A Plaything For CEO Blackwood

# 97 Dinner Date With Love

“Hey…” Mr. Blackwood finally found his voice. “Are you really here?” he asked to be sure, a little chuckle escaping his lips.

Anna smiled and then she extended her hands to him. Why don’t you tell me?” she replied softly, feeling for him.

Mr. Blackwood took her hand, her skin smooth and clear like milk. “Welcome, I was starting to think you would really leave me hanging.”

“Well I couldn’t afford to have you get drunk, I promised your mom that I will take care of you,” she joked and MB laughed softly.

“Please have a seat.” He ushered as he pulled a seat out for her.

Anna blushed, she loved this side of him, made her regret all of the stupid decisions that had made her unable to accept his proposal. As she sat down, her eyes traveled around the club, things were different in here today.

The quietness, the decorations, it was like he had shut down the entire club for her sake tonight and turned it into a big romantic date. The candles, the flowers, the white table spread, the fruits, each one complimented the other.

She was going to ask him if he did all this for her but then she would push the conversation in a direction that she was not ready for.

Mr. Blackwood took a seat, looking more sober as he admired her.

“What?” she said shyly and looked away from him.

He chuckled softly. “I don’t know, you are just more beautiful every time I set my eyes on you, today not being an exception. Not to be weird but I will take you over every delicacy on this table.” He joked.

Anna laughed, unable to keep eye contact with him. “Don’t be silly,” she said amidst blush.

He smiled warmly at her. “Dinner?” he offered, changing the conversation before it got awkward.

“Sure. I am starving.” Anna replied as she stared at scrumptious looking dishes spread across the table. There were so many dishes that she didn’t even know which one to go for, she wanted to have a bite of everything without looking greedy or uncultured.

“Well go on, dive in!” MB urged.

As she ate, he slowly picked on the grapes with his eyes stuck on her. He thought maybe if he stared too long, she would stop looking so ravishing and enticing but the longer he looked, the more he craved her.

“Are you not going to eat?” she asked the awkward moment their eyes met and she realized he was still staring at her. Gently tugging up the V shape of the neckline to fully cover her cleavage, earning a chuckle from MB, she blushed hard.

“The only thing I want to eat is you, Princess.” he teased.

Annabel almost choked on her food as laughter erupted her vocal chords. “Stop it, you are going to make the food go down the wrong hole.”

She immediately regretted saying that as the last word resounded in her head, making her bend her head shyly. She needed to pick her words more carefully around him.

After a lot of jokes, light conversation and chuckles, dinner was over and they both sat there, slowly sipping off their glass of red wine.

Anna cleared her throat to signify she wanted to say something important, and then she slowly looked up to Maxwell, who tried so hard to hide his anxiousness.

“Listen MB, it is high time we addressed this, we cannot continue doing this to ourselves. Fine, I know you are changed, you are a different person from who I met those months ago and I love you for that. Yes Max, you were right, I do have feelings for you, denying it is of no use because you know the truth…” she paused for a breath.

Max smiled within himself, glad to have finally heard her admit something he knew a long time ago, but he was nervous because there is no way this statement would end nicely for him, there is always a but, and that came soon enough.

“However Max,” Anna continued, “There are so many other reasons why we cannot be together and it is not about you, it is me, the problem is me, Max. There are things you don’t know that make it impossible for me to accept you, that is why I am begging you to forget about me, it is not going to be easy but…”

Maxwell immediately put his finger against her lips to hush her. “Don’t say it, Anna. I don’t know what the problem is but you are wrong, there is nothing that can stop our love for each other if only you accept it. Okay, why don’t you tell me what the problem is and together we can find a solution to it. Are you dying?” he asked suddenly.

“What? No!” Anna shot back quickly

“Do you have a sexually transmitted disease? You know I really don’t mind.”

“Huh? No!” she half-yelled again.

“Then what is it? HIV? COVID? Cancer? Or are you sickle cell? You don’t have to worry about that, there is a solution to everything.”

“Stop! No! I don’t have any of that.” Anna screamed.

“So what is the problem then?” Maxwell insisted.

“Ugh!” Anna groaned with a sigh. “I am sorry Max, I cannot tell you but you just have to trust me.”

Mr. Blackwood immediately stretched his hand to the other side of the table and took hers. “Listen Love, I don’t care what the problem is, we can fix it together. Just give me a chance to prove it to you, accept my love for you and there is nothing that can stand in our way.”

Anna was quiet for a while, giving it a deep thought. Was he right about this? What if there was a chance that they could both be happy in a relationship with this baby? Was it worth it?

“Alright,” she spoke softly, breathing under the sound of her voice. “I will think about it.” She said hesitantly.

MB smiled. “Well that is fair enough, how much time do you want?”

“You are too fast,” Anna feigned anger immediately. “Give me some time Mr. Man.” She frowned at him.

Mr. Blackwood chuckled. “Fine! I will.” He said, throwing his hands up in surrender.

** **

Driving back in Max’s car, they are both confused as they hear sirens when they get to Anna’s street. Something was wrong but they had no idea what it was till they arrived.

“No,’ Anna muttered in shock, tears filling her eyes. she jumped down from the car screaming as she rushed towards the flames.

“Anna Wait!” MB screamed behind her as he chased after her.

The firemen standing around grabbed her immediately, blocking her from going further. “I am sorry Ma’am, you cannot go in there!” one of the men screamed at her.

“No! that is my house!!” Anna cried out as she watched her apartment up in mighty flames.

“We did our best, we could only save a few properties, the house cannot be saved.” The man broke the sad news to her.

“Noo…” Anna staggered back in tears, she couldn’t believe it. All of her hard work was burning up in flames, her properties, her documents, her savings, everything was going up in flames.

MB who had been left speechless the whole time, came closer to her and pulled her into a hug. “I am so sorry, Ann, sorry about this.” He said in a whisper as he let her cry on his chest.

After the fire had been put out, there was silence in the vicinity. The firemen had left with their trucks and the neighbors had returned to their apartments. Anna was torn apart, with no idea how to start.

She stood there, staring at the ruins of what had been her apartment, the soot all over it and the window glasses shattered around. She had just been in here two hours ago, how did the fire start? The firemen had no idea. There were so many things her insurance would not cover, and she was without doubt going to get into a legal squabble with her evil landlord.

“Anna, it is getting late, you should come home with me,” Maxwell suggested in a low voice. “You can stay there until we find a way to fix this.”

Anna sighed and slowly turned around to him, she took two steps closer and then she suddenly paused, a look of realization gnawing on her face. She suddenly looked up at him. “Did you do this?” she fired the surprising question at him.

MB furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, what was she talking about? What does she mean by he did this?

TBC!!