Coming Home

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

After a few coaxing, threatening and manipulating, Max finally agreed to meet with a pyschiatrist to talk about what had happened. A week had passed since he'd come home and the doctors had confirmed no further complications when he had his check up. The pyschiatrist he'd been working with was a family member and someone he trusted, which was a relief to Venice since she was worried that he'd not be able to build rapport with the pyschiatrist and postpone further process of healing.

Luckily, Max was fortunate enough to heal quickly after taking action early. She was thankful that he hadn't put up much fight after a few coaxing and swaying him with a few tears. She'd wanted him to go back to normal as much as he could, but there were still moments when he had flashbacks of what had happened. A plane crash wasn't something that was taken lightly. And even to this day, the suspects remained unknown in spite of the lists of possible culprits. None of them had showed any evidences that could be held against them and point them as the suspect.

So they'd returned to their normal life. She'd recently moved to another company since a few of her co-workers had found out about her relationship with Max. It was inevitable and it wasn't something they could avoid, so she'd merely resigned and applied for another company.

A few days in the new environment, and she'd immediately liked the people around her. They were nice and friendly; a fresh set of people to work around with. Her employer had treated her nicely after the interview. He'd even offered to buy her dinner as a welcome gesture but she'd refused. She didn't want anyone to think she was sucking up to him considering she was a newbie.

"I can't believe you moved to another company," Max pouted as soon as she'd walked through the door. They'd decided to meet up for lunch and he'd chosen a sophisticated Italian restaurant that didn't have much customers in it.

"I can't believe you haven't gotten over my leaving," she teased as the waiter came over and took their order. "It's been two weeks already."

He scowled. "Why would you even need to listen to what others had to say? They're not paying for you. I am."

She barely held herself back from rolling her eyes. "That's the thing. I don't want to see your money in my bank account. It's just weird now that we're together."

He reached for her hand and grasped it in his, squeezing her hand before saying, "you don't have to work, you know. We have more than enough in our account to last us two lifetimes."

She'd never agree with him. She'd never wanted to live off of him for the rest of her life, doing nothing and relying on him for her needs. That wasn't how she was raised. Her aunt had given her enough morals to last her a lifetime.

So she gently rejected his offer again. "You know how much I like to work. I'm afraid you've spoiled me with having a lot of workloads every day and not having enough time for myself."

His face fell as he was reminded of the past. "That's why I'm trying to make it up to you."

Venice immediately realized what she'd said. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean it like that."

"It's all right. I know what you meant."

Knowing she couldn't bring back what she'd said, she gestured to the dessert menu and asked, "to make up for my mistake, how about dessert? My treat."

"How can you treat me when you've just started working?" her husband asked, brows furrowed.

She smiled. "Don't worry, I have enough savings in my account. A few bucks on dessert wouldn't hurt."

"Are you sure?" she nodded. "Well, then. How about chocolate ice cream?"

***

"Miss. Zane," her new manager said as she looked up from her desk. "Can you please go over this paperwork and make sure they're good for submission? The president wants it cleared prior to submission."

"Sure thing." She stood up and grabbed the thick folder and started going through it. She had a couple more hours to spend in the office before she had to go home. Coming home was thing she'd been looking forward to these days. Working for Max had its pros but also its cons. But when she'd worked for him before their marriage, she'd barely looked forward to coming home and spending another evening going through the same phase.

"Here you go," Venice said after an hour later. "These were already cleared before it was submitted to you, Mrs. Jane. So I think it's fine if we give this to the president by tomorrow morning."

"Thank you so much, Miss. Zane." Mrs. Jane said before smiling at her. "You're such a gem."

She still hadn't told any of her co-workers about being Mrs. Smith. She'd wanted her marriage to be a secret as to avoid the complications it brought from the past few weeks. She didn't want to be known as Mrs. Smith--the woman Max Smith had married. She was Venice Yvonne Zane--the woman that strived to help others without expecting anything in return. She wanted to be known as that woman. Not as the wife of a famous company owner. Not that it was a bad thing, no, but she just wanted to be known for herself.

She said goodbye to the bodyguard at the entrance and drove home. The house was quiet and the lights were off by the time she'd unlocked the door. After the penthouse had exploded, Max had decided to permanently stay in one of his estate that was located on the other side of town. It wasn't exactly close to her work but she didn't mind the long drives. It gave her time to prepare for today's activities.

"Max?" she called out in the dark, throwing her keys on the hallway container. "I brought the cake with me as you asked."

Still, there was no reply.

Her birthday had been the other day and they hadn't been able to celebrate since he had a lot going on at the company, and she'd been lucky herself, since she was swamped with paperwork. And now Max had asked her to bring a cake tonight to celebrate in spite of her birthday being late for two days. She didn't mind as long as he'd remembered.

There was a click before the lights turned on and there was a loud, chorus of "Happy Birthday!" from a bunch of people. Jill, her grandmother, the Smiths and some of their few close friends had appeared behind the counter. Venice staggered backward, almost dropping the cake as her heart pounded hard inside her chest. She almost had a heart attack!

"Surprise!" her husband appeared beside her, wrapping his arms around her before she could evenr react.

"You guys! I thought you didn't remember." Venice said, shocked and touched by the sweet gesture. She'd thought they'd forgotten her birthday since she knew they were all busy these days. None of them had been able to sit down and talk for a while without being interrupted by something. Even Max's older brother and his family were evident with their kids already running around the kitchen. She hadn't expected them to come after having a baby a few weeks ago.

"Why would we forget?" Janine asked, shaking her head. "Silly, girl. How can we forget my daughter's birthday? Only a fool can forget your birthday."

She was touched that she'd called her daughter instead of daughter-in-law. She'd always considered herself an outsider of the family since they weren't related in blood. But the Smiths had always made her feel welcome; like she was real family.

"Everyone was so busy the other day that I'd thought I wouldn't do anything," Venice blushed at how stupid she'd been. She should have known that Smiths wouldn't settle for less and should have thought to cook something little. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize you guys were coming that I didn't even thought about dinner. Oh my goodness."

"Hey, hey," George joined in. "Don't worry too much about dinner, dear. We've already prepared it so all you can do is relax and eat. Will that be all right with you?"

"Thank you so much, dad."

They all put away their little hats and gathered around the table to eat. She'd immediately known that Janine had cooked since the food were delicious. She'd even managed to cook steak at this late hour. As much as she wished they hadn't bothered, Venice appreciated the gesture and wished that every year would be like this, gathered together, chatting, laughing and talking about what had happened today. It was so simple but rewarding at the same time.

"The food is amazing, thank you, mom." Venice said after they'd cleared the kitchen and started washing the dishes. She'd offered to do them all but her mother-in-law had insisted she helped out. The old woman was just persistent as ever and she couldn't help but love her even more.

"I'm glad you liked it. It's been a while since I've cooked a feast like that but I enjoyed it very much."

"I can't even remember when I've eaten something I hadn't made," Venice found herself saying as she washed the soap off the dishes. "Since my aunt had passed away, I've been living off of canned goods and anything that was ready to eat. I didn't know how to cook so I had to find a way to survive. I didn't have much money then as well, so it was either starve or eat noodles for a few months. I chose the latter."

"I don't know how you've even managed to survive with eating noodles almost every month," Janine said with a shake of her head, looking very thoughtful and sympathetic. "I sure would have starved."

"After eating that for a long time, I decided to start cooking myself. It started out badly, as in super badly. I remember those times when I would burn eggs and couldn't even cook simple things. It drove me crazy but I had to suck it up and eat my horrible food. Time passed by, and I finally learnt. Not the best but decent enough to feed myself without throwing up."

Janine placed a hand on her arm, reassuring her. "I'm sure you've done everything to survive. It must be so hard to lose a mother figure."

"It is especially when she'd done every thing for me. I wish she lived a little longer so I can give her everything she wanted."

"I'm sure she's very proud of you," Janine answered.

Venice smiled. "I hope so."