The afternoon heat had gone down a bit when Richard returned from the mall with two brown paper bags swinging from his hands. There was a wide, playful grin on his face and a mischievous glint in his eyes as he inserted the key into the key hole of the apartment door. He was sure that Elise would be more than surprised after hearing everything that he had lined up for the evening. He closed his eyes briefly and opened them again as he unlocked the apartment door. A fleeting image of Elise’s smiling face flashed through his mind and he could not hide how excited he was. He snapped his fingers, the keys jingled in his right hand as he started to open the door as stealthily as he could. He was sure that Elise was not in the living room but he did not want to take any chances because he wanted to creep up on her with the surprise packages. After he had opened the door wide enough, he pushed himself through the space and gently closed the door behind him. The burning smell of somet
“I ruined it” She sniffed. Richard wrapped his arms around her from behind and held her closely to his body. “Calm down, my love” “No” She snorted. “,Don’t tell me to calm down. I am not even happy with myself. That was supposed to be a surprise cake for you, Babe” Richard’s eyes widened with sincere disbelief as he asked behind her, “A surprise cake for me?” She nodded, wiping off her tears with the hem of her shirt. “You know, I don’t like it when you get into the kitchen and mess up your fingers. I don’t like it “ She bobbed her head. Guilt filled her up and she bit hard on her lips. Then, it dawned on her that she was not the one who had turned off the oven. The cake was even out and she had not even thought about that. Her focus drifted to Richard and she turned around to face him “Babe?” She said in a soft tone. “What Is it, my love?” “Did you turn off the oven? I’m very sure that I did not do that myself. God damn it!” She cursed under her breath “I was lying like
“Babe” Her voice rang out, high pitched. “Did you have to go to this extent?” Her fingers caressed the pendant that hung from the necklace. It was a single letter “R” “Your name?” she said softly. “I’ve always wondered what it would feel like to have your initials as a part of my jewelry. How did you ever come up with this?” She asked. Tears glimmered in her eyes as she pressed the necklace to her chest Richard was quiet. A satisfied smile tugged at his lips as he stood up and walked over to where she was. He cleared his throat. “May I?” He asked softly, eying the necklace in her hands. Elise nodded calmly. She carefully slipped it into his hands, watching as the pendant shine under the florescent bulb. She couldn’t conceal how excited she was and a shudder ran through her as Richard’s hands grazed her neck as he attempted to hook the necklace behind her. She could almost feel his breath, light at the back of her neck. A sensation that she was unable to explain ran through her
He slipped his phone into the pocket of his dark blue jeans and he turned slowly to meet her. His fists balled as she approached him and his breath quickened. Elise had threw on a light makeup right after dressing and she was prettier. He stretched out his hand for her to place hers in his. The duo left home at exactly 7:30pm. There was an already waiting Uber that Richard had booked for both of them. During his preparations towards their anniversary celebrations, he deviated between stating at home and having a late night dinner date with Elise, right there in their apartment but he felt that taking her out to a more exposed environment will cause her to lighten up and add more spice to the evening. A minute before Elise came into the living room, He dialed Nikofor the last time to find out if everything was prepared. It was Niko who had chosen the location that the would use for the date. His bestfriend assured him to set his mind at rest as everything was planned out exactl
They soon got to the single table. There were just too decorated seats by the table and each was placed on opposite sides. Elise’s gaze fell on the array of food that had been kept on the table. There were dishes of all sizes, filled with both familiar and unfamiliar food Richard pulled out one of the seats and gestured for her to sit on it. She did, still clutching her small hand bag. Then, Richard went round the table to the other side and he sat. “Are we having a party or what?” Elise asked. Richard chuckled, taking another look at the different delicacies on the table. “No.” “Babe, don’t Tell me that all these food is for just the two of us. But, why?” “It’s a celebration of our love” He said and snapped his fingers. Then, one of the waitress stepped forward briskly and joined them at the table. “Pour out the wine” Richard ordered, still looking at Elise. The waiterress nodded and immediately set to do her job. Elise looked around the table where they sat “You know this pl
Ruben watched her movements in silence. “Thank you for everything, Mr. Ruben” Elise told the seated man. Her hand bag swung from her right hand. “Like I said, put your investigations on hold, for the moment. I’ll handle things myself” The man bobbed his head. Then, he wiped his sweaty brows. His hands were shaky as he started to unzip how small bag. Elise was about to walk away when she stopped in her tracks and turned back to look at the man. He was now gathering the papers on the table. He peered up at Elise and cocked an eyebrow. “Did you leave anything behind, Ma’am Elise?” “Yes” Elise hissed, “I left my final instructions unsaid. Now, I don’t want you to breath a word of any of these to anyone. I have left way too much sensitive information with you. Do you understand?” The man held back a chuckle and he bobbed his head. Elise swung around and took long strides out of the café without looking back at the dazzled man. The clouds hung, dark and gloomy outside the café an
Elise tore her eyes away from him and looked out of the window at the evening traffic. She did not expect him to react to the question this way and now she felt like he had deliberately put her on the spot by requesting that she asked him the question in smaller chunks instead of throwing the big question at him. She felt tears well up in her eyes and she blinked it off rapidly. Then, she swirled around and turned to face him. “What ties do you have with Niko, the billionaire CEO?” Richard chuckled a bit and when he saw the cold glare on Elise’s face, he quickly wiped the smile off his face and he cleared his throat noisily. “I had no idea that Niko had caught your interest so fast” He said. “Answer the question!” She barked in a slightly raised voice. Richard was dumbfounded. He was new to everything that was happening. He had never imagined a situation where Elise would yell at him. She was always the calm headed one in the relationship. Now, she was more than provoked t
Richard didn’t look back as he chopped through the eggs, “You’re acting like an old man.” Heaving a sigh, Elise tossed the paper towel at the trash can but missed, “I feel like an old man, that is exactly why I have you in my life. You are my bodyguard, remember?.” She winked at him “Can I have another paper towel?” Richard smiled, nodded and tore off another for her, then picked up the dirty one and threw it in the trash can. Within a short while, Richard dumped the eggs evenly on two plates and he brought them over to the dining table. Elise joined him with some plates of toast bread. Halfway through their meal, Richard’s phone rang beside him. He peered at the screen of the phone and looked up at Elise. She was folding her bread with some pieces of egg in between and she raised her face to meet his eyes on her, she smiled. It was brief and fleeting. “What’s up?” She asked Richard before she munched on the bread in her hands. “Who called you?” She nudged her chin at his phone