“Welcome to my humble abode”, Nek says, I can’t help but snort, so much for a humble abode; this house looks a palace, I’m sure it has more than 12 rooms.
“Ehn…, it could do better”, I coolly say, he looks a bit downcast, but quickly hides his emotion.
“Could you show me to my room, I need to shower and rest; you’d agree with me that today has been an eventful day”
“Sure, let me take you to your room” Nek takes my hands and guides me upstairs. I’m led into a very large room. “The room is an adjoined room” Nek says as he leads me through a door which leads to another room.
“Beautiful” I can’t help but say, I notice Nek smile, but it’s also gone as fast as it came. One of the rooms is painted in a flowery manner, with a touch of purple.
“I love it, how did you know I love purple?”, I ask Nek
Nek smiles, “I noticed you like to wear a lot of purple outfits and you only paint your nails different shades of purple”
“I’m glad you like it, because I’d have to repaint the entire room”, Nek says as he continues to show me my room
For a moment there I forget that this is a contract marriage, and I let myself to feel this love.
No guy has ever noticed this about me, I’m touched, “Thank You” I say
“If you’re going to be here for 5 years, then it has to be comfortable for you too” Nek says.
“Thank you still” I say half cast, I’m brought to the reminder that it’s just a contract marriage
Nek goes on to explain “Our room is separated by an inner door; the staff here would think that we sleep in the same room; only us and the two maids I’ve chosen to clean our rooms would know we don’t sleep together”
“Understood” I say, “I need to take a bath so please excuse me”
For a split second, it looks like Nek is considering not leaving, like he wants to continue talking to me; but he decides against it, “see you at dinner” he says as he leaves the room
“See you too” I say
I take a shower, then wrap myself in the bath robe so conveniently provided. This place could pass for a hotel, I think to myself as I fall into bed.
“OMG”, I just forgot a very important detail. “What do I tell my parent”, I won’t be home for a long time, I’m racking my head for a lie, and I think I’ve finally got one.
I search for my phone and dial mums’ number, “Hello” I say, “How are you mum”
“I’m fine, could you please buy some groceries for the house on you way back; I’ll send you the list” Mom says
“Unfortunately, mom I can’t do that; I was just posted overseas for work for a year, I couldn’t pack, and my boss wouldn’t let me stop at the house to say goodbyes”, I sigh, “you know how he can be like”
“That’s quite sudden, I guess that’s how all personal assistants’ jobs are; I’ll inform everyone at home, don’t worry too much and eat well”, mom says
“Thank you ma, love you”
“Love you too”, she responds, and the call abruptly comes to an end.
There are two people who always abruptly cut the call to my annoyance, my boss Nek and my mom. To be honest I’m grateful that the call was abruptly ended, if the call had been prolonged then I probably would have been caught. For how long will I keep this facade, at some point my parents will find out; do I tell them now or watch how things play out, I think to myself, as I fall asleep.
Someone lightly taps me; I stir a bit while mumbling that the person should let me sleep; I guess the person got the memo, because I’m left to sleep.
I wake up 30 minutes after, “arghhh, why are you here” I scream in shock at seeing Nek, “You look cute when you sleep”, he lightly chuckles. “Come down for dinner”, and with that he exits room.
What a weird man, I think to myself; It’s just going to be Nek, some staff and I, so I’ve decided to wear a light purplish gown. It looks sort of a night wear, it accentuates my figure, but doesn’t reveal anything. After deciding that I look okay, I head downstairs.
I almost get lost, but Thank God for the staff, who’ve kindly directed me. I walk towards the hall, into the dining room. As I enter, I notice Nek look transfixed as his eyes wander on me; I smile “Hello Nek, funny seeing you here” I joke.
It takes a while for his gaze to reach mine, but when they do it only stays; our gaze is locked, and it takes one of us to break it, luckily, I’m hungry, so I break it.
“The pleasures all mine”, Nek replies half smiling
“We may begin”, Nek says as he signals to one of the staff. The staff nods, a moment later the chef and his assistants come in carrying different types of delicacies. I have a taste of everything served; I’m going to enjoy being Mrs. Cellos I think to myself, it’s not so bad.
“Let’s discuss our marital affairs” Nek says suddenly
I grunt “do we have to do that now; I’m enjoying a lovely and peaceful dinner; can’t we postpone it”
“As much as I hate to disturb you, we need to discuss and go over some rules of this marriage”, Nek says
Why now I think to myself, I don’t want to be perceived as stubborn, so I respond “sure, here or somewhere else”
“My office” Nek replies, he signals to the staff to leave us alone, they bow their heads and exit the room. I wonder how much it cost to pay the staff in this house I think to myself, am I considered a staff too; I let my mind wander a bit, before I hear Nek call my name.
“Come on” Nek says, he pulls me towards his office, we sit down opposite each otherThis feels like I’m about to be interviewed I think to myselfNek clears his throat “I know we have discussed the basis of this marriage; I just want to set some ground rules”Rules again I think to myself, I’m not surprised; Nek likes things to be in an orderly manner, no surprises.“Okay, sure; what are they” I say“It’ll only be three” Nek says as he runs his hand through his hair and faces me“The first one is that you’re not allowed to date other men” I have no problem with that, I haven’t dated for the last 2 years I think inwardly.“Are you allowed to date other women” I say, it’s only fair if we both are not allowed to date other peopleNek smiles “I don’t plan on dating other people while I’m married to you, that’d be considered cheating, wouldn’t it?“Okay” I reply, it wouldn’t be cheating since we are not exactly married, but I’m happy with his response“No 2 rule” Nek goes on, “is that we h
It’s literally 4am in the morning why are there movements in the house, what’s Nek doing at this time in the morning.This is not my way of life and if this is Nek's I'll have to do something about it; I’m a light sleeper therefore I find this very annoying. “Arghhh”; I internally scream.I try to sleep back but to no avail, I’m up already l guess. I brush and head downstairs, I never leave my house without breakfast; I hope Nek is the same.“Good morning”, I say to Nek as I move towards the kitchen. I’m engulfed by the smell of food, I’m sure the chef here is top notch; if I’m going to be here for 5 years, I better make the best of it “Who cooked, where’s the chef? let me give him my thanks” I say to Nek“We'll direct your thanks to me""I cooked, I sent the chef away for the day” Nek replies, “my parents will be coming here today, so I’ve removed all unnecessary staff, to avoid being ratted out by mistake”“Whatttt, your parents?” I panic, “why is it so sudden, what if they don’t lik
Taina POVI know that Nek would have wanted me to wear the dress, it feels like Nek had taken personal time to get this dress. But deep down I know it’s not true, as Nek would be too busy running an entire conglomerate. But it’d be nice to think so, I slip into the dress, wear a little make up and head downstairs.I can hear Nek from the dining room, seems like he got into an heated argument with someone, I’m sure it must be about business“Good afternoon”“Good afternoon” I haven’t seen this maid before, but Nek probably has more than 9 maids; I’ll do better with learning their names, I don’t want them to think of me as snobbish.Unfortunately it hasn't been up to two days before I moved here that I have to meet my parents-in-law, I’m not saying I don’t want to meet them but meeting them at short notice is not the way I imagined it. I always thought that the first time I officially meet my in-laws I’d like to impress them.Nek looks happy that I wore the dress, I can tell from the
“Do you remember how Nek's secretary looked? I can’t remember much of her as it’s been a while since I met her and I didn’t think much into her look since she’s just his secretary. I wonder what kind of family she comes from, do you think they'll hold an actual wedding” I hear a woman say from the sitting room, I guess that’s Nek's mom”“You’ll get all these answers when you meet her, just be patient darling” and I'm guessing that must be Nek's dad.I look up at Nek, “you really weren’t lying when you said you mum was inquisitive; I hope I don’t make a mistake in front of her”“You’ll do just fine, don’t think about it too much, now let’s go” Nek slips his arm to my waist, as we approach the sitting room.“You are gorgeous, I know my son has taste, but he has really outdone himself” Nek mother says“Mom and dad this is”“She can introduce herself and so can we, Nek darling why don’t you get us some wine” Nek mother says while eyeing me up.I can tell that she’s assessing whether I’m g
Nek's POVI know that the entire proposition of marriage seems crazy just to save my business, but to be honest it’s more than just my business.The first time I met Taina, she was wearing a bird costume, I can’t remember what cartoon character she was; but she looked so cute when she realized that she was pranked. Normally I would have criticized the employees but I was too focused on her face to notice anything else ; I had burst out laughing because she looked too cute and embarrassed.From that time I’ve always had her in my mind, but I’m the CEO and I can’t be caught dating a staff. Imagine if we broke up ; that’d be catastrophic and awkward seeing she’s my personal secretary.So I decided to ignore it all, not like I wanted to date her I just wanted to sleep with her and know how she felt; but I also couldn’t do that seeing how unprofessional it was.But I watched her closely but kept her at a distance, I maintained my professional decorum around her, we worked late and I’m pret
Nek POVTaina and my mother return to the room, I’m curious about what they discussed but I will pursue that subject at a later time when we are alone.“Hi love, did you girls enjoy your chat” I say as I come to her side and slip my arm around her waist and spare a smile at my mother before shifting my full attention to Taina.“Yes we did” Taina smiles, as we both head for the chairs. I pull out a chair for her and go to pull one for my mother.“What a charmer” moms say, “Der you haven’t said a lot since we got here, I know you’re quiet but not usually this quiet”“I’m okay, Taina it was nice to meet you and I’m glad about your presence in my son's life, you’re now part of the family” Der says“Thank you, I feel like I’m family” I smile, “now let’s eat, I’m quite farnished and I’m sure you are too”We all nod in agreement During our lunch, we engage in so many conversations. Mom tells Taina many stories about me, which Taina found hilarious; turns out I was a very naughty child. Thou
Taina POVI freshen up, touch up my make up and head downstairs to the sitting room. Nek is no longer in the sitting room but I hear some noise coming from his office. Of course, where else would he be but his office; that man has no life outside of work.“Nek” I call out as I approach the office door“I’m in here, come in” Nek has his entire concentration on whatever is going on in his laptop.“I’m heading out”“Alright” he says without bothering to look upI want to see whether I can get his attention, so I pride him further, “you know that guy friend that I was talking about, we’d be out together till like 2am; so I would be back by 3am, hope you don’t mind?”Nek instantly looks up, I guess that got his attention “what do you mean you would be out till 3am with another man, a married woman shouldn’t do that”Nek says looking slightly annoyed “Well I’m not fully a married woman, so I still have some of the privileges of a single woman” Nek looks like he’s about to pop a vein, but he
Taina POVI have never seen Nek look so angry, in all my 3 years of working for him; the most emotion I have gotten whenever I make an error is “it’s okay”. I can’t really tell what I did wrong, I glance sideways at Nek but I can’t see his face, just his side view; he’s purposely avoiding looking at me.“You said you were going to get some personal things” Nek turns his head towards me; he looks slightly annoyed but still keeps a cool expression. Lately I’ve realized that’s what I hate most about him, I can never really tell what’s going on in his head. It always feels like someone hurt him and now others including myself, have to suffer for this.“I never told you where I was going, I just told you that I was heading out. It’s never good too assume”, I always avoid arguments with Nek once I sense he’s angry; I just go I’m sorry or I’ll do something about the situation. But I’m not wrong this time and I’m not apologizing.Nek doesn’t look so happy with my response, I guess that’s not