Unwrap Your Desire

OLIVIA

FINALLY, I am back in the office after my two-day suspension for the incident involving me hitting Elizabeth in the face.

I was preparing some documents and checking emails all at the same time. Recalling how Elizabeth slapped me on the face, I found myself crumpling the paper in anger.

She was suspended too, given the behavior she had shown, which had enraged Ellie.

Sighing, I received a cold-blooded email from Ellie, telling me to write an explanation about my recent behavior that put me in a bad position given that I was in front of some of our top executives when it happened.

I cursed under my breath and pulled my hair a bit, and then I typed my response, ending up hitting backspace after a while as I stared at the ceiling.

“Fuck…”

My unhappy thoughts were ripped out when my phone rang. I checked it and realized Lara was calling me.

“Hey, devil. What’s up? Are you free this weekend? I got a big payout and I want to treat you for once,” she said.

Lara wasn’t the generous type, and this was one of the moments I usually wanted to splash a holy water over her for being strange. Too bad, I had to decline.

“I’d like to, but I forgot to mention that I’ll be busy this weekend for my presentation. I also need to meet someone regarding Reese Jones…”

“What a busy bee you’ve become!” She giggled. “No biggie, we can catch up next time, devil. I’ll hang up now!”

I sighed heavily and decided to chat with Mia instead, seeking help to write an explanation email that I had to send to Ellie. An email came into my inbox shortly. I thought it was her who sent me a sample, but I was surprised to see that it was Ms. Williams.

She said she’d be happy to see me this coming weekend! Along with the address info she gave was my flight details to France, which was scheduled for next Monday. I’d be representing the university to attend the business seminar that would be held in Paris.

“France, France… I can’t wait to-“Oh, shoot! My passport!

I began to panic, realizing that I had no passport for Reese. I immediately called Chase, and thank goodness he answered his phone right away.

“Reese, baby, what’s wrong? Is there an emergency?”

“My flight will be on Monday. I don’t even have a passport.”

“You have one, remember?”

“I… I think I lost it.” I palmed my face.

“I will ask someone to check it in the house.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, baby. Don’t worry; I’ll take care of it. I have to end this call now.”

***

RIGHT after work, I left the office immediately to go straight home as I felt dizzy for some reason. I badly wanted to throw up, but I had no time even for that. The stress consumed me since there were a lot of things I needed to attend to with my work as a creative director, and at the same time I had to be a great student and prepare for my upcoming flight to France on Monday.

I pulled my hair out and yelled in frustration. Mathias was shocked, taking a peek through the rear-view mirror.

“Are you okay, Madame?”

“No, I’m not okay. Stop asking me.”

“I’m so sorry, Madame, for asking you that.”

“I’m fucking stressed, so please, I don’t want to hear any noise,” I said and inhaled sharply. “What’s that smell?”

“What do you mean, Madame?”

I covered my nostrils with my finger. “Your smell, Mathias. Haven’t you taken a bath? Gosh, the smell of your armpits, I can’t stand it!”

Mathias’ face reddened in shame. “Madame, I take a shower every day. Let me spray some perfume.”

I scoffed. “No need. I will tell Chase to give you a better soap or whatever.”

Silence filled the car. As I gazed through the window, my emotions started to pick up and my tears fell, as if I was a child. Too much pressure got into my nerves, and I couldn’t handle it anymore.

“Tell me, Mathias. Should I just give up?”

“Madame, are you crying? Did something happen at your work today?”

“Yes, a lot has been happening, and I can’t contain it.”

I bit my bottom lip as I shook my head.

When we arrived at our house, I immediately went to the bathroom to pee, and then I felt a sudden pain as I urinated.

“Freaking UTI…” I murmured.

I waited for Chase to come home to help me find Reese’s passport, but he was not home yet and it was already eight o’clock in the evening.

“He should be home around seven.”

I talked to Mathias, and he told me Chase’s staff couldn’t find my passport and that he would leave the office early. But he hadn’t arrived yet, and I was thinking that he had gone somewhere else to see some girls…

I became so paranoid that I contacted his phone numerous times. Finally, he picked up the phone after three attempts of ignoring it.

“Hey, where are you right now?”

“Baby, I’m extending a few hours. We do have important work to do.”

“Important? My passport is missing. That’s also important. Your staff didn’t find it here. So what am I supposed to do now?” I asked, irritated.

He sighed on the other line. “I’ll talk to you later, Reese, okay?”

“If you hang up on me, then don’t talk to me for the rest of your life, or I might just move into a different place. You’ll never see me again. How’s that sound?”

“What the heck, Reese?”

“I’m not kidding.”

“Okay, sure. I will not end the call. I’ll put you on speaker phone until I arrive home. Sounds good?”

“Come home, please!” I nagged.

I waited for a few seconds, then he responded with a long sigh.

“Wait for me, I’ll come home and find your passport.”

“Okay, see you.”

I ended the phone call with a smile from ear to ear.

I could not wait for Chase to go home.

One of the staff then went to me and said they found my passport in the storage room. They gave me my passport and I immediately looked at it.

“Wow, Reese Jones, look at you,” I mumbled to myself when I opened the passport and checked her photo. I was extremely happy and I kissed it.

In less than thirty minutes, Chase finally arrived. He then went inside the house and looked so pale.

“Reese, let me find your passport, alright? I’m sorry if you can’t count on our staff. I will look for it on my own.”

“Sure baby, but…”

“Wait, I’ll go to the storage room. It’s probably there…”

I showed him the passport. “Ta-da! I got my passport now!”

He sighed. “You did?”

“Yes, your staff did find it in the storage room,” I said with a wink.

I saw the frustration in his eyes, but he didn’t say anything. He shook his head and massaged the temple of his nose.

“That’s great, but please next time, before you call, make sure that… never mind. I’ll go ahead and change my clothes.”

“I’m so sorry, Chase.” I frowned.

“It’s okay.”

I didn’t like the expression on his face so much that it made me cry. My emotions were high at that time, seeing Chase’s disappointment in me.

“Baby, what’s the matter? I said it’s totally fine. It’s okay, hush now…” He cupped my face and wiped my tears.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes…”

I then stopped crying and smiled at him.

“Alright, I want a vanilla ice cream. Please buy it for me.”

“Oh.. Sure.” His brow furrowed. “That’s out of nowhere, but as you wish.”

“Thank you, my love!” I said and kissed him on his cheek.