The Alpha's Abused Mate

Business Dinner

Serena was excited. Tonight, Johnathon was bringing back his business partners for dinner and she was in charge of making it. She hummed underneath her breath as she stirred the soup as a starter, the roast chicken in the oven, prepared and cooking. She had plenty of time and she spent it arranging the table to be perfect, right down to the elegant tablecloth which was a silver color, to the centerpiece, a mixture of white and yellow roses, to match the chairs and the serviettes and cutlery. When she was finished, the table looked absolutely stunning.

It had been a few days since their argument about Christina and Serena had apologized profusely to Johnathon, who had taken his sweet time forgiving her for her transgression. She had promised to pay more attention to the cleaning and to phone Christina a little less often, something that made Johnathon slightly happier. He had been difficult to please and when he had sprung this dinner party idea on her, she had readily agreed to it, in order to make him happy.

She glanced at the clock and gave a small gasp. Time was slipping by so fast. She rushed into the bedroom and began to frantically flip through the dresses in her wardrobe. What did one wear for a dinner party? She settled on a small black cocktail dress that had spaghetti straps and gathered underneath her bosom, before flowing down to her knees. She wore black heels and put on a pearl necklace that Johnathon had given her, to create more of an elegant look. Her hair was put into a slick ponytail and then she smiled, putting on some light makeup, while gazing at herself in the mirror.

Serena liked the look she had created and it was just in time too, as she heard the key in the front lock and the front door opening, Johnathon's husky voice calling out "Serena, I'm home."

She hurried out and stopped short as she saw the other two met that Johnathon had brought home. She had expected them to be around his age, but instead they were far older, in their late forties and both, she saw uncomfortably, were eying her with lustful gazes.

"Serena come here, so that I can introduce you to my business partners" Johnathon said a little harshly.

Serena jumped, startled at his tone, but did as he asked, coming to his side and leaning into him as he put a hand around her waist.

"Gentlemen, this is Serena, Serena, this is John and Dave" he said, introducing them.

Serena shook John's hand first. He was a tall, skinny man, with a protruding beer belly and thinning blonde hair. He leered at her and she tried not to show her distaste as he brought her hand to his lips and kissed it.

Dave was skinny and tall, slightly shorter than Johnathon though. He had brown hair and spectacles, his belly slightly plump and round. He too, took her hand and kissed it, his lips all clammy and disgusting. Serena hid a shiver as she withdrew her hand and wiped it on her dress.

"It's a pleasure to meet you" Serena said politely.

The men grinned at her.

"The pleasure is ours, isn't it, Dave," guffawed John.

Dave just gave a wide smile.

"Can I get you anything to drink?" asked Serena, feeling a bit fidgety. The men all looked at each other.

"I'll have a scotch thanks love" John said cheerfully.

"Same" muttered Dave.

"A bourbon thanks honey" Johnathon said lovingly, kissing her again.

Serena scurried to the kitchen, pouring each of the men a drink as they sat down at the table, watching her. She began to ladle up the soup as the other men looked on with something akin to hunger on their faces. All but Johnathon that was. He merely looked annoyed as she put the soup in front of him.

"What is this?" he asked bluntly, making her face flush with embarrassment.

"It's soup, pumpkin" she said quietly, the other men looking away "it is one of your favourites."

His eyes flashed with anger. "You couldn't do anything more fancy? These are my business partners for heaven's sake" he said loudly, drawing attention back to them.

"Ah mate, it's fine" John attempted to intervene but Johnathon shook his head.

"Never mind" he snapped, beginning to pick at his soup.

Feeling deflated, Serena contemplated sitting down and joining them, but she was busy ensuring that the rest of the food was cooked, including a fresh chocolate cake which had to be put in the oven once the chicken was cooked. The entire time, the men watched, eating and chatting amongst themselves, as though she wasn't even there.

"This soup is delicious" Dave commented.

Serena saw Johnathon incline his head at the man. "You are too kind", he told them courteously.

She thought it must still be going well, because all of them, including Johnathon, ate the entire contents of their bowls, praising her as she collected their bowls.

"Delicious" winked Dave.

"Divine Serena, absolutely divine" complimented John.

Johnathon, on the other hand, said absolutely nothing, something that Serena noticed but was too cowed to point out. Instead, she hoped he would cheer up when she brought the chicken and roast vegetables out of the oven, but if anything, Johnathon's face dropped further.

"I hope you're hungry" Serena told the men who cheered her on, while Johnathon sat there looking more morose.

She served them a plate of roast vegetables and chicken with her own homemade gravy drizzled over it. She knew it wasn't fancy but it was comfort food and would easy any person's hunger. The gravy was delicious and this was another one of Johnathon's favorite meals. When he had said dinner she had thought about doing more, but he had sprung this on her with such short notice that she'd been rushed for time and had decided simple was better, because at least she couldn't stuff the recipe up. Dave and John didn't seem to mind, eagerly devouring the chicken and moaning at the taste of the gravy as it hit their lips.

"What about that new secretary of yours, hey Johnathon" whistled Dave with a shake of his head. "She sure has a nice rack on her and that booty, my god, it should be outlawed," he laughed.

Serena's ears pricked up. She didn't know that Johnathon had a secretary, let alone one that was a woman, and she chided herself for not thinking of it. He was the cero of a company after all. Of course, he would have a secretary, but until now it had never crossed her mind.

"God she's stunning. Wouldn't give a bloke like me a second look, but she seems mighty keen to do a good job" grinned John. "she's super eager, you might say". He laughed as though he'd said a funny joke.

"I wouldn't know" said Johnathon evenly, glaring at the two men as Serena refilled their glasses "I'm married in case you don't remember."

"Oh, we can't forget, not when such a lovely creature is right in front of us" said Dave, with a wink, as she began to clear the plates, "Serena, why don't you sit down with us", he tried to coax her.

"She's busy" Johnathon said stiffly as she debated it. She sighed. He wasn't in a good mood and it was showing through his stiff posture and the way he was downing his bourbon like it was water.

"Thank you anyway" Serena said with a smile as Dave deflated.

She took extra care in preparing the cake, creating an extra chocolate concoction of icing, spreading it just so across the cake and then decorating it with cherries. The men, slightly drunk, continued to chat amongst one another as Serena carefully began to cut the cake.

"God, what I wouldn't give to f**k your secretary" sneered Dave. "mine looks like a right old hag."

"Can't be worse than mine" moaned John. "Mine looks like she's always squinting with those big spectacles of hers. I want a pretty one as well. Can't we afford it?"

Johnathon laughed at the both of them, drinking down his bourbon with one quick gulp and motioning for Serena to refill it "I'm not letting you have two secretaries. Fire the ones you have and get new ones or stop complaining. It's not my fault that the secretary is pleasing to the eye and does a good job."

Ouch. That stung. Serena was standing right there and it was like Johnathon was looking right through her. She bit her lip chagrined and began to serve the cake. Dave smacked his lips and John let out a low moan of appreciation as he saw how much chocolate there was in the cake.

"Yum" Dave sighed, eating a forkful, his eyes brightening, "you've really outdone yourself my dear", he added, as Serena beamed from his praise. She did not see the look that crossed Johnathon's face or the tightening of his lips.

"Yes, thank you for such a lovely meal" John said quietly, sensing the tension on his friend Johnathon's face.

"You are both so welcome" Serena said brightly, heading to the bathroom. She quickly did her business and then tidied up her makeup. She was a little puzzled to hear low murmurs coming from the kitchen and then the sound of the front door opening and closing. When she came back out of the bathroom, the kitchen was empty, except for Johnathon, who sat there, with a fresh glass of bourbon in his hand.

"What happened? Did they leave?" Serena asked, bewildered. She would have liked to have said goodbye to the men properly who hadn't been as bad as they first appeared.

Johnathon clenched his jaw. "Yes they left you slut" he hissed as she flinched from the venom in his voice.

Slut? Serena didn't understand where this was coming from. "Johnathon, you're drunk" she said, trying to remain calm and not let his words get to her.

He threw back his head and laughed out loud. "I'm drunk but I still saw you" he said, slurring his words. "you couldn't help yourself, could you, you hussy? All it took was a couple of nice words and you lapped it right up like the little b***h you are."

Serena stiffened. "I'm not a hussy" she protested and he threw the glass he was holding at the wall, Serena giving a strangled cry as it shattered into a thousand pieces and fell to the floor.

"You were," he growled, standing upright and towering over her, "not only that, but you embarrassed me tonight. This was supposed to be an elegant affair and you served soup and roast chicken" he said incredulously.

Serena blinked back tears from her eyes. "It's just that you gave me short notice and I didn't have a lot of time" she stammered, feeling very insecure.

"It was rubbish" he growled, indicating the plates, "and a chocolate cake? We're not toddlers Serena."

To her horror, he picked up a plate and threw it across the room, letting it break into dozens of shards which littered the floor.

"Johnathon stop, please" Serena pleaded, getting agitated as he stared darkly at her. "I'm sorry if I embarrassed you, but that wasn't my intention," she whispered.

"Slut" he snapped, "w***e, little b***h", he threw another plate, and then another one. "Why don't you go and sleep with Dave if you're so enamored of him."

"I was being polite" Serena protested numbly, in complete shock. She didn't know what else to do or to say to him. "Johnathon, you know that I love you" she pleaded, wrapping her arms around herself.

"With the behavior you showed tonight, I very much doubt it" he snarled, throwing away the last plate, the one that contained the remnants of the chocolate cake she made. The cake went flying, hitting the wall and slowly sliding down as she stared in horror, the plate splintering into small pieces and joining the rest of the mess on the floor.

He surveyed the mess, his eyes glinting as he looked back at her. She was pale, ashen, a hand to her mouth, her whole body trembling. What in the world had gotten into him?

"I'm going to bed" he sneered, resentment in his voice. You clean up this mess and it had better be perfectly clean before I get up tomorrow."

Serena nodded her head automatically, her eyes watching his every move as he slowly and gingerly made his way across the floor, before disappearing into the bedroom. She grabbed a washing cloth on autopilot and sunk to her knees in despair, tears trailing down her cheeks. The Johnathon she knew had disappeared tonight and in his place had been a complete stranger. She sobbed, staring down at the mess, not sure where to begin. She had such high hopes for tonight, wanting it to be perfect and instead it had been ruined and she felt like it was all her fault. She should have made fancier dishes as he'd expected. Should not have been so friendly towards the other men. Perhaps then, Johnathon would have appreciated her efforts and the night would have been perfect, she thought to herself miserably. She hoped this was a one off, a random flash of temper. But something instinctively told her, this wouldn't be the last time he showed his anger towards her and that scared her more than anything. What could she do, to avoid him getting this angry ever again?