THE CEO'S AFFAIR

PROLOGUE

March 2010

An enormous silence fell on the room the instant Zach dropped his bombshell. Mitchell blinked her eyes twice before she pinched herself to be sure she wasn t having a scary dream; she felt the pain and reality kicked in. She wasn t dreaming at all. It was happening.

Zach was saying something, she could see from the movement of his lips but she was no longer listening to him, her mind was far away. When he stopped and looked at her questioningly, she realized he must have said something that demanded a response or he d probably asked her a question.

"What?" She managed to ask in a feeble voice, pressing her lips firmly together, determined not to give in to the burning tears that now threatened her eyes.

"I asked if there was anything you wanted to say to me."

"Anything I wanted to say to you?" She repeated stupidly after him blinking her eyes twice in quick succession. What could she possibly want to say to him or was he expecting her to say something in particular? But of course, there was a lot she wanted to say to him now that she thought about it but she couldn t bring herself to say them right now, not with the tears that now filled her eyes and emotions clogging her throat.

Closing her eyes for a few seconds, she tried to control the tears before she finally opened them again, even if she has to wait until some other time to say everything she wanted to say, she deserves to know right now why he was breaking up with her.

She needed to know.

She has the right to know.

"Why?" she asked slowly, looking at him straight in the eyes.

She caught the look of guilt in his eyes before he hurriedly averted his gaze from hers.

"Why?" she repeated when he remained silent.

"I have no reason," he said slowly, not meeting her eyes.

"No reason?" Mitchell repeated dumbly after him, unable to believe her ears.

"None at all," he said, still not meeting her eyes.

"None at all?" she repeated with a look of disbelief in her eyes.

He nodded.

She slowly nodded in acceptance. He cannot have any reason because she had been her utmost best to him. The thought of begging him flashed through her mind, but she had done a lot of that lately with him. She was going to save her last pride and walked out with dignity and never looked back.

Taking a look at his face, the determined set of his jaw, and the rigidness of his body, Mitchell knew that he d meant every word he had said and no amount of pleading or persuasion could make him change his mind, so she grabbed her bag and took one final long-lasting look at the man she had come to love, adore and place above all else before she hurried out of the room, just as her eyes gave ways to the tears that have been threatening to spill.

CHAPTER ONE

January 2018,

"Is this the Sweet spot bakery?" Mitchell said into the phone.

"Yes, it is," came the calm, polite voice from the other end. "Good morning, ma am, how may I help you?"

"Morning. I would like to make an order for some cake. Hope it can be delivered within the next two hours?"

"Certainly ma am. What are your orders?"

"A medium-size birthday cake and thirty-six cupcakes of different flavor"

"Any inscription on the birthday cake ma am?"

"Happy birthday Bestie."

"Will that be all ma am?"

"Yes, that will be all."

"Your address ma am?"

"23, Wellington Street, Zubal Food Company. Mitchell Brown is the name. And please, do not delay." She added pleasantly

"We won t ma am. Thanks for patronizing us".

"You are welcome. Have a good day."

"You too ma am" And the line went off.

Mitchell replaced the receiver and sat back in her chair. She hoped her secretary was right about this bakery. Though it was a last-minute decision to order, she fervently prays they won t disappoint.

She busies herself with work for the next few hours that follow after she ended the call and exactly two hours later, her office telephone rang, it was her secretary, Debbie, calling to inform her of the arrival of the delivery guy.

"Show him in," she said into the telephone. "And thank you, Debbie," She added.

"You are welcome ma," Her secretary answered, sounding pleased.

Mitchell smiled, allowing herself some moments before she replaced the receiver. She was the kind of boss who appreciated the work of her workers, especially her secretary. She had since noticed that paying her compliments and praising her work only made her more efficient.

A knock on her door announced the presence of the delivery guy.