Unsuccessful

A Knock from my Past...

Tessa's Point of View...

As we enter the conference room, I almost collide with Hardin's back. He stands still, glued in his spot. I tap on his shoulders to ask him to move but he doesn't, instead, he shields me with his body blocking my view.

I shift to my left and move past Hardin standing close to him, his body no longer guarding my eyesight. I look at Hardin and the man to whom the previous voice belonged. Sit in front of us is a handsome man, the same age as Hardin, having a darker colour complexion with a vibrant smile plastered on his face.

I look back and forth between Hardin and the unknown man who stands up from his chair and takes a couple of steps towards us. Hardin grabs my wrist gently and pushes me behind his tall frame body repeating his previous actions. I can still see the man. He comes and stands in front of Hardin. He is tall but not as much as Hardin.

The man extends his hand towards Hardin for a handshake but Hardin acts rudely. Instead of taking the man's hand for a handshake, Hardin puts both of his hands inside his trouser pockets, hiding them inside his clothing.

No longer Hardin's eyes reflect the love and affection he had a couple of minutes ago for me. Now, they are replaced with anger and a sudden hatred towards the man standing in front of us.

I look around the conference room and catch everyone's attention, them looking at us. To end this 'I-wont-talk-to-you' kind of exchange between both men, I again move back to my old spot and take the man's hands in mine, him closing my hands in his in a gentle handshake. I don't need to look at Hardin to feel his sharp gaze on me. He is shooting daggers at me for my action.

"Who are you beautiful?"

The man asks playfully that only infuriates Hardin more. Hardin is raging with anger towards this man. I am more confused as to have an understanding of what's the real deal between them. I gulp down my nerves, the last thing I want is another argument with Hardin.

"I am Tessa Hardin Scott, I work here as a legal consultant," Hardin covers me up and interrupts me midway.

"She is my wife," Hardin's tone is similar to a man-marking his territory.

The man only smirks at both of our different responses.

"I get that Hardin by her name. I am not an idiot."

The man turns his attention towards me and introduces himself in a polite tone.

"I am Brandon Josh. Hardin's old friend and now a business partner as I represent the organization that will be working with Scott Business Group on this project." Brandon turns and goes back to his chair after introducing himself to me in particular because Hardin already knows him and by the looks of how Hardin is reacting towards Brandon, we can say they were not friends.

Hardin intertwines his fingers with mine and takes us to our respective chairs. The meeting begins and in most parts of the meeting, Hardin sits still, holding my hands on his lap tightly as if he loses his grip I will disappear.

After an awkward exchange of 90 minutes, the meeting finally comes to end. Brandon doesn't say much to us and politely bids everyone his goodbye and leaves. After 5 minutes, it was just me and Hardin who was left in the conference room. I begin to stand up from my chair when Hardin's hold on my wrist stops me midway.

"I don't want you to work on this project with me. Find another project Tess, work on that but not this one," his words break my heart. He is back to his old, cold self. Gone was my sweet apologetic husband. He is back to his rude Hardin Scott behavior.

I sit back and roll my chair towards him, facing him, eye to eye. I take our interviewed hands and kiss his knuckles with my lips. For a moment, Hardin's stone-cold facade begins to disappear, and a glimpse of his sexy smile appears on his face. But like a flash, it goes away.