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I opened the door to find an eager Jaxon and an agitated Rose in his arms.
Walking down the stairs, I told Jaxon, “I also invited Jona and Kena.”
He deadpanned, “We’re going for a stroll, not a picnic.”
“Whatever…the more, the merrier,” I smiled.
“Now, who wants to eat ice cream?” Kena asked everyone as we spread on the bedsheet I had brought along.
“Me!” Jona, Rose, and I yelled in answer.
Rose is quite personable; minutes after meeting Kena, she was talking to him in a way that I had never done before.
“Bring one for Jaxon, too,” I replied, despite the fact that Jaxon had told us he didn’t want to eat.
“I don’t want to eat!” he yelled at me.
“Oh, you will,” I responded, tugging his cheeks, really annoying him.
I grinned at Kena and told him to get one for Jaxon. He winked back and then went to get the ice cream.
Rose wanted Jona to take her around the park, too, when Kena departed, so Jona and Rose left, leaving only Jaxon and me alone.
Jaxon said, “I can’t believe you turned a simple walk into a family picnic.”
“I just made it better,” I said, rolling my eyes. “You were the one who suggested the park.”
He grumbled something under his breath, and I softly lay down on the sheet with my back to the sky. It felt good, but that feeling only lasted a few seconds since I could smell the smoke from the cigarettes.
I stood up, annoyed, and scowled at Jaxon, who was sitting there smoking and looking at nothing in particular.
But then my eyes softened; he seemed so buried in his thoughts, and I felt bad because I knew who he was thinking about. I wish I could do something.
I quietly called out, “Jaxon?” to get him to stop thinking.
He seemed surprised and said, “Y-yeah?”
I moved closer to him and put my hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?”
He looked at my hand on his shoulder and then at me. “Of course I’m fine,” he said.
“But you don’t—”
“I’m fine, Vivian.”
I carefully took my hand off his shoulder, feeling sorry that he wouldn’t talk to me.
Kena, Jona, and Rose showed up right then with ice cream cones in their hands.
“Please don’t smoke near her,” I pleaded in a low voice, and he hurriedly threw it away.
Kena gave us our ice cream, and even Jaxon, this time, didn’t complain about not eating it. He just took it.
We all talked to each other while sitting on the sheet, but Jaxon scarcely said anything.
I felt something warm and soft brush my hand at some point, and when I looked down, I saw Jaxon’s hand intertwined with mine. He continued eating his ice cream and looked at Kena, Jona, and Rose, who were talking to each other.
I put my hand in his, and a warm, pleasant smile spread across my face.
I told Rose and Jaxon, who were sitting on the couch watching Frozen two and talking, “It’s almost eleven. Why don’t you both go to bed?”
Jaxon turned off the TV, took Rose up, and went to my room. I followed them.
He gently put her on the bed and kissed her forehead, saying, “Goodnight.”
He said goodbye to me and then left, but Rose stopped him and said, “You didn’t give her a goodnight kiss.”
He looked at her in a strange way before staring at me with my eyes wide open.
Will he give me a kiss goodnight?
“It’s…o okay, Rose,” I said, trying to make her understand, but she only scowled. “But why? Dad kisses mum goodnight every day.”
I turned to Jaxon for aid, but he just shrugged and moved closer to me until he was only a few inches away. Then he bent down and kissed my forehead very lightly, letting his lips linger there and making my pulse skip a beat.
He said, “Goodnight, Vivian,” in a low voice before leaving the room.
I got out of the car at the airport, in front of my private plane, with Rose in my arms.
She gasped when she saw the jet.
Jaxon stepped out, and then Jona, who would be going with Rose, followed.
“What am I going to do?” she questioned in shock.
“Yes.”
I gave her to Jona, but before that, she gripped me fiercely, throwing her little arms around my neck and burying her head in the crook of my neck.
“I’ll miss you, Vivian,” she said softly, as my eyes filled with tears.
I responded, “I will miss you too, babe,” and ruffled her hair.
“And thank you so, so, so much for looking after me.”
“I liked it. I like kids.”
We kissed one other’s cheeks after she kissed mine.
Then she did the same thing with Jaxon, telling him she would miss him too. He kissed her cheeks, and she kissed his forehead. Then Jona brought her inside the plane after she waved goodbye to us one more time.
“Why didn’t you go with her?” Jaxon said, moving closer to me. My body tightened at his words.
“I have a lot of work.”
“It’s Sunday.”
“Umm…” I stopped talking and tried to think of an answer.
He replied in a threatening tone, “You do know that most of what you do is very suspicious and questionable.”
“Wh-what do you mean?”
He put his mouth near to my ear and muttered, “Very soon, Vivian.” The way he used my name made me shudder because I knew he was up to something I wouldn’t like.
A few weeks later…
As I walked by Jaxon’s room, I saw that his door was slightly open, and I could hear him talking on the phone.
Why hasn’t he gone yet?
He was meant to go for a dinner meeting, and he should have left by now, or he would be late.
I knocked lightly and stepped inside to find him standing in front of the mirror with a file in one hand and the phone squeezed between his shoulder and ear as he struggled to button up his white shirt with the other.
He glanced at me for a second, then back to the file he was holding. He was on the phone with his assistant, I think.
He told me, “I’m already late, you better find that file! Look in the cupboard behind my desk.”
He was trying to button his shirt, but he couldn’t because he was complaining.
I stepped up to him, took his hand off, and started buttoning up the shirt myself. He stared down at me in astonishment, but he kept talking.
I saw his body, and the six-packs made my throat dry because he was so hot.
I shook my head hastily to get rid of all those ideas.
I gently buttoned up the shirt, starting at the bottom and working my way up to the top button. I also left the button on the collar open.
“Now hurry up and meet me outside the restaurant; I’m leaving in a minute,” he said before hanging up the phone.
I moved over to his bed, where his coat was perfectly folded, and grabbed it up. I stood behind him with the coat in my hand while he placed his hands inside it and adjusted it.
He then went on to fix the collar button that I had left open, but I stopped him and said, “Don’t.”
He glanced at me with confusion and raised an eyebrow.
“It looks better when it’s open,” I said quietly.
He grinned and said, “It? Or me?”
I shrugged my eyes, but I couldn’t stop the blush from creeping up my cheeks. “Whatever.”
But he consented, and while I watched closely, he swiftly put on his shoes and wristwatch.
He didn’t complain when I helped him get dressed. Could it be a sign of improvement in our relationship?
I questioned him, “When will you be back?” as I followed him out of his room.
“Why? Are you going to miss me?” he joked as he went down the stairs.
I said, “Of course not. I was just asking.”
“Late,” he said before leaving the house.
I can’t believe it’s been three months since we got married. Has anything changed? I don’t think so, but Jaxon does see me as his wife now. And he also says he owns me.
He is unusual and bizarre, and sometimes I want to smack him or beat some sense into him, but there is something about him that draws me to him. Maybe it’s how he acted with Rose; he was nice to her. Or maybe the way he held my hand that day.
I thought I only wanted him for s*x, but there is more to it than that. I know that I will have to spend the rest of my life with him since he is my spouse.
I knew that no matter what, I was wedded to him. As his wife, it’s my job to take care of him, even if he doesn’t care about me.
I can’t deny that I want him. I want him, and I know that he could want me, too, but he’s simply terrified. And I’m not the type of person who would push myself on him.