M.R.S TAYLOR

CHAPTER 3

"Didn't my brother-in-law tell you to stop using his black card for your; I quote 'useless parties'."
Alex, my annoying little brother pointed out to me while I was enjoying a champagne in the far corner of the luxuriously decorated hall.

"Well your darling brother-in-law isn't here to stop me is he?"
Alex rolled his eyes before taking the glass out of my hand and drinking it all in one gulp. He then stuck his tongue out taunting my angry expression and darted off across the hall.

"You are so immature!"  I shouted out despite the event I found myself. This brought me to the attention of Julia Malcolm, one of my husbands many business partners and my very best friend.

She called out my name waving to me as I laughed and came over to her, embracing her tightly. She was wearing a golden V-neck gown which flowed down effortlessly, snatching at her curves along the way. Her makeup was light yet flawless as always. She was truly worthy of being my friend.

"I can't believe David let you throw such a party. Then again he must not mind considering he's a millionaire." Her companion for the party; a petite brunette laughed playfully at her statement.

"You've got it wrong, according to last year's accounts he is in fact a billionaire."
Considering the amount of money I've spent in the time he's been away I'd say him being a millionaire is quite a good estimate of his current wealth. David has been gone for about a week now managing one of his branches in France. It's not like I missed him anyway, my life has been less stressful without him breathing down my neck.

Suddenly my phone vibrated from inside my purse. I held up a finger, signalling to the two ladies that I'll just be a moment then glanced down at the screen in horror. It was a message from David but this wasn't his usual 'stop using my card message' this was an 'I'm home' message!

"Excuse me for a moment." I excused myself and went out of the hall and into my car trying to look as calm as possible. He is going to kill me if he finds out I used his card to host this party. It's not like he was stingy or anything, if someone told me to mention one thing I liked about him my answer would not doubt be about his generousity. Unfortunately, he wasn't very generous when it came to my parties. Only God knows why. A part of the venue caught fire last time but no one was hurt! I easily escaped from the fire. He just always has to overreact.

I think I went a little over the speed limit but luckily I wasn't pulled over. Indeed, when I got home a maid informed me that he was waiting for me in our bedroom. I visibly gulped before knocking on the door. Why am I knocking? It's my room as well.

"Come in."

"Why are you home early?" I blurt out as soon as I see him. He is still wearing his business attire and was only in the process of removing his tie when I asked.

"It's nice to see you too Taylor." He said with an unimpressed look on his face. "And if you must know  I came early because everything seems to be settled and there is no need for me to supervise anything."

I almost forgot the sound of his voice these few days. I would never admit it to his conceited face but I like hearing his voice. His italian accent made it all the more attractive.

"Why are you staring at me?" I asked, noticing the way his grey eyes were fixated on my body.

He grunted a bit before mumuring, "You look nice."

"Thank you." I flopped onto the bed without even bothering to change and the person I really didn't want to see today resurfaced.
David grabbed me by my arm and yanked me off the bed which irritated me more than anything.

"Take off the dress first." He commanded stiffly.

The bedsheets aren't even white! I don't get his obsession with being so clean all the time. I was about to open my mouth and argue but before I could get the chance he stopped me with a hand gesture pointed to my face which physically cut off all communication between us.

"Not tonight Taylor." If he wasn't the man he was I would think he was begging me. Now that I think of it he doesn't look so good. I mean he is still undeniably handsome but he just looked a little tired. Not only physically but mentally.

I relented for tonight, just for tonight. Tomorrow is another day so I won't make any promises of a truce. I came back to the bed after changing into one of his t-shirts that I have been using as a night gown ever since he left. Our height difference gives me perfect coverage whenever I wear his shirts.

He was already on his side of the bed when I got in. We had battled it out at the beginning of our marriage and have maintained these positions ever since. He sleeps on the left, I sleep on the right.

He was reading one of his boring books on whatever topic.
"I've changed." I gritted out plainly as I made a gesture towards my outfit.

He glanced up for merely a second before saying, "Good for you." I hate his sarcasm more than anything in this whole world! It's so annoying.

So you won't agree with the terms?" My assistant Kelly asked me while looking down at the contract.

"There are multiple loopholes in the document if you haven't noticed. If I agree it would only be a disadvantage on my end."

She noted my words down briefly in her notepad before nodding briskly and heading back to her desk.  I busied myself by looking down at my criteria for the day. Unfortunately, I had three more meetings to attend before I was free for the day. Whoopie!

"Don't challenge me Mrs Rodriguez! I'll withdraw my investment if you try such a stunt." Mr Valenti threatened me from across the desk of my own office. Who is he threatening? I am ultimately in control of over ten branches. His investment means nothing to me.

"Go ahead." I dared him with a note of challenge. "I've long wanted you out of my hair anyway."

I gestured towards the door and at least he had a sense to take a hint. Thankfully that overgrown idiot was the last one I'd be seeing for the day.

Julia and I decided to go out with a couple of other friends. We are at some high end bar dancing the night away like we had nothing else to do. One of her friends, Sam; or whatever he said his name was, totally had a crush on her. But being the Julia I know she is, she was also totally clueless. He looks at her with those puppy dog eyes almost every second, it's hard not to notice.

"Sam has a crush on you!" I tease while having a drink with Julia.

"I know." Her answer shocks me. If she knew, her indifference is really sad.

"Don't you like him?"

"I do." She shrugs while taking another sip of her beer.

"Then what's the hold up?!" I laughed, thinking she was just being a chicken.

"We are not compatible. We lead completely different lives and I'd like to keep it that way."

Umm... okay? That is the weirdest excuse I have ever heard. Although, she does look very serious about it I can tell it hurt her to say that. I let the matter go without wanting to dampen the mood.

I chose to drink a soda since I haven't been feeling too good lately. Throwing up was not on my agenda at all tonight. Julia dropped me off at the mansion before going home. As usual I had to go through a ridiculous amount of security checks before entering. Overprotective was an understatement when it came to David, he was obsessed with safety. He was never like this before. Nowadays he's been acting strange.

He was still at work when I got home. His office was empty. I made myself at home, sitting on his swivel chair and impersonating him for fun. I put on a false deep voice and tried mimicking his accent. I was cut short when the door slowly creaked open. I hid under the desk, thinking to scare David yet from the light footsteps I could tell it wasn't him.