MAVERICK
It was already dark outside, and everyone had left the office, leaving me alone to finish the data I was working on.
“Why are you still working?” He just came to my desk.
I raised my hand and pointed a finger so as not to distract me.
“Fuck it.” He was about to slam my laptop shut, but I quickly stopped him.
“Just a sec, babe.”
“I didn’t-”
“Just a sec!” I pressed the print button.
“Did you just yell at me?” His eyes narrowed, and I just giggled as I heard the printer running.
I closed the new laptop he bought for me and rose to my feet to cup his angry face. Then I kissed him loudly. “You’re cute when you’re pissed off.”
“What the fuck is so important it can’t wait until Monday?” He went to grab the paper from the printer and began reading it out loud. He paused momentarily, maybe to process, or he was surprised I wanted to make it official.
“I don’t care about the money I would receive. What do you think? Unless you change your mind and that I’m terrible-”
He was fast to come to me, cupped my head, and kissed me viciously and brutally hard. “I want to push your skirt up your waist, rip your panties off your pussy, and eat you right now until you come all over my mouth. This is the best fucking thing you’ve ever shown me since you started working.”
“Oh.” I pretended to be not so eager and giggled as I grabbed my laptop and slipped it into the case.
“Wait.” He held my elbow. “Did I say something wrong? Shouldn’t I be supposed to react that way? I thought this is awesome.”
“Let’s go home, and then you can rip my panties.”
I yelped as he just spanked my ass. “What was that for?”
“I’ll kiss your ass later.”
“You better be.” I grabbed my bag and snatched the paper from him. “I need to sign this and forward it to my lawyer.”
“I’ll make sure my lawyers will work on that fast.”
“Are you sure you wanna do this? Unless…” I trailed off.”
“Yes, baby. We’ve been bound to that agreement for months. It’s time to void it officially.”
So he decided that we should have dinner to celebrate our relationship even if we were still working on terminating the contract. It would have been a pretty romantic dinner if I didn’t see Aurelia walking in our direction. That just ruined my mood and my appetite.
“Lake,” she just called my husband as if they were so close to each other.
Lake turned around, and at the same time, Aurelia kissed him at the corner of his lips. The stiffness in his posture didn’t go unnoticed.
I remained silent as I exhaled out my anger. I also tried to decide what to do next. If I had followed my emotions, I would have pulled my husband away and shielded him from this leech.
“Are you coming this weekend?” she asked him so gleefully as if it was interesting. “You still play golf, do you?”
That bitch pretended hard that I was not standing beside Lake.
“No. I don’t,” Lake said flatly. “And I have a dinner to enjoy with my wife. Do you mind?”
Aurelia didn’t even look at me as she stepped back, and the waiter was carrying plates of food coming her way.
I gasped. The plates fell, clattering on the floor, echoing the entire restaurant. The tomato sauce spilled all over her legs and back. I wouldn’t say I was glad it happened, but maybe she deserved it.
“What the hell!” Anger filled her eyes as she pushed the waiter from the chest, who was already apologizing.
“I’m so sorry, ma’am. I didn’t see you coming in my direction.”
“Coming in your direction? You were coming to me!” she screamed at the waiter, who looked scared and dropped his gaze.
I knew what it felt like in his position. His job was on the line, especially if the restaurant cared about its reputation, and Aurelia demanded the manager fire him. In this age of post-content media and the mainstream world, she could make it a big deal to post it online, as most people do nowadays, instead of handling it privately.
Nowadays, ruining someone’s reputation is digital, but so is karma.
“This is not acceptable. Did you see what he did to me?” She gestured at her dress. “This is worth thousands of dollars. Where’s your manager?”
Of course, it was like there was a template for getting someone fired. So predictable.
“I’m so sorry, ma’am,” the waiter said repeatedly, but Aurelia had already made up her mind.
“Aurelia, just let it go,” Lake came in the middle.
“What’s going on?” The manager came quickly.
“This incompetent worker of yours did this to my Chanel dress.” She pointed at her stained dress. Everyone’s attention inside the restaurant was on her. “That filth worker came to me and threw it all over me.”
Oh, my God. I wanted to roll my eyes.
“It was an accident,” said Lake, trying to convince her. “Just go to the restroom, clean it up, and let it go.”
Furious eyes flared at him. “Are you kidding me right now? You saw what happened. Why are you defending this idiot?”
“I’m not defending anyone. It was an accident. Don’t make a scene, Aurelia. Everyone is watching us.”
“That’s even better. Everyone saw what happened, and I want this stupid waiter fired right now!” The way she pointed at the man made me furious.
I had to do something. “Aurelia, you were stepping back. You did not see the waiter carrying loads of plates behind you. I saw what happened.”
“Of course, you will lie. This is your job, after all. You are dressed like that because he dressed you up, but you still look peasant. You can’t change who you are, no matter how much your dress is worth. It’s in your blood.” Wow. So this was her true color. “You think you’re some kind of Cinderella-”
“That’s enough!” Lake exclaimed.
Everyone gasped. The whole restaurant went silent, not even a clanking of silverware.
“This is his fault.” She pointed at the waiter. Oh, God. Kill me now.
“Did you even come to eat or just to talk to me? You came here, ruining my dinner with my wife, wanting to fire that poor man, and now you just insulted my wife when we all know it was your fault. Either you leave this restaurant right now, or I will call security to drag you out. Your choice. And I’m warning you, if you ever pose anything to harm this man and this restaurant, I will do anything to get the truth out.”
“Screw you!” Aurelia ran away out of the restaurant, crying.
“Um, sir, ma’am. Thank you,” said the manager.
“I’m so sorry, sir. I swear I did not see her.” Poor waiter. He still looked terrified. I suddenly saw myself in him when those brat bitches threw a drink at me and filmed it.
“You’re the manager?” Lake asked.
“Yes, Mr. Winston.”
“You will not fire that man nor deduct the cost of this food on his paycheck. If you ever do it, I will buy this restaurant and fire you instead.”
The manager chuckled, nervous. “Of course, sir.”
They started cleaning, but the people inside still had our attention.
“Sorry for the drama, guys. Wine is on me. Enjoy your dinner.” Lake was like running for office. Everyone applauded him before they went back to their dinner.
Later on, the same waiter came to take your order.
“If you’re tired from your job, come find me at the Infinite Media. You’ll get a job with higher wages and benefits.”
“Thank you, sir.”
After he took our order and left, I could only stare at him.
“What?”
“She did not ruin your appetite?”
“Fuck no. You?”
I shook my head. “I’m used to getting insults by now. One or more insults from your exes won’t make me run away from you. I don’t even consider that a threat.”
“We’re here to celebrate, remember?”
“Yeah. Then you rip off my panties and eat me like your dessert.”
He made a sexy groan. “Fuck yeah. Now I want to go home and start from dessert instead.”
“Hell no, I’m starving from that drama.”