[The next morning at Raymond's place]

"Morning sunshine !!!"

She opened her groggy little eyes and saw him standing next to the bed.

Life couldn't have been better for her, for the first thing that she saw that day was her handsome man. A smile etched on her face and she started rubbing her eyes with the back of her palm.

He bent down and planted a kiss on her forehead and she beamed like a sunflower.

His lips hovered lower to kiss her but she immediately covered her mouth with her hands and said.

"No No... I haven't brushed".

His lips immediately curved in a smile and he said,

"Let me help you then".

Saying that he slowly removed her hands which blocked her mouth and gently kissed on her lips. But just a gentle kiss wasn't enough to satisfy his appetite. Soon his hands wrapped around her back and his palm glided to support the back of her neck for he needed his kiss to be even deeper like the endless abyss of the ocean. His hands pulled her closer every passing second, not wishing to spare her with even an inch of space.

Her hands slowly moved up in rhythm and tugged on to his shirt. They reached the point of equilibrium but then the phone in his pocket starting buzzing.

"Oh c' mon", he said as he detached from her and she giggled.

It was a call from David and so he picked it up, deeming it urgent.

.

.

"Good morning Mr. Raymond !!! Hope I didn't disturb you?", asked David.

"Let's not push our luck with that question", Raymond answered back all grumpy.

"Umm... sorry for that, but there was something important and it was paramount that you knew about it", David said.

"Tell me, David. What's wrong?", Raymond asked.

"I am not sure if there is any connection, but your dad is flying back to New York from Seoul, this afternoon. Not sure if that is a good deal, given that we have the annual event of Global Council of Gaming lined up in a week's time for our product launch", David said.

Raymond pinched the space between his brows and said,

"And how I wish my life could have been a tad bit simpler !!!", and sighed.

"I don't know what to say, but do you need me to pull any information out?", David asked.

Raymond thought for a while and then said,

"Check if he is participating in the annual event of GCG. Checking his schedule will not give us anything as he will always be in stealth mode. But still, try to get his schedule for the next week if possible".

"Sure sure, I am already working on that", David replied.

"And one more thing, if possible try to figure out who are the committee members of the GCG council. If we keep a close watch on them, then I guess we can figure out if anything wrong is going to happen", Raymond suggested.

"Well I am going to try but it might be difficult since getting the names of the council members itself is a big challenge".

"I understand that completely David. You try whatever is possible in your bandwidth. We will try to fight based on the merit of our game and the rest... Let's not think about that".

"Right", David said.

"Also tighten security in office and ask the IT department to be more vigilant. None of the designs should go out. Because that's our core and our only way to show the ingenuity and novelty that our game possesses".

"Sure, Mr. Raymond. I will take care of that. See you in the office", David said and disconnected the call.

.

.

"What happened you don't look so good?", Akira asked Raymond as she saw him keep his phone back in his pocket with a sullen look spread on his face.

"It's nothing, just some disturbances here and there", he said and smiled immediately, looking at her.

She took a deep breath and sat up on the bed.

"Is it some problem at work?", she asked.

"You can say that".

"Can I help ?", she asked looking at him curiously.

He smiled and came close to her and holding her chin with his hand he said,

"Just stand with me, next to me, close to me and keep my heart happy".

"Something like this?", she said and placed her arms around his neck like a garland.

"Nopes something like this", he said and pulled her t-shirt down in the front and kissed on her chest under the locket.

She pushed him back and said,

"Are you always this horny Mr. Raymond?"

"With you around? Yes !!! With you trying to act all cute? Definitely yes !!!", he replied and winked.

She giggled and then went to the washroom but was surprised to see the things laden inside for her, starting from new underwear to clothes to a new tooth-brush even.

She immediately rushed back from the washroom within a second and asked,

"How did you arrange for all this overnight? No shops will be open this early".

"I didn't arrange for them yesterday".

"Then when did you arrange?"

"After the first time, you came to my house on that rainy day. I wished for you to come sooner but things were a bit out of my hands".

"So you expected me to come and spend a night with you?", Akira asked toying with him.

"Now if you put it that way, then I can't help you out", Raymond said, folding his arms.

"So let's say that you were kind of hopeful that it will happen", Akira taunted.

Raymond didn't say a word and just rolled his eyes.

"And how do you know my size?"

"Really Akira? You are asking me this? I can probably count the number of moles in your back. My hands exactly remember all your curves, so much so that I can even tell..."

Before he could complete his sentence, she covered his mouth with her hands.

"Ok Ok I get it. You don't need to go into that detail".