When Robert stared at me for a second, I thought he would rebut my accusation, but he remained to stare at me, and it was uncomfortable. When he remained silent and just staring, I arched my brows at him and asked, “Are you not going to say anything?”
“You used to like me when we were younger,” he said, implying that I had a crush on him in the past.
I thought I would die of annoyance when he mentioned the ‘crush thing’ from the past. “It’s all in the past, Robert. While it is true that you are still good-looking, I don’t think I can survive living with you. You smelled like a dead person!”
“Having body odour is normal, isn’t it?”
“Oh my God! Here we go again,” I let out a sigh of exasperation. When he tried to come closer to me, I yelled and turned around. I hurried towards the door, my hand covering my lips with the other hand. He had feet that smelled like a dead animal, and I felt sick to my stomach! Could he get any more repulsive?
“Selena, wait!”
“Stay where you are, please!” I begged him, and when some of the staff looked in our direction, I glared at Robert for causing it. To salvage our situation, I returned to my office and dragged him with me.
“Am I so unattractive?”
“W-what?”
“Will there be a chance in the future for you to like me?” He rephrased the question, and still, I was stunned at his guts.
Practically speaking, if I couldn’t stop the wedding, then the only option I had to stay sane and live a long life with my child was to tell him to change something about himself. “There’s a slim chance I will like you if and only if you do something about your smell,” I told him.
“Granted,” he assured me, and suddenly, I was worried he would try to impress me. “Now, I feel bad for asking you to have lunch with me in this condition.”
“Are you trying to make me feel guilty for saying those accurate words?”
“No, it was never my intention Selena. Anyway, I won’t take too much of your time now, but please come home on time tonight for dinner.”
“I will,” I replied.
I expressed a deep sigh of relief when Robert was gone. He left about ten minutes ago, but I couldn’t stop thinking about the changes in Robert Dixon. He used to be an attractive guy, with several women lining up for his attention. He was a heartthrob in the university, so I couldn’t understand what caused him to change drastically. He was a fine gentleman with bright aspirations for the future.
With so many questions running inside my head about the new fiance, it dawned on me that I hadn’t spoken to Layla since I met Robert again. I grabbed my phone to call her, but I got the same result. Her phone seemed to be turned off and couldn’t be reached. I was about to try again when the telephone rang, and I couldn’t ignore it.
I thought it was essential, but it turned out to be a prank call. When I answered it, nobody was on the other line. I kept on talking for a couple of seconds until I heard the beep that the call was disconnected.
Anyway, going back to work, I asked the accounting department to furnish me with a copy of our monthly sales for two years because I had to check something. If I wanted to expand my business, I first needed to step up with our income-generating operation.
While waiting for the list, I called some of our contractors to try renegotiating the cost of their services, and out of ten contractors that I have spoken to on the telephone, only three of them agreed to run through our existing agreements. They promised to come and visit on the next day or until my concern have been discussed with their management.
When it was time to get off from work, I could feel the loneliness seeping within me again. I asked the driver slashed bodyguard to speed up a little because being in a car that Lee drove was suffocating. Fortunately, the bodyguard didn’t object to my request and did as he was told.
When we arrived, I was shocked when Robert waited for me to come out of the car, and he was grinning from ear to ear. IT WAS WET when I looked at his hair, so I assumed he probably just got off the shower and forgot to dry his hair.
“Hi,” he greeted me as soon as he opened the car door.
“Oh my goodness, Robert! Did you pour a bottle of perfume into your head?” I asked in disbelief. Yes, the perfume smelled great on him, but the stinky odour coming from his unwashed armpit was overwhelming. When I glanced at my bodyguard, I was sure I saw him trying to control his laughter.
“Do I smell good now?”
I didn’t respond to his nonsense inquiry and rolled my eyes at him before walking away. The man never failed to disappoint me each day! I gave him a hint on how to impress me, but he messed up his golden opportunity! He was an expert at putting my patience to the test when I was practically at the end of my rope.
“Do you want me to reheat our dinner while you take a shower?”
I was aghast when he dared to follow me. “I don’t know if you’re doing this on purpose or what, but please stop talking to me, Robert.”
“Wow, that’s a lovely thing to say to your fiancé,” he said, and he behaved as though my remarks had wounded his emotions.
“Don’t you get it? You’re testing my patience right now,” I snapped at him, but the moron just smiled and acted unbothered.
“Can we make this work? It’s for our good!”
“We can make this work if you will keep a ten-meter distance away from me, Robert!”