Beneath the Chairman's Facade

Chapter 3

Natasha's hand shook on the phone as a Ferris wheel of thoughts ran around in her head. Of course Evan's sentence had been cut by more than half. He was on parole and she was his collateral. She was responsible for him until his ankle bracelet came off. If he did anything stupid, she would bear the brunt and as far as she could understand, he was already doing stupid things.

"Detain him please, I will be there as soon as possible. I'm sorry for whatever inconvenience he has caused you." When she ended the call, she noticed Jarvis eyeing her curiously. He looked like he was going to burst with holding his questions in. She rolled her eyes. She felt sorry for him but for the past five years, she had hidden the fact that Evan was in jail. No way she was going to reveal that now. Although it was written nowhere in the company's policy, Natasha did not think having a husband convicted for company fraud would give her any credit.

"Sir, since I may be fired tomorrow I'm taking the rest of the day off," Natasha said confidently.

"Who was that?"

"A family emergency is all."

"What was that about detainment?"

"Howabout you mind your business?"

Jarvis instantly reddened. Natasha stomped out of the company and it was only when she was out breathing the fresh air that she felt slightly remorseful realizing she had taken out her frustration for Evan on Jarvis. There was a ninety nine percent chance of her getting fired tomorrow. Her phone pinged to signify the receipt of one of Jarvis' infamous emails. This one instructed her on the place and time to pick up the chairman. She blew out a breath and hailed down a cab. No matter what, she must never misdirect aggression onto the chairman. Whatever it was with Evan, she had to solve it now.

""Are you Mrs Miller?"

"Yes. Are you Officer Lopez?"

"Yes Ma'am," the parole officer was no more than twenty five with an enthusiastic demeanour. His build was deceptively slight but Natasha noticed tell tale signs like muscle flexing in the fingers and she could tell Lopez was good at his job. "Mr Miller was released yesterday, he claims you didn't come to pick him up."

"He… he knows the address and I opened an account for him," Natasha paused, "he could find his way home if he wanted to."

Lopez sighed. "Between you and me your husband is sort of an asshole. He'll get his ass thrown back in prison if he keeps breaking parole rules but you seem like a nice lady and you don't deserve a headache like him but…" Lopez leaned forward obviously about to ask a gossip fuelled question. "Why did you not divorce him? It must have been hard telling people your husband was in jail."

Cripes! Lopez knew nothing about being professional. Natasha gazed at him at loss of what to say. She felt torn between indulging his curiousity and telling him rudely to sod off. Thankfully, Evan's appearance put an end to the whole awkwardness. He was being uncuffed by another officer. His expression was dull, yet five years in jail was not enough to wipe away his smug handsomeness. Tall with bright blue eyes and bleached blonde hair. Natasha had not thought twice when he finally proposed.

"You've broken many rules but for your beautiful wife's sake, I'm deciding to pardon you. You literally have her to thank."

Evan cast Natasha a long look.

"When I said literally, I meant literally Mr Miller," Lopez seethed threateningly.

"Thank you, wife," Evan spat. He did not mean it of course. His tone was madly drenched with spite and it caused Natasha to flinch. Evan directed his glare at Lopez. "I am your senior. I don't take why you speak to me so condescendingly." There he went, pulling the age card as if automatically expecting everyone to do things his way. Unexpectedly, Lopez was up to the task.

"Well, guess who didn't go to jail and live off on responsible citizens' taxes for five years. Guess who has a job, c'est moi," Lopez snorted. "A word from me Mr Miller and you'll be back in a cell. If you are this rude to your parole officer how can I guarantee that you are reformed enough to be among respectable individuals? Natasha, you'd better advise your husband."

Angrily, Evan stormed out. Natasha shyly thanked Lopez who warned her to be careful before she finally left to join Evan outside.

"Where's the car?" He asked impatiently, looking around.

"I can't afford a car. A cab dropped me here. I'll have to flag one down." Natasha could not help but feel something was off on the ride home. Evan had the whole back of the cab to himself while she sat in the passenger seat. When they reached the house, he came out and slammed the car door so hard, its handle came off.

"My door handle!" The driver moaned, clearly aggrieved as he and Natasha rushed out of the car to examine the extent of the damage done.

"Evan!" Was all Natasha could gasp, shocked at the manifestation of his absurd anger issues. Why was he even angry when she was not the one cheating?

"It's just a piece of junk," Evan sneered, "Why you acting like your door handle is a diamond. Trash like your car should not even be on the road."

"Evan stop."

"Don't tell me what to do." He stomped away slamming the front door behind him. Natasha was acutely embarrassed. Her eyes brimmed with tears.

"I'm very sorry," she sincerely apologized to the middle aged driver. "Please forgive him, I'll cover the repair of your door handle. Here is my card."

"You are too kind Mrs. How the hell did you end up with a man like that?" The driver asserted, promising to call her for the repair before driving off.

Evan wasn't always this mean. He used to be the sweetest boyfriend and fiance. He even respected her wish to remain a virgin until her wedding night. Did he change because of jail? Was this some sort of defense mechanism? Did Natasha dare to be hopeful?

"Why did you give that wretch your number?" Evan queried, his voice dangerously low. Natasha's breath hitched. He had been watching her from the window. She suddenly realized how unsafe she felt being alone with Evan.

"You battered his car door."

"No, I did not. The whole of his car was already battered. I see how it is. You find the slightest excuse to know men."

"That's not true Evan. You know it's not."

"And that f*****g i***t Lopez. Why the hell did he call you beautiful? Why did he call you Natasha instead of Mrs Miller if you aren't already sleeping with him. While I've been suffering in jail, you've been going around acting like a w***e. Was it buy one get two free?"

A tear escaped and rolled down Natasha's cheeks. She balled her fists so tight by her side that her knuckles went white. "Who are you to accuse me?" She finally exploded. "Do you think I did not see you yesterday kissing that strange woman?"

WHAM!!!

A flash of bright white light as Natasha felt her legs give under her as she fell. Her palm instinctively went to her cheek that Evan had just slapped. Her fingers lightly brushed her lips and they came back coated with blood.