Alisha gave a brief of the bakery and what they offered. She was showing them round the bakery when the most beautiful sight she had ever seen caught her eyes.
"Oh my goodness Leo, what are you doing?" she asked when she saw her husband wearing and apron and giving ice cream cake to the little girl she had abandoned when the California E! News came in.
"I remember my wife saying I could make up a wrong I did to her by wearing an apron and baking something at the grand opening" he flashed her a smile.
She was glad he was there to support her, and without thinking she rushed to him and gave him a hug. The camera caught that, they looked like the perfect couple to the world, if only the world knew what their marriage was like.
E! news left a while later, but as Leonardo had planned, they had succeeded in motivating a large crowd to the bakery. The bakery was crowded and they were already running short of supplies.
"Speaking of you baking something at the grand opening, I need those extra hands now" Alisha said to Leonardo as she came out from the oven section.
"What do you need?" Leonardo asked her
"I need you to assist me with the muffins, while the two other bakers finish up on the spring rolls and cupcakes." Leonardo nodded and followed her.
She gave him a few instructions and he focused on his own task. He loved seeing her in boss mode, she was beautiful as she worked her hands on the flour and butter.
He looked at his own hands busy, this was not him, Leonardo didn't take instructions from anyone, he didn't do other people's jobs for them, he was his own boss, his own man, and his own instructor, but here he was ready to help this woman, his temporal wife.
At the end of the day, the staff were tired, there were so many orders, so many deliveries, and lots of clean up to do.
Alisha dismissed the other staff, and she was left alone with Leonardo, he had left the bakery when the crowd had reduced and went to the office to finish up a task, then he had joined her later that evening.
"I think you can go ahead, I will take a cab and come home later" she said to him as she cleaned up her ovens.
"Alisha, can you leave the cleaning, the cleaner would get an extra hand and have it cleaned up tomorrow, then you and other staff can rest since tomorrow is Sunday" Leonardo advised.
"I agree, but there is no way I am leaving my ovens in this condition" she said and turned back to her oven.
Leonardo knew he couldn't argue further with her, her oven was as his laptop to him, very valuable than any other thing.
He picked up a damp towel and joined her in the cleaning.
"Thank you" she gave him a tired smile when they were done cleaning all the ovens
"I think I deserve a better appreciation than that" he winked at her and was coming close.
"Oh no" Alisha murmured under her breath, "please don't kiss me" she said in her head.
He got to where she was standing and lifted his hands, she was sure he was going to hold her face and kiss her.
Leonardo took his hand to her head and took off the net she wore during baking.
Her ponytail came free, and he placed the net on the table. "Let's go home already" he smiled at her and she nodded, letting go of her breath she had held.
Alisha dozed off in the car during the ride home. When they arrived at the mansion, Leonardo carried her in his arms bridal style. He was going up the stairs when she flipped her eyes open.
"So sorry I dozed off, why did you not wake me up?" she asked feeling embarrassed in his arms.
"I was hoping that I could have the privilege of undressing you if you remain asleep" she said with a serious face that she would not even guess he was teasing her.
"Put me down" she said as he kept going up the stairs.
""Is that an order Mrs Legend? You know your husband never takes orders"
"Please, put me down" she was embarrassed, but he seemed to be having fun.
"In a bit, Mrs" he did not put her down until he got to his bedroom, and then he dropped her on the bed.
"Thank you for the lift, good night" she said and was leaving his room to go to hers.
"Where do you think you are going to?" he asked her, he was so used to them sharing a room at the suite and at the private island that he still wanted them to keep sharing one.
"My room Mr, the next room, the one beside yours" she said as if he did not understand what she was saying
"I know what room you are talking about, I am just wondering why you have refused to share this room with me since we got back from the trip"
"There is nowhere in the contract that says I must share a bed with you"
"Alisha, you and I know we have been doing things for each other that is not stated in the contract"
"Good night" she went out the door and to her own room. She was worried, she didn't understand herself anymore.
She never wanted to fall in love, she didn't believe she could ever fall in love, but now she was seeing warning signs that if she did not keep her distance from the man in the other room, she would fall face flat in love with him and he would only divorce her in the end.
He would shove her love and the contract she had signed without duress. He would tell her love was never in their agreement.
He would send her out of the house and his life in an instant, and he would continue his flings and one night stands.
She was scared that she wanted to be around him, to see him smile, to have him touch her, hold her, kiss her and maybe even make love to her, but she was not hi spec, she was not the type of woman he wanted even for as long as one night.
Even if he was drunk, he would never find her attractive or want her.
She would only be the employee of a wife in his eyes, the one he paid to pose as his wife to the world, nothing more.
She took a long hot bath, she needed to calm her nerves and soothe the ache she was feeling in her legs from standing for a long period of time.
She finally got out of the bathtub and dried herself; she wore something comfortable and went to sleep.
The next morning, Alisha was too tired to get up from bed.
It was a good thing she had done the grand launch on a Saturday, at least she could rest today Sunday, and be fit to open the bakery on Monday.
The continuous ringing of her phone made her wake up against her will.
She had missed a call from Chloe, Anna and her dad. This was bad, she was so engrossed in the bakery that she had forgotten to tell the three most important people of her life about the launch. She was in for a lot of explanation.
She decided to call Chloe first, turns out Chloe had leave at the office and went on a vacation with a new lover she got and is currently not in town. She assumed Alisha found out she travelled without informing her and that was why she didn't inform her about the launch.
She didn't want to tell Alisha she was going with a man she had only known for two weeks, she didn't want the "are you sure you can trust him talk"
"Just remember to always use a condom silly" Alisha had said, she was not going to judge her, she was just happy she was moving on after the death of her mom, the only family she had.
She called her dad next, he had seen the launch on the news, he assumed Alisha didn't want him to bother about travelling, but he would have appreciated if she had informed him.
He promised to send her his mom's recipe for her banana bread, so Alisha could also have it in her bakery, she was happy.
Anna called her the moment she dropped the call from her dad.
"I do hate you" Anna began the moment she took the call, she has always known Anna to be dramatic and play the emotional victim, but she loved her anyways.
"I don't care, bye" Alisha said and ended the call, dad would explain to her on her behalf, she was not ready for any emotional stress at the moment, Leonardo was doing an excellent job with her emotions already.
He phone rang, signifying her that Anna wanted a face time with her. Alisha frowned as she took the call, if she did not speak to her, she would keep bugging her.
"I love you sister" Anna said and Alisha knew she was going to make a request
"What do you want Anna?" Alisha asked not ready to be moved by the baby face or voice Anna might use to get to her.
Her room door came open and Leonardo walked in with a tray, before she got a chance to hear what Anna was going to say.
"Anna, hold on please" Alisha said and gave Leonardo a questioning look.
"Good morning beautiful, I figured you were tired from yesterday, so I do not want you to get out of bed yet, and I decided to bring breakfast to you in bed" Alisha was scared, she had a feeling Leonardo wanted something inexchange for this strange gesture.
"Anna, I will call you later, I need to go now" she said to the phone, she needed to know what Leonardo wanted before she dared take even a sip of water from the cup on the tray.
"Wait wait, is that your husband, please give the phone to him" Alisha gave Anna a look that said I will kill you. Leonardo obviously heard and stretched his hand to collect the phone.
"Hello brother in law, it's nice to finally get to speak with you, I have a request to make" Anna was saying and Alisha buried her head in her hands, Anna was going to put her in trouble.
"What request is that?" Leonardo asked with a smile obviously enjoying the fact that Alisha was uncomfortable with him speaking with her sister.
"I am currently on academic break, I don't know if I can spend the break over at your place with you and my sister, I have missed her so much" Alisha looked at Leonardo with wild eyes.
"No, tell her no" Alisha whispered to him
"Yes sure, it is fine, perfect, we would love to have you over" Leonardo said and Alisha threw her back on the bed. This was trouble.
"Thank you so much, I will be over in a few days, bye" Anna disconnected the call without asking him to give the phone back to Alisha, she knew Alisha loved running away from family, she would not want to have her over, good thing she was able to ask Leonardo.
"Why did you say yes to her?" Alisha gave Leonardo an irritated look
"She is your family, even if it was a fake marriage, I married you along
side your family, so she is welcome."
"Why did you bring me breakfast?" Anna had made her request and it was horrible, she wanted to know what Leonardo wanted.
"I want to move into your room"