Dangerous Desires

01

I collected all my plans and went downstairs to his office before knocking. He is working on the documents on his desk when he hears my knock on the door, he doesn't look up just yet.

"Come in." He says as he keeps reading. He looked up from his papers and put down his pen as I walked into the room, he leaned back in his chair. "Sit down." He said, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk.

I sat down holding my notepad "You okay? You seem tense," I said gently.

Arsenio sighed before leaning on the table and folding his hands together. "Work always stresses me out, so yes I'm tense." He said before nodding his head towards the papers I was holding. "Is that for the birthday party?"

"We don't have to do it now..." I said quietly.

Arsenio smiled at my kindness before grabbing my hand and squeezing it. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Now let's see the plans," He said as he gestured towards the notepad, signalling me to show him.

I handed him the notepad "I thought of a masquerade party," I said faintly.

He takes the notepad and starts to look through it while I talk. Surprised at the theme, he looks up and tilts his head. "A masquerade party? I was expecting a surprise birthday, but a masquerade one isn't bad at all. I like it."

"So I can have it?" I looked at him.

He chuckled at me asking permission before nodding his head in confirmation. "Yes, you can have it. I trust your planning skills, so I don't have to worry about it, right?" Arsenio teased me before handing the notepad back to me.

"I was hoping the theme to be black and red," I replied weakly.

Arsenio smirked at the theme colours before nodding his head in agreement. "I like the theme colour choices. It fits me so I have no problem with it. You've done a good job so far, now that I think about it, we need to pick out a dress for you. Something that suits you and goes well with the party."

"It's the cost of them, my money which I saved will only cover a quatre," I said gently.

When I mentioned the price, he quickly put a hand up to shush me as a sign for me to stop talking. "You don't have to worry about the price, I'll pay for it. Just pick out a dress that you see fit and I'll cover the cost. Got it?"

"Really?" I looked up with hope.

He chuckled at my hopefulness, how cute of me. "Of course. I don't want you to have to pay for something when I can just use my wealth to get it for you." He said, giving my hand another gentle squeeze to reassure me.

"Thank you Arsenio... you have done so much for me for these past four years. I never know how to repay you..." I sighed.

Arsenio smirked at my words, he had never heard me this grateful towards him before and he's actually quite enjoying it. "You don't have to repay me. I take care of you and pay for the things you want because I want to. I don't need you to pay me back in any way," He reassured me, continuing to hold my hand.

I smiled softly at it "I'll go into town and find a good dress," I stood up.

He nodded in confirmation, letting go of my hand and motioning me to the door. "Be careful while you're out there. Let me know if you find one, I'll buy it for you immediately."

"I won't go expensive..." I smiled gently before leaving his office and closing the door behind me.

"That's what I'm kind of worried about," Arsenio mumbled to himself once I closed the door, he had the feeling that I would cheap out on my dress. He leaned back in his chair as he thought to himself.

Hours later, Arsenio is waiting in his office, still working on his office work to keep himself occupied while he waits for me to come back with the dress. He has been going through a lot of possibilities of me coming back with an expensive dress or a cheap one, even if he told me not to go cheap he still had an inkling that I'd do it anyway.

He looked up once he heard the knock, expecting me to return. He called out to me to come in. "Come in. You're back already?" He said, putting down his pen and gesturing me to come closer.

I walked inside before holding up the dress which was on a hanger, in my left hand I held the masquerade mask and some other accessories "It only came to 250... even that seems like a lot," I said gently.

Arsenio looked at the dress and accessories for a moment, he actually liked the pick, it's a very pretty dress. He chuckled a little when I said that the price I paid was a lot, it wasn't even close to being a lot. He got up from his seat and came around his desk as he stood in from of me, looking at the dress properly. "It's a nice choice, Indira. I was actually expecting you to come back with something way cheaper."

"You make that sound bad..." I said quietly.

He smirked in response as he took the dress from my hands, inspecting it for a couple of seconds while looking at the price tag attached to it before looking back at me. "It's not bad, really. I quite like the choice you've made, it looks good and it's not that expensive. I think this is a win overall."

He then looked at the accessories that I bought along with the dress, admiring the pretty mask I picked out as well. "Are these the only accessories you bought? Or is there more?"

"Just these," I replied.

Arsenio nodded, surprised that I didn't buy any more. He smirked before he walked back to a drawer in his office, took out his wallet and turned back to me.