Mr Benny looked at how his now agitated wife paced up and down the length of the room, and he let out a loud exhale through his mouth. He was used to his wife interrupting him and having her way, especially when it came to arguments and what she believed strongly in. He said slightly louder this time,
"I know that you may have reservations towards the new mistress but make no mistake, my dear Mrs Benny; SHE IS the mistress and not a stand-in for anyone. Nothing is going to change that. She is already the wife of Mr Trimshaw, so if I were you, I would rethink my actions and mannerisms towards her, especially when you are so close enough to know the real personality of Jorge Trimshaw."
Mrs Benny had stopped and looked at her husband for a long while. Just when he thought she understood, she threw her hands in the air in frustration and, muttering under her breath, the woman stomped up the stairs.
Mr Benny had just stared up at the retreating back of his wife in resignation.
Mrs Benny had nearly been convinced by the words of her husband, but the words she had just heard then from the little boy's mouth made her fume a lot more … even though they had been taken out of context!
Mrs Benny was as stubborn as an old mule, but only time would tell where her decisions would take her. She wheeled the cart off from Collin's doorway without a backward glance.
Back in the room, Thalia Mirabel felt very sad after Collin asked her that disturbing question. It came from a deep place in the boy, and she knew why but there was nothing she could have done for him. A mother's woes were sometimes too much for an outsider to understand without grasping the whole scenario.
"Mummy will never leave you, my sweetheart," she whispered against the sleeping boy as silent tears flowed down her cheeks. With no one watching her, her chest heaved as sobs racked her body. The small spaceship table watch read 9.20 pm before Thalia Mirabel Thebes was able to compose herself and drift off to sleep.
***
Back at the Trimshaw Industries headquarters, Jorge walked gallantly out of the office but was stopped at the elevators by Ryan, his assistant.
"Mr Trimshaw, should I let the public relations team handle the new scandal?"
"You mean the one about Mirabel?" Jorge inquired,
Ryan's eyes widened in shock! Did the boss just mention a woman's name … again? He even mentioned her middle name. What was happening? Ryan could not get over this not-so-subtle utterance. This was because Jorge referred to all the ladies by him by either their job title or their number if they had one.
Jorge tilted his head to the side and raised one eyebrow at Ryan as if he could tell what was going through his head.
Ryan cleared his throat, "Yes, the one about Miss Thalia Mirabel Thebes,"
"She is Mrs Trimshaw, so address her as such …" After a slight pause, Jorge added dismissively, "And whatever she said was true, so just let it be!"
"But what of the shareholders and especially your uncle, I mean uncle-in-law? This may affect the stocks so…." Ryan reminded Jorge Trimshaw as he waited patiently for his next instructions.
"Isn't it ironic? When I had different women almost every other week, the stocks were stable, but they are going to be affected because of this? Let's cross that bridge when we get there…."
Jorge stepped into the elevator and gave one last instruction before leaving, "Make sure that the invitations go out for next weekend, and I want everything to be done right!" Ryan did not need to be told twice.
It was even unusual that Jorge had reminded him of that. He was usually on top of his job and did things before he was asked to, but it seems like Jorge Trimshaw really did like his new wife because he was doing things that were very unusual of him.
Ryan returned to the office and waited for the cleaning staff to clean the place thoroughly. 'Thank the heavens that the crazy woman did not 'touch' any of the furniture because he would have had to order another 'desk and chair', but these were customized, and they would take a few days to re-invent. Jorge might not have the patience for that, but at least they only had to clean and get rid of her scent!'
As Ryan Marvel thought of this, he made a call to the security department to change the locks on Mr Jorge Trimshaw's office to a fingerprint lock that evening. At least a repeat of that evening's incident would be prevented.
Jorge had planned to leave the office earlier, but because of the evening's happenings, he was late getting home by his own calculations.
It was a little past 9.30 pm when his Titanium Silver Bugatti Divo pulled up at the urban home in the Trimshaw hills. The moon was already out, and the autumn weather had turned chillier. The door opened almost immediately as the car stopped, and Mr Benny stepped out.
Jorge stepped out of the car and started towards his home briskly as a young man appeared behind him to park the car in the underground garage.
"Welcome back, Master Jorge,"
"Where are they?"
"They have already retired for the night," Mr Benny answered Jorge's questions as he helped him take off his jacket. Jorge started towards the master bedroom, but Mr Benny added calmly, "They are both in the young master's room."
Jorge had expected that as much, so without breaking in his steps, he took the stairs two at a time to the second floor.
He quietly opened the door to Collin's room and walked into the darkened room. Their heavy and consistent breathing told him that they were indeed deep in sleep.
He sat at the edge of the bed and watched them for a while. The moonlight filtered through the drapes casting a soft glow on their features. It gave enough illumination so that he did not need to put on the lights to disturb their sleep.
He did notice the tear strains on her cheeks, and his fists clenched tightly. Jorge had a rough guess as to why she might have cried. "I hope you will be all smiles from now on", he whispered to her.
Getting up from the bed, he rearranged the duvet around them, then he brushed her hair out of her face and kissed her forehead as he leaned over her to do the same for Collin; then, he left as quietly as he had entered.
*********
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