Chapter 5: A Bold Move

RONALD

The room was dim, lit only by the pale blue glow of his laptop screen. And Jeffrey was slumped forward on his desk still deeply sleeping.

I rubbed my forehead to calm my anger. “Of course,” I muttered. “He had all the time to rest last night but didn’t.”

I walked quietly into the room and closed the lid of the laptop, before lifting him up to take him to his bed. He didn’t even flinch. How could anyone sleep so deeply?

I stared for a moment at his messy bed hair. It made his face look even more beautiful.

I sighed. “I guess I’d let you have this one.”

My driver was already waiting outside with the car started.

We hit the road immediately, and as expected, it was going to be quite a ride, so I brought out my tablet and started going through the emails I had received concerning the upcoming projects.

We arrived at the office eventually, and thankfully, the clients were already there. I called for the meeting immediately. It was going to be a long day.

I met with the clients, and we discussed the potential of starting a new branch here. We reached a reasonable agreement.

Afterward, we had a tour to assess the structural capabilities and any necessary renovations.

The architects and lawyers were present, so what I estimated would take two to three days was completed in one.

I signed off the documents for the building and approved contracts for the jobs to kick off immediately before taking my leave.

I got into the car, loosened my tie, and leaned back with a sigh. Exhaustion punched me, not just physical.

This whole trip was supposed to prove something, to the board, to my father, and myself.

Instead, I couldn’t stop thinking about Jeffrey, passed out when he should have been here beside me.

The day went smoother than expected, but it didn’t feel like a win. Not without the distraction of his voice in the room.

I felt a bit angry, that I had to go through everything today myself. It would have been less hectic if he were here, even if he wouldn’t have done much.

I was the one who let him sleep back anyways. I sighed, wondering how his day went.

**********

JEFFREY

I woke up with a start, panicking about the time. The blood drained from my face when I saw it was 9:30 a.m.

I opened my mouth to scream, but I was so shocked no words came out.

“Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!” I panicked, hurrying to do something.

I stepped out of my room, and silence hit me. The house felt empty.

Then I heard faint clattering from the kitchen. I followed the sound and found the maid from yesterday. She was cooking something.

“Uhm… Excuse me?” I called.

She turned to me, startled. “Oh. Good morning Sir.”

I smiled awkwardly, it didn’t feel like a good morning. “Where is everyone?”

“The boss?” she asked. That was the only ‘everyone’ that mattered.

“Yeah.”

“He left for work quite early. He said not to wake you though.” She said

Shit. He knew I was still sleeping.

“Do you need anything else, Sir?”

“Uh… do you know where the office is?”

“No, I don’t have that information. You would have to call him to find out,” she said and continued to chop her vegetables.

It was then I realized, we had never exchanged contacts.

I paced around in my room debating what to do next.

I suddenly realized that my laptop was closed, I didn’t remember doing that. It was in that moment that I remembered waking up in my bed.

“Whoa, did he?” I covered my lips and swooned a little. Why do I sleep so deeply? I thought it was a dream.

Well, I could just follow him to work tomorrow since it was a three-day trip. I decided to make myself useful until Ronald got back.

I sneaked into his room, his closet, specifically… checking out his perfumes and wristwatches.

He didn’t even live here full-time, so did he just keep all of these lying around for when he popped by? I scoffed.

I went downstairs and had breakfast. Took a swim in the pool. Then I decided to actually be useful.

I worked on my novels for a few more hours, then went down to help the maid with dinner.

She didn’t want me to help, but I insisted. It might be the only way to appease “Boss Ronald” when he got back.

She eventually let me. She was polite in her directions, not that I was a bad cook anyway.

**********

I started to feel like a housewife waiting for boss Ronald to get back. If one didn’t know better, they would think I was in love with him.

But I wasn’t, I only care about his existence.

It was about fifteen minutes to 8p.m. when his car pulled up in front of the house.

I went to meet him at the doorway. “Hi Ronald, welcome.”

He glanced at me briefly and walked right past. No hello.

My jaw dropped. “Ronald?” I called, following him. “I’m sorry about this morning. It won’t happen again, I promise.”

No response. He went straight to his room and shut the door behind him.

I folded myself onto the couch, debating whether to wait for him to cool off or try again.

His door opened a while later. He came down the stairs in tight boxers and a robe, walking silently to the pool. I began to wonder if he could even see me.

After the swim, he went upstairs, probably showered, and came back down for dinner.

“Ronald?” I tried talking to him again when he was done eating. But he stood up and went to his room.

I quickly followed after him. He tried shutting the door, but I held it and pushed myself in.

“What do want?” he groaned. His voice was scary.

“I’m sorry for not meeting to the time this morning.” I stated, my head bowed and my fingers fumbling the hem of my shirt.

“You’re are not. You got exactly what you wanted to do.” He finally turned to face me, but he was angry.

“No, that wasn’t it. I didn’t know I was-”

“Exactly! You didn’t prepare for it. You don’t travel for a business meeting and spend the time to rest and figure out things, meeting up with friends and staying up late. Did you expect otherwise?”

“I’m sorry Ronald. It wouldn’t happen again.” I was sorry, it was my fault and I should have planned better.

He stared at me, and I looked up, meeting his gaze. The tension in the room shifted, still tight but different from a second ago.

I felt his eyes darken, like he was fighting for some sort of control. I felt his hunger.

In that moment, before I could think about it I lurched at him and pressed my lips to his.