Boss Lady

An Exciting New Venture

"That's completely beside the point!", I said, flapping my hands in the air.

He pulled me into his lap and tucked my head under his chin. I was so surprised by the sudden display of affection that I went quite willingly. We had never so much as held hands before. Just played around and teased each other.

"What if I buy you a platinum bracelet now?", he asked me.

" You can't afford it.", I said sullenly.

"Trust me I can.", he said quietly. I looked at him in surprise.

" Just answer the question, Sana.", he said chiding me.

"I would say it's a waste of your money because your income to expenditure ratio is out of control.", I said automatically.

"That's exactly what I am talking about!"

"But it's not the same. My income to expenditure ratio is quite stable even if I buy you the whole Nike line.", I said puffing my cheeks up.

He poked his finger into my cheek and pushed expelling all the air out. His blond hair fell into my eyes and as he looked down at me. We were close enough to kiss, just a little closer and our lips would press together.

But he didn't kiss me.

"Give me a little time to wrap my head around the fact that my girlfriend is a billionaire. It's a shock.", he said.

But the only thing I heard was GIRLFRIEND! GIRLFRIEND! Holy shit!

I grinned like a lunatic. God! It felt good to hear that word on his lips.

"So I am your girlfriend?", I asked just to make him say it again.

"Absolutely not."

I pinched his foot.

"Ow! Ok, yes! Fine, you can be my girlfriend. How old are you woman?!"

"I am 33.", I said honestly tracing the veins on his hand. I wasn't young and I was a little insecure about my age. That was the one thing, I couldn't feel strongly about.

" I am 42 and you have the maturity of a 3 year old girl."

I laughed. So true. I had never grown up but only around him was I comfortable to be this silly. Only he would ever get this privilege to see me without walls. He and my Josh.

"You are nine years older than me. That makes you as old as my uncle.", I declared feeling very much at peace in his arms.

" The thoughts I am having right now will land me in jail if I were your uncle."

Oh! Now things were getting interesting.

"Pious thoughts?", I teased.

"Absolutely unholy.", he replied in a wan tone.

I wiggled my butt.

He put his hand on my thighs and restrained me forcefully.

" You do not want to do that."

"Cock blocker.", I said grumpily.

He laughed.

" I should say that, you know."

I brushed my nose against his, he was so stupid cute.

"Ok, pussy blocked then?"

He kept laughing.

"Don't say that word.", he wheezed out.

I was laughing too, laughing so hard that I saw stars. The kind of laugh that forced it's way through the whole body, that made air rush out of your lungs, healing all the broken pieces in its way. We laughed and laughed and laughed until there were tears in my eye.

And that was when I understood that it was laughter that could hold a relationship together more than any bond. And I wanted it so bad with him. This playfulness, this vulnerability. It was one of those moments that would forever etch itself into my heart, that would remind me of the reason to live on my darkest days. It was one of those moments that you remembered for the rest of your life, a dreamy sequence in third person of two people crazy in laugh with each other.

When we finally calmed down, he held me tight in both arms.

"I didn't mean to shout at you.", he said, the quiet apology evident in his tone.

"I didn't mean to get mad at you either. I didn't mean any of those things about money.", I confessed too.

" Did I hurt you, when I rejected the shoes?", he asked, trying to get an insight into me.

"It's not the shoes. It's the money thing. People react differently around me because of the money. I just wanted to make a nice gesture, give you something. I didn't think about the money or pride or ego or any of the other bullshit. It's just.... sometimes.... I do all the wrong things when I want to do the right thing."

Talking about this was very hard for me. Josh's father had accused me of being arrogant and conceited all throughout short marriage. Even when I was an immigrant with no money, I was very proud. I had kept my maiden name after marriage refusing to let Todd dictate my identity as a person. That stubborn pride was the only thing I clung on to when everything went wrong in my life. I had money. That wasn't a boast but an inevitable part of being with me.

No one other than Jules knew that my divorce with Todd had occured a long time after I had started Boss Lady. When my monthly turnover became more than Todd's yearly income, he couldn't bear feeling less manly than me.

He couldn't bear me making more money than him or me taking any financial decisions. That had been the beginning of the destruction of our marriage. Josh had been the final nail in the coffin but that was a story for another day.

"I am not humble, Ethan and I don't want to be. It just comes with the territory of being a CEO. I am overly ambitious and I am a bitch but I promise I will try to tone it down with you."

"I will break up with you if you do.", he said firmly.

" I like you as you are, arrogant and conceited and egoistic and ambitious. Those are good adjectives to describe a woman and an entrepreneur. Plus, I find it really hot on you."

For the second time, I gaped at him. God! He was good for my soul.

"You know technically speaking, you can't call me your girlfriend. You haven't even kissed me yet.", I tried to bribe him into kissing me.

He pressed a chaste kiss on my cheeks.

Of course, I should have put a kiss on the lips in the contract.

" All in good time, querida. All in good time."
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