FORTY: FACE MASK & CLOSENESS

Aurellia Raymond's Pov

Sunday tumbled down faster then I conceived and it was the day to celebrate the signing for our own Maple Syrup Company. After slithering the clay over my face and neck I was scrolling through my phone to pass the thirty minutes. I was in Theodore's room as the mechanic still hasn't reprimanded my air conditioner. And about my bed, well, there was no possible way to fix it and the only way left was to order a new one. I curse those two monkeys every day before sleeping and thank them at the same time when Theodore embraced me in his arms, every single night. 

"Jesus, what's on your face?" Theodore's flabbergasted voice made me jump in my seat on the bed. He had halted on his steps at the entrance of the room, looking at me with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing, this is a clay face mask," I say timidly, trying not to stress my facial muscles. 

"Oh, why would you guys put it?" Shaking his head he entered the room and pulled out shaving creams and other man stuff. Since today we didn't have to go to the office so I had a chance to witness Theodore in comfortable sweatpants and shirts, which was quiet rare if you ask me. 

"This makes your skin glow naturally…" I paused and an idea struck my head. "Do you want to put it?" I suggested expectedly. 

"Who me? No," he responded quickly, looking at me through the mirror in front of him. 

I bite my lip standing up. He followed my movements carefully, having a bad feeling of what I was about to do. It was all written on his face I bit the insides of my cheek as I walked up to him.

"What- are you doing?" He stammered turning around to face me. 

"Let's put this in your face also," I grin mischievously before continuing as my facial muscles strained. God I was going to have wrinkles soon. "And I had mistakenly made more solution than required." 

"Are you crazy or what?" He says nonchalantly, ignoring me and walking towards his wardrobe.

"Nah, I'm Aurellia." He deadpan at my reply.

"Are you always this sarcastic?" He pulled out two tuxedos — a black and a plain grey one. He examined both of them after leaning back.

"The grey one. And no, I take a day or two off sometimes." I quipped sweetly as I tapped both my forefingers with each other innocently. 

He shook his head and showed his back to me while putting the black tux inside, hiding his smile. Hah, I had already seen it. I bit my lip lightly to stop the smile from breaking on my face also.

 "So… okay let me bring the solution," I say hesitantly, hoping he'd affirm it unknowingly. Maybe, probably.

"I haven't said yes," he rasped as he bends down to pick  his black polished shoes from the glass rack.

I sulked, thinking about how to get him to agree. I certainly don't want to say 'please' and ordering him wasn't in the rule book for this situation. And I really didn't want to waste my expensive clay.

"I'll agree if I get a favor in return, " he voiced out in an appealing tone.

Does he have some ninja technique to read my mind?
Ding ding ding ding.

Pinching my eyebrows I asked, "What favor?"

"You won't talk to Mr. Hood," and I realised that I haven't told Theodore about mine and Callum's history together.

"Can-can I say something?" I was still verifying the pros and cons before my mouth vomited out the words.

"When since you seek permission-"

"I and Callum have dated before," I blurted out.  Squeezing my eyes shut, I wait impatiently for his response.

He stays quiet so I peel open my eyelids and find him staring at me with his calculative gaze.

"Then there are more reasons why you shouldn't talk to him. It's not that I'm jealous or anything…" he said while looking for a watch in his dressing table, sparing me a quick glance when I didn't say anything, still contemplating in my mind.

"It's just that he's not really reliable and your safety is important." His confession engulfed my heart making it swell. 

"And moreover, people will question your growing closeness with him which would be… Well, not good."
I exhaled from mouth.

Seriously?

"Is it only about people? You won't have any effect if I and Callum grow close?" I voice out, having my thumping heart in my mouth.

"Should I?" He shrugged nonchalantly, walking over to his wardrobe and pulling out plain, crisply ironed black shirt.

"Yes or no?" I pushed to achieve my answer. He dodged my question as if it didn't mean anything to him. Like the question was Syphilis.

"I just want you to be safe," he sighed, visibly focusing his attention purely on me.

"I can't trust him with you, again." He was concerned about my safety, I understood. But I was capable enough to take care of myself. And not that I haven't done the same for all my life. Nodding once, I went to the bathroom to wipe off the mask solution. 

When I came back Theodore was sitting on the bed with his legs folded under one another waiting for me patiently. It was weird looking at him sitting so ideally with no laptop or phones. Quietly, I make my way towards him.

"Do you want to put it or waste it?" I honestly asked, even though I knew he was waiting to get over with this thing.

He looked at me a minute too long before nodding.

"Should I do it... Or you'll manage?"

"Nah, I don't wanna touch this" he scrunches up his nose in disgust. "-this thing." 

Rolling my eyes I muttered, "I'm so surprised."

I dipped two fingers into the bowl and moved them toward his face while leaning down to his level.

"Hold on," he held the hem of his shirt from back before pulling it out swiftly in one go.
"We don't want this thing to get on my shirt now, do we?" That egotistical bastard smirked.

I feel my eyes betraying my orders to not wander on his chiseled torso and toned muscles but I can't blame them, they looked irresistible.
Exhaling lightly, I shook my head to clear the vile thoughts. Even thinking about them bleached my cheeks pink.

His smirk deepened and I began slathering the paste on his cheeks. Carefully coating his nose and cheekbones, I stood up starting to stretch my sore back. I really did need to work out more. Or maybe I was just ageing. 

Twice. I thought. I was getting old.

"C'mere," he beckoned after a moment and patted his lap. 
My eyebrows knitted and then raised questioningly.

"Not that we haven't been in this position before. Only if you knew what you do in your sleep." Tease lacing his velvety voice which somehow eased my embarrassment. 

I've done nothing and we both knew it. That deep sleep never came to me at I wouldn't be conscious of my actions.

"Shut up," saying, I threw both my legs on either side of him and sat on his crossed feet. He lets his arms fall casually around my hips on his legs which barely touched me.

"Was it hard now?" I just roll my eyes in response. 

I work on his forehead, pulling back his hair with another hand. The pads of his thumb move under my shirt to trace circles above the hem of my shorts, a small gesture that had become so familiar to my skin. He kept his eyes focused on my face intensely, un waveringly but I didn't feel uncomfortable anymore. There was something, something about the way his eyes explored my features. That's what he did every night before sleep consumed me or him. Though I'm not sure if he didn't stare at my sleeping face. 

His hands crawl upwards and I cave out my chest subconsciously. Sighing deeply, I end up pressing myself further into him. I squirmed internally and he let his hands fall back to its previous position. That's how it goes every time. He examined me, scaled my boundaries, and came back the next day. 

It feels as if time has frozen when I skim my fingers lightly above his lip. His lips part under my gaze and a low hitch escape my lips. My ragged breath comes out heavenly, putting pressure in my chest every time. His hands tighten around the dip of my waist and a weight was added over my heart. I lean back a bit but my eyes never move away from his lips.

"You want me to kiss you," he murmured, his breath fanning over my single side exposed collar bone to send tickles into the pit of my belly. My insides tighten painfully as I realise my fingers stopped moving.

"And I want to kiss you." He whispered.

I pull back completely, something bad creepy over my senses. "Uh- umm… it's time to wash away this pa-paste. I'm…" I stutter like a horribly bitch before I rush into the bathroom and lock it behind me. He looked so confused, I think while leaning my head back on the cold door. 

Oh gosh, what have I done?

***

I twist and turn to get a good profile of my body in the black off-shoulder dress with a slit on the right thigh. It reached till the floor and it looked elegant. Makeup was kept to minimal with just double coated mascara and light blush. My hair was thrown in a messy bun with a few tendrils left stray. I applied the pink lipstick one again before exiting the room with my clutch. 

Theodore was tapping his feet against the floor while talking to someone on the phone. He wore a greyish colored well fitted suit with a black shirt underneath and a matching tie that complimented the colours of my dress perfectly. He looked ravishing. 

I realised that I have been gawking at him and have halted on my steps. Taking a few breaths, I fixed those stray tendrils before walking down the stairs. My heels echoed and his gaze lifted up. Instantly, I looked away when the memories of the evening came as flashbacks. But I could feel his eyes lingering over my frame.

"Ready to go?" He asked. I stared at him like he was dumb. Of course, I was ready to go so that's why I came down.

"Of course you're," he stammered before striding towards the door with me following him closely. I bit my lip to suppress the smile.
In the car, we talked about office matters and about who was going to attend the party. The ride was comfortable apart from the times when I'd have to cough so that he looked back at the road. He seemed to zone out a lot recently. 

"Who practices smiling?" Theodore asked as I looked at my appearance one last time and checked if nothing was between my teeth.

"Me," I replied in a duh tone. He scoffed in return but kept staring at me.  

The hall had been lavishly decorated with crystal balls hanging from the ceilings and red and black roses adorned in every corner. The theme was golden and white and those colors compliment each other magically well. It has been a while since we came and I talked to the wives and children of a lot of men from the office. There were almost all the members of the office including their family and the hall was stuffed with people. Even Christian and Rohanna were busy conversing with people.

"Aurellia!" I heard Theodore's voice from a few feet towards my right. I smiled automatically at him, to put up the show, and excused myself from Mrs. Holland who was talking about her cosmetics business. 

I flashed a professional smile when Theodore introduced me to Mr. Philip and his son. Mr. Philip looked around sixty and his son was of our age. His son had this disgusting smirk on his face as his eyes raked my body up and down. I have heard his name a lot actually. 

"This is my wife Aurellia," Theodore slid his hand around my waist protectively, just below my breast before eyeing Mr. Philip Jr with a sweet smile and clenched jaw. 

"Ah, Aurelia!" Mr. Philip's voice reached a high note and I saw a few people turning towards us. I smiled apologetically at them before retreating my attention. Awkward.

"I have heard so much about you. My son tells me about your racing business over dinner sometimes." I grit my teeth when his words and tone were polar opposite with a heavy dose of taunt in it. 

"She's the one right? The vamp racer." He whispered to his son. I felt Theodore tense next to me, his hold tightening around my waist.

Philip Jr. snickered next to him and mouthed, "Yup warming beds for a lot." He even dared to throw a wink at my end.

"Thank you so much sir," I spat out with a pleasant smile and sickeningly sweet tone.

"I think you should ask your son too to take part in sports. Else the only business I've heard he does is women." I laugh out loud, animatedly and their jaws twitch.

Theodore's hand tighter against my waist warningly but only if I cared…

"After all, women just warm the bed; they won't bring you a fortune. I think it's high time your son should grow a backbone and start earning for himself. Though, I know sir how much you're going to leave behind even if he doesn't come out from his high school teenage life." The entire time my voice was honey-sweet and fake.

 My pretentious voice sounded like a bitch's voice. But I liked the virtual punch I slammed over their noses making them look around out of embarrassment when the nearby guests snickered and threw mocking looks.

"Mr. Philip," I nodded then turned to his son. "Philip Jr." I greeted him as well before throwing a nasty look at Theodore before I walked away with a clenched jaw. 
Callum waved over at me and I cursed under my breath. Ignoring him the entire week wasn't enough to give him a signal that I don't fucking owe him anything. I stopped walking, letting him approach me.

"Hi." He was wearing a brown blazer that engulfed his frame, seeking all the attention.

"Hey," I nodded. 

"I - I just wanted to apologize…"

"You're forgiven. Let's be professional since we are not dating each other. You should start seeing people…" I quickly say looking at the guilty look passing over his face.

Murmuring a goodbye, I exited the hallway.

It didn't take Theodore long to see I was missing from the place. He came out and a wave of relief washed over him. He unlocked the door and I entered inside the car,  ignoring him.

The tension in the air was thick but I stayed silent. Mr. Philip was an important ambassador for him but to me, he was someone I had to show his place. Theodore's company wasn't more important than my respect and I was ready to fight against Theodore if he disagreed. It wasn't something I would tolerate.

I had a bad feeling about what was going to follow tonight…

***

Love has meaning,
But no definition.

***