CHAPTER 31

“Do not mess with me.” He murmured, “I know you do not owe me any commitment in this marriage, and so do I, but flirting with fools will do nothing but soil my reputation, and I will not let that happen. Is that understood?”.

I nodded abruptly hoping he would just release me because my jawline was hurting.

He dropped my face and left the room.

Now he is accusing me falsely, I was never flirting. I pulled myself upwards and covered up with the duvet.

“Okay, Jenny. In situations like this, all you have to do is to sleep away your worries.” I murmured to myself and shut my eyes.

*************

“Bro, you're not serious, are you? Marcus asked, amidst laughter.

“What's funny?”. Adrian asked, getting pissed off.

“Why should you be angry because another man was touching her?” Marcus asked with his hands in the air.

“She's my wife for crying out loud, does that ring a bell?” Adrian replied, tilting his face forward.

“But you also said emphatically that she does not mean anything to you. You said that she's just a mere figurehead”. Marcus stated a matter of factly.

“What has that got to do with this?” Adrian asked, feigning ignorance.

“The last time I heard, this contract awards an open marriage, so why are you getting jealous over what you agreed to and signed?” Marcus asked.

“Marcus”, Adrian called quietly. “On whose side are you?”

“I am not taking sides with anybody. All I am insinuating is that Jenny has not done anything wrong. You are angry for nothing or maybe jealous for nothing.”

“Jealous? What! You are crazy”. Adrian screamed.

He emptied his glass and stood up to leave the poolside.

“Hey bro, why are you going already,” Marcus asked, trying to hold him back.

“Let me go. You can have this fucking poolside all to yourself or maybe with Jenny since she's now your new bubby.”

“Come on, bro. I didn't mean it that way.” Marcus pleaded in vain because Adrian was out of sight already.

As he strode away from the poolside, leaving behind Marcus's dismissive words, his brows furrowed, and his fists clenched instinctively beside him. “Jealous?” The word irritated him because it could never be true, no, he refused to agree to it. It sounded so ridiculous. He made himself believe he wasn't jealous. He had no reason to be. The morning incident at the gym had nothing to do with jealousy. It was all about his wife's lack of respect for him or her waywardness.

He trudged briskly to his room, his feet making a colliding sound with his shoe soles; with each step, he felt a burden he couldn't figure out. The whole gym scenario flashed back through his mind, ignoring his detest for it, the gym instructor sitting comfortably on her thighs with an unreadable expression; he had never been that close to Jenny, so why would he? The silly gym instructor did not even show any remorse when Adrian entered which triggered the anger that had surged through him. He was not proud of punching the man but he didn't regret it. He would not hesitate to do it again if the need arose.

Once in his hotel room, he tore his shirt off his body and tossed it on the bed, the shredded material landed on the floor instead. He couldn't bear the fact that his friend had shoved it in his face carelessly; “angry for nothing or maybe jealous for nothing”. As if was he saw was not real, like his anger was not necessary.

He slumped on the bed, staring into the empty space. “Jealous”. He scoffed intently at the word, a weird sound escaping through his lips. That was unlike him. Jealousy means weakness. It was demeaning to think that of him. But there was a vacuum beneath his anger, hidden deeper than he could access; something uneasy wrapped around his stomach. Maybe Marcus has let it out too carelessly but the truth might hurt if spoken in clear terms

And if indeed it was the truth then he was not ready to take it in. Not now. Not ever.

************

I woke up with the consciousness that I was not alright, just the same way I slept off. Cautiously shoving the duvet away from my body, I glanced at the wall clock and it was nearly sunset. How did I sleep so long? Do I call that a nap or something close to abnormal?

Suddenly the urge to pee hit me like a turbulent wave threatening to escape my bladder if I delayed. I quickly jumped out of bed and landed right in front of the door to the bathroom, I battled it open and ran in quickly. Immediately, I sat in the water closet seat, and a familiar feeling washed through me. I took a glance at my feet and my eyes almost popped out of its sockets in awe. My feet were back to haemal. No, was this a dream or some moaning moans escaping for a couple of days, maybe one or two. When I was done urinating, I stood up and bent, grabbed my underwear, pulling it from my ankle up to my waistline. My back then reminded me that it wasn't fully healed with a painful throb I winced in pain and wriggled out of the bathroom.

Adrian was a dickhead. Maybe if he had allowed the fucking gym instructor do his work, this stupid backache would have been gone by now. But I couldn't help but wonder what sort of magic he did on my feet with his hands during the massage that took my feet back to normal in a matter of hours. I enjoyed every moment of it, his soft touch, each time he caressed my feet intentionally, making moans after moans escape from my lips. Maybe I would have been turned on if I were sexually active, but I was a damn virgin.