Chapter four
Before Jason left the office, he handed over some papers to McKenna to type for the meeting that will hold in three days.
"Type this and have it ready by morning… and also call Mr. Ken and reschedule our meeting to 11 a.m tomorrow. Then, move Chief Donald's appointment to 1:30 p.m and it is a lunch meeting, so book a reservation in Alisha Barney's restaurant" he concluded
"Yes sir" she replied
"Have a nice evening, Miss Chukwuka" he said and left
As McKenna opened her door when she got home, she was lost in thought. What happened earlier that day kept playing in her mind, she touched her lips and she could still feel his mouth all over her lips. She stared at the mirror, to see if there was anything different about her but there wasn't, except now she had something to look forward to. Tomorrow was going to be better than today and for the first time in a long time, she had hope and that was all McKenna needed.
The next day, McKenna went to work and for some reason she expected Jason to look at her differently but he still looked at her like the enemy as if she was the one who imposed a kiss on him. She was wrong; the kiss meant nothing to the devil.
"Have you made reservations for tomorrow, Miss Chukwuka?" Jason asked
McKenna stared at Jason but she wasn't paying much attention to what he was saying. She noticed that he was wearing a grey suit instead of his normal black suit attire. McKenna looked at Jason with his beautiful brown eyes and his lips that for some minutes yesterday belonged to her.
"Do I have something on my face, Miss Chukwuka?" he asked bringing her back to the present.
"Why did you kiss me?" she asked
Jason was taken aback, he wasn't expecting the question but he should have known that she doesn't beat around the bush. He took a deep breath and tried as much as possible to explain to her without hurting her much.
"Because I asked you kindly not to bite your lower lip but you disobeyed me" he answered truthfully
"Was that your only reason?" McKenna asked
She wanted to hear that he at least likes her because she shouldn't be the only one feeling the way she was feeling and the crazy part was that she had only known him for a few days
"That is the only reason" he said
McKenna showed no emotions. Growing up, she always kept what she was feeling to herself, only children and spoilt brats wear their emotions.
"I made the reservations. Your lunch date is by 1:30 and I also called chief Donald's secretary to remind her too, I will be in my office if you need me" McKenna said and opened the door to leave when he spoke up
"Oma, I am bad for you. Trust me you don't want me to be interested in you" Jason said almost apologetic.
No one had called McKenna, Omasirichukwu or Oma in a very long time, only her grandmother did and she hated the name. It was the reason she started using her English name when she got her diploma. It was her way of rebelling against the world. Her teenage mother had given her the name Omasirichukwu before her death and it means "as it pleases God" and she refused to accept that it pleased God to take her mother, to have her father deny her and it definitely did not please God to give her a grandmother that blamed her for her mother's death.
"Mr. Yagazie, I rather you don't call me Oma, Miss Chukwuka or McKenna would do just fine" she said and closed the door
She was skilled in the act of hiding her true emotions, she went to the bathroom and she took a deep breath and gathered her thoughts. She then went back to her office to find her best friend almost close to tears.
"What is wrong, Elena?" McKenna asked
"George is cheating on me" she said voicing out her worst fear.
"He isn't the right person for you and I have told you that severally but I don't think he is cheating on you, Ellie" she said to Elena.
"Well, he is because I walked in on him with another girl. He didn't even… flinch or try to stop me when I headed out in rage and he hasn't even called me up till now" she said and wipes the tears that flee her eyes. Elena and George have been together for almost five years since Elena turned eighteen.
"Ellie, I am so sorry"
"Five years of my life, I gave to him. I cooked for him, washed his clothes, tend to his wound, I even played dumb so he could be smart and in return, he humiliated me, crushed my self esteem and made me the shadow of myself and the worst part is I can't even break up with him because who is going to love me. I am fat and look older than my age " Elena cried freely now
"Who am I? I look at myself in the mirror and I don't see me anymore. Each day I disappear and I am afraid that one day I will wake up and I won't recognize myself" at that moment McKenna hugged her.
"You might be a little bit confused about whom you are but I am not. You are Elena and you are exquisite. You are a girl who saw a best friend when others saw a charity case. The girl that broke Samuel's nose for talking trash about me and you are the bravest, kindest and the most beautiful soul I have ever had the privilege of meeting. You are my best friend and so today you are allowed to cry, you are allowed to be hurt and humiliated but tomorrow you will pull yourself together and you will move on with your life because you are too gorgeous to let fear decide for you what you want to do with your life and I will be with you every step of the way" McKenna encouraged her as she cried freely
"I think I should head home, can you cover for me? I am in no state to work" Elena begged her best friend.
"I am sleeping over at your house today, so we will talk more and go home, I will take care of everything" McKenna said and helped Elena up.
Jason was about to enter his secretary's office, when he overheard them talking and he decided not to. Instead he stood there and listened as McKenna encouraged her friend. Why did she call herself a charity case and why did she ask him not to call her, her native name?
"Yagazie, what are you doing?" his friend had walked in on him eavesdropping on his secretary
"Chike, I didn't know you were coming to my office" Jason answered
"Are you eavesdropping on your new hot secretary?"
"No, can we please take this awkward conversation to my office before she hears us" Jason said
"What is really going on?" Chike asked as they got to Jason's office
"I kissed her yesterday"
"Why did you do that? She could sue you for sexual harassment. What the hell were you thinking?"
"I wasn't thinking. I overheard her talking to her friend Edna..."
"It is Elena" Chike corrected
"Whatever… she called me obnoxious and I snapped. I wanted to punish her but I ended up kissing her"
"Do you like her?"
"You know I don't do like or love"
"Then for Christ sake Yagazie, don't hurt the girl" Chike advised
"She hates me and she is made of stone so it is highly unlikely that anyone is capable of hurting her"
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By 1:20p.m, Jason entered McKenna's office and saw her busy on her laptop.
"Sir, it is 1:20p.m and you should get going if you want to get to your lunch date on time" McKenna told him
"I know. Are you ready?" he asked
"Ready for what? I don't…"
"You are my secretary that means anywhere I go, you go too"
"So sorry sir but I made reservations for two and it's just for you and Chief Donald"
"Then I guess you would have to stand then. Are you ignorant or just annoying? Be down in 30 seconds" he said and left
McKenna was downright tired, she has been typing all day and getting tomorrow's project presentation ready which he needed by 4 p.m and now her boss wants her to follow him to his meeting. She simply closed her laptop and took her hand bag, she was on heels and her feet were aching. She met an annoyed Jason downstairs sitting at the back and she entered the front with his driver, neither of them said a word to each other.
When they got there, Jason was able to talk to the manager, to get them a table for three and she was so relieved but not for long because Chief Donald came with his secretary too
"Good day chief" Jason greeted
"Good day sir" McKenna said also
"Jason, how are you? Hope your mother is better now?" Chief Donald asked
"Yes sir, please have a seat" Jason offered both the chief and secretary seats and they sat down. he took the remaining seat himself.
"It seems we are short of a chair for your secretary" Chief Donald noticed
"No sir, she prefers standing" Jason replied with a smile
"Is that true my dear?" the chief asked
"Yes sir" McKenna answered with a fake cheerful smile.
And they started the meeting. McKenna was hungry but when offered food, she refused to eat. She was so angry and humiliated standing in the big restaurant that tears were threatening to spill but she held her head high and she paid attention and wrote some things down. The meeting lasted for two hours forty-five minutes and McKenna was glad it was over. They both bid the chief goodbye and Jason left with McKenna behind him. McKenna was so tired that she was in a haste to enter the car when she spotted George, Elena's cheating boyfriend sitting with a girl at the expensive restaurant.
"May I be excused sir? It is closing time and I rather go home from here if you don't mind" she said trying to dismiss Jason.
"Enter the car, I will drop you at home" he replied
"That is really nice of you sir but not necessary. I can find my way but have a nice evening sir" she said and didn't stick around for him to object.
She removed her heels. She was beyond reason, both the frustration of having to stand on heels and having to pretend that everything was okay throughout the lunch meeting was overwhelming and she wanted an outlet and George seem to be at the right place at the right time.
"Hello, man whore" she said looking at him, she then sized up the girl beside him and she couldn't have been more than twenty and she turned her attention to George
"McKenna, what do you want?" he asked
"Just two things, one, I want to sweetly ask you to stay away from Elena and secondly to do this" she took the beer he was drinking and poured it all over his body. He stood up abruptly and she closed her eyes, she was waiting for him to hit her, anything that would give her the justification of hitting his nuts but it never came and it was then she heard Jason's voice. He was actually holding George's hand, twisting it without even making an effort.
"Hitting a lady is a crime. You will apologize to her" he told him quietly
"I'm sorry, I'm Sorry…. my hand" he said hoping Jason would release his hand
"Apology accepted" McKenna said and kicked his groin and he fell to the ground. She walked out with Jason behind her and for a moment she forgot she was angry at Jason, when she reached his car, she walked passes it but he pulled her back.
"You are biting your lip, Miss Chukwuka and you know what I have to do" he said and gave his driver money to go home that he would be driving.
"You dare not" she said and busted into tears. Jason made no move to comfort her instead he gave her his hanky, she blew her nose and gave it back to him but he refused disgusted.
"Sit, let's take a look at those blisters on your feet" he made her sit down inside his car and he lifted her leg to his lap and he traced the bruises
"What about you bring out the worst in me? Oma I am sorry I made you stand" he said
"I guess I deserved it, maybe you can forgive me for biting my lip" she said trying to get herself out of the mess she found herself in.
"Not a chance but I won't kiss you today; you have been through enough already. But I will definitely collect my debt one day" he said and dropped her feet.
Jason gently moved closer to McKenna and for a moment her heart skipped a beat. She thought he was going to kiss her after all. She closed her eyes anticipating but it never happened instead she heard her seat belt move. He was strapping her in; McKenna looked out the window frustrated.
As Jason drove McKenna home, he watched her closely and he could see she was clearly exhausted. He couldn't explain his behavior. He wasn't a harsh man and he wasn't the type to let a lady stand for two hours and some minutes just to make a point. What was wrong with him? He pondered, even when he apologized she accepted it and he wasn't expecting that. On the contrary, he was expecting her to rain fire and brimstone instead she took the apology and accepted the mistake as her own, it made him wonder how many times she had accepted the mistakes of others. Jason watched her doze off and the way she looked peaceful without a care in the world, he didn't have the heart to wake her up to ask for directions, so he stopped the car by the kiosk where she had slashed his Tire and turned off the engine. It was then she opened her eyes.
"We are here already? Thank you sir" she said and made a move to come down
"Do you stay in this kiosk" he asked
"No, but my house isn't very far from here, so I will come down here" she replied
"I said I was taking you home, didn't I?" he asked
"Yes but…"
"No but, sit back and I will drive you home"
When they got to her house, Jason stepped down from his car and so did McKenna. She was worried that he wasn't used to lower class housing space. She knew that even if she invited him for a drink that he would decline.
"I would have invited you in for a drink but that is probably not a good idea" she told him and closed the car door
"I was planning on inviting myself' he said and followed her to her one room apartment.
Jason surveyed his environment, he knew she was struggling but he didn't expect her to stay in this dump but he didn't say a word. Inside, the room was decorated with wallpaper. She was a sucker for color peach. She offered him a seat and he sat down.
"What can I offer you?" she asked
"Water would do just fine" he said and she gave him water.
Jason stayed a while and they talked about nothing in particular. After some minutes, he stood up to leave
"You want to leave already?" then she murmured more to herself "what was I expecting from an ass like him?" she said not meaning for Jason to hear her but he did
"You just had to open your big mouth" he said and pushed her to the wall, he took her lips but unlike the first time, he wasn't gentle. He was needy and he wanted to taste all of her at the same time. Jason bit her lower lip and slowly caressed her tongue with his. McKenna responded also, she met his neediness with her own. She needed him also, he made her feel safe but then he stopped and looked at her.
McKenna could feel he was about to pull away and she wasn't done, so she dragged him by his coat since he was taller than her. She gently place her mouth on his and started kissing him too. She half expected him to pull away but he didn't, instead he held her and kissed her back but this time very slowly. Jason kissed her ear and slowly progressed to her neck, McKenna didn't want him to stop but he did.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have done that" he apologized and headed to the door before she could say anything to him.
"Well I am not" McKenna said to herself