SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Twenty-Five: Newlywed Bliss
Chapter Twenty-Five: Newlywed Bliss
A FEW weeks after their wedding, Max left for a business trip to the Western Isles. He said it will be only for two months and promised to return home soon.
Hyacinth is left with taking care of Erin and Maine’s homeschooling. She made sure that the two always finishes their respective homework and research projects before going outside to go shopping. Because Hyacinth is free to do whatever she wished, she began writing letters and sealing them with glittered wax. It was a newfound hobby of hers after Max bought an expensive smartphone for her use.
“You need that phone because I can’t message you otherwise. There’s a specific app there for receiving and replying to my messages...” he had said to her while she was busy examining the new gadget.
She accepted the gadget after he insisted to give her a NorIsles Express Black Card. He had insisted that she needed the card for expenses but she fervently refused it, suggesting that if she needed something, she can buy it with her savings.
But he left it on the mahogany table near their bed, anyway. He said that the card is under her name and he had no use for it whatsoever. When she protested, he had already pinned her to the bed and was urgently removing her clothes with a grin on his face. A few minutes after that, her protests were replaced with soft gasps and inaudible cries of passion.
Max is a generous husband, both in money and bed. He shopped new clothes for her and availed exclusive memberships for her so that she could enter into establishments and buy luxury items. They argued one time about him being controlling with her lifestyle and he apologized by making love with her in the bedroom.
Well, it is a good thing that their bedroom is far away from the other rooms...otherwise, there will be complaints about the late-night noises from them. She blushed at the thought.
After she finished sealing an envelope with a glittered wax, she stamped her customized stamp—it is a letter H surrounded by the flowers lily and hyacinth. Then, she pulled the drawer of her bedside table and placed the newly-sealed envelope in a box full of similar envelopes with wax seals. A soft smile crept on her lips as she surveyed the letters before closing the box.
The next week, she had another appointment with her OB-Sonlogist. The doctor asked about her health and if her husband is going to be with her during the ultrasound. She answered the doctor with one of her gentle smiles and explained that Max is a busy man and wouldn’t always be available for her monthly check-ups.
After the doctor’s appointment, she went to Moonround cafe to meet Jean. The poor woman needed help and Hyacinth offered to assist Jean with work, considering that she is now a Bismarck and she has every right to support her husband in any way she can.
The Bismarck company employees looked at her with a terrifying expressions as she walked to the elevator with Jean. Her friend explained that the employees were just intimidated by her presence and it seems like everyone in the company thought of her as a beast for tying the intimidating Maximillian Bismarck into the matrimonial knot. She just laughed at the notion while Jean chuckled with a girlish grin.
Hyacinth wouldn’t have thought that employees inside the notorious glass building considered the workplace hierarchy as a food chain. Maximillian is the primary consumer and the investors as the secondary ones. And, of course, the employees and interns are located at the bottom of it. Now, they consider Hyacinth as the primary consumer for taming the previous titleholder.
This a ridiculous analogy from Jean Baden-Rodriguez yet it made her laugh and forget the fact that Max didn’t witness the growth of their baby via ultrasound. She took a video of it but nothing beats the real experience. Hyacinth remembered how she squealed in excitement when she saw the speck from a month earlier grow a bit bigger.
When the elevator opened on Max’s office floor, her jaw dropped into an O shape. The floor is made out of the whitest marble she has ever seen and the hallway is livened with the brightness from the outside. The ceiling-to-floor transparent glass provided her with an excellent view of Sutton City buildings. She cannot believe that Jean sees this terrific view every day for the past few years working as a secretary.
There are two receptionists near the hallway behind a marble counter looking at her in utter shock and fear.
“Mrs. Bismarck, good afternoon. Your husband didn’t mention that you’ll be here today.” The woman with blonde hair approached her and removed her coat. “Is there anything you want, Mrs. Bismarck? Refreshments?”
The name sounded so strange in her ears even if it belonged to her. She almost forgot that she is now Mrs. Maximillian Bismarck and not the janitress that cleaned up after strangers’ mess in the coffee shop across the Bismarck building.
She remembered these receptionists as a customer of the cafe where she once worked. They give generous tips in the tip jar and they clean up after their mess.
“Please call me Hyacinth. Mrs. Bismarck is a mouthful.”
The woman smiled at her. “Of course.”
Jean introduced the blonde woman to her. The blonde is named Beth Whitney and the brown-haired receptionist behind the counter is Kate Gibson. The three of them exchanged pleasantries and she can sense that the two receptionists are slowly lowering their guard around her.
As Hyacinth decided, she helped Jean with sending emails and managing Max’s schedule while he was abroad.
“Max is an independent man, Haya. He can manage his schedule mentally and asks me to add it to his digital planner which we could access simultaneously. He’s just gonna call and ask me to add or cancel a sched and that’s it.”
“Then, who’s with him?”
“His assistant in the Western Isles, Mr. Groves. He’s the one who accompanies Max everywhere he goes.”
“I see.” Hyacinth scanned the papers on Jean’s desk before facing the computer.”
“Hyacinth, Mr. Bismarck is on line two. Answer it, please.”
She grabbed the phone from Jean’s desk like her life depended on it. “Hello?”
“Jean, cancel the meeting tomorrow. I have to check a land property in the other city.”
She managed to control her excitement as her fingers quickly moved on the keyboard to erase the said schedule from his planner. “Should I call your business partner to cancel the meeting?”
“I personally asked him to cancel. By the way, who is this? You’re not Jean.”
She giggled and sighed. “It’s Hyacinth.”
A long pause before he answered, “How’s your day?”
She bit her lower lip when his commanding tone suddenly disappeared as soon as he knew he was talking to her. “My day is fine. I visited the doctor and our baby grew a little bit bigger from the last time.”
A throaty chuckle was heard from his end. “Erin grows up so fast, hmm?”
Her heart melted at the affectionate tone in his voice. Hyacinth has this urge to scream and jump in delight. God, she must be delirious. “I wish you were there to see it. I’ve sent you a video, though.”
“I’ll look at it later. First, tell me why you’re in the office.”
She looked at Jean who is now smiling from ear to ear while looking at her blushing face. “I-I visited Jean and offered to help her for a bit, that’s all.”
“Did you bring George with you? You should not go outside the house without George.”
“He’s in the lobby. He never leaves my side, Max.”
“Good.”
She bit her lower lip. “H-How’s your day?”
“Tiring, yes, but fulfilling. Attended a meeting with my Chief of Operations here in the Western Isles. After that, I went back to my suite and enjoyed a shower.”
Her toes curled inside her sandal strap when his voice emphasized the word ‘shower’.
“Remember what we did in the shower, my love?”
She blushed to the roots of her hair. Jean chuckled when Hyacinth attempted to cover her cheeks with her other hand. “Stop teasing me. Jean can hear you.”
Hyacinth heard his familiar bedroom chuckle and it was more than enough to make her nerves tingle. She squeezed her thighs together as her feet flexed under the desk.
Oh, he’s a wicked man.
“I’ll call you later, lovely lily.” He ended the call.
Hyacinth had to put down the telephone when Jean shook her shoulders. “You naughty beast!” Her friend squealed in an unladylike manner. “What did you do in the shower?”
“Keep quiet, Jean. They might hear you.”
“Oh, yes, they will. We need something to think about when Max slams his door every time something goes wrong. That way, we can endure his dictatorship.”
She covered her cheeks and whispered, “I went inside the shower area while he was there, and...it was an accident, I swear. But...he pulled me there and...and...I kissed him.”
“Only a kiss?” Jean was disappointed with her answer.
“But that was the first time I initiated a kiss. He had been really happy that day.”
Oh, yes. How can Jean forget the newlywed bliss on Max’s face on a specific day last week? Hyacinth was right. Max was happy. The man looked like he just conquered the world or something equal to that analogy.
“You have much to learn, Hyacinth. You must know that a couple can do more than a kiss under the shower.” Jean pinched Hyacinth’s cheek.
“Who told you we just kissed under the shower?”
Jean’s eyes widened. “You naughty—”
“Beast? I know. I know.” Hyacinth finished off her friend’s sentence and covered her entire face.