The CEO's Painted Skin

Catherine and John woke up two hours later entangled on each other's limbs.

She rose to her feet and entered the bathroom, took a shower and wore the extra bathrobe she saw hanging on the rack. She saw a new toothbrush, grabs it and put some toothpaste on it and starts brushing her teeth.

Feeling fresh and clean, she exited the bathroom and walked towards John's wardrobe. She was trying to find a t-shirt and shorts, she finally managed to locate them at the third drawer, she took one each and get back to the bathroom and changed into John's clothing.

When she gets out of the bathroom, John was still sleeping he must have fallen back into a slumber. She picks up their clothes that were strewn all over the floor and folded them neatly and put them on the table on the right corner of the room.

She exited the room, her throat was getting dry and thirsty, she went straight to the kitchen to drink some water.

On the way to the fridge, she saw the oven and she smiled radiantly. She runs her fingers above its shiny surface. She opens the fridge and picks up bottled water and drink it.

She brought the bottled water with her and sat down on the chair facing the oven, imagining in her mind several variety of dishes she can cook and prepare with the help of the oven. Her gaze was fixed on the oven, she was in that frame of mind when John entered the kitchen.

He was already fully clothed and looks like he just came out from the shower, his wet hair uncombed. She barely threw him a glance.

He went to her side and kissed her head and walked past her.

She looked at his back, John is sweet, loving and has a gentle soul....she told herself, qualities that she found attractive in a guy.

He got water from the fridge and drunk from the bottle and return it inside. He went to the corner and pick up a grocery bag, he put it in the table and took out the contents one by one.

Catherine's eyes widen. Her eyes perused the ingredients in the table, there were flours, yeast, sweetener, cornstarch, butter, baking powder, sugar, syrup, egg, cocoa solid and a lot more.

"I have instructed the cleaning lady to buy all these baking ingredients for you the other day," he said. "You can bake chiffon and chocolate cake out of these ingredients. You wanna try?"

"Yesss!" she said excitedly. "But not right now, it's already late, John. The next time I'm here I will try baking for sure. I'm dying to learn how to bake cakes in one of these days..."

She helped John put back all the ingredients in the grocery bag except for the egg. She put the eggs into the fridge.

Feeling happy and overwhelmed by his thoughtfulness, she tiptoed and give John a kiss on the lips. "Thank you..."

Then she sat back down on the chair.

John was touched by her action, it's rare that she openly showered him her affection. But he also knows that she has a fickle mind, that may change any time.

"No need to thank me, Catherine. I can buy any ingredients you want. All you need to do is to tell me. I will do the rest."

John sat on the opposite side of the table, directly facing her across the table.

Then his face was getting serious. Now is the time to confront her.

"We need to talk, Catherine. There are a lot of things I need to clarify with you." John doesn't want to imposed rules on her but if he won't be a little strict on her at this early stage, she might be taken away by any random guy from his hands.

Catherine braced herself for his tirades.

John looked at her in the eyes demanding her full attention.

"First, am not happy that you have a date with another guy on the day that you were supposed to be with me."

"Second, I don't want you chatting with random guy or entering chatrooms online."

"Third, am angry that you still wanna get close with that Jerome guy considering that I am your boyfriend. I can't tolerate it! I won't allow it!"

"Fourth, I want you to tell that Jerome guy that you already got a boyfriend and you are in a relationship with me."

"Fifth, from now on you will obey my command. If I want to see you, you will come to me. No but's and no excuses!"

Oh God! Catherine bit her lip furiously. Is John showing his true colors now? Or he was just jealous? Jealous people make stupid decisions on the spur of the moment due to negative suspicion and emotions. Why John suddenly became a demanding guy all of a sudden?

She was hoping he will stop his dominant and possessive attitude in the coming days or else...

But she kept her rage to herself. When it comes to John she needs to tone down her temper. Although they already became intimate with each other's bodies many times, still she doesn't know him well. All she knows is that he was capable of so many things. Angering him right now in his own area of territory might not be a good idea. The best approach is to play an obedient and submissive girl to him. It will make her stay on the safe side for the time being.

He was observing her face carefully. He saw anger flickers on her eyes for a brief moment, but it dissolves instantly in just a matter of seconds. He sighed and runs his fingers on his hair. He has been chasing Catherine all the way from the village into the city, now that he found her, he will do anything not to lose her again. He needs to push the right button just to make her obey his wishes. She was still young and maybe she has other things going in her mind at this stage of her life and settling down might still not be her priorities in life but if he kept pressing her she might actually cave into his demands. He wants her so bad, every minute that she was not on his side he worries a lot. It's the attention of the other guys around her that makes him fearful of losing her to others.

"Any objection Catherine?" asked John.