I smiled as I finished making the last taco. I had decided to make both the pizza and the tacos because I had been feeling very generous even though it was leftover Thursday.

Keith had called to let me know he was about boarding the plane. That was 2 hours ago. I had already started cooking before he called so that everything would be ready by the time he came in.

Placing the taco beside the rest, I carefully stepped over Everest, who had been in the way, to avoid a repetition of my home accident. I could swear that cat was determined to be the reason behind my being crippled for life. He was always in the way.

I rushed up to my room and showered quickly before pulling out a big long gown from the drawer in my room. While pulling up my panties, I remembered tat thong of mine that disappeared mysteriously and frowned a little. I had almost forgotten about it. Shrugging it off, I patted my hair and thought of what to do with it since I already removed the extensions. I looked at my wig and considered it but then decided against it. I just did some cornrows and went downstairs to snack on some sliced apples and that was when I heard the front door open and close.

I was happy he was back because since he started being nice to me, I stopped feeling lonely in the house. But I didn't want him to think I was overly excited to see him, so I just sat down and opened Instagram while stuffing my mouth with apple slices.

"Maya?" He shouted from the sitting room.

"In here." I replied absentmindedly as I smiled at the picture Jason put up, a picture of his fat tabby. I loved that cat. It was such a lazy cat with a sassy attitude.

"Hey." He said when he walked into the kitchen and leaned down to kiss my cheek.

Oh God he smells so good. No. Stop it Maya. We all know you have a weird habit of sniffing those you like the way they smell. But resist it. Don't lean in. Don't think of taking just a whiff of it.

"Damn that's one fat cat." He said as he tried taking my apples but I smacked his hand away.

"Wash your hands first..and fat can be fine too." I replied while smacking his wandering hand again. "Germs." I said and he rolled his eyes as he walked to the sink to wash his hands.

"How was your flight?" I asked and when he didn't reply, I raised my eyes to look at him and saw him just standing with his eyes tightly closed as he frowned, the water still running.

"Keith?" I called out, making my way towards him. He then opened his eyes and turned to me with a forced smile.

"Sorry. Zoned out for a second. What did you say?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. It's nothing serious. Probably gas." He said, brushing whatever it was that happened off. I nodded and then offered him the apples he so much wanted. Taking the plate from me, he put some in his mouth before putting the plate aside and pulling me flush against him.

"No welcome-back-I-missed-you kiss for your husband? I must confess I'm hurt Maya." He said with a smile before leaning in to kiss me. My hands automatically went round his neck as I kissed him back.

After what felt like hours or months even though it obviously wasn't, he broke the kiss.

"If you would kiss me like this every time I travel, then maybe I should travel more. By the way I stopped by to pick up mother's gift. It arrived this morning—" he saw the look on my face but continued before I found say a word. I thought it meant his PA ordered it for him. "—and before you'll say anything, the dealer sent me a catalogue and I chose from the lot in there. See? From my heart."

I looked at the pretty necklace and smiled. It was beautiful. "It's beautiful. Wait are those real diamonds?"

He nodded. "Yes they are. Somehow, she knows the fake ones when she sees them, so you have to get the real ones or don't get them at all."

I scoffed mentally. Of course she knows the real ones when she sees them. I swallowed nervously when I remembered what I got for her. I hoped she'll like it eventhough it was very simple.

"You'll shower before eating right?" I asked and he nodded, so we went upstairs together with different goals in mind.

"I got her something too. It's small, and I know yih said I shouldn't bother getting her something but I thought that since you're her world, maybe I'd make a scrapbook for her. I took pictures from your albums and printed the ones still in the camera. It has all the pictures, even the ones taken when you were born. By the way you were such a cute baby...want to see it?"

"Yeah. She should like anything that has me in it. When I was 12, I heard her fire one of the new maids just for accidentally breaking a picture frame in her office that had a picture we took."

I shook my head as I imagined the poor girl pleading with her. My mother in-law was unbelievable. Keith followed me to my room to see the the scrapbook.

When he sat down, I nervously handed it over to him an sat down opposite him to watch his expressions, to know if he actually thought it was nice. I breathed easy when I saw that he actually did like it. Hopefully, his mum would.

*******

Finally, it was Saturday, the day we had all been planning for, the almighty birthday dinner. My heart was in my throat. I remembered her words all those months ago.

It is quite unfortunate that Keith has insisted on bringing you to my birthday dinner. The least you can do to not embarrass me and my son and your father is to not eat like that.

I whispered a small prayer to God and hoped everything would turn out fine. After showering and putting on my bra and another ridiculous thong and knee length tights to hold my thighs, I sat down and brushed my wig while muttering "I'll do something about my hair as soon as I can because I am just tired of brushing these wigs".

It took me about 45minutes to get ready but then after slipping into my shoes, I took a deep breath and went to knock on Keith's door with the hope that he'd help me zip up.

"Holy shit" he muttered when he opened the door and saw me. I felt my face heat up. It was a daring outfit. I had never worn something of that nature out before. I didn't even imagine I would. Even with the tights I wore, you can still see my skin color if you look closer because it wasn't as thick as I thought it'd be. I felt nude under his eyes.

"I need help with my zip." I said softly as I turned and moved my hair out of the way. After what felt like hours, he finally reached down my back to zip the dress but then I felt his breath on my neck before he pressed his lips against my neck and I involuntarily let out a soft moan. When he zipped it up and stepped back, I could breath easy again.

"You do know mother might have a heart attack when she sees you in that dress."

I chuckled at that. So long as he liked it, I didn't really care for what his mum thought.

"You look beautiful."

"Why, thank you kind Sir. You don't look so bad yourself." I replied with a smile as I watched him struggle with his bowtie which I finally reached up to help him fasten when he started looking frustrated. I found out that as the days passed by, I got more comfortable around him, and he did everything he could to get me comfortable around him.

I got used to his kisses, his touches, the way he cracked jokes I didn't get always. I did tell him comedy wasn't for him but he laughed and refused to believe me, claiming that practice makes perfect. I was so comfortable around him. I found out that Keith was fun to be with when he wasn't being an ass.

He leaned in to litter kisses on my neck and told me how much he wanted me. Considering how excited I was from being touched, kissed senseless and teased by him constantly and being backed into different walls and corners in the house, I was just about ready to give in. I could feel my body reacting to his touch but then his phone started ringing thereby putting a stop to what we were doing and ruining the moment. I slipped out of his room immediately he walked towards his bed to pick up the call and tried to collect my thoughts.

Different thoughts of how the night might end fleeted through my mind and I pressed my fingers against my eyes as my different personalities argued in my head.

You can always give in. You want him, he wants you. What more do you want?

No! What if it's just sex that he wants and will go back to being an ass to her once he gets what he wants?

I shook my head to clear those thoughts out of my head. I didn't want to think about any of that. What I wanted and needed to do was focus on how to get through that night, that birthday dinner without getting hurt, and that was exactly what I ended up focusing on.

. .