Tom got home in the evening after cancelling the meeting and met his mom preparing a large amount of food so he wondered what was going on.
“Is something happening? What’s up with the varieties?” he asked walking to take a closer look
“The chairman of ITM Construction is coming over for dinner” she replied wiping her hands with the napkin as she set the table
“Why would he come over for dinner here? Father can just take him out so why is he stressing you out?” he said angrily
“What stress? This is just to support him you know. I cannot do anything to help you at the company so I should do this to help you and him too” she said with a smile and he went into his room angrily.
He finished showering and unlocked his safe to check out a document when he saw the contract between them and took it out. He sat down in front of the safe and read through it again before squeezing it all up.
“What was I even thinking” he muttered and threw the squeezed paper into the bin and locked the safe after taking the document he needed.
He was going through it when his mother came to call him that the guests were around and he went out to see Chairman Henry, his son Charles and his daughter, Stephanie sitting at the table already with his parents and Joseph.
He paused for a bit to greet them and had his seat beside Joseph at the left side
“Thank you for inviting us over” Chairman Henry said to Steve who chuckled
“It is nothing. I should thank you for honoring the invitation” Steve responded
“We don’t need to introduce the children, they already knew one another” Steve said and Stephanie smiled at Tom who averted his gaze
“I played golf with Joseph few days ago. We have been friends since high school so there is no introduction needed” Charles said and bumped fist with Joseph
“You have grown a lot taller and more handsome since the last time I saw you” Stephanie said to Tom who only nodded in silence
“He was always quiet then and he’s still quiet till now” she added and blushed
“Tom doesn’t like to speak much. It his nature” Steve said and they all laughed
“I know right? He’s not a man of many words. Something happened when I went with my fiancée to get her wedding dress at the mall and he took care of it cleanly. He sure is competent and knows when to keep quiet just like you have said” Charles remarked with a grin as he grabbed his wine glass
“Something happened at the company? I didn’t hear of that” Joseph said pausing his meal
“I guess you don’t discuss much as brothers but it was an absurd situation. I was almost accused of…” Charles blabbered trying to explain but Tom cut him short
“I think it’s better we don’t revisit the issue since it has been solved cleanly. We are not petty people who dotes on what happened in the past, are we?” he said and Charles shrugged
“Well if you say so”
Joseph was subtly mad that he didn’t get to hear the story but he just laughed it off and continued with the food. He picked one of the seasoned fish and spat it into the napkin immediately he chewed on it.
“Is something wrong with the food?” the mother asked facing him
“It’s salty. I wonder what changed, your cooking or my palate?” he said with a stern voice and glared at her
“The food doesn’t seems salty though. It’s seasoned perfectly” Stephanie said after eating from the fish
“You should just eat something else if the fish is too salty for you, no need to make a ruckus” Tom remarked from his end of the table as he took a large portion of the fish and dropped it on his plate to eat it.
They finished the food and Anita went to prepare tea for Steve and Chairman Henry while the children split to chat with each other.
***
Stephanie went to Tom’s room instead and met him sorting some documents on his desk
“You never rest, do you?” she said walking into the room
“You shouldn’t come into a man’s room recklessly” he said raising his head to look at her
“What is there to be worried about? I have been coming to this room for the past ten years” she said with a smile and walked closer to his desk
“Do you have something to say? As you can see, I am very busy” he stated and she scoffed
“Is this the way to treat someone whom you haven’t seen for the past five years? You are still as cold as ever but then that is your own charm” she remarked leaning on the desk in front of him
“What do you mean?” he asked raising his eyebrow
“That’s what makes you sexier you know, it was what made me fall for you” she said slowly tracing her hand on his shoulder but he shook her off
“You shouldn’t pretend. You know I was very aware of your crush on me during those times but I enjoyed playing innocent and ignorant to make you want me more” she said with a low and alluring tone
“Why are you bringing it up again then?” he asked folding his arms
“I realized that pretending wasn’t that fun, I want to make things hot between us” she winked and he smirked before dragging her to his leg suddenly
“Oh I love how you are spicing things up” she said wrapping her hands around his neck.
He leaned closely to kiss her and she slowly closed her eyes to enjoy the moment, he came closer to her to the extent that they could feel each other’s breathing and he could feel her heart race with each rising and falling of her chest showing that she was nervous.
He smirked and stared at her for several seconds making her open her eyes to see what was wrong and he smiled
“I think it is my own turn to play ignorant now” he said and pushed her off his leg making her bite her lips in anger
“What do you think you are doing right now?” she yelled at him
“Paying you back in your own coin” he answered and she tried to slap him but he held her hand
“You are nothing but a bastard” she cursed at him and glared hard before leaving the room in anger but he only watched her go without saying anything.
****
Charles went with Joseph to his room to catch up on things they had missed all the years Joseph was away.
“What were you talking about earlier during the meal?” He asked curiously
“Oh! I went to the mall with Joy, my fiancée and there was this lady. She is the secretary to Tom but oh my gosh! she was so hot. She was curvy and perfect in all areas” Charles said with lust all over his face
“You beast, do you even love your fiancée like this?” he asked with a chuckle
“Love? Do you just say love? Come on! Who still feel that these days? If I have anything called love then I won’t be able to enjoy the variety of women outside. She’s not the only one beautiful you know. Any time I see a beautiful lady with the front side in abundance especially, I turn to a fool” Charles stated and they both laughed
“Do you love the front side that much?” he questioned
“You know that is where the fountain of life is situated. The moment they come in contact with my palms, there is an electrifying feeling that no weed or alcohol can give. Then if I can land my mouth on their doorknobs, that is another heaven. You don’t know how it feels to be brand new when you come back from sucking out of those fountain of life” Charles described with excitement and Joseph hit him hard with a pillow before they laughed their lungs out
“So did Tom do anything to annoy you?” he asked further
“You know I groped her ass a little when I pretended to break the glass of water and she was cleaning it up but she wanted to cause a scene so I threatened them with my position. Tom told her to apologize even though he knew what she was saying was true. I guess he has no choice but to keep quiet and keep the company safe even though it showed through his eyes that day that he wanted to hit me badly” Charles mocked
“He has to lie low because he’s walking on eggshells so he wouldn’t be able to raise an issue. That is what happens if you don’t have enough rights” he said snorted
“We need to put people like them in their places so they will learn that they are nothing but a puppet in a box. If they try to come out of the box then they will have no choice but to die or tear out the box” Charles and Joseph snapped his fingers in agreement.
“That is exactly how it is” he said and they clinked their glasses to drink their wines.