Chapter 21- A punch
It was 10:00 pm at Marlin’s Club. The place was buzzing with people who came to have fun despite it being a Monday.
Loud music was playing through the speakers and disco lights kept twinkling in the dimly lit place. At a corner, Tessa and Harry were seated at a long round cocktail table on long bar stools.
Tessa was having a mimosa cocktail while Harry was having a beer. They had been here for a few hours and Tessa was beginning to get a little drunk after taking a few glasses.
“Want to talk about what’s bothering you? Why did you want to drink on your birthday? And how come you’re still here, what about the company in Whitpalm?” Tessa asked.
Now that the alcohol had kicked in, she was now carefree and could say whatever comes to her mind. Harry took a sip of his drink and replied, “I moved the business back to Ashford.”
Tessa’s mouth almost fell to the floor. “Why would you do that? I thought it was doing well in Whitpalm City.” Harry shrugged before saying, “You were no longer there, so why should I stay?”
Tessa chuckled awkwardly. She glanced around at the people on the dance floor as a deflection. Wanting to change the subject, she remarked, “Who knew people still visit the club during working days? This place is fully packed.”
Harry knew she was avoiding the topic so he dropped it. He glanced at the dance floor and offered, “Would you like to dance?”
Tessa’s eyes widened and she frantically waved her hands at him, refusing. “No, please. I can’t dance to save my life.”
However, Harry wasn’t taking no for an answer. He got up and held out his hand at Tessa. “Let’s dance. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you.”
Tessa glanced at his hand and felt her stomach twist. She bit her bottom lip and glanced at him, saying, “I don’t know… Harry. I don’t dance. All I’ll do is step on your feet.”
“Don’t worry. I’ll show you how.” Before Tessa could tell what was happening, Harry had grabbed her hand and led her to the dance -floor.
“Harry! I told you I can’t dance!” She yelled, her stomach knotting with nerves.
Harry didn’t listen and when he finally dragged her to the dance floor, he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. He looked into her eyes and smirked, “Relax and follow my lead. We are not doing the waltz here. It’s freestyle.”
Tessa was uncomfortable by the closeness so she put some distance between them and finally agreed, “I’ll try.”
“Good, move like this. Do side taps with your feet. Swing your hips to the beat of the music. When 1 move to the right, move to the left just like that. Yes, that’s right. Now do it fast to follow the rhythm….”
Harry kept instructing Tessa and she kept laughing because she was making mistakes. She would step on him or move the wrong way but soon, she got the hang of it.
A slow sensual music began to play and Harry suddenly held her hand and made her do a head loop by placing her hand around his neck and then he pushed her hand down, making her trace his chest while he did a body roll.
The move was intimate somewhat so Tessa quickly took back her hand but then, she suddenly felt like someone was burning a hole in her back.
She whipped her head around to see who was staring at her but the place was dim and she couldn’t make out any faces.
She shrugged and continued dancing with Harry. Meanwhile, Aaron who was seated a few meters away from where Tessa was dancing with Harry narrowed his eyes at the two of them.
He clenched his hand around the glass of whiskey he was holding as the air around him turned icy cold. How dare he touch my woman like that?’
Aaron was completely filled with jealousy that it took his all to not go forth and break Harry’s hands.
“I was wondering why you suddenly wanted to sit in the ordinary area of the club. So you wanted to spy on your former assistant?” It was Tony who blurted out since he had seen where Aaron’s eyes had been ever since they sat down.
He wasn’t even talking to them but kept looking in the opposite direction.
“She’s your future sister-in-law. She gave birth to three children for me,” Aaron announced and his friends’ mouths grew wider than the pacific ocean.
“Are you for real? I’m an Uncle?” Tony inquired, his eyes gleaming and Aaron nodded. “Yes. You’re all Uncles. Be sure to buy my triplets gifts,” he said, showing off.
“Wow! Triplets! Congrats Man! I shouldn’t have suspected you of not being able to function! Three at once! You’re the man!” Victor remarked and Aaron shot him a glare.
“I told you I was perfectly fine. I just respond to one woman,” he said through gritted teeth.
Tony and Victor broke into laughter. Ever since Aaron ran away from Serena while intoxicated with the libido-heightening drug, they had been making fun of him.
“I guess we should stop making fun of you now. If anything, you’re better than all of us. We thought Graham was going to be the first to have kids since he was going to be the first to get married but his bride bolted. Who knew Aaron had been secretly making babies?” Tony uttered with a big smile on his face.
Aaron smiled, he sat up straight, feeling proud when he thought about his adorable little ones. He might have been late but from now on, he will try his best to be a good father to them. He will start by making their mother happy and making her his wife.
“Damn! Why is she with Harry though? Isn’t he your brother-in-law-”
Aaron shot Tony a cold look and he instantly shut his mouth.
“Sorry, I meant, isn’t he Serena’s brother? What is he doing with the family’s enemy? Because if you want to marry Tessa, it means she’s Serena’s rival, not so?”
“Tessa has no rivals. That’s because there’s no other woman in my heart. I’ll never put her in a position where she has to compete with other women. I had already made that mistake once and it cost me,” Aaron proclaimed.
Tony patted his shoulder and replied. “That’s good to know and I’ll support you all the way. But I suggest you up your game because your brother- I mean, Harry looks like he’s going to get some tonight.”
Hearing this, Aaron whipped his head in Tessa and Harry’s direction and anger ripped through his chest like a tidal wave at what he saw.
Harry had his arm wrapped around Tessa’s waist as he led her into a grinding dance. Tessa looked uncomfortable and it was clear she was going along with it to not offend him.
ron gritted his teeth and put his glass on the table before getting to his feet. His gaze turned colder than ice as he glowered at the two who were lost in their own world. ‘I have to put a stop to this nonsense now!”
He was fuming as he stepped on the dance floor and the moment he reached Harry and Tessa, he pulled Harry away from Tessa and landed a punch on his cheek.
“She’s not comfortable with what you’re doing!” He growled and made to follow him and give him more punches.
Tessa gasped and placed her hands on Aaron’s chest, pushing him away from Harry. She ignored how firm Aaron’s chest felt and dragged in a deep breath.
“What are you doing?!” She questioned as panic crept into her. Aaron’s chest felt stuffy. He was fuming and jealousy was eating at his heart and common sense. All he wanted was to pummel Harry’s head until he passed out.
His eyes turned cold as he glared at Harry, shouting, “How dare you touch my woman? I’ll kill you!”
“Aaron, stop it! No fighting!” Tessa yelled and only then did Aaron stop himself from throwing more punches at Harry. He grabbed Tessa’s wrist and pulled her to his side, “I’m taking you home this instant.”
Tessa didn’t fight him because she wanted to avoid a fight between the two men. And Harry had indeed made her feel uncomfortable by being pushy.
Aaron pointed a finger at Harry and gave him a warning. “Stay away from my wife.”
He led Tessa out of the club before Harry could recover and sped home as if he was being chased. Tessa knew he was angry so she just kept quiet. She didn’t even know why she was feeling guilty.
It’s not like she was together with him or anything and she wasn’t doing anything wrong. But why did she feel like she had been caught red-handed by her lover? It’s because he’s acting like I’m married to him,’ she mused.
When he arrived outside Tessa’s apartment building, Aaron parked the car and walked around to open the door for her
Tessa alighted from the car, she looked at his face which was devoid of any emotion and said, ” Thanks for the ride”
“Please promise me you will stay away from him.”
Aaron’s words made her stop in her tracks.
“He’s dangerous, Tessa,” he added, sounding desperate.
#
Tessa smiled and looked at Aaron She was a little drunk and wasn’t in the mood to be hostile to him so she simply said, “Let me be the judge of that. Thank you for looking out for me anyway. Goodnight, Aaron.”
It took a moment for Tessa’s words to sink in. She had already entered the building when Aaron realised that she had called him by his first name.
His heart exploded. He was over the moon as he stared into the night sky, spreading his arms wide and shouting, “She called me by my name!”
He was happy because to him, this was progress. Slowly but surely, Tessa was opening up to him. and very soon, she would become Mrs Wentworth.
