Chapter 12

 THE PARTY 

~NEW JERSEY CITY~

"Good morning sir" Romeo secretary greeted as soon as he got out of the car.

"Your nine o'clock appointment is ready and....."

"Cancel it" he said as he head towards the office cafeteria.

"But it's important, we've been waiting for months for this....."

"I said cancel it! Right now I have somewhere more important to be" he said as he walked off while the other employees bowed in greeting.

He ignored it as his only main aim is to see Marie.

She had left in the wee hours of the morning, she had left without even saying a thing after what they had shared last night.

They had both consumed alcohol and had made love. Romeo hadn't been expecting that, infact he hadn't been expecting them to make love when he decided to use his chance to be with her last night.

He only wanted to spend more time with her and get to know more about her never would he have imagine that they would go as far as to making love but what's done is done and he was expecting her to act up to it like an adult but the only thing she could do is to run away.

He got to the cafeteria and went straight to kitchen, he could hear her voice and it seems like she wasn't alone.

He walked further in only to only to see her standing side by side with the head chef and immediately he felt his anger erupting.

His Jealousy swelling, she had left him just so she could come be with this man well he won't be letting her off easily.

Marie focus was on the crab Charles was peeling when she heard someone cough behind her.

She turned only to see Romeo standing there. He had come earlier than she expected. 

She knew that her leaving without saying a word would get him angry but she had been expecting to face him at home and not at work.

"Good morning sir" Charles greeted cheerfully.

"Can you leave both Marie and I alone" Romeo replied ignoring Charles greeting.

Marie noticed that he ignored Charles greeting which she found rude and she turned to Charles who was starring at her.

"What? Do you need her permission before you leave?" Romeo asked.

"No sir but I just find it odd that your first time in coming to your company kitchen is to speak to Marie " Charles replied.

"Marie and I have something to discuss, so save us the time and leave" Romeo instructed but Charles stared at Marie who nodded at him before walking off.

As soon as the door was shut Romeo turned on her

"Why the hell did you leave like that?" He asked angrily.

"Why shouldn't I? " She asked in return.

"You knew we had to talk about it! Something happened between us you should have at least woke me up! Do you know how worried I was because I didn't find you beside me when I woke up?" He asked looking all serious.

Marie thought for a while that his anger was mainly because he was worried about her but she thought wrong.

"Does my leaving without telling you a thing anger you that much? Well then I left and that's mainly because I regret what happen" she lashed out at him.

"You regret it?" He asked.

"I do! Isn't it ironic? For the first time in my life, I finally made love to a man but I can't remember and to top it all I made love to someone who doesn't love me" she said starring at him.

"Now Marie, I think it's time you listen to...."

"It's a mistake! Let's leave it at that" she said cutting him off.

"Do you call it a mistake even though you were the one who started the whole thing. You kissed me first" he told her.

"And that's why I left. I couldn't remember a thing but when I tried to the only thing I remember was kissing you. I might have started the whole thing but I regret it, It was a mistake Romeo let's leave it as that" she said to him.

"You are right! We were both intoxicated last night but that doesn't mean it is a mistake" he said.

"To me it is and I know it is the same for you so please let's forget it happened. We will be divorced anyway so there is no use talking about it" she said turning her back on him.

Romeo wanted to say more, he wanted to let her know that it wasn't a mistake for him that for him it was the best thing but he couldn't. The timing isn't right, he thought.

"Fine then! Let's forget what happened as you put it" he said and turned to leave.

"And I would like it if you refrain from coming to see me here. No one in the company knows about our marriage" she said behind him and he would have love to yell out at that particular moment that she was his wife and that she belongs to him but the timing just isn't right. He thought as he walked out without giving her a reply.

He got back to his office and found Blake seated on his seat.

"So how did it go?" Blake asked.

"You dare to ask me that after what you did!" Romeo said as he walked towards Blake pulling him up by his shirt.

" Easy Romeo. You know I hate my face having a scar" he said.

"I should really give you an ugly bruising that will make all the girls stay away from you" Romeo threatened.

"Why are you so angry? I only did it to help you and marie" Blake said as he manage to pull away from Romeo.

"What? Did it go bad?" Blake asked.

"It did" Romeo replied as he narrated the whole thing that happened.

"Wow! My plan really got you two sharing a bed" Blake said excitedly.

"We did share a bed but it further distance her from me. She says it is a mistake and tells me to stay away" 

"And will you? You've move a step by having your first night with her now all you have to do is to convince her that you two are meant to be" he said.

"How? " Romeo said looking so lost.

"This is the first time I will see you look so lost. In the past you were always confident about bedding a girl but now you are the one seeking advise on how to get your wife love? I can't believe this" Blake said laughing.

"This isn't funny and Marie isn't a easy girl. I learnt that while living with her. Can you believe that the allowance I made for her haven't even been touched?" He asked.

"Then she's someone who can't be bought with money. If she can't be pleased with any materialistic things then we will just have to capture her heart by showing her your loving nature" Blake said.

"How do we go about that?" 

"I heard that the workers are planning a night out tonight. Why don't we go ourselves?" Blake suggested.

**************

~EVENING HOUR ~ 

"Yeah! It's party time" Caleb said excitedly as they all left the kitchen.

"We are going right?" Jacob asked.

"Am sorry I can't" Marie said which got the four men stopping.

"Why? " James asked.

"I have other things to do and....."

"No no no! We also have other things to do but that isn't stopping us from going" Jacob said.

"Which means you are going with us" Caleb said.

"But..."

"No more buts Marie. This is my first time going to their night outing which makes it the first time for the both of us, so let's go" Charles said as he wrapped his arms around her.

Knowing she was beaten, Marie went with them to the club which was was filled up with the office employees.

As soon as they walked in everyone began whistling since the four guys with her were the handsome face of the company.

While a lot of the employees cooed on how cool they look, some of the employees was jealous by her being the only girl amongst them.

They found a table and the five of them sat there. Soon Caleb, Jacob and James where taken to the floor to dance and party but she sat talking to Charles.

She was laughing at the broken song Caleb was singing with the use of the karaoke when everyone went silent.

She was still wondering what caught their attention when she saw Romeo and Blake walk into the room.

 "It's the boss "

 "What's he doing here?"

 "He's never been to any of our party before" 

Romeo heard them say and it knew they might feel uncomfortable while having him there but Blake took charge.

"You all shouldnt mind our presence like everyone else we came to relax after working hard" Blake said but their answers was dull and by the look in their eyes Romeo could see that they were still uncomfortable by his presence.

He took off his coat and loosened his tie before smiling at everyone of them.

"I might be your boss but that's when we are in the company but out of it, I want you all to treat me like a fellow colleague and if that's still hard, I want you to treat me like a friend cause all of are equal and do therefore the drinks and every food tonight will be on me" he said and that got them all laughing and throwing words of praise at him.

"Have it sir " One of his employees said as he gave him a glass of wine.

Romeo hated wasting his time on things like this. He uses his time wisely and make good use of it and for the first time he is wasting it by partying here all because of Marie.

He knew every of it was worth it and to top it all he was enjoying the attention he was getting from his employees and also the fun games they were playing.

"It's your chance now, go to her" Blake whispered into his ears and his eyes searched for Marie only to find her sitting alone eating her food.

He stood up and went to where she was seated.

"Hello" he said as he stared at her but she only looked at him to look away.

"If I had known you were coming, I won't be here at all" she replied still eating the fries.

"You are bent on pushing me away right?" He asked.

"I thought I told you to pretend knowing me " She said.

"Do you think that I..."

"Marie! "Charles called interrupting Romeo who glared at him angrily.

"Are you really eating this?" Charles asked starring at the fries in front of her.

"I am " she replied.

"This is spoilt" Charles said and Romeo took the plate to see that it's spoilt too.

"This is smelling. You must have known that It's spoilt" Romeo said starring at her.

"Excuse me" Marie said as she stood up heading to the female rest room.

"It's really damaged" Charles said softly forgetting that Romeo was still there 

"What's damaged?" Romeo asked worried about Marie.

"It's noth..."

"Don't tell me that it's nothing! What's wrong with Marie?" Romeo demanded using his authority as the boss.

"" Her olfactory nerve was damaged which result in her losing her sense of smell and taste" Charles replied.