Chapter 38: Chapter 38

What it is that you most dislike?

<Azaria>

I stared at him.

"Wife, I know I'm handsome, but can you stare at me later? I can't focus. Damn, I want to kiss you." He was overacting.

"Let's go to Jollibee. I want fried chicken, one pan of spaghetti, and three buko pies. I also want three large Cokes, large fries, and two Coke Floats. And another bucket of fried chicken, please?"

We were approaching the drive-thru.

"That's all you want?" he asked.

I nodded in response. Since he's fooling around with other women, I might as well enjoy spending his money.

As we got closer to the Jollibee drive-thru, I didn't hear him mention anything about the food I wanted. I wish I hadn't eaten at home if I knew it would be like this.

"I want a Venti black Americano coffee from Starbucks!" I exclaimed excitedly.

We were at the Jollibee drive-thru now, and he ordered everything I wanted.

"Yay!" I said happily when he gave me everything I wanted. It's overwhelming. It's good that the Lord has been kind to me and provided me with an ATM.

While he was driving, I was just eating, enjoying the food. He was driving seriously, and sometimes he would hold my hand, but most of the time, his hand was on my thigh. He's gotten used to doing that whenever I'm in the car with him.

"Hubby! My Starbucks coffee!" I whined as we passed by Starbucks.

"Fuck! I forgot."

He made a U-turn, and he ordered my coffee while I was eating inside the car.

He didn't take long, and he came back with two cups of coffee. Oh, wait, one of them wasn't coffee but matcha flavour.

"In case you crave matcha. I know this is your favourite," he said as he got back in the car.

I was about to take the cups from him when he said, "Give me a kiss first," demanding a kiss from me.

I kissed him on the cheek while grabbing my coffee.

"Tsk!" His face was pouting. He wanted me to kiss him on the lips. He always teases me, so now I'll get back at him.

We were getting close to the company.

When we arrived at the company, he parked the car. After parking, he opened the door for me, and he carried all the food for me.

"If you feel tired, tell me, okay?" he said and kissed me on the forehead. He couldn't hold my hand as he was carrying the food in both hands.

"Yummy!" I said as I tasted the coffee.

As we entered the company, we were greeted by the employees we passed by.

"Why are you so far? Walk beside me," he said grumpily. I was a bit far from him. He had that aloof aura.

"Good morning, sir," one of his employees, who is gay, greeted nervously. By the way, it seems that Nick isn't particular about the appearance of his employees as I saw some of them have tattoos.

"Hubby, in other companies, don't they avoid hiring people with tattoos? And they're strict with uniforms too, right? Why is it different here?" I couldn't help but ask him.

"The most important thing is a person's skills and what they can contribute to the company. I don't care about physical appearance. Their tattoos have nothing to do with the growth of the company. I'm looking into performance and skills. The company is not strict as long as their tattoos are not too visible and exaggerated," he answered simply and then suddenly leaned close to my face.

We were inside the elevator, just the two of us. No one else wanted to share the elevator with us.

"Hubby, it seems healthy to work here. Your employees are friendly, but they seem like gossipers," I said. I couldn't forget the group of friends who were talking about me. They probably envy me.

“I fired them,” he shortly answered.

"I may be talking to you, but it doesn't mean we're okay and not yet reconciled," I reminded him, unable to suppress a smile.

He rolled his eyes.

"If you want to fight with me, it's fine. I won't get tired of wooing you. Why are you so far? Stand beside me. Much better if you hug me."

What does he mean by "far"? I'm already standing so close to him. What else does he want? Should I just slip into his pocket?

"Whatever!" I teased him and moved away. But he pulled me close to him.

As the elevator opened, his male secretary greeted both of us while Nick just ignored him. I was the one who greeted him and handed him a fried chicken.

I entered his office, and the food was already on the centre table.

"Wife, come here," Nick ordered, walking towards his desk. I followed him quietly.

"Beside me," he demanded, pulling me onto his lap and taking my coffee. He placed it on his table. He cupped my face with both palms and kissed me. Nick inserted his tongue into my mouth, and I knew he could taste the coffee in my mouth.

"I love you, wife," he said after kissing me.

I spent my time inside his office while he attended meetings. He also made me take a nap because he said he couldn't focus when I'm beside him. We almost fought, but he surrendered quickly.

I had just woken up, and he was no longer there. I overheard earlier that he had a meeting. He also missed one of his meetings because of me.

I roamed my eyes around his office. I'll step out for a moment. I want to watch the sunset at a coffee shop, and I'm craving matcha. I feel like I'll cry if I don't get to drink it.

While I was at the coffee shop, gazing outside, a woman suddenly approached me.

"Azaria?" she called out while looking at me.

Huh? Do I know her?

"It's been so long since I saw you. You suddenly stopped coming to work. How are you and Russell?" she asked and sat in front of me. She had a cup of coffee in her hand as well.

"If you don't mind," she said politely.

Huh? Who is this Russell she's talking about?

"Uhm. I'm not being rude, but have we met before?" I asked her. She didn't seem familiar to me. Maybe she's one of my fans.

She laughed.

"Oh, you've forgotten me. I used to work with you in Russell's finance department. How was your marriage? Do you have kids now? You and your husband suddenly disappeared. We haven't seen you around. We haven't heard any news about you and your husband."

Damn! What is this woman talking about?

"Lanvin Nikolai is the name of my husband," I corrected her. Where did she get the name Russell?

She seemed puzzled by my response.

"Mclaren? Your husband is our boss in the company?" she said, clearly surprised.

"Yes. Why? And besides, I don't know you. How did you know that I'm married? I haven't even mentioned it on social media yet," I told her and took a sip of my matcha. I ordered two of them. How did she find out my secret? I was waiting for the right time to surprise my bashers.

"How did that happen? And where is Russell? You've been gone for a long time, maybe that's why you forgot about me. Look, I'll show you a picture of us."

She took out her cell phone and showed me a picture. It was a group photo of us in the financial department. Russell was also in the picture, standing beside me with his arm around me.

"When was this picture taken?" I asked her because I couldn't remember anything about the picture she showed me.

"This was years ago. It was taken on the company's anniversary. Here's Maricell, she resigned too because she had a child. Some of our other colleagues also resigned because they got married. Others, I don't have any news about them. Some went abroad," she explained.

I took her iPhone to look at the picture. It was indeed me in the photo, but no matter how much she described the details of that event, I couldn't remember a thing.

Russell... He sounded familiar. I hadn't seen this man before. Could he be one of my past flings? I hope she wouldn't say that.

"Sorry, I really can't remember. I also don't know the people you're mentioning. I've never worked in that company," I told her, handing back her iPhone. Damn! Maybe Russell was one of my flings, and I just can't recall him.

She sighed.

"What's your full name? Maybe you have a twin, and I mistook you for someone else," she said.

"Oh, I don't have a twin, and this face is one of a kind in the whole world," I said with a laugh.

"Are you sure?" she asked, seeming puzzled.

"But my name is Azaria."

"Why don't you remember anything? Did you have amnesia? You suddenly disappeared from the company before, it's quite puzzling," she said.

"Oh, it's okay. I've been mistaken for someone else many times. There was even one time when I was mistaken for someone's husband's mistress. I don't even know that person's husband," I chuckled. I knew I was too beautiful to have a doppelganger.

She awkwardly laughed along.

"Sorry if I reacted that way. I was just surprised to see you. We used to work together in the same department, so I got excited when I saw you."

"By the way, what's your name?" I asked her kindly.

"I'm Florence. Just find me in the financial department. I'm the supervisor there," she said with a smile.

"Sure, I'll tell my husband to promote you," I teased her.

Out of nowhere, we started joking around and had a lot of conversations. I even ignored Nick's call because I was enjoying talking to her. It felt like we had known each other for a long time and became friends. We became quite close.

"If you have any questions, just look for me in the financial department," she said before leaving.

I've never been involved in an accident that would cause amnesia. I remember everything that happened in my life. Maybe there's someone who looks like me or someone imitating my appearance. I have a lot of bashers and people who spread rumours about me on social media, so it's not impossible that someone would try to copy my face to ruin my reputation.

I returned to the office in a cheerful mood. The matcha was so delicious, huh?

I opened the door to Nick's office, and my eyes widened when I saw a woman sitting there. Her face was - I dropped the matcha I was holding, causing it to make a noise.

I saw the woman, and it was Isabelle.

"W-wife..." Nick called out, looking surprised when he saw me.

Before he could come near me, I quickly ran away. He's such an idiot; he's cheating on me and acts as if he's trying to get caught. All the rumours I've heard from his employees about him being a fuckboy turned out to be true.

I went into the restroom so he wouldn't find me. I cried inside one of the cubicles. He wouldn't be able to enter this place since it's a men's restroom. How could he betray me like this?

I cried uncontrollably. I didn't care if anyone heard me. I just locked the door to ensure no one could come in and invade my privacy.

The pain in my heart was unbearable. How could Nick do this to me? We were supposed to be happily married, but he had betrayed my trust. I thought we had a strong connection and love for each other, but now I felt like everything was falling apart.

I wiped my tears with trembling hands and tried to calm myself down. I needed to gather my thoughts and figure out what to do next. Confronting Nick about this seemed inevitable, but I needed to compose myself first.