RULE NO.25

18.Macho Man

As soon as he picks up the phone,the first thing he says is;

"What's wrong?"

I almost laugh because he sounds like he is prepared for trouble.

I give him a briefing of what just went down and he swears.

"Where are you?"He asks.

I tell him.

"Stay put,I am coming" He replies and hangs up.

I am left speechless,still staring at my phone.Stay put? Stay put? Like i am some kind of puppy?

I am bristling, counting the seconds till I can give him a piece of my mind.

Arrrghhh ! I think I'll explode before he gets here.

I walk towards a shop front and beg the seller for a seat.

Once I am sitted,I cross and uncross my leg, trying to restrain my inner feminist.She doesn't take kindly to being told to "stay put".

Before long,he parks infront of the office complex. I march towards him, finally getting the opportunity to tell him exactly what I think about his order.

As soon as his eyes land on me,he smiles and says;

"Not now"

What? What?! He feels like he can dictate when I am in the mood for some drama.I'll have him know exactly what I think about that.

"Where is he?" He asks before I can say anything.

I point a finger towards the second floor of the building.He starts to walk towards the building before I know what's happening and I run after him, catching him just before he enters it.

"Where do you think you are going?"I ask him.

"To kill the sonofabitch"He replies.

I laugh because it is very evident he is bluffing.

No he is not,I realize as I look at the veins bulging on his arms and neck.

He is as serious as a heart attack.

As he turns to go into the building again,I wrap my arms around his waist, pulling him back,even as he works harder to move forward.

I put all my weight into it,but who knew it would be this difficult,his stubbornness and high-handedness alone should make up about half of his weight.

"Ray! Stop this right now!" I tell him,still holding tightly to his waist.

"No! You let go.I have to teach that dog what it means to touch my woman" He replies, trying to disentangle my hands from around him.

"But he didn't touch me!" I practically yell as it seems he is succeeding with unwrapping my arms from around him.

"He was thinking about it"He says, finally succeeding in removing my hands.

As he moves forward again,I hold on tight to the back of his shirt,it's either he goes in naked or not at all.Even I know he can't be that crazy.

He heaves a breathe,surely as exasperated as I am.

"Woman" He says between clenched teeth.

"Man" I reply, letting him know how exasperated I am too.

He heaves a breathe again and turns around to face me.

"Must you always challenge me?" He asks, sounding frustrated.

"Only when it's needed" I reply, grinning widely.

He walks towards his car with my hand still fisting his shirt,I am not taking any chances.As soon as he steps into the car,I let go off him.

As he tries to control his temper,I just stare at him,who would have known that his anger would make him look sexier.Its either that or I am just a shameless woman.

I can see that he is still not over his anger so I play my only card.

"Can you try to put a lid on it? I am still recovering and I am really tired" I say, hoping to the heavens that I sound tired. Come to think of it, I can feel that headache coming back and it's seems like I have exhausted all my energy in restraining Ray.

Almost instantly,remorse washes over him and he grabs me around my waist and leans his forehead against mine.

If that is supposed to serve as an apology, then he will always be forgiven.I wrap my arms around him as he leans his head against mine, basking in the moment. I sigh as he kisses my forehead, if only he doesn't get really annoying some times.

He finally asks me to get into the car and as usual,drives off to wherever without telling me.

After a while,I wake up to light taps on my shoulder.I must have dozed off on the endless drive to the center of the Earth. As I open my eyes, I wince slightly as i feel steady throbs in my head.

I step out from the car and realize that we are parked in his compound.He should have told me that he was taking me to his place.But right now I am exhausted,I haven't had anything to eat yet and I used up the little strength i had to stop this hulk of a man from committing murder.

He leads me inside with a hand around my waist which I am glad for as I feel very weak.

As soon as we get in,he pushes me into a soft cushion in the receiving area.

"Have you had anything to eat?" He asks.

I shake my head in reply.

"What would you like?" He asks.

"Spaghetti" I reply,too tired and hungry to refuse his help.

He walks away, chatting away at his phone for a few minutes.

In less than ten minutes,a package is delivered and he brings it to me and sits while I devour the food like a starved caveman.

As soon as I am done,he asks;

"Why didn't you tell me you needed a job"

"Because it's none of your business" I reply, finally able to retain some of my dignity.

"Everything about you is my business!" He replies between clenched teeth.

I can tell he is trying to put a lid on his annoyance.Thats good,because displays of machosism don't work on me.

"Oh really,I didn't know you had become my father" I reply, feeling immediately contrite for such a reckless statement.

"That's not how it is" He replies, running a hand across his head.He does that when he is frustrated,and I feel good knowing that small detail about him.

"Then how is it?" I ask, feeling that headache coming on with full force.

"I am not trying to control or dominate, I just want to be part of your life,I want to know what goes on through that head of yours" He says, exhaling softly.

"I promise,you do not want to know what goes through my head, not at all" I tell him, reclining slightly on the chair, sighing at it's softness. Only people with insane amounts of money buy chairs like this, I think to myself.

"Fine,let me get you a job" He says, obviously annoyed at the turn of the discussion.

"No thanks.I don't want charity" I reply, feeling slightly irritated.

He just exhales and walks away, obviously not wanting to push me any further.

Through a haze, I feel Ray carry me and walk up a flight of stairs, I blank out and come to as he drops me on a bed and covers me with a blanket. Oh, I must have dozed off again as, I think to myself as I pulled under a shroud of darkness.

Awww, isn't Ray a darling? Why can't I get me a man like this😭😭