The Winter Bride (TSBS-2) COMPLETED

Chapter Seventeen

There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it.
-George Bernard Shaw

Neil Harris

It felt like everyday but it wasn't.

Subtle wasn't my style. Whenever I entered a room, everybody had their eyes on me, be it be with each husband's distrustful eyes or their wife's lustful eyes or each mother's disapproval eyes or their daughter's wishful eyes. Like everyday, everyone in my office's lobby stared as I stepped through the front entrance, but their eyes didn't stay on me for longer instead they strayed to the woman trailing me.

I looked over my shoulder and I realized, she did portray an even better picture than me. The royal blue dress she put on, captured everyone's eyes, including mine. It had sleeves till her elbows, the neck of the dress showed till her collar bone, no cleavage unfortunately and reached just below her knee, but the high as hell heels made up for her lack of visible skin though they made her height level with mine.

She didn't see me studying her thoroughly because she was busy looking around, but everybody else did. When one of the brunette receptionist caught my eyes, I flashed a charming grin that had her fluttering, just to show that having a wife with me changed nothing.

"Come on." I said to Ashley and offered her a hand to get the woman moving already instead of inspecting but she glanced at the receptionist I just bestowed my attention upon and looked down at my offered hand with a grimace before walking around me.

I curled my hand and followed her to the elevator, cursing myself for being a gentleman when it wasn't my style then out of the blue, why did I feel courteous toward her? First, let her tag along here and second, treating her differently in public?

It must be that bucket load of sweetness from that shit of a coffee she brewed for me. Was that even a coffee cause I tasted nothing of that sort. Jeez, that woman should be banned from the kitchen.

When the steel doors opened, she waited for me to go out first and I turned right as all the employees murmured their usual greetings to me and hesitantly did the same to Ashley to which she smiled warmly and greeted back, making me quicken my steps.

"I know how to act in public." She snapped as soon as I stopped infront of the board room.

I sneaked a glance at her. "I didn't say anything."

"But you were thinking of it."

I rolled my eyes and quietly warned. "Just don't go overboard with that dutiful wife act."

A smile lit up on her conspiring face as she leaned forward, barely brushing her chest on my upper arm and pecking my cheek. I stiffened as I realized many of my employees were watching intently as my wife shamelessly draped herself all over me.

Backing away, she whispered. "How much we hate each other, stays in the privacy of the penthouse but here in public, that's a lot different, isn't it, dear husband?" And added a wink before clicking away in her high as hell heels across the room and closed the door of my office room behind her.

What the fuck...

I was still staring flabbergasted at the closed door and wondering if that woman was even my wife or not when a hand thumped on my shoulder, almost making me fall over. I turned in anger at the audacity of whoever dared to touch me and found an amused Tyler Sanders, standing at the door way of the board room.

"Nice show you both put on." He smirked and glanced behind me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I spat in frustration, now that I could't really vent out my anger on this brute. Since, both of our companies were really in business together instead of us faking it like at the beginning, it wasn't unusual to see Sanders Inc. owner roaming in this building time to time but he was just here yesterday for a meeting and as much as I admire this dude, even I have limit in seeing him all the time. He's everywhere!