ALEXAI had to take Mark’s offer because he was right; I needed to get thoughts of Donald and Noelle out of my head. Whatever was going on in Paris was not as important as my presence here in Toronto.“Is this inappropriate for where you want to take me?” I asked when Mark just kept staring at me after I came out of the bathroom.I had hastily grabbed my pair of denim shorts that were mid-thigh and a slightly transparent shirt that just suited perfectly…or at least, Eva had said that they would go just fine if paired together.“I didn’t ask where you were taking me because I didn’t want to…” I started to explain, but Mark cut me short.“It’s perfect, Alexa,” Mark said, his voice extremely husky.Why was his voice this husky?And why was my body reacting to the sound of it?“We can go now,” Mark said.Then he went to the door and opened it wide for me. It seemed like a real gentleman gesture, and I had to force myself not to think deeply about it. Mark was simply just opening the door;
MARKI returned to the bedroom and found Alexa not only distressed, but with tears in her eyes. She wasn’t crying…yet, but she had traces of tears already.“Alexa, what’s wrong?” I asked her worriedly.This wasn’t the Alexa I left in the room. Actually, she wasn’t exactly thrilled. She had seemed like she was a little embarrassed after hugging me and she needed some time to herself, which was exactly why I took a walk, but she was completely different.“Did I do something wrong?” I asked.We hadn’t really said a word to each other, but judging by how upset Alexa had been with me lately, it just felt like asking her what was wrong was the right thing to do.“Not everything is about you, Mark,” Alexa snapped.Okay, she was back to being feisty and enraged again, but just like she said, it wasn’t about it. If it was, she would have said it instantly. One thing about Alexa’s new personality trait was that she wasn’t massaging words around me.“And please, I need you to leave me alone,” Al
ALEXAI had to call Gina, and thankfully, she picked up almost immediately.“I got your text, Gina,” I said without wasting time.“I didn’t want to bother you with a call, just in case you are busy, that’s why I sent a text instead,” Gina said, sounding a little shaky.For a minute, I wondered if she was sounding shaky because of the tone of my voice or something else, because she sounded a little scared to me, or maybe it was the connection that was playing some tricks on me.“I am sorry for snapping,” I quickly apologized because I didn’t want her to feel scared around me.“No, you didn’t snap, Alexa,” she said.Now she sounded very sad and I knew for a fact that this time around, the connection wasn’t playing any dirty tricks on me.“What’s wrong, Gina?” I asked her, worried about her.“It’s nothing,” Gina said, and the moment the words came out of her mouth, I knew without a doubt that she was lying to me.“What did Donald send?” I asked her.One thing I had noticed about Gina was
ALEXAHugging Mark was the first thing that came to my mind when we got to the room. I had been so worried and jittery about failing, and the relief that flooded me when Mr. Gregory scheduled a meeting with us was beyond explanation.“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to do that,” I said hastily and went into the bathroom before Mark could say anything.And I stayed in the bathroom longer than necessary because I was trying to catch my breath.“Why did I do that?” I kept asking myself.Usually, I wouldn’t have gone anywhere close to Mark Ronaldo, and this was the first time that I was really getting to hug him tightly and feel his body against mine even though ours were separated by the clothes we had on. It would be shocking to a lot of people that Mark and I were married for five years but there wasn’t any form of physical contact, and he only kissed me once after the divorce, right in his study when I went to confront him about Oscar.Other than that, there had been nothing, and now, my h
MARK“We will give it our best,” I assured Mr. Porshia. “With your help, of course,” I added.His warning was stern and deep. As for me, I really did not have a problem giving my very best, but my worry was Alexa. She hated me and could barely stand me, and after hearing her story, I couldn’t blame her, but I really hoped that she had realized now that this had gotten more serious and that she would need to put away whatever hatred she now had for me so that this could work.“About that, Mark,” Mr. Porshia said.“What about it?” Alexa asked worriedly.“Now that I have successfully handed you two over to Gregory, I would like to take my trip,” he said, and I could tell that Alexa was just as heartbroken and disappointed as I was.And Mr. Porshia noticed our mood.“Listen, I deeply apologize for this, but I really did put it away just so that I could be here and help you meet with Mr. Gregory before I leave. Mark, you already know that I had this all planned out before your call, and I
ALEXAI had to get out of the bathroom even though I didn’t ease myself, and return to Mr. Porshia’s library. “Oh, here she is,” Mr. Porshia said.All three men stood up the moment I entered the library, including a strange man I didn’t know about, but I could already guess that he was the business associate we were waiting for.“This is Alexa, Mark Ronaldo’s wife,” Mr. Porshia told the stranger before turning to me and saying, “Alexa, this is Mr. Gregory, my business associate whom I spoke about.”Mr. Gregory, a man as old as Mr. Porshia, stretched out his hand for a handshake and I took it respectfully.“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Alexa,” he said warmly.“Likewise, Mr. Gregory,” I said. “Have I been keeping you waiting?” I asked, worried that while I sat on the toilet seat brooding over my lingering feelings, the man we had all been waiting for had arrived. What if he was a man who detested being held up? What if he hated waiting? I was already so worried even before he responde