Nine

Chapter Nine.

Two weeks after her unexpected yet joyous wedding ceremony which was still a news of doubt to the public eyes, Jennifer decided to pay a visit to her supposed to be company. As she walked the familiar halls of JK Architectures, she received stares from the staff and other people there.

The look on their faces said they partly felt sad for her,pertaining to her loss and at the same time, they were happy she was up and also not looking drained.

As she walked, acting unaffected by the glares, two women came to meet her.

Both of them wore some air hostess kind of uniform whose colour sat between green and blue. One of the women was slightly fat, with a shoulder length blonde hair. Jennifer guessed that she talked a lot.

The other woman was lean,her light chocolate skin making the other woman's complexion scream. She had a cute smile playing on her lips, like she knew something.

Or maybe she does, Jennifer thought ,frowning slightly.

"Good day, Ms Lewis." The fat lady said.

Jennifer gave them a short,curt nod. She wasn't there for pleasantries, she had business to attend to.

"We are from Kachi relaxation centre, hmm, your dad once helped in constructing three buildings, of which we appreciate to this day. We are very sorry for your loss ma'am."

Jennifer wanted to shout at her. She should get to the point and not talk about being sorry.

As if the lady with the smile read her mind, she nudged the fat lady, who was ranting already about how much Jennifer's father invested in the centre.

She shut up and looked at Jennifer briefly.

"Actually, we are inviting you to, you know, have some time there. With what just happened to you, we think you need some time to relax and let go of things." The chocolate skinned woman said.

"Here is the pamphlet, when ever you are coming, please let us know."

She flashed a smile,with white set of teeth.

Jennifer smiled back, unable to not smile back and collected it.

"I will consider it, thank you"

The two women nodded and walked away. The blonde woman resuming her chattering.

Jennifer tucked the pamphlet into her satchel. She was not dressed official at all. She was putting on black sweatpants, with a purple sports bra covered by a hoodie,completed by her black coloured sneakers.

She entered the elevator and pressed the button to take her to her office.

The song 'Sorry' by Justin Beiber was playing.

She became suddenly irritated by it, already eager to get out of the elevator. She has had enough of sorry for the past few weeks and she did not need a song to add to that irritating word.

The elevator opened and she walked out.

Letting out a huge breath, she felt hesitant about entering.

But she did anyways.

She pushed the glass door and entered.

A staff sighted her and said excitedly,

"Ms Lewis!"

Others looked up from their monitors .They stood up with smiles on their faces.

"You are welcome."

"How are you ma'am?"

"Glad to see you. "

They all greeted her.

She returned their smiles with a wide one.

She was touched by their welcome.

Jane walked up to her and hugged her.

Jennifer was startled at this show of affection from her secretary, but she immediately returned it.

Mr Beaunavista walked up to her. He looked very stressed, like life had made him into a very bouncy basketball that has been thoroughly roughened.

Jennifer released Jane with concern painted on her face.

"Mr Beaunavista, are you okay?"

He gave her a short, tired smile.

"Please can I see you in the office?"

Jennifer nodded. She motioned to the other staffs to sit down, appreciating their enthusiasm with a genuine smile.

Jane led the way to her office.

As they entered, Jennifer felt nostalgia fall in, with the usual, familiar smell of coffee.Her office still looked the same.

Jane removed the nylon used to cover the furniture and cleaned each of it.

They all sat down, Jennifer taking her seat on hers, resisting the urge to roll in her chair. Oh had she missed doing that. She looked at the man in front of her.

"Mr Beaunavista..."

"Hmm... first I want to apologize for the brawl that you witnessed about two weeks ago. "

He heaved a heavy sigh.

"I just want to notify you that I am resigning."

Jennifer frowned.

"Why, actually?"

"Hmm... my wife is pregnant..."

"Congrats Mr B. I..."

"...but the baby's not mine."

Jennifer raised her eyebrows.

"The baby is Mr Anil's."

The two women had their eyes wide opened.

He nodded to their reaction and continued.

"I found out they had been together for a month. Right now, I want to move away, to somewhere far,for sometime, you know. Just to clear my mind. But I won't be coming back here, to this company."

Jennifer placed her hand on his which was on the table.

"Mr Beaunavista... I don't know what to say. This is so sad, your wife is so annoying to be honest. But please take heart..."

The word 'take heart' made her cringe.

He brought out an envelope.

"My resignation letter."

"Huh... I am not the head anymore, Francis is. Give that to him or the person that would be taking over my position."

He looked shocked at first but soon nodded and left.

Jane shifted her chair forward.

"So it is true ,ma'am."

"That what?"

"You are married to Mr Francis and he has taken over the company."

"How did you hear that?" A little frown played on Jennifer's face.

"Rumours."

"Well,they are right." She confirmed it.

There was a brief silence.

"I feel bad about this whole Francis thing." Jane broke the silence.

Jennifer looked up from her phone and cocked her head to the right.

"Why do you say so?"

Jane shrugged, starting to give a hesitant body language.

"Something just feels wrong about him."

"Like what?"

"Like he is up to no good."

"Are you really sure about this?"

"Well, not really.But it is just a feeling. A crazy, stupid feeling. I shouldn't have said anything." She rambled.

" But be careful okay."

"Okay mom." Jennifer said amusedly, ruminating on Jane's word in one side of her mind.

Jane chuckled.

Jennifer stood up, ready to leave. As they walked out, someone greeted her excitedly.

"Good bye Ms Lewis."

Jennifer smiled to the direction of the voice.

"That is Mrs Cutler for you."

Almost everyone gasped,murmuring .

Jennifer chuckled and walked out.

---

"Hey sweetheart." Francis entered and kissed Jennifer who was watching TV half mindedly.

"Hey you." She stood up and helped him with his suit and tie.

"I heard you dropped by the office."

He helped her with the suit, loosened the cuffs of his shirt and sat down.

"Yap. Where were you?" She jumped to his side.

"Out for a meeting."

She gave him a kiss on the forehead and got up to sit on his laps, her hands wrapped around his neck.

"Francis..."

"Hmm..."

"I was thinking, we should go out to a relaxation centre, the two of us. It could be like our honeymoon."

He nuzzled her neck.

"Does it make you happy?"

"Yes, as long as you are with me."

"Then we shall go." He kissed her shoulder blade.

She moaned in response and kissed him briefly on the lips. He smiled at her and recaptured her lips, giving her the fire she always looked forward to feeling anytime they wanted to make love. The fire carried both passion and fieriness and that caused Jennifer numerous heart and head explosions every damn time.

His hands went to her hips and they traced their curviness in her light gown. His hands kept traveling to and fro as the mouth lock became more heated with their tongues exploring and fighting for dominance at the same time.

They became instantly consumed by hunger for each other. As Jennifer reached for Francis shirt, he reluctantly broke the kiss.

"Talking of honeymoon, I think we should start now."

She giggled in response as he carried her bridal style upstairs, making her feel swell as he gave anywhere available for his lips to touch, soft kisses.