Restriction

Chapter 2

"That's crazy. It's obvious he wants to leave Cooper-"

"No." I interrupt Ben, glaring at him. "Don't say that. . . I- we can figure it out. I just need to talk to him."

I

"When?" Ben gives me a flat look. "You said it yourself, he gets home late, you're fast asleep, and he lives early in the morning. What else do you need to see?"

Losing my appetite, I set aside my lunch. "I can't lose my marriage, Ben. Its... It became a part of me, how can I just let it go?"

"The same way he seems to be just letting it go."

"He's probably just going through something right now-"

"Stop making excuses for him Cooper, you're a very intelligent grown woman and there's no doubt you'd be able to put two and two together if you weren't so desperately trying to cling onto something that's gone or at least close to being that way."

"I think we should get back to work." I avoid his eye and decide that I shall no longer be comforting in ben. He doesn't understand. He takes the hints and heavily sighs, packing up his stuff and leaving my office without another word.

I check my phone to see if there were any missed calls, maybe a text, but there was nothing. No worries, he's just busy.

I leave him another voicemail letting him know that I'll be making dinner and that I would appreciate it if he were home early.

- - -

The trolly rolled against the nicely polished tiled floors, and I grabbed the spaghetti sauce from the shelf humming to myself. Tonight was going to be different, I could feel it. He was going to come home, and we were going to have a nice dinner where he would tell me what was going on with him.

A woman's intuition is never wrong.

I was on my way to check out when I noticed a man who looked quite lost looking between two maxi pads. He let out a frustrated sigh. I smiled softly, approaching me.

"Hi there," He spins to look at me, towering over perhaps almost 6'4. He was muscular to say the least, spirals trailing down his arms. Dressed in a grey cotton t-shirt and matching basketball pants, the man peered down at me. "I'm cooper, you look a bit agitated. Want some help?"

"Denzel." He says, with an odd look on his face. "Sure, she said something about. . . Cortex?"

"Kotex." I correct him, reaching for the pink and black package on the shelf. "This is what you're searching for."

"Thank you." He lets out a breath, nodding.

"Girlfriend?" I ask, admiring the fact that this man was doing this.

"No, sister actually."

"Ah okay well, you better get it to her then. It was nice meeting you, Denzel."

"You as well Cooper." He gives a small smile.

You as well. Huh, Jeffery always says that.

I glance at his sugary brown eyes and short black hair once more before finally making it to the cashier's desk and checking out.

_ _ _ _ _

As soon as I was done with setting the table, a car pulled up to the driveway. I was right.

I couldn't help as a grin snuck onto my face, and I practically ran to the door to wait on him. He walked in, in all his beautiful glory. Brown curls fell over his face messily, as usual, his golden eyes vibrant and excited. perhaps he wanted to see me, just as much as I wanted to see him. He wasn't much taller than me and was more on the lean side. But he was handsome at that, warm milky skin hidden by the finely tailored grey suit and his strong hands clinging to the briefcase.

"Good night." I greeted and his eyes were wide upon noticing me.

"Cooper. Good night." He nods, his smile faltering a bit.

"I made dinner, but I'm sure you already know, I sent voicemails."

"You called me today?" He raises an eyebrow, sauntering into the kitchen.

"I did. Numerous times." Henry shrugs it off, heading to the fridge to take a bottle of water. "Well, are you ready to eat?"

"I'm actually heading out." Disappointment deflated my mood so quickly it was as if I was never happy.

"But you just got back. . . I haven't seen you in days which is crazy since we live in the same house. We haven't even spoken-"

"Cooper, Cooper," he cries annoyed. "Enough okay? If you wanna talk, we'll talk when I get back." He feathers a kiss onto my forehead before running upstairs.

Tears filled my eyes as I sat there alone, in the silence of our big house, surrounded by shallow paintings and fortune costing furniture, but it felt empty. I felt empty.

#

The next morning I woke up and to my surprise, Henry was next to me. I thought about waking him up to speak to him about last night as he said, but I decided against it and gently cuddled into him.

He smelled different, it seems like he had switched colognes and no longer used the one I usually buy him. Nevertheless, he smelled good.

This lasted a solid five minutes before he shoved me away like I was disgusting. I looked up at him, confused and he sighed, sitting up.

"I'm sorry love, I had a nightmare." He called me 'love'.

I immediately forgave him, opting to rub his back but instead he stood. "Would you like to talk about it?" I ask, and he shakes his head.

"I'd rather not." He says curtly, grabbing his towel and heading into the shower. I decided to get up also, grabbing my outfit for the day and laying it onto the bed. The shower ceased shortly, and Henry stepped out in his slim glory, water droplets streaming down his skin. I bit my lip, and sat onto the bed, staring at him.

"It's a bit early don't you think?" I asked lowly, standing to approach him. His back was towards me, so I used my hands and slid them down his front. He caught them and gently pulled them off.

"I have a lot of things to cover today. Maybe later." He grabbed his clothes and slammed the bathroom door shut.

Slowly sitting back onto the bed, I frown.

- - -

"Ah, right on time Cooper," Jeffery says as I enter my office.

"Huh?" I raise an eyebrow.

"You forgot?" He tilts his head towards someone and I finally noticed the man in the room.

"Denzel?"

"Cooper." He looks a bit relieved as h notices me. "She's decent, I guess we won't have to fire her after all."

"Fire me?"

"Told you." Jeffery rolls his eyes. "Good luck." He says before leaving.

"What's going on?" I ask Denzel.

"I'm Jeffery's son." He explains and my eyes widen.

"Oh." I sound. "What a coincidence."

"Small world indeed." He nods. Denzel wore a tightly fitted black suit, with designer shoes.

"Why were you going to fire me?"

"To be fair," He rubs his chin. "I wasn't going to fire you, I was going to fire anyone who was deemed not fit to be a part of this company. My father has a habit of hiring any, and everybody."

"Can you do that?" I raise an eyebrow and he snorts, plopping onto my seat.

"Of course I can, I'm the boss's son."

"Right." I murmur. This man obviously did not need a trainer, he looked fully capable of handling the entire country by himself. "So what is it that I am required to do exactly?"

"I'm not sure, you're the head of HR right?"

"That's correct."

"Then I shall be... the second head."

"Um. . . Okay." I mutter, a bit confused. "I'm not sure-"

"We'll make it work. I'll get the secretary to get another desk and such, this office is big enough for both of us."

"Mr. Shear. . . no offense but I'm pretty sure that this isn't how things work around here. You can't just-"

"Cooper, relax." He chuckles. "I was only kidding. We're definitely not getting rid of you." He winks and I frown.

"I'm actually taking my father's space so he can go on vacation."

"Oh." I breathe out slightly. "So why'd he drop you here?"

"You're so inquisitive. Anyway, Coop, see you later."

"Coop?" I bite the inside of my cheek as he leaves. Shaking my head, I start up my computer getting right down to work.