Chapter 23: Chapter 23

"What do you want to watch?" asked Aaron from the kitchen. He was washing the cutlery they had just finished using for dinner. Yes, this was his daily activity while at home. He would share the housework with his wife. If Helena chose to cook, then washing dishes, glasses, and other cooking utensils was his part.

"What do you want to watch?" Helena asked back. Actually, they were both in the kitchen area with her sitting in the dining room and were busy peeling the fruit.

"Hmm..." He mumbled while thinking about what movie to watch as their Friday night joy. "It's up to you," he said, ending without success and leaving the decision to her instead.

"Hmm..." She followed him, muttering and sorting out the films she wanted to watch. Watching movies together had been their habit since they were dating. Correction. Even when they were still friends, they often spent the weekend watching movies together. The difference was that they had to go to the cinema and watch a film there in the past. Now, they did it more often at home because they could move more freely. And of course, a guaranteed privacy space, though the facilities were not as sophisticated as the cinema.

Helena thought for a long time. Her activities with knives in her hands made her unable to focus on her thoughts. She had to be careful because that sharp thing could injure anyone indiscriminately. Actually, she already had a list of several movie titles that were on her watch list. But, because they were only stored in her mind and never be written, she couldn't remember them when needed, like now.

"What about horror?" The idea suddenly crossed her mind. It had been quite a while since she last watched that kind of movie.

"Horror?" He parrotted.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" asked Aaron to make sure of her choice. It was not that he disagreed with her choice. In fact, he had no problem with any genre, as long as it had an exciting storyline. She was the same. There was no particular genre that she avoided, including horror. But as he recalled, his wife didn't really enjoy watching horror movies at night. She said it could make her difficult to sleep because of the scary scenes in the film. And since it was already night, was she sure that she wanted to watch it?

"Yes," she answered, getting irritated because he kept questioning her choice. She probably wasn't that brave enough to watch a horror movie at night. But, as long as Aaron was with her, her fear seemed to vanish. She became braver when there was someone beside her.

"Okay. Okay. Then you choose the title." He no longer argued.

After looking for a genre to watch, she also determined the title. Really, her husband was very kind to obey all her words all night. If so, they could watch an old horror movie she wouldn't dare re-watch alone.

Just as she finished preparing their healthy snacks, a message came to his phone, which happened to be within her reach. It was from Beatrice.

- Good evening, Mr. Houston. What are you doing? -

Her eyes squinted to read the message through the notification that appeared on the screen. Shortly after, another message came in. Still from the same sender, Beatrice.

- Have a pleasant night, Mr. Houston -

Helena was actually a person who really respected the privacy of others. She tried not to cross their freedom and was not curious about or intending to find out. What for? There was no point in doing so. As long as that person didn't harm her, she wouldn't mind it either. Especially for Aaron, as long as he could keep his promises and commitments, everything would be fine.

However, this time was different. Helena couldn't resist the urge to peek at his phone. And she ended up fiddling with her husband's gadgets. Of course, Beatrice's messages were the primary target. She was silent and focused on skimming the lines of sentences scrolling on the screen.

After being satisfied with what she did, Helena simply put the black smartphone back on the table without returning it to its state before her naughty hands acted there. There was no point in hiding her actions. Aaron must have seen it. After all, she wanted her husband to know and planned to apologize to him later.

Her sharp eyes watched him, that was busy arranging the utensils to the original place before deciding to leave. "You have a message on your phone. From Beatrice." She didn't forget to inform him of this. Then, her legs left that area towards the second floor while taking their healthy snacks with her. She didn't even turn around for a moment to see his reaction to her words.

She threw her body on the big sofa on the second floor. She was not in her room nor the other rooms on the second floor. She was outside in a place, which could be similar to the lounge on the first floor. The difference was that this room was smaller because it was limited by the room's walls.

Aaron appeared a few minutes later after making sure the house was locked and tightly closed, turned off the leading light on the first floor, and left only the kitchen light to stay on. Actually, it was their routine before bedtime. That day, he sped up because there was nothing else to do on the first floor. They would spend the rest of the night where he was.

"You read all messages from Beatrice?" He asked his woman, who was busy pressing the remote button in her hand. He then sat down next to her.

"Yes. I just found out that she often texts you," Helena replied, not intending to distract herself from the television in front of him.

Suddenly, a hand slipped on her waist and pulled her closer to the owner of the hand, Aaron. "You've read it yourself, haven't you? I didn't reply to her messages if it was not related to work," he said right in her ear. He locked her body with both hands so that she would not quickly move from his hold.

She unconsciously pursed her lips with slightly puffy cheeks. Yes, what Aaron said was true. She had read almost the entire message. And indeed, her husband never replied to a single message outside the work context. It looked like he had known for a long time about his secretary's feelings for him, or indeed that was the professionalism of his work. Who knew?

He smiled, amused at seeing his wife's adorable face. She looked like she was sulking. And he couldn't resist his urge to seduce her. He lightly kissed her cheek. One time. Twice. Three times. And many more until Helena made herself stifling by that.

"Stop it," She pleaded between ticklish and exasperated by his behavior. She tried to keep her husband's body away from her. But, it was useless. Aaron had locked her movement so she couldn't escape his attacks, which were starting to descend on her neck. "What are you doing?" she asked between laughs because of the tickled from his kiss on her sensitive area.

"Relieve your annoyance," he replied after landing the last kiss on her neck. Then he looked back at his wife's face. "Tell me. What's bothering you?"