,” Mr. Rosalin said, covering his mouth with his hand, as if he was telling me some big secret. “And he hasn’t changed that much in demeanor…he’s more prim than myself.”

“Oh, so he was always a bit of a sullen sort?” I asked.

“Yup! So don’t ever let one of his moods get to you, young lady.”

“They don’t. We’ve worked together for 6 years now, so I’m used to it.”

“Six years? You need a medal!”

Tommy continued to look on in mild annoyance as he shook his head and took some crackers as we teased him relentlessly. Eventually, Mr. Rosalin began to speak to him about how our company was doing and some advice for his situation. This part was dry, and after standing around for some time, I opted to drink. Everything at the bar was free minus hard liquor with just a tip, so I had a couple of glasses of wine.

Some time later, Tommy escaped Rosalin and found his way towards the bar. “You couldn’t order anything for me?”

“Hey, how am I supposed to know what you like?” I asked. “You’d be complaining if I got you the wrong type of wine I’m sure.”

Before he could come up with some retort, he stopped a waitress who was carrying a plate full of strange looking appetizers. They were in these little martini glasses, with something that was maybe celery and dressing and something red on top. Tommy took three of them, thanked her, and passed one to me.

“Huh?”

“It’s time for payback,” he demanded.

Crap. Well, I was a woman of my word. With some hesitation I picked up the circular food on the toothpick and put it in my mouth.

“Woo…” My tongue was on fire. It was buffalo chicken. Chewy and soft, but the coating was so freaking hot.

“Open wide,” Tommy smirked, now holding a toothpick of 2 of those pieces of chicken to my mouth. Frowning, I did as I was told, making my poor tongue suffer more as I now crammed my face.

Christ. I covered my mouth as I chewed as quickly as I could without choking. My eyes were watering as I squirmed in my seat.

“Too hot?” he taunted.

When I finally ended that misery, I was panting. “Gah, gimme a drink. Water, soda, booze, I don’t care.”

Tommy chuckled as he ordered me a glass of Cola, tipping the bartender. I ripped it out of his hands and chugged. I didn't know what the hell hot sauce they used, but it was explosive. I tried the celery in all the cups too, but it only helped slightly cool down my mouth.

“You kept to your word, what a good girl,” he said, patting me on the back.

I flushed at the words and flipped him off in response. Tommy said nothing, but his eyes held a mischievous glance. I knew he could have fun, if he tried. Though, I would prefer it to not go like that…

Once I collected my bearings, I did have a question.

“So, how do you know Mr. Rosalin? He seems to know you pretty well.”

“He’s a friend of my late father. They were business associates too. But we can say he’s like an uncle to me.”

“Oh, I had no idea. I’m sorry to hear.”

“No worries, my parents passed quite some time ago. But I had great people like Mr. Rosalin to support me, so it could be worse,” he said nonchalantly.

It turns out there was a lot I still didn’t know about Tommy.

“For the record, most conversations won’t be like that tonight. Mr. Rosalin is a jolly sort of guy. Everyone else tends to take themselves a bit too seriously.”

I took those words to heart.

Later on, there was some boring speech we had to listen about the donors for the fundraiser and how it was great to support the cause to research cancer. After that, we did well in avoiding most people drinking together at the bar. But eventually, we were stopped and approached by quite a few people curious about Tommy, where he’s been and what he’s been up to. I fell under scrutiny as well, almost like some sort of item of fascination like an animal in a cage at a zoo. I was starting to see why he didn’t really like coming to these things. At one point, I could tell the boss was reaching his limits, as his smile was painted on and his eyes were dull. He excused himself for a moment to use the restroom.

This group was worse than the last, so I ended up wandering around a bit aimlessly, taking a couple of pieces of appetizers floating around. I wanted to go back to the bar, but on my way over some woman stopped me.

“Can I help you?” I asked as politely as possible. I forget her name, it was something strange, but she had been in one of those little groups we were a part of for the last hour or so.

“What do you think you’re doing with Thomas?” she asked me.

“Excuse me?”

“Thomas only dates girls like me. He’d never truly take a girl like you seriously,” she said. “He’ll just use you for sex and you’ll just be another fish in the sea. Don’t get your hopes up.”

“I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about. Mr. Murton is my employer and has treated me with nothing but respect,” I said, folding my arms. “It’s not my problem that he doesn’t want to be associated with some smug socialite like yourself.”

Her jaw clenched as she turned a cherry red. “How dare you-”

“How dare you assume and pry into my personal affairs? It’s none of your business. Bimbos like you have some nerve.”

I didn’t wait to hear a response and headed towards the mini bar away from that bitch. Come to think of it, she wasn’t the only one giving me some glares tonight. Some other women were burning holes in my head.

I couldn’t exactly blame them. Tommy was a good looking guy. A bit on the thin side, but he was tall, tidy, and had the prettiest green eyes I’d ever seen. Obviously being a CEO helped too. But he was kind and funny and somewhat of a dork. I don’t think these people here would see much beyond money.

Once I finally got to the bar and had a seat, I asked for champagne this time. Between sips, I thought about all the people I’d seen Tommy with. I suppose that lady had a point, on the off chance I did see him with girls, they were snooty looking just like that one. But the thing was, to my knowledge it never was serious. Which was odd to me, because he was such a serious guy.

To call him a player in my mind was just laughable. He was such a dork it was hard to imagine him as a pua. So there had to be another reason.

After all, we did have great chemistry. I don’t know why it had never materialized. Could it really be because of not being a snobby rich bitch?

…I drank champagne for some time.

“Hey, there you are. I’ve been looking for you,” Tommy said, standing next to me.

“Ah, sorry about that. I just wanted something else to drink.”

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing really,” I said, trying to smile.

“It’s not nothing if you, of all people, are sulking.”

“Well…it’s not really a big deal. But some woman was trying to say things about our relationship. That I’m essentially a nobody and that you have better options.”

“...What?” He blinked, looking at me as if I’d told him that zombies were real and coming.

I put up a hand, waving it. “Don’t worry, I already told her off–”

“Who was it?”

“Tommy…”

“Who said that to you?” he demanded as he furrowed his brows with a grimace.

“Uh…I forgot her name. But she was the one wearing that pink dress with the pearls.”

“Aleph,” he muttered under his breath before he darted back into the main hall.

I didn’t even have a moment to tell him to stop. Ten minutes later he returned red in the face.

“Are you alright?”

“I am fine. I am so sorry you had to go through that. I went to make myself clear about how rude, inappropriate and frankly disgusting her behavior was…happened to make a bit of a scene, I suppose.”

“Tom…you didn’t have to do that.” I frowned. It wasn’t that serious, and on my behalf no less. But when the boss was determined nothing could stop him.

“I invited you here, and you deserve to be treated with as much respect as anyone else,” he said without missing a beat. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

“You don’t have to take me home…the night’s not over yet.” It was too soon. It was such a rare occasion that I ever got to spend time with Tommy out of the office that…

“It’s time to go. We’ve been bored mostly to death here, don’t you think? ”

He seemed persistent about this, so I gave in, stumbling off my seat slightly. He grabbed me by the arm.

“Are you okay?”

“...Yeah, I’m fine. Just tripped over my feet.”

“You’re drunk.” He sighed, placing my arm around his own. “And here I thought you could hold your liquor.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Uh huh. And how many drinks did you have?”

“...I dunno. Maybe…3?”

“You’ve had more than that.”

“Oh.” I couldn’t keep track at this point. My head was a bit foggy.

He dragged me along to the coat check and grabbed our coats. Once that was done, he made a call to his driver who would be here in about 15 minutes he said. After fumbling for a moment, with the arms of my jacket, I finally had it on. He continued to drag me until we were outside of the hotel.

“I’m really okay, y’know,” I said, feeling his warmth. Or maybe it was the drinks. Probably both. “I don’t really wanna go home.”

“...Very well. We will go to my home, in that case.”

“R-really?”

“You said the night is still young and that you don’t wish to go home. You are also drunk. I don’t mind babysitting you, so long as it is at my place.”

I flushed.

“I’m not a baby.”

“You’re right,” he said dryly. “You’re more like a petulant 2 year old right now actually.”

I could slap him, but he was still holding me close, with an arm wrapped around my shoulders. I decided to let it go. Come to think of it, it was the closest we’d ever been.

By the time the silver Lincoln pulled up, I knew I wanted more of that closeness…