CHAPTER 38

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 ‘Tessa?’ Brad spoke softly, seeing Tessa seated on the sofa in Daniel’s nursery.

‘Brad, why are you out of bed?’ she scolded.  He had hastily pulled on a pair of boxers.

He knelt down in front of Tessa.  His eyes fell to her luscious cleavage visible, under the gown loosely wrapped around her naked body.   Using his good palm, he cupped her face.

‘Don’t look at me like that,’ she groaned.  ‘You had a feast,’ she suppressed the grin that was threatening. 
Brad had loved her ministrations with the chocolate body paint so much he had demanded a repeat performance of her seduction.  Even after two showers, there was still a feint tinge of peppermint about him.

‘I reached out for you and you weren’t there,’ he accused.

Tessa looked away.  ‘It is Daniel’s nursing time, but he hasn’t woken up yet.’

‘You’ve been here a while,’ he stated.  Tessa knew he would have discerned that when he reached out for her, and found her side of the bed ice cold.

‘I guess so,’ she mumbled.

‘You want to tell me what’s troubling you.’

Tessa dragged her eyes back to Brad.  She inhaled deeply.  ‘I’ve been running so many different scenarios through my mind,’ she whispered.  ‘All starting with me allowing you the opportunity to explain what I saw when I walked into your office,’ her eyes looked in despair. 

‘Forget it darling.  It’s over,’ his fingers brushed over her lips.

‘I wish I could,’ Tessa laced her fingers through Brad’s.  She drew his fingers to her mouth, and pressed a kiss to the palm of his hand.  ‘I switched the television on, about thirty minutes ago.’

Damn, I thought I had that covered.

‘It is still all over every news channel,’ her eyes became glassy.  ‘I can’t believe how out of control I was.  I was so irresponsible,’ her voice faded.

Brad lifted Tessa up.  He sat down and drew her onto his lap.  ‘I agree,’ Brad’s voice was tender. ‘When I saw your car wrapped around the fire hydrant, I feared the worst,’ he sighed.  ‘Then I saw movements, and you trying to kick start the car again and relief washed over me,’ Brad pulled Tessa against his chest.  ‘You don’t know the fear you had put in me,’ he murmured against her ear.         

‘I’m so sorry,’ Tessa clung to Brad.  ‘I have humiliated you.’

‘It’s all water under the bridge now,’ his voice soothed her. 

‘My mom called me just now.’

Brad inhaled sharply.  He had instructed his PR people to do damage control.  Clearly they were not quick enough, if the incident had already crossed the Atlantic.  No wonder his wife was wide awake at this god forsaken hour in their son’s nursery.

‘Doesn’t Charlotte know what time it is?’

‘You know mom can never keep track of the time difference,’ Tessa laughed.

‘I don’t want you admonishing yourself anymore,’ Brad instructed.  ‘Our PR team are on it.  We’ve already called the Traffic Department to bill us for all the damages.  They were gracious and promised to be discreet with the investigation, seeing we’re accepting liability.’

‘You are an amazing man,’ she complimented her husband.

‘So are you,’ he grinned.

‘I know I’m pretty selfish,’ Tessa sighed.  ‘I don’t ever want to lose you to another woman,’ she confessed.

‘You won’t,’ he assured her.  ‘You are the only one I want.  Now let’s go to bed,’ he instructed.

‘But Daniel could wake up any second now.’

‘Bring him to our bed.’

‘You told me, he’s not allowed in our bed,’ Tessa reminded Brad. ‘You said he must get used to his nursery, as Lyndon did.’

‘I’m allowing it, just for tonight,’ Brad answered.  ‘I don’t want you sitting here the entire night.’

‘Okay,’ Tessa lifted Daniel into her arms.  ‘How’s your arm?’ 

‘Can hardly feel any discomfit.’  That might be because his medication was pretty strong he told himself.  His wife did not need the additional guilt.

‘But momma where’s your car?’

‘It---.’

‘Daddy is buying mummy a new car,’ Brad answered before his wife could.  He did not want  Lyndon to be filled in, on all the gory details. 

‘Cool,’ Lyndon raised his signature victory salute in delight.  ‘My daddy can you buy momma a red Lamborghini please.’

Brad threw his head back and laughed.  Tessa raised her eyebrows in astonishment. 

At four years old, well almost five.  Where on earth does he learn about such things? 

‘I’m wondering if we’re buying a car for mummy or you son,’ Brad ruffled Lyndon’s hair playfully.

‘It goes super fast my daddy and all the girls---.  Um, it goes very fast my daddy.’

Tessa listened in on the conversation between father and son.  She did not want a new car.  She supposed she’d totally written of her comfortable old faithful.  It was no consolation to her that she had never previously been in an accident.

‘Tessa?’ Brad looked at his wife with concern.

‘Yes?’

‘I said you and I would very much like to hear the part of the sentence that Lyndon did not finish,’ Brad smiled.

‘Something about girls again,’ Tessa laughed softly.  Brad was elated to see a smile on his wife’s face again.

‘I said the Lamborghini goes very fast momma,’ Lyndon was blushing profusely.

‘A vehicle’s purpose is to take a person from point A to B,’ Tessa informed her son.  ‘It is not a magnet to attract girls.’

Lyndon scowled, his cheeks grew redder as he fiddled with his cutlery.

‘What you say darling?’ Brad asked his wife.

‘About?’

‘Getting you a Lamborghini, as has been suggested,’ Brad grinned.

A car is a car as far as Tessa was concerned.  Flashy cars did not unduly impress her.  Clearly her father, Brad and now Lyndon thought differently.

‘I guess it would be fine, thank you’ she smiled at Brad.

A broad smiled covered Lyndon’s face from east to west.  Brad winked at his son.  ‘I guess you and I can go check it out after school today.’

‘Yesss,’ Lyndon slapped a high five with his daddy. 

‘Go get your school bag Lyndon,’ Tessa instructed.

‘Yes momma,’ he flew of his chair post haste.

Tessa stood up and walked to Brad’s chair.  ‘Darling I know you can afford fifty Lamborghinis, but I really don’t need a flashy car.’

‘Are you going to be the one to give our son the disappointing news?’

‘You should have said no.’

‘It is just a car, not much different to your Ferrari.’

‘Fine, let’s go,’ Tessa mumbled.

‘I thought I was dropping Lyndon off?’  Brad stood up.

‘I’m coming to work with you.’

‘You’re still on maternity leave.’

‘I know,’ Tessa draped her arms around Brad’s neck.  He was not wearing a tie today with his fancy suit.  She guessed he could not do the tie knot.  She felt really awful.  He had also only had a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  She guessed again, it was because he would not have to use a fork and a knife.  He was making her heart bleed. 

‘I want to be with you,’ she whispered.
She dare not tell him she wanted to help him in any way.  He would probably blow a gasket.  He abhorred being dependent on anybody for anything.

‘My daddy you promise you won’t buy the car without me,’ Lyndon returned with his backpack strapped onto his shoulders.

‘I promise tiger.  Mummy and I will fetch you from home before we go.’

‘You’re going to love it momma,’ Lyndon clasped his hand into Tessa’s.

‘I know, I know,’ Tessa smiled at her son, ‘and so will all the girls.’

Tessa loved the sound of Brad’s rich laughter, whilst her son squirmed uncomfortably.

Tessa was somewhat nervous as the limo pulled into the private parking bay in the GR premises.  Nothing looked untoward on the street.  The boom gate at GR seemed to have been fixed.  She was a little glad to put in an appearance today.  She needed to get the situation over and done with.  She did not want whispers in the corridor about the chairman’s trigger happy wife.  So far so good.  Nobody was giving her the look.  Everybody they passed by so far seemed polite as they normally were.

''Tess-Mrs. Blakely!’ Keri laughed excitedly.  ‘Lovely to see you back.’

‘Um---morning Keri,’ Tessa smiled guardedly.  ‘I’m officially not here today.’

‘Oh,’ Keri looked confused.

‘I’ll be in my office,’ Brad announced.

‘Darling, my phone’s in your pocket,’ Tessa walked to Brad.  He’d wanted to hold her hand as they walked into the building.  With her other hand holding onto her handbag, Tessa had slipped her mobile in Brad’s pocket.  ‘I’ll get it,’ she winced, when Brad had difficulty trying to use his left hand to retrieve it from his pocket.  ‘I’ll be there just now,’ she promised.

Brad nodded and strode into his office.

Keri stood up and looked at Tessa questioningly.

‘Don’t ask me anything,’ Tessa groaned.  ‘I’ve erased yesterday out off my memory.’

‘Okaaay,’ Keri was looking more confused.  ‘I’m glad to see you and Mr. Blakely are talking to each other,’ Keri laughed.

‘Why wouldn’t we be?’ Tessa smiled.  They were together for almost five years, and even in the early rocky days of their marriage they had never, not talked to each other.  Tessa could not recall a single day when they went to bed angry and did not make up in bed.  Sex was always an excellent mediator as far as she was concerned.   Why tamper with a winning recipe?

‘So you’re not officially here?’ Keri enquired.

‘Nope, but I will be in Brad’s office the entire day.’

‘I see,’ Keri was not sure what had transpired in Brad’s office yesterday.  After Tessa stormed out, Brad’s assistant tailor had come out in a rage and departed.  Bentley had not given her any information either.

‘Ah Bentley, good morning.’ Tessa greeted as he arrived out of Brad’s office.

‘Mrs. Blakely, good morning,’ Bentley smiled warmly.  It was not often that Tessa saw such a warm happy smile on Bentley’s face.  Things must be getting along well between him and Keri.

‘Does Brad have a busy day today?’ Tessa asked.

‘He’s brought forward the one meeting scheduled for the afternoon,’ Bentley answered.  ‘He’s just asked me to reschedule the two other appointments in his diary.’

‘Thank you,’ Tessa stood up, ‘Bentley could you have Francois deliver a sandwich platter to Brad’s office please?’

‘Now?’ Bentley knew his boss only had lunch around one P.M.  He never ate before that and he worked for his boss longer than Mrs. Blakely was married to his boss.

‘Yes and nothing complicated, a finger lunch kind of platter,’ Tessa instructed.

‘Yes ma’am,’ Bentley picked up the phone to call the restaurant.

‘Bring it through to Brad’s office immediately it arrives,’ Tessa walked to Brad’s door and marched right in.  She found Brad pounding away at his keyboard with his left index finger.

'Hey darling,’ she announced.

‘I’m just responding to an email,’ he said distractedly, ‘then I’m all yours.’

‘Why don’t I help you?’ she slid onto Brad’s lap.

‘Help me with what?’ he questioned.

‘You dictate and I type,’ she removed Brad’s good hand from the keyboard, careful not to hurt his right hand.

‘Oooh, I like the sound of that,’ Brad murmured huskily, his left hand slipped under the table, under her dress.

‘Start dictating,’ Tessa laughed.  She re-read the last sentence he had written.’

Amazingly even with his hand still casually on her thigh, Brad quickly got into work mode.  He was all business, as Tessa responded to three other emails through Brad’s dictation.  It was more than thirty minutes later when Bentley walked in with the food platter to find Mrs. Blakely comfortably resting on the boss’s lap, firing away at the keyboard.

‘The ... sandwiches   you ordered, Mrs. Blakely,’ Bentley announced, wondering what the hell Mrs. Blakely was doing on Mr. Blakely’s lap.  He knew his boss never mixed business and pleasure, and in his boss’s defence right now, Bentley could see his boss was studiously in work mode and so was Mrs. Blakely for that matter.

‘Oh thank you Bentley,’ Brad smiled.  ‘I was feeling peckish.  How’d you know?’

‘Mrs Blakely,’ Bentley answered.

‘Thank you darling,’ Brad kissed Tessa’s cheek and hungrily bit into a toasted chicken and mayonnaise sandwich.  ‘Want some?’ Brad offered Tessa. 
‘No thank you.  ‘I’d love some coffee though,’ Tessa requested to Bentley. 

‘Coming up,’ he smiled.

Brad helped himself enthusiastically to two more sandwiches.  Bentley placed a pot of filter coffee on the table and departed.

‘Thank you darling.  I was starving.’
‘I know babe,’ Tessa kissed Brad’s cheek.

‘Babe?’  Brad echoed.

‘I don’t know where that came from,’ Tessa laughed.  ‘I’ve never used it before.’

‘I know!’ Brad raised an eyebrow.

Tessa inhaled.  She had never used endearments with any other man previously.  She had light heartedly called her best friend Fabian “darling” on occasion, but he hardly counted, Fabian was like a brother to her.

‘I’ve never used it on any other man either,’ Tessa assured Brad.
He seemed to immediately relax.  ‘I like it,’ he murmured, pressing his lips to hers.

‘Perhaps you should dictate from another chair,’ Tessa chuckled.  

‘Why,’ he moaned.  ‘I like it this way.’

‘Surely this is uncomfortable?’

‘Not for me,’ Brad insisted.

‘Well it’s pretty distracting.  I can’t continue.  Now go to another chair Blakely.’

‘I was wondering when the Iron Maiden would surface,’ Brad laughed. 

Tessa narrowed her eyes at her husband.  “Iron Maiden?” she glared at him.

‘Just kidding darling,’ he raked his hands down her hair.   ‘You know, you’re the love of my life.  The sweetest rosebud---.’

‘That’s enough.  I’m not falling for your flattery.  Let’s work,’ Tessa instructed and she got an adorable version of the scowl she had earlier seen on Lyndon’s face.

‘Darling has Bentley filled you in on the workshop I was proposing for next week?’

‘Yeah,’ Brad looked up from the document Tessa had printed for him.  ‘Apparently you were going to fill me in yesterday.’

Yesterday, that dreaded day!

Tessa shifted her eyes away uncomfortably.  ‘Let’s discuss it now shall we?’

‘Why do I have to sit in a two day conference?’ Brad demanded.  ‘Isn’t that your domain?’ he challenged.  ‘And why do we have to incur the costs of all and sundry cavorting about London?’

Tessa knew he’d be throwing those specific questions at her, especially the cost implication of having every region accommodated in pricey London for two days.

She took a huge breath.  ‘If GR faces any litigation, you as CEO/Chairman/owner will be liable,’ Tessa cautioned.  ‘You are going to be the one summoned.  It is my domain yes, but you constantly get emails from editors challenging the system and I have to clean up.  Some of the editors border on irresponsible,’ Tessa raised her eyebrows at the grin spreading across Brad’s face.  ‘With the new regulations in place Mr. CEO, there is no can opener that will get you out.  You need to crack the whip, and as for bringing them all here, it’s much more practical interacting with them face to face.  I want to make sure they are all conversant with these new laws.’

‘I see,’ Brad attempted a straight face. 
He knew sometimes his editors really courted trouble and he occasionally allowed them to push the envelope simply because his more than capable wife was rather creative in fishing his naughty editors out of murky waters.  Brad suspected Tessa loved the challenge of finding the legal loopholes, but he was intuitive enough to know there genuinely was a very fine line where his wife would not compromise her integrity.

‘Well,’ Tessa demanded.  ‘Do I have the go-ahead to run the workshop?’
‘Yes,’ Brad nodded.  ‘Keri can go ahead and send out the communiqué.  It’s coming out of your budget?  Brad raised a questioning eyebrow.

‘Where else?’  Tessa narrowed her eyes.  ‘I must warn you, Day One is going to be pretty boring.  We’re going to run through the new regulations, clause by clause.’

‘Don’t blame me if I fall asleep,’ Brad warned.

‘Make sure you go to sleep rather early Mr. CEO and have a good night’s rest.’

‘I’ll have to tell my wife no hanky-panky the night before,’ Brad feigned a disappointed look.’

‘Do that,’ she grinned.

‘Right, we are done for the day,’ Brad stood up.
Tessa was amazed at the volume of work Brad expeditiously covered in a day.  She was quite happy with their productivity.  Guiltily, she felt a sense of accomplishment; sitting in on Brad’s meeting and taking notes for him.  She was pleasantly surprised at how fast time had elapsed; it was already two o’ clock when Brad announced they were done for the day.
‘Would I make a good P.A.?’ she teased wrapping her arms around Brad’s waist.

‘Efficient, a resounding yes.  Distracting, absolutely,’ Brad cupped his palms over her very petite bottom.  ‘You affect my concentration like you cannot believe,’ his teasing eyes danced over face, as his lips caressed her throat.  ‘I cannot use “good” and “P.A.” in the same sentence where you are concerned,’ he replied huskily. 

‘You have a way with words, Mr. Blakely,’ Tessa kissed Brad back.  ‘I’m guessing, hidden in there somewhere is supposed to be a compliment.’  

Brad laughed throatily. 

‘Oh ... sorry sir.  You asked me to inform you when it was two o’ clock.’

‘Thank you Bentley.  We are out of here,’ Brad walked out with his arm draped around Tessa’s waist.

‘Bye guys.  Oh Keri, come to me tomorrow.  The workshop is on,’ she waved to Bentley and Keri.

Bye,’ Bentley and Keri chorused.

‘Do I look handsome momma?  I told Stacy to put smart clothes on for me,’ Lyndon extended his arms out for Tessa to inspect him.

‘Hi darling,’ Tessa kissed Lyndon.  ‘Hi Stacy.’ 

‘Good afternoon Mrs. Blakely,’ Stacy smiled.

‘I hope we asked Stacy,’ Tessa emphasized.

‘Yes he did ask rather politely Mrs. Blakely,’ Stacy laughed and was rewarded with a charming boyish smile from Lyndon.

‘So what do you think momma?’ Lyndon twirled around.

‘Are we going on a date or going to get a car?’ Tessa laughed.

‘It’s not just any car momma.  You must check how beautiful it looks on my daddy’s laptop.

‘Er---we should be leaving darling,’ Brad delicately announced. 

Tessa narrowed her eyes at her husband.  Now she understood her son’s acquired knowledge about the car.

‘Yes, you look rather handsome sweetheart,’ Tessa answered.

‘Let’s go momma.  Let’s go.  I’m finished with my supper.’

‘Do you mind if I at least check on Daniel?’ Tessa shook her head at his impatience.

‘Stacy just fed him,’ Lyndon complained.

‘Sit!’ Tessa instructed.  ‘We shall leave in the next ten minutes.’

‘Would you like a drink darling?’ Tessa offered Brad.

‘No my daddy does not want a drink,’ Lyndon sat down, though he tapped his fingers suggestively on the settee.

‘It seems I don’t want a drink,’ Brad winked at Tessa.  It was an appeal for her not to keep Lyndon waiting much longer.

‘Okay, I won’t be long,’ she smiled and rushed up to kiss the sleeping Daniel and whisper a few loving words in his ear before she rejoined her husband and rather impatient son again. 

‘Momma will you sit in the back of the car, when we get it please?  My daddy and I will sit in the front,’ he requested.

‘Are you sure you want me to tag along?’ She directed an annoyed look at Lyndon. 

‘Yes momma,’ Lyndon smiled guiltily.  ‘The Lamborghini is for you,’ he reminded her. 

‘Could have

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