The CEO’s Second Choice

ElenaConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

My heart dropped.

“Oh, come on. You couldn’t possibly have been serious about that?!” I cry out in surprise, trying to pull my wrists out of his grip, but he tightens his fingers. “Do you know me as a person who goes back on their word, Elena?” He asks, still wearing that naughty grin that I want to slap off his face.

Sebastian slowly walks me backwards. “I warned you about rolling your eyes at me. Your parents obviously never punished you for misbehaving when you were a child, hence your bratty behaviour.”

“I’m not a brat!” I tell him, and I feel his bed behind my legs. He was standing so close to me right now that I could feel the heat emanating from his skin. Chuckling, he shakes his head then looks at me with that stupidly sexy Greek God smoulder in his eyes. “By saying that you have just proven that you are a brat who needs to be punished.”

Before I knew it, Sebastian threw me backwards on the bed and I landed with a squeak, escaping my throat. Then he was on top of me with his palms next to my head, looking down at me with amusement in his eyes. I push against his chest, “Get off me, Sebastian!” I say, but no matter how much I shoved him, it was as if I was pushing against a wall.

“Not until I put my tongue to good use,” He says and I feel the mortification flare in my cheeks. Excuse me, what? I do not want this! Sebastian was being a complete jerk!

“Don’t you dare,” I start, “I don’t know where that tongue has been.”

This comment seems to surprise him, and his eyes actually widen, “The last thing these lips touched was my wife’s forehead as she slept in my bed.” He whispers, then gets up from on top of me. He holds his hand out for me to take and I do, but as he pulls me up, he draws me towards his chest again.

“I will not touch another woman until our five years together is through, Elena. I may be cold, but I am not heartless. Not anymore.” He says before letting me go and striding towards his bathroom, “You can stay if you would like to see me naked,” then I see his hands working his crotch area and I literally ran out of the room.

Me? See Sebastian naked? Psssh.

Maybe a little voice answers from the deepest recesses of my thoughts. Geez, I couldn’t even trust my own mind around him. I open my bedroom door and stomp inside, slamming the door behind me.

How could he do this to me? I know I haven’t exactly been the easiest person to deal with, yes I can be a brat at times, but it does not warrant his behaviour. I have a feeling that he stayed out all night because he knew that it would bother me or flare up my jealousy.

“The last thing these lips touched was my wife’s forehead as she slept in my bed.”

How could I believe these words? WHY should I believe them? Also, what did it matter? He could have whoever he wanted and sleep with whoever he wanted, and it wouldn’t bother me one bit.

These thoughts run through my mind as I pace my bedroom floor, worked up and angry. I needed to find something to do with my spare time, truly I did. Then I made up my mind and sauntered towards my walk-in.

I put on my comfy long-sleeved black sweater dress with the cowl neck, slip on a pair of nude stockings and black thigh-high stiletto boots. Then I grabbed my Louis Vuitton handbag and left my room. Passing by Sebastian’s room, I stop and knock. “Sebastian?” I call, waiting for an answer. He doesn’t answer and before I could knock again, the door opens and Sebastian regards me with a raised eyebrow.

My eyes grew at the sight of him; he was still dripping wet from his shower and his body glistened. “Yes, Elena?” he asks with an annoyed tone and I stop my eyes from straying north and clearing my throat. “I’m heading out for a little while,” I tell him, and he steps back, crossing his arms in front of him. Gosh, this minor act looked extremely sexy as I noticed how his muscles flexed when he did it.

“You can come and go as you please, Elena. There is no need to inform me.” He says, eyeing me with amusement. I was seriously fighting the urge to roll my eyes, but I remained polite. “Just in case you think I am jetting off somewhere again, I chose to inform you,” I tell him before turning on my heel and walking towards the staircase. I heard his bedroom door close behind me and breathed a sigh of relief.

I needed to get out of the villa for a bit, so I decided to go down to my favourite little coffee shop in Camden Town. I hadn’t been there in months and missed the homey vibe it gave off. “Where to, Ma’am?” Lionel, the driver, asks me. He was the one I tricked into dropping me off at the hotel before heading towards the airport. “Camden Town, Lionel. There’s a coffee shop I wish to visit for an hour or so. And don’t fret, I won’t be running off again.” I tell him and see the smile spread on his face.

The majority of the household seemed to have forgiven me for ‘running away’. Ilse has yet to ask Melissa about the note; she hasn’t been to work since I returned to her villa and I think I know why.

Lionel takes about 30 minutes to get to the coffee shop, and I feel a sense of relief when I see the quaint little building. “You can park out front, Lionel. I will be about an hour or so.” I tell him again as I get out of the car. The icy chill bites my skin and I shuffle into the coffee shop, inhaling the sumptuous fragrance of freshly roasted coffee.

“Elena!” The barista named Lisa walked up to me with a surprised look on her face and I couldn’t help but smile. I used to be here every day at 3 pm with Nicholas as he helped me study and plan my trips around Massachusetts while attending Harvard. Those were happier times which I now realise were lies and meant absolutely nothing to him.

“Hey, Lisa. How have you been, hun?” I asked her, and we exchanged niceties as she led me to a table by the window. I ordered my usual cuppa and a slice of Banoffee pie. As she leaves, I take in the place with a smile on my face; this was a place where I lived out the happiest of my days. Most of it was with Nicholas, but the rest was spent on my own.

I pull out my second volume of Jane Eyre and open it to the place where I had fallen asleep last night. Reading and coffee; my favourite pastimes. But as I tried to focus on the pages, all I could think about was Sebastian’s admissions of love. He has completely ruined my plans where I ignore him for the next five years, by confessing his feelings for me. Perhaps if I continue to ignore him, he would eventually tire of me.

Lisa brings out my coffee and pastry and I thank her before resuming my pretend reading. I read the first two lines about 8 times over, before closing the book in frustration. “Ugh, forget it!” I exclaim softly to no one in particular.

“Does Mrs Reed offend you that much?” I hear a voice from one table over and my head turns to see who it was.