When his voice filtered into her ears, she almost widened her eyes but quickly masked it, but she could not hide how her face blushed. His voice ... It was as sexy as sin itself. She could feel her toes curl as she swallowed the dryness in her thought and said in an almost flat voice, "You must be Mr Jorge Trimshaw, my husband," her sweet and melodic voice sounded in the quiet space.
He chuckled and placed the tablet on the table to give her his full attention. Opening his eyes wide, "… yes, that is me in the flesh. I already see that you like me… at least physically!"
Thalia Mirabel rolled her eyes and headed for the open-concept kitchen behind him. "Take a seat, my dear; the in-house chef will serve you something in a bit."
As if on cue, a cup of freshly brewed coffee was placed in front of her. Black, no cream or sugar! Just the way she liked it! Thalia Mirabel had no idea where the person had come from, and the person disappeared the same way as well.
She sat on the chair beside him and turned to him. Thalia tried not to look at him directly; the man was just too handsome for his own good and was getting her a little flustered. However, his following words shocked her a bit.
"I apologize. I have not acted as I should have by not coming to meet you sooner, but you asked for some time to be with your son exclusively, and that is why I gave you that space …."
The spontaneous apology made Thalia Mirabel feel a little bad, especially with the direction of her thoughts the previous day.
She whipped her head to look at him but lowered her eyes again earning a chuckle from him as if he could see what she wanted to avoid … 'him'!
But then, Thalia Mirabel flipped the tables on him and switched the topic and asked him, "Aren't you supposed to have a date this weekend?"
"Date?" Jorge frowned and looked at her questioningly.
"Yes, with Ashley, I was told,"
"Who is Ashley?" he asked with the same look.
"Ashley the influencer…., the social media person?" He frowned; I don't know who that is…
She pinched the bridge of her nose and remembered the ridiculous numbering system Ashley had prided herself with on the Reveal show and then, "Number sixty-seven?"
Jorge's face relaxed a little as he remembered who that person was. "Oh her? Forget about her…. I'm married now, so I don't do dates with anyone but my wife! Only!"
"Hahahahaha!!!! Your reputation precedes you, my husband!" Thalia Mirabel echoed out in amusement and thought back to the pretty girl that she had crossed paths with the day before. She also wondered what the girl would think or what her facial expression would be like if she heard this statement from him.
"… and you intrigue me, my wife, Mirabel," Jorge stated while he examined her face with his sexy smile still evident on his face.
Thalia Mirabel's smile dimmed, and she asked him, "Mirabel? That's just my middle name, why not both names as most people address me by,"
"Hmmm," he nodded, "Yeah, I know, but I want to be different. Mirabel sounds so melodic that I want to address you by that name only. Besides, let's take this as a new chapter in your life. Thalia or Thalia Mirabel has gone through so much in life, but I want Mirabel to live a comfortable life free of worries."
She nodded, and her eyes glistened slightly as she looked at him. "Mirabel, it is. Putting the past behind me and starting a new chapter sounds great."
After a brief pause, Mirabel asked, "You look at me with such familiarity. Do I know you? I do not think that we have met previously. Have we?" She asked him.
***
Unknowingly, the two had talked for close to an hour in the dining area, and the sun was already up. Thalia Mirabel had planned to grab a sandwich from the kitchen back to the room for Collin, but she had overstayed.
She had planned to be back in the room by the time Collin woke up because he preferred that, and that was also the only way to calm him down in the mornings. For a boy who was scared that he might not see his mother again, waking up in a different environment and without her in bed did a double on his poor little heart.
At first, Collin checked the bathroom and then the walk-in closet. When he did not find her in the room, he ran out, shrieking and crying at the top of his lungs.
"Mummmmmyyyyy!!!!!!" The boy was uncontrollable, and some maids came running towards that direction only to find him standing in the empty corridor with tears streaking down his face and a hiccupping.
"Hey, young master, please stop crying; your mum has not left; I'll take you to her…" the maid who found him consoled him desperately, but nothing seemed to work. Very soon, a small crowd gathered, and they all tried to get him to stop crying.
Mrs Benny approached the commotion and saw what was going on.
"Why are you slacking off early in the morning?" she shouted at them as she stomped there, but her heartstrings were pulled as she instead found the reason for the gathering being the crying boy whose face had become so red with all the tears.
The maids made way for her to make her magic, but…
"Don't worry! If your mum leaves, I will take care of you. She is unfit to take care of you, and she just showed that!" Mrs Benny added as she tried to take Collin into her embrace, but Collin pushed her away.
The maids on the side watched the old woman as if she had grown horns. What was wrong with her? They had almost succeeded in making the boy control the crying, and she had just messed up everything again!
A new approaching maid rolled her eyes at her superior and caught the young master who was running, blinded by his tears. The maid had just come up from the dining area and so she knew exactly where the new mistress was. Disregarding her madam, she went on her knees in front of Collin and said softly,
"I do not think that mummy would be happy to see you like this. Can you clean your tears, and I will take you to her now?"
Collin hiccupped and nodded. He used his top to clean his eyes clumsily, and the maid held his hand towards the elevator to the first floor. The floors were insulated, so noise from one floor did not seep into another, and that is why the husband and wife had not heard of the commotion.
"Get back to work!" Mrs Benny screamed at them and tried to mask her flustered reaction as soon as the boy and the maid disappeared into the elevator. She clenched her hands with more grievances towards Mrs Trimshaw. The small crowd dispersed but not before they cast accusatory glances at Mrs Benny. They could not understand her thought process…
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