6/7
The Way To A Man’s Heart💌💌
💌💌By Hossana Isaac O.
(Hossy Short Story Series)
Chapter 6💌💌
💌Louisa💌
I strolled to the kitchen and saw Alyson pouring tea into a teacu-p from a teakettle. I didn’t know if I should enter the kitchen or just go back.
But I have to get breakfast re-ady before Jesse gets re-ady for work in about an hour
As I stood contemplating, she turned and looked at me then sm-irked
“hey” she said and sipped the tea
“good morning” I said and moved to the water filter to get water. It was too early to drink cold water so I didn’t go to the fridge
“how do you like London?” she asked
“I love the fresh air” I replied without looking at her
“and how do you like Jesse?” she asked again
“I love the way he appreciates my food. Makes me feel very lucky that I can cook” I replied, this time I faced her and looked her straight in the eyes
I think she got my message because her face showed a little bit of anger.
“well… Cooking isn’t even a virtue” she said and twirled her hair with her index f!nger
“I guess it was your dad that did the cooking in your home” I replied and went to the fridge. I brou-ght out cream and dropped it on the counter. I’m going to make doughnuts and yoghurt for breakfast and I’ll nee-d cream to add to it
“he didn’t because we had a cook in our house”
“then I guess you can never be a good cook cause you never had a role model”
“oh plea-se st©p ma-king cooking look like such a ha-rd thing. It’s just what someone can get up and do” she said and scoffed
“oh really? Great! Then make breakfast” I said and returned the cream to the fridge
“what?”
“you heard me. Make breakfast. It’s not ha-rd . Come on”
“but…”
“I’m sure Jesse would be thri-lled you made breakfast for him”
“okay. I’ll make breakfast not because you said I should but because I want to thri-ll Jesse and I will” she said and sm-irked at me
**
“wow” Jesse said as he stared at the oct©pus looking sandwich covered with bu-tter and jelly. It looked so odd and I covered my mouth, trying ha-rd not to laugh. Alyson looked at me and frowned
“what is this?” Jesse asked
“it’s a sandwich” she replied
“why did you have to make a sandwich? We’re not ten year olds” I said and she rolled her eyes at me
“I don’t have a problem with her ma-king a sandwich but this… This isn’t a sandwich. It looks like a jellyfish that swam into yellow and red algae” Jesse blurted out and I laughed
“it looks more like an oct©pus. See, it has… One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight legs. How did you make the legs” I asked and Jesse looked at it
“did you use your f!ngersto press the slices of bre-ad together?” Jesse asked
“don’t blame me, they kept scattering and wouldn’t stick together” Alyson defended
“oh God!” Jesse said and palmed his face
“you know what, just take cereals” she said and left the dining table
“why didn’t you just make breakfast for me?”
“because she wanted to thri-ll you and I’m sure you’re quite thri-lled right now” I said and he chuckled
“trust me, I am” he said and I smiled
“I’ll get you some crackers and coffee. You’ll just have to manage. I promise I’ll make something better for dinner” I said and stood up
“thank you” he said and I moved away only to be pu-ll-ed back by him. His hand was gripping softly unto my own hand
I looked at his face and it was quite soft and apologetic. Why would he put on such an expression
“Louisa” he gently called me
“what?” I asked. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it. Then he opened it again
“I… I… I’m… I’m sorry” he stammered
“sorry? What happened? Why are you sorry? What for?” I asked
I had noticed he was quite dull since morning. And now he’s telling me he’s sorry? Oh no! My dad! I hope it’s not what I’m thinking. I hope nothing happened to my dad
“I’m sorry about yesterday. I mean last night. What you saw” he said and my mind c@m£ down
“oh” I said
“and I’m sorry if Alyson had put up a stupid act with you cause she’s fond of that” he said
“it’s… It’s nothing. I don’t see that as a bad thing. I was the one who got up at an odd hour. It’s totally my fault. And I’m sorry I barged in on you guys like that” I apologized too
He nodded and gently and slowly let go of my hand. He heaved a de-ep sigh and began to look at the table
I placed my hand on his shoulder
“Jesse are you okay?” I asked and he looked up at me and faked a smile
“I’m fine” he said. I felt he wasn’t fine but I just left him and went into the kitchen. I brewed coffee and microwaved the crackers from the fridge. I put them into a plate and poured the coffee in a mug then took it to him.
He looked like someb©dy in de-ep thought as I approached him. Something tells me Jesse is not okay
“here. Manage this” I said as I dropped it in front of him. He heaved a sigh and looked at me
“thank you” he said
“Jesse, are you sure you’re okay?” I asked and sat on the chair adjacent him
“I’m fine. Just feeling weak. Couldn’t sleep well last night” he said and I un-derstood. He was probably busy with Alyson throu-ghout
“okay. I think the coffee would help. So drink before it gets cold” I said and stood up.
“uhm Louisa wait… I was thinking maybe you and I can go take a look at about three universities around here this weekend. So you’d choose the one you want. Clas-ses would begin in about few weeks time and I can actually help you enrol in one easily”
“oh really? That would be great. Thank you Jesse”
“you want the one closest to the house I guess”
“well, till we see them” I said with a smile and he smiled back. I left him and went back to the kitchen to get my own breakfast.
Jesse
During the weekend, I took Louisa to go and look at the three universities that I liked best. She was plea-sed with the one farthest from the house. I didn’t like that idea but she seemed in love with the school so I let her enrol. After the day, I wanted to take her out for dinner but she wouldn’t let me. She said she was going to cook for me instead. We however went shopping together and I found out a very shocking discovery.
I was falling for her.
That night Alyson spent the night with me, even after I went to my room angry she had caught Alyson and I, I still had S-x with Alyson but the funny thing was that I kept seeing Louisa instead of her. I kept hearing Louisa’s voice and I kept reminiscing on the time we spent together earlier that day.
She had been with me for just two weeks and I was alre-ady falling.
Though it’s quite unusual I haven’t t©uçhed her at all. It’s so strange she hasn’t sle-pt in my be-d yet. The me I know would have had S-x with her multi-ple times but one didn’t even happen.
I guess there’s something different about Louisa. I like her. I like her laugh. Her cooking. Her perfect cooking that can mesmerize a man into swimming in her cooking pots. Since Louisa c@m£ I look fresher, even my colleagues at work tell me that.
I know it’s good food. Perfect food.
And what I love more is that she diversifies her dishes. Bringing different tantalizing meals everyday. She only repeats a meal when I ask her to.
“how about we make our own barbecue tonight?” she asked as we entered the house
“outside?”
“yeah. Your courtyard” she replied
“sure. We alre-ady got the chicken and spices”
“and enough drinks are in your fridge”
“and we’ve got music”
She chuckled to that. I opened the door to the kitchen and she entered.
I exhaled and soothed my forehead with my index f!nger
“are you okay, Jesse?” she asked
“yeah, I’m good” I replied
“you should go and take a cold shower. I’ll make some popcorn and get some fresh oranges from the tree for orange jui-ce”
“okay then. I’ll see you” I said and left the kitchen
As I undressed and got un-der the shower, I placed my hands on my w@!st and let the water fall on me and we-t all my b©dy.
My eyes were closed and I began to see Louisa flashing me that beautiful smile of hers.
I palmed my face with my hands.
What in the world is happening to me? I’m losing focus. I’m getting myself into trouble alre-ady.
I wish I could make advances towards her but it would only scare her away from me. She’s quite timid and shy so I wouldn’t want to create a bad impression on her.
I hurried up with my shower so I could go back to her. As I was entering my room, I wasn’t walking carefully and the water dripping from my b©dy and also my we-t feet made me sl!pand hit my h!pbadly on the floor
I la-id down there for some time, this hasn’t happened before. Louisa, see how you made me loose focus
I smiled and stood up then walked to my be-d. I sat down and pressed my h!p. I cleaned myself, applied lotion and wore an orange trou-ser with a white shi-t
I headed downstairs and hurriedly went to the kitchen but Louisa wasn’t there. I c@m£ outside and met her sitting on the couch
“hey when did you come here?” I asked and sat beside her
“I’ve been here. Just that you didn’t seem to see me when you pas-sed” she replied
“wait, you mean I pas-sed you while going to the kitchen?”
“yeah”
“gosh. And I was looking for you” I said and she laughed
“the popcorn’s popping. And I just finished squee-zing the orange” she said and la-id back on the couch while she crossed her legs on t©p of it too. The couch is very wi-de, two people can l@yside by side on it like a be-d.
I began to stare at Louisa, suddenly wishing that she could just lean on me while watching TV and I’d just wra-p my arms around her and cudd-leher. Then she’ll just turn her face to me and tell me she likes me then I’d k!ssherl-ips and tell her I like her too. Then she’d chuckle and place her head on my shoulder and I’d just tint my head and lovingly place gentle k!sses on her n£¢k, her cheek, her eyes and finally herl-ips.
“gosh!!” I said out loud and palmed my face
“what’s wrong? Did you forget something?” she asked
“I’m in trouble” I mumbled
“trouble? What kind of trouble? I hate trouble” she said and I looked at her
“can you help me plea-se?” I asked and she moved closer
“what’s wrong with you Jesse? You’ve been like this since this week. Always in thoughts” she said. I kept staring at her to the extent that I felt like just leaning forward and placing a light k!sson herl-ips then tell her she’s the reason.
“I…. I have a position in the company and I wish I could be promoted. You see, the CEO wants to create new dep@rtments and there’s one I want. Actually I’m not the only one contending for it. Three other people are. And it’s almost like I’m no match for them. I really nee-d that position but I’m stuck. It feels like I can’t do anything to help myself” I said. It was true though I didn’t have to tell her that. It’s just so she could think that’s why I’m acting this way
“if you’re meant to be in that position, you will. What will be will be” she as-sured and I smiled. I pu-ll-ed her and hvgged her. Her b©dy was stiff, which means she didn’t expect that.
“thank you.” I whispered. She chuckled and then hvgged me back, gently patting and stro-king my back.
“no problem Jesse” she said. I smiled because I had no plans of letting go of this hvg
“oh no! The popcorn!” she said and quic-kly dis£ngaged from me and ran off to the kitchen
“bloody popcorn!
Episode 7
Two months later
💌Jesse💌
“dude you’ve lost focus. How can you mix up the files from two different contracts?” Sanjay said and I palmed my face and felt my temperature. My head was h0t
“are you feeling feverish?” he asked
I re-moved my palms from my face
“no” I replied and rested my back on my chair
“thank God I quic-kly realized your mistakes and I corrected them for you”
“thank you” I appreciated
“so who are you gonna bring to the anniversary next week?”
“my friend… Louisa” I replied
“from what agency cause we don’t have a Louisa here”
“she’s not a model” I stated and stood up to get water. Images of the hvg wouldn’t re-lease me of their grip. She had hvgged me after I gave her a br@celet.
Thoughts of Louisa is getting me into so much trouble alre-ady. I didn’t bargain for this. I never expected this to happen. What in the world is ma-king me fall for her? I’ve been hiding my feelings for months now and it’s killing me slowly
“an actress?” Sanjay asked
“no. She’s a university student”
“whoa whoa whoa. You want something fresher and original that night then” he cooed and I chuckled
“I wish” I mumbled and sat down then gulped down the whole bottle of water.
“well, it’s time for closure. Do you wanna gr-ab a bite before heading home?” he asked and stood up adjusting his watch
“no. I’ll be going home straight. I really nee-d a long warm bath. I nee-d to think” I said and began to pack my things
“Jesse, is it me or you’re beginning to behave like a poor secondary school boy who has a crush on the h0ttest and riche-st girl in school”
“the only difference with what’s wrong with me now is that I am not in secondary school, and she’s not the riche-st but definitely the h0ttest”
“whoa…. So you’ve got a crush? Who is it? I know it’s definitely not Alyson”
“Alyson’s just a be-d mate bruh and I never renewed my contract since two months ago”
“yeah but she’s pretty good though”
“what? You’ve…?”
“who hasn’t Jesse? You’re not the only one okay”
I chuckled and stood up with my suitcase.
“we’ll see tomorrow okay?” I said and shook his hand
“yeah” he replied and we walked out of the office together
As I pas-sed, my secretary gave me that ‘flir-ty look’. I shook my head and continued walking
“hey Jesse!” she called out and I gro-an ed.
“what is it?” I asked as I turned
“did I do anything wrong to you?” she asked
“no” I gently replied
“then why do you keep avoiding me?”
“I’ve been quite busy lately” I said
“but you’ve always been busy, yet you create time for me. Why the change?”
“nothing” I simply said though I wanted to tell her Louisa happened. Because I just can’t stare at another lady and not think of her. I see her face everywhere.
“I really have to go OK? I’m tired” I said and turned to walk away but she pu-ll-ed me back and began to k!ssme. She ran her hands all over me and before I could decide to say no, I was alre-ady in her house, in her be-d and having her lying n-ked in my arms.
I was too tired to say no and I couldn’t help but drive her to her house and have S-x with her. I’m even glad the drive was successful without an accident because she was all over me in the car.
“why don’t you spend the night here Jesse? Spend the night with me” she said and I shook my head
“I nee-d to go home” I replied
“but it’s late alre-ady. It’s almost midnight” she stated and k!$$£d my che-st
“what? Midnight?” I asked and looked at the clock
“oh my God!” I exclaimed. How did the time run so fast? From 4pm to 11:45pm? What in the world have I been doing with this lady?
“we can have more rounds. Come on I’m all yours tonight baby” she said and sat on me.
“hell no. I gotta go home now!” I said and shoved her off from me. I rushed down from the be-d and quic-kly wore my un-derwear.
“where are my clothes?” I asked
“I don’t know. We both r!pp£dour clothes off before we even got to the room” she replied and sat up
“oh jeez!” I said and quic-kly left the room. I began to pick anything I see that’s mine on the way. I got to the living room and saw my trou-sers and suit. I looked at the time again, it’s alre-ady ten minutes to midnight and I haven’t even seen my phone.
I began to look for it everywhere. My secretary c@m£ out and met me turning her things upside down
“what are you doing?” she asked
“looking for my phone” I replied and re-moved a cushion pillow from a cushion chair. I threw it on the floor when I didn’t see my phone un-der it
“you didn’t bring it in here. It’s in the car!” she yelled out and I stood still
“oh God” I said and palmed my forehead
“well, I’m off. See you tomorrow at the office” I yelled as I ran off with my trou-sers and suit in my hand. I got outside and it was raining. I entered without even thinking and I ran to my car. I re-moved my keys from my trou-sers’ pocket and opened my car. I got in and quic-kly drove to my house.
It was still raining and I didn’t care. I got into the rain leaving my suitcase in the car. I quic-kly rung my door bell and hoped Louisa was gonna hear because I didn’t have my spare key with me
💌Louisa💌
I was so worried when it was alre-ady 7pm and Jesse didn’t arrive from work yet. I had prepared Tisimuru in large amounts for dinner since he loved it and he didn’t come during dinner. I’m so worried. I dialed his number numerous times after it was past 9pm and he didn’t pick up.
Finally, the doorbell rang. I was lying down on the couch slee-ping. I stood up and checked the time, it was few minutes past 12am.
My heart began to race. What if it was some sort of monster? What if it’s a police man who’s come to inform me that something terrible happened to Jesse.
It was the monster p@rt that scared me most. I slowly walked to the door and looked throu-gh the pinhole. I heaved a relief sigh and quic-kly opened the door
💌Jesse💌
I rung the bell about three times before she finally opened.
“Jesse!” she exclaimed and tried to hvg me but she st©pped
“you’re in your un-derwear.” she said
“I… Uhm”
“oh my God! What happened to you? Were you abducted? Are you hurt?” she said all these while either tou-ching my face, or my che-st or my arms.
“sweetheart I’m okay. I’m fine. Nothing happened to me” I said and held her arms
She sighed in relief and hvgged me ti-ght. I hvgged her back and closed my eyes, this is pure heaven baby.
“I was so worried. I thought you had an accident. Or something worse and you weren’t even picking your calls Jesse” she said
“I’m sorry about that. Some things c@m£ up”
“I’m still wondering why you’re in your un-derwear only” she said and dis£ngaged from me but I still held her w@!st
“long story. But I’m home now, aren’t I?”
She chuckled and freed herself. She took my suit and trou-sers and led me inside.
“I made dinner but you can’t eat now. It’s too late for food. But you can take h0t Coco. I’ll make it for you” she said
“I’ll just go upstairs. Let me have those” I said and she handed me the suit and trou-sers. She went into the kitchen and I went to my room. I took a warm shower and c@m£ back downstairs.
“hey, have this” she handed me the red cu-p.
“thank you” I replied and sat on a dinning chair
“you should go to sleep now. It’s pretty late” I said after I took the first sip.
“okay. Good night Jesse”
“good night”
I watched her as she walked away. When she went upstairs, I sm-irked and ruffled my hair.
Damn I love this girl!
💌Louisa💌
During breakfast Jesse wouldn’t st©p stealing glances at me. I felt uncomfortable. Maybe something bad happened to him last night and he didn’t want me to know about it. Or he wants to try and tell me about it.
“Louisa” he finally called out
“finally you want to tell me what’s on your mind now” I said and he chuckled
“you can’t take in what’s on my mind Louisa. However, I’ll still tell you what I want to tell you” he stated
“I’m listening”
“our company’s 20th anniversary is coming next week Thursday” he said and took a munch of the cake in his hand
“okay…”
“would you be my d@t£?”
“your d@t£? Like, accompany you to your company for…”
“the p@rty”
“p@rty? Oh I’m not the p@rty type”
He held my hand
“Louisa, plea-se. I don’t wanna go with a model everyb©dy knows”
“what if I don’t fit in?”
“with this killer beauty of yours? Trust me, you’d still the show”
“steal the show huh?”
“still… S-T-I-L-L.” he spelled out
“oh you mean still the show? Like pause the show?”
“yeah. You’d make everyone pause” he cooed and I laughed
“I still don’t want to go”
“I’m begging you”
“I’ll get nervous”
“I’ll be with you”
“okay. I’ll be your d@t£ but… I don’t have any p@rty outfit. The dresses I have are in Italy. I didn’t bring them since I didn’t think I’d use any. I usually wear them to weddings”
“how about we go shopping tonight? We’d get your shoes, dress and a matching purse”
“uhmm… Okay” I said with a smile. He smiled and soothed my hand then let go of it
“I’ll come back home early. We can have dinner out too”
“okay then”
💌Jesse💌
I opened the door for her and she sat in. We just bought a pretty flowing go-wn. Purple in colour.
Her heels were white and so was her purse
I also bought a few makeup and cosmetics for her. I wanted to buy a pretty and big earrings but she just decided on studs.
She would look really beautiful and I’ll try all I can to keep her from the sight of my boss
To Be Continued