CHAPTER 138

Kyle King

 

I took her in; she had changed her hair colour to raven black with bouncy curls. Her symmetrical face glowed under the bulb light, and her lips were as lucious as usual. Even the sweat beads building on her face didn't do her beauty enough justice. Tessa was what the world defined as a natural beauty. I tried to imagine how her backside would look now, but I caught myself and remembered I wasn’t supposed to be her exquisite building, salivating like a hungry dog.

She hadn’t said since the housekeeper offered me a seat, but I refused and joined her in the kitchen. The housekeeper, Mrs. Hudson, tried to make the room lively, but after Tessa shot her one of her deadly looks, she kept quiet. 

‘Why are you here, Kyle? I thought I told you once that you couldn’t come here with my permission, and you agreed to it?’ she said, dropping her apron. ‘Look, I have a family dinner to set up, and I am yet to get the pumpkin pie taste to perfection. Just say what you want, and please leave. You’re causing enough distraction already.’

Causing  distraction? Oh. Was that the reason she wasn’t getting the pumpkin pie taste? Oh wow. I smile inwardly, suppressing the urge to use it to tease her.

I replied, ‘I know I promised, but I missed you, Tessa. I couldn’t stop myself, and here I am. I could help you with the pumpkin pie, or I could leave if you want me to. I just wanted to spend the evening with you, though. I wouldn’t have come if I knew you'd have a family dinner to plan.’ 

She sighed, running her fingers through her hair. ‘Fine, you can stay and help, but you will leave once you’re done. The whole family is coming here, and you know, they don’t like you.’

I smiled, rolling my sleeves. 'Alright, but can I see the children before I leave? I would like to know if they would like to hang out at my place after Christmas.

‘We will talk about that after Christmas. Please, let’s focus on the pumpkin pie. This is the first time I am doing it, and it looks like Mrs. Hudson and I got it wrong.’

I tasted the messy pie and almost puked. That’s right! They added more sugar and allowed the pie to stay too long in the oven. Someone added something like ginger. 

‘Who added ginger to the pie? It killed everything about the pie.’

Mrs. Hudson smiled a bit. ‘I am sorry, but I thought ginger would work well for the dough. I once saw my grandma put it in pies, and it worked well.’

‘What? Are you sure it was the pie she was making or gingerbread or ginger cupcakes?’ 

Tessa laughed, pouring a quantity of flour into a bowl. ‘That’s enough, Kyle. Mrs. Hudson didn’t mean any harm. I already told you we got the recipe wrong. Can you perform some magic with this flour? We used almost everything for the first trial.’

I stared at the bowl. It was more than enough. ‘This will do, ladies. Now, give me some breathing space and watch me make some magic.’

It took us almost an hour to complete the cooking, reheat the gravy and the turkey, and arrange the table to perfection. Tessa forgot to get the wine, so I rushed out to get one. Luckily, the store outside her street had the one she wanted.

She was grateful for my help and suggested I stay for dinner. ‘What about your family members? They don’t like me, remember?’

She chuckled, ‘I will take care of them, and besides, you are the kids' father. They won’t disrespect you in front of the kids. You also helped me a lot to get this family dinner straight.’

I shrugged, glancing at my watch. I had nowhere to be at this point, so I agreed. ‘Alright, I will stay for dinner, then. You should get dressed, though. Your guests will soon be here.’ 

She let out a yelp and jumped into the elevator. I had almost forgotten how massive her building was. There was that reminder again, laughing at my face. My ex-wife was richer than me, and I was still chasing after her.

The pathetic story of Kyle King, right?

 

_

 

The family dinner ended quite well, as I expected. Her parents and James were nicer than previous times, and I believe this was what prompted other relatives to be friendly. I didn’t know most of them because they didn’t attend our wedding then, except for her distant uncle, who was sitting across the table. He had been pleased to meet me and expressed the hope that Tessa and I would return together. If only he knew how hard I was trying to make that wish come true.

Mr. Robert came to meet me while everyone was dancing to nice Christmas songs. His facial expression revealed that he didn’t come bearing gifts.

‘Kyle. I hope you are enjoying the evening. He asked, handing me a glass of champagne.

I smiled, collecting it. I had always admired Tessa’s father, not because of his boyish handsome looks or broad shoulders, but because the man used the Jordan Belfort strategy to start his empire. I always wanted to be like him. I wanted to be the wolf in my niche, and I achieved that aim, but I was still not satisfied because I wasn’t recognised globally yet.

‘Yes, I am. Thank you for the champagne. How’s business?’

He laughed, ‘I am not here to talk about my business but about you. What do you want with my daughter? Are you planning on returning to her because of the kids or her money?’

I swallowed hard, not liking the fact that his voice was a bit too loud and that he was drawing attention to us. ‘That’s not my aim, sir. I am here because I realized my mistake and am trying to rectify it.’

He stared at his glass. ‘Right. You should be in prison for everything you did to her, you know? But Tessa changed her mind at the last minute and decided to forgive you. You have a second chance, Kyle. Don’t break my daughter’s heart, or you will be in that prison your ex-wife is in at the moment.’

I nodded, not liking the taste of his threat. ‘I am sorry about everything that happened between us, sir. I promise not to repeat the same mistake.’

‘I hope you can keep that promise, or else it will be good bye to your kids forever and a bye to your sleazy CEO title. Enjoy the rest of the evening, son.’ He tapped my shoulder and walked off to meet his wife.

Did he just call my title sleazy and threaten me with using my kids as a tool? Oh boy. All that didn’t matter now. I had to focus on not ruining my second chance with Tessa Robert.