A Wrong Surrogate for the CEO-Chapter 91: An Accident

"Told you you were going to enjoy that date," Curtis said as soon as they left the restaurant.

Lara grinned widely at him, too happy and sated to pretend as if she wasn’t.

As they walked side by side, Lara gently wove her hands through his. Curtis’s thumb stroked the back of her hand, and the gentle touch made her lean as close to him as she could.

"Thank you so much, baby. Really. I enjoyed every bit of the food," she stated, her eyes twinkling as she looked up at him.

Curtis stopped walking. He leaned down to kiss her forehead, not minding that they were standing in broad daylight.

"Would you like to go home now, or should we walk around a little bit, see the sights?" he asked.

Lara nodded excitedly.

"Oh my God. Yes please. Let’s talk a walk. Look around for a while. I have never been here before, so..." the words trailed off as she shrugged.

With a hand wrapped around her waist, Curtis took his wife on a short tour, leading Lara away to witness how beautiful Paris was.

~

"You know, my dream had always been travelling," Lara stated as they walked.

Curtis cocked his head to the side as he listened to her.

Lara went on.

"When I was a kid, my kids weren’t exactly rich. I could not have all of the toys I wanted, and it made me sad most of the time. But we had a television, and whenever I wasn’t in school, I spent most of my time glued in front of it. I watched a lot of movies. Saw a lot of documentaries. And the sights were always so beautiful that it made me want to visit all of those places. So I promised myself that I would."

She went silent for a long moment, and Curtis could feel the sadness and nostalgia in her words.

He spoke gently.

"Have you...ever managed to travel even if it was just once?" he asked.

Lara snorted.

"I wish. No, I haven’t. I grew up and those dreams faded away. I had reality to deal with, so I did. I worked my way through school. I met Mike. Got married. You know the rest of the story," she said.

Curtis drew her closer.

"I’m sorry, Lara," he said quietly.

She turned a surprised face to look at him.

"Why?"

He shrugged before responding.

"That you didn’t get to travel. You must have been so sad when you figured out that your dreams would have to take a back seat," he said sympathetically.

Lara shook her head at the sadness and apology in his words.

"You don’t have to feel sorry for me, Curtis. Look at me, I am in Paris. I just had the most exquisite meal I have ever tasted in my life. I have you, and I am happy. What more could I possibly wish for?" she stated casually.

Curtis stopped walking and gently turned her to face him.

"Do you still want to travel?" he asked.

Lara’s eyebrows shot up.

"What?"

"I asked if you would still like to travel the world," he stated again.

Lara instantly saw where he was going with that question. She shook her head at him.

"’Come on, don’t be ridiculous," she said quietly.

"You and I both know that you’re the one being ridiculous, my love. My money is yours. Everything that I own belongs to you. You can travel as much as you want now," he said, his voice firm and insistent.

"But..." she tried to say, but he cut her off.

"No buts, Lara. You are my wife. Take what I am offering you," he insisted.

Lara sighed and pinched her nose.

"Can I? I feel...weird. Like I would be taking something that doesn’t belong to me," she whispered.

Curtis dragged her into a hug.

"Don’t you ever say that again, okay? Like I said, you have access to everything and anything I own. Is that clear?"

She nodded against his chest.

Curtis held her for a beat longer before he stepped back and broke the hug.

"Let’s go home? We can always come back here. And I don’t want you to be exhausted from all the walking we’ve been doing."

Lara’s lips curled into a pout.

"But I love walking with you. The sights are so beautiful. And the people too. It’s all so breathtaking," she gushed.

Curtis shrugged.

"We can continue if you want us to."

Lara looked around fondly, but she shook her head at his words.

"You’re right. We should go back. My legs are starting to swell, and I don’t want them to get all painful again."

"Do you want me to carry you back?" Curtis asked.

Lara scoffed at him.

"Absolutely not. I am not that fragile," she stated firmly, and without waiting for him, Lara started to match back towards the direction they came from.

As the jet flew overhead few minutes later, Lara turned to stare at the overwhelming mass of people and building one more time.

Her heart ached at how gorgeous it was, and she desperately wished they could have stayed longer.

But like her husband had said, they could always come back.

And he had just handed her a golden, unending ticket for traveling the rest of the world.

So Lara knew that she was going to come back to Paris. Definitely.

During the drive back home, Lara saw a street vendor selling hot, steaming corn dogs.

Her mouth watered at the sight, and Curtis caught her staring.

"Do you want me to get you some?" he asked, sparing her a glance before turning back to face the road.

"Yes please. I am so sorry for stressing you, but it looks so yummy," she groaned.

Curtis smiled as he parked the car at the roadside.

"You’re not stressing me. Give me a few seconds," he says and got out of the car.

Lara walked as he crossed the road over to purchase the corn dogs. Her mouth salivated just watching it from a distance, and she could not wait to eat them.

Curtis was crossing back to her and had almost gotten to the car when something happened.

A car appeared out of a close curve and started racing towards him. The driving was fast and reckless, and there was no time for Curtis to cross the road and get out of the car’s way.

Lara watched in horror and the car slammed into her husband, and the entire world tipped over as Curtis got ran over by a car.