Chapter 537 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

Soon Jamal relaxed in the back as Celsie hummed a tune to him, while Benne looked at them through the rearview mirror.

Benne sighed when he glanced at his wristwatch and saw that it was 08:15 already. He had a meeting scheduled for 09:00 AM, and from the looks of things, he doubted that they would get to the office in time for his meeting so he dialed Harry’s line.

“Good morning, Harry. Are you at the office already?” Benne asked immediately after the call connected.

“Am I not supposed to be at the office by past eight?” Harry asked irritably, causing Benne to frown.

“Are you okay? Is there a problem?” Benne asked with concern.

“I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Why are you calling?” Harry asked impatiently.

“We are running late. I’m stuck in a traffic jam and I don’t think I can get to the office in time for our meeting with Mr. Willoughby, so you may have to start without me,” Benne explained, and Harry raised a brow.

“A traffic jam? We both know there is hardly ever traffic on the route from your place to work. Is Celsie with you? Are you both running late on purpose? I told you I wasn’t going to condone it if you were making me Co-CEO just so you could slack off…”

“Cut the crap, Harry! What is wrong with you?” Benne snapped at him irritably, and without waiting for Harry to say another word he hung up.

Once again, Jamal started crying, while Celsie looked at Benne in confusion, wondering why he was yelling at Harry.

Benne took a deep breath, feeling annoyed at everyone. Why did the day which had started so beautifully have to take such an ugly turn?

“I’m sorry, Jamal,” Benne said as he met Jamal’s gaze in the rearview mirror, and Benne looked at him for a moment before taking out his handkerchief from his pocket and extending it to him.

“You shouldn’t cry too much. You look even more ugly when you cry and I doubt Celsie is going to like you very much when she sees your crying face,” he said, making a funny face at Jamal as he turned to look at him, and Jamal forced a smile as he took the handkerchief from him.

Celsie smiled as she helped Jamal dry his tears before looking at Benne, “What is the problem? Why did you yell at Harry?” Celsie asked Benne, and he shook his head.

“It’s nothing,” Benne said without looking at her, but she could tell that he was upset, and she felt sorry because she knew that she had contributed to his current mood.

“I’m sorry I ruined your mood. I shouldn’t have said what I said about wasting time in bed. I was upset and I took it out on you unfairly. I love you and…”

Benne sighed, “I love you too, and I’m sorry I raised my voice.”

“My job is important to me. I know that you may not understand…”

“I understand you, Celsie. I get you more than you think. I don’t have a problem with you loving your job. My only problem right now is that you seem to believe you are the only one making sacrifices for our relationship. I don’t think you realize that I also face criticism. I am criticized in the same manner. Do you think it’s different simply because I’m the boss and you are the lady?” Benne asked, and Celsie’s brows pulled together as she thought about it.

Benne sighed as he watched her, “Let’s leave it at that. Don’t you think you should give your teammates a call to inform them that you will be late?” He reminded her, and Celsie held his gaze for some seconds before taking out her phone from her handbag to do as he had suggested.

Benne winked at Jamal when he caught the kid staring at him through the rearview mirror, and made a funny face at him causing Jamal to laugh. Benne made a mental note to ask Jade about Jamal’s relationship with his father.

As Celsie returned the phone to her handbag after putting a call across to her office, it beeped with a message notification and she took it out to see that it was a text from Sonia.

[I just spoke with Jade. I can’t call because I’m in the car with Bryan and his parents. Jade said her boss is trying to help your aunt find her lost daughter, but it has to be kept a secret. Do you know anything about your aunt having a missing daughter? Don’t you think you should tell Jade about it?]

Celsie sighed as she read the text. Knowing how smart Jade was, Celsie did not doubt that it wouldn’t take a long time before Jade would put everything together.

All she needed was Sara’s pre-surgery photos, and once she was able to figure out that Sara was the same person in the photo in Harry’s bedroom, she would put all the pieces together.

She was beginning to doubt that Aaron’s secret would stay secret for much longer, she thought with a sigh and looked up to see Benne staring at her through the rearview mirror.

“Jade’s boss is trying to help Sara find her missing daughter,” she informed Benne with a worried frown.

“Let’s not talk about that right now,” Benne said as he looked from her to Jamal who was still staring at Benne.

Following his gaze, Celsie understood what he meant and gave him a nod, “Alright.”

Benne returned his attention to the road when the car behind him honked, and he sighed in relief when he realized that the cars were moving again, and it seemed like whatever had blocked the road had been taken care of.

Now that he had resolved his issue with Celsie, and Jamal seemed fine, his thoughts drifted to Harry. Why did Harry sound so upset? It wasn’t like Harry to speak to him in that manner, so what was wrong? Was it about yesterday? Benne mused.

He wasn’t looking forward to spending the day with a grumpy Harry. He had a feeling that this was going to be another long day.

Immediately after they arrived at the company, Benne pulled the car to a stop in front of the building for Celsie to get down before turning to Jamal, “Do you want to go with her? Or can you stay alone in my office?” Benne asked, and Jamal looked at Benne for a brief moment before shaking his head.

“I want to see your office,” he said quietly, and Benne gave him a nod before looking at Celsie.

Although they had apologized to each other, there was still some tension between them, and Benne could tell that Celsie wasn’t comfortable.

“I will give you a call after my meeting,” he promised, and she gave him a nod before kissing Jamal’s forehead and getting out of the car.

“Have a nice day,” Celsie called out to him before walking away while Benne and Jamal watched her until she disappeared from view.

“It’s just the both of us now, boy,” Benne said with a wink as he drove away from there to his private parking lot.

“Who owns all these cars?” Jamal asked as he looked around the parking lot after Benne parked the car.

“They’re mine,” Benne said, and Jamal’s eyes bulged out as he looked at him.

“But you have some at home. You can’t drive them all, can you?” Jamal asked, and Benne chuckled.

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