CHAPTER 9
Kimberly wakes up early and gets ready for a long day. She checks her reflection making sure she didn't overdo her makeup. She checks to make sure her hair is in place.
"Kimberly...? Are you checking yourself to make sure you look good for Tom!" Yaya shouts from her bed.
Kimberly pops her head into Yaya's room, "What!? No! How do you know about Tom!?" she was nervous now.
"Liar!" Yaya quickly rises from her bed, "You never take this long to get ready! Kimberly, my darling! I know about everything! Is Tom, your prince charming..??" she giggle, "Are you in love...?" she teases Kimberly.
"Yaya--" she throws a pillow at her, "Would you stop that! You're making me nervous!"
"Nervous? What's there to be nervous about?! The man is practically in love with you! I know for sure!" she nods her head.
"How-How do you know?" Kimberly felt butterflies in get stomach
"Cause Barry and I were spying on you two last night-- Tom couldn't keep his eyes off of you!" she giggles, raising an eyebrow at her.
Kimberly hits her again, "You were spying on me?!" she shouts.
"Of course! You know I had too! You two look absolutely cute together! Ooh wait til Dennis hears about this! He is going to flip!"
Kimberly's face expression changed, "what-- why is Dennis going to flip?? What does this have to do with Dennis??" she flops next to her on the bed, beginning to worry.
Yaya's mouth drops, "You mean Tom didn't mention it to you?" she moves in closer, "Tom is an old friend of Dennis-- college buddy."
Kimberly's her heart drop to the floor. Her body froze and she's unable to move a muscle, "He's--he's-- Den-nis's friend??" she stutters. Guilt overwhelms her.
Yaya nods her head, "Uh huh.. I met him once. He didn't look that great back then but after last tonight-- all I can say is DAMN!!" she squeals like a little girl, "He is drop dead gorgeous!"
Kimberly couldn't help but chuckle, however, it didn't hide the fact that Tom knew Dennis. She felt guilt eating inside of her.
A frown sweeps across Kimberly's face, "Yaya--" she exhales, "I don't know..."
"Don't know what?"
"The whole Tom thing... I'm not sure how I'm suppose to be feeling,"
"What? Why? If you think he's your prince charming and if he thinks your a Goddess, then what's the problem? He likes you-- you like him-- end of story."
"It sounds to easy Yaya-- but I don't know.. It doesn't feel the same knowing that Tom is Dennis's--"
"You stop it right there Kimberly--" she barks, "This has nothing to do with Dennis but it does have everything to do with you. And Tom! Dennis is my brother and I do love him-- but for goodness sake-- if he isn't going to appreciate the things you do for him then you deserve a man who will. You got it? Don't stress to much about it Kimberly," she gives her a hug, "I know Dennis too well-- he won't cry over a girl, he'll just replaces them." she shakes her head, "He'll never learn!!"
Kimberly stays quiet, unsure of what to say or think. Yaya did make a point but she still couldn't shake the idea that Dennis and Tom are friends.
Kimberly sighs heavily, "Okay Yaya... I'll try.." she checks the time, "hey-- we'll have to finish this conversation later-- I got to get going. Have fun bathing in the sun!" she smiles and leaves the room.
Kimberly walks down to the lobby, making her way to the kitchen. Tom was already there, waiting for her.
"Oh shoot-- I'm late..." she utters under her breath.
He turns around and notice her walking towards him.
"I'm sorry, I'm late--"
"Oh-- not at all-- not at all" he smiles sweetly, "I just thought I'd come early to wait for you--plus I had to inform my staff know that you are here as a temporarily head chief-- fill free to ask them if you need help with anything in the kitchen," his smile still on his face.
Kimberly introduced herself Tom's kitchen staff. Before Tom could finish giving instructions to Kimberly, a woman entered the kitchen looking for Tom. She tells him they're still some unfinished business that needs to be done before the big event tonight.
Tom excuses himself and tells her he'll be back to check up on her. He flashes her a smile, which sends Kimberly's heart pounding. The butterflies still flutters inside of her. She tried to avoid his beautiful eyes but couldn't resist.
All she could do was smile as he walks out, "snap out of it Kimberly... Remember, it's strictly business... strictly business... Must Focus.." she commands herself, quickly getting busy. She didn't want to waste any time.
3 HOURS LATER
Kimberly was almost done with the cake. She was adding final touches to the cake, finishing up with the flower decoration. She has spent almost 3 hours on the cake although it only felt like 30 minutes. She adds one final flower onto the cake.
Then she steps back with a smile on her face, "There... Perfect..." she utters to herself with her hands on her hips. She was satisfy with the final product.
"it looks fabulous Kimberly..." Tom approaches behind her, whispering in her ear.
She looks over her shoulder to see tom's gorgeous eyes staring at her. He was standing really close to her that she could feel his breath under her, "You startled me..." she grabs her chest.
"Oh I'm sorry--" he moves to the side, "you looked peaceful staring at your masterpiece I didn't want to disturb you."
"It's okay. No need to apologize. I should have paid more attention," she chuckles, turning her head in another direction.
"Hold on Kimberly--" Tom pulls out a handkerchief from his pocket, "You have a smudge of blue frosting on your cheek," he goes over to the sink and dabs the handkerchief with water.
He faces Kimberly, slowly lifting her chin and gently wiping her cheek. Kimberly doesn't move, her body goes completely numb. All she can do is stare into his deeply into his amazing eyes.
Tom leans in closer, still wiping Kimberly's cheek, "there..." he whispers, "it's finally gone.." he puts the handkerchief on the table and turns to her and smiles from ear to ear.
Kimberly still couldn't move. It's as if her feet were glued to the floor and she's unable to move them. She noticed that he was still standing pretty close to her, and he wasn't going to move back anytime soon.
"You're cheek's still wet, let me wipe them dry," Tom takes a step closer. He grabs her arm gently and uses the other hand to wipe her cheek. His warm hand, sent chills down her spine. Her swallowed her saliva, holding her breath.
Suddenly he leans in even closer to Kimberly, softly lifting her chin. Her hearts beats a 100 miles per minute and she cant control her nerves. She slowly closes her eyes, preparing for what's going to happen next.
In a blink of a second, his warm soft lips touches her lips, his arms slowly wraps around her waist. All her senses start to tingle. Fire works ignited and all she can hear were loud explosion. Chills rand down her spine and all of the sudden her knees grew weak.
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Dennis was at working out at the gym when his phone went off--Yaya's calling.
"Hello?" he huffs and puffs, trying to catch his breath, "What is it Yaya?"
"Hey Man! You missed it!!"
"Barry?" he checks his phone to see who called, then he heard Yaya's voice in the background.
"Dennis!" Yaya shouts, "You'll never guess what?!"
"No, what?" he was confused by what's going on, "wait-- Why does Barry have your phone?"
"Well I was trying to call you but he took it from me first-- anyways as I was saying, guess what I just saw!?" she shrieked with excitement.
"uh.. Did you see Justin Bieber or something? Why are you so excited?" he was curious.
"What--Justin Bieber?! Dennis, I'm not 14! I'm 24!" she barks at him.
He laughs, "Okay, just joking-- now what is it?"
"Dude, you sure you wanna hear?!" Barry shouts through the phone.
"Damn you Barry!! Get your fat ass off of me! You're so heavy!"
Dennis can hear them arguing.
"Sorry Dennis, but are you sure you can handle such news?" Yaya ask genuinely.
"Just tell me Yaya. You already called me and brought it up and might as well get it over with." he was getting anxious.
"Okay well--"
"Yaya saw Tom make a move on Kimberly-- He was locking lips with her!" Barry had snatched the phone from Yaya.
"Damn you Barry! You asshole! You ruined it!" Yaya shouts at the top of his lungs.
Dennis's face turned into a frown. He suddenly felt light-headed, everything was spinning.
"Tom... locking lips with ... the Thing..." those words echo in his ears, he couldn't comprehend anything at this point.
"Dennis!" Yay calls his name, "Are you listening to me?!"
"Huh?" He was startled, "Yaya, I don't care if about Tom and the Thing-- so stop talking about her!" he fires back.
"Ooh... I sense some jealousy..." she giggles.
"Jealous of what?!" he shakes his head, "the Thing has nothing for me to jealous about!"
"Not true!!" Barry jumps into the conversation, "Kimberly has everything that will drive you crazy and get you jealous! You just aren't aware of it yet!"
"Barry, put Yaya on the phone," Dennis takes a deep breath, "Yaya?"
"Yes Dennis, my sweet brother..?" Yaya ask him innocently.
"Yaya, What are you doing?!" he yells at her.
She gasps, "What do you mean what am I doing?" she plays dumb.
"Yaya this isn't the time time to be playing dumb!"
She chuckles, "Barry, you ass-- go away first! I gotta talk to my brother!!" Dennis could head them bickering.
"Okay Dennis-- so what were you saying?"
"Tell me what you are doing??" Dennis was getting hot.
"Why Dennis-- I'm just relaxing on the beach while Tom is locking lips with the number one girl you hate... in the kitchen..." she chuckles.
"Yaya!" he barks, "How is this news relevant to me, can you tell me please??"
"Because Dennis-- The woman you hate, or the-woman-you're-secretly-in-love-with-but-won't-admit-to-it, is kissing your old college friend... Now tell me it isn't relevant..?"
"It isn't!" he sighs, "Yaya, how many times do I have to tell you, I despise the Thing! And I don't care if she's with Tom! So can you please just let this go?"
"Uh huh.." she mumbles, "Okay Dennis... I'll let it go... But if I were you Dennis, I'd be upset... Your old friend going after your enemy... Just thinking about it gets me goosebumps-- it's just the basic principle Dennis"
The hair on his arm slowly raises-- goosebumps. He was surprised she thought the same way he did.
"But good thing this is your friend and not mine so I don't feel so bad," she giggles, "Didn't I tell you Dennis, if you keep pushing her away, you'll push her into the arms of another man-- you succeeded alright and right into the arms of your friend!" she taunts him.
"Yaya, I don't care!" he was getting frustrated, "That Thing can do whatever she wants and who she wants!"
"Okay.. Okay... I get the point... I won't bring this up with you again... I'll just let you realize it yourself. From now on my lips are sealed! You won't hear me utter a word about them in front of you again" she said sternly.
"Good!" Dennis shouts, "is that all you wanted to say? I gotta get back to my workout."
"No that's it.. I'll see you when I get back then. Byeee" she tells him.
Dennis slams his phone down on the bench. Frustration succumbs him and his feeling were all over the place. He exhales and inhales deeply.
"Get them off your mind..." he tells himself, quickly getting up from the bench and walks back into the gym.
He was stressing and he needed to relief his stress. He gets on the treadmill and begins an intense workout.
"Get them off your mind... Get them off you mind..." he tells himself repeatedly. Breathing heavily as he raises the speed.