CHAPTER TWO

Bathing done, I reach out for the white cotton body towel by the racks and carefully wrap it around my body and fasten it under my armpits.

I use my palm to wipe off the steam from the mirror, stare into the eyes of the person standing in front of me. She looks so lost, pale and exhausted. Her arms were covered by ugly purple and green bruises, they still looked fresh which made them very disgusting to look at. Further more my light caramel complexion didn’t do any justice. I pretty much looked like rotten goat cheese.

The sharp sour feeling crept over to my chest, slowly a lump was forming in my throat and my eyes were stinging, itching for some reason and all of these are a sign that I am about to ball my eyes out.

I snort, breathing and blinking my eyes and clutching my jaw from time to time.

I have to be strong. I have made it till far and I can survive this. I know I can. I give myself a motivational talk.

To avert my attention from the bruises I grab my hair brush to straighten out my natural hair curls. It’s always easy to do it when it’s soaking wet than dry because if it is dry it becomes a handful to brush. Very stubborn.

While gazing at my reflection my mind once again takes a trip to the past memories and I abruptly stop as a certain memory flashes in my mind. I form a smile as I get lost in the train of the past….

                                    ***

“Are you alright?” his eyebrows ceased and his velvet voice laced with worry.

What to say? I didn’t know what to say…I mean I was normal good with words but that moment everything seemed to be in a blur.

He heard him clearing his throat taking a step from me and held my gaze. “Are you alright?” he repeated his question in amusement.

“I…um…I…” I internally groaned at my prattle. He chuckled and I flushed scarlet. I hunched my shoulders up and decided to try again. “Yes I am fine,” I stated and that quite surprised him I guess. He smiles a little and stuffed his hands in his jean pockets and I can swear I have never seen a man looking so delicious by such a simple and boring pose.

Why not? He was Andre Steele… the school bad boy and he was talking to me!

Me! The original Maia Hollywood!

As cliché as it sounds, yes the school nerd and bad boy met each other and like any other cliché book you have read so far I was smitten by him. Very attracted in an unexplainable way.

“So…” he began. “Where were you rushing out to? You seemed in a hurry.”

It was then I recollected my thoughts. I was suppose to be in class ten minutes ago.

“Shot! Thank very much for saving me but I have to go,” I gathered my books which had fallen to the floor. I feel him before I can hear him… he reaches out to caught my wrist but I was alright out of the scene.

My mood was totally off when it was lunch time. First I got late for most important class, I didn’t get the first information shared, secondly I had another new project whilst I still had yet another one to be completed and thirdly the lunch queue was so long and I was very famished.

When it was my turn to grab something to eat, all the good stuff was gone. I kept wondering if everyone in this place was a glutton. An exasperated sigh left my lips as I took some ham sandwich and a drinking yogurt. At least it was something to keep my engines going.

I managed to find a spot by the window and I slided down to eat my sandwich and mind my own business but you can’t when you have already caught the eye of the bad boy.

I suddenly felt a pair of eyes on me and not only that a shadow indicating that someone had occupied the empty sit besides me. I snap my head over to have a look and there he was…Andre and he was smiling.

I glance around to figure out whom he was smiling to.

“Come on, it’s only you and I here pretty stranger,” he said and my eyes widened to a size of the biggest saucer you have ever seen. He licked the corners of his lip. “Okay I get that reaction a lot but this kind of reaction I am getting it for the first time. I am pretty sure I am not a celebrity so I can’t fathom as to why you are looking at me like I am one,” he softly chuckled. “I brought you something to fun to eat. I witnessed you brooding over the meal you got so I thought of giving a share of what I got.”

All this time I am frozen. I doubt I was even blinking.

Did he just say he bought me lunch? But why?

“Please don’t looking at me like that. Are you even blinking?” he scratched the back of his neck.

“Erm…but why?” I asked my voice above a whisper.

“Okay I am going to be straight and blunt about it,” he swallowed appearing to be struggling with the words. “I…I….,” he strutted then laughs quietly licking his bottom lip. “This is happening for the first time as well. Erm listen I…I kind of want to know you more,” he starts rubbing his hands together, he seemed nervous and he was trying to cover it up by chuckling and rubbing his palms together. “Screw it…I am fascinated by you and I want to know you and see you more. Let’s start off with the names. Hey I am Andre.”

I smiled. For the first time I gave someone a genuine smile and not the forced one I normally gave people just so they could stop bothering me. It was also for the first time I actually wanted to get to know someone and be friends with them.

Even after all the talk I gave myself I still lost my balance and fell. I was swoon and I was slowly letting myself walk into the quick sand. I allowed it to happen.

I wanted to know Andre for Andre.

“I am Maia,” I stuck out my hand for a shake and he took it gently shook it with that charming smile on his face.

                              ***

I was so lost in my day dream that I didn’t feel it when he walked in. I only felt the awful pain of my hair being pulled and my scalp screaming in agony.

“Who are you thinking about huh?” his voice harsh and dry in my ear. When I whimpered instead of answering he pulled harder making me cry out. “Tell me! Tell me damnit!” he yelled.

“No one!” I cried out loud. “ I wasn’t thinking of anyone! Please let me go! You’re hurting me,” I squirmed against him, my hands over his strong hand trying to pry them off but his grip was so freaking tight.

“Bloody liar!” he swiveled me over and like a whiff of wind the slap landed on the side of my face by surprise.

My head whipped to the side due to the force used to hit me. And it stung so bad. My head felt like it was under deep waters and my ears were filled up by them. Not only could I hear bells in my ears, I also saw stars.

“You’re lying!” he screamed my chin forcedly trapped between his fingers, the grip so tight that I was afraid my cheeks were going to snap into two if he held much longer.

“You were thinking about him again right? You were thinking about your secret lover weren’t you!?”

I don’t know what he is talking about or who he is referring to.

My lips quivered at the malicious look he was giving me. He looked crazy to kill and right now I was the only one in the room. I had to calm him and try not make him snap.

“I…I wasn’t thinking about anyone. Trust me on this. I wasn’t thinking about anyone at all. Who would I be thinking about when I have you? You are my husband and I can’t think about anyone but you.”

“That man at the dinner party. You were chatting with me, laughing with him and looking like you are in love! Oh I get it now. I get it! That’s the reason why you don’t want to birth my child! There’s actually someone you want to have a child with but let me tell you something I will never let that happen!” he fisted my hair once again, walked over to the bathtub and while I was still crying out to him to let me go and huge amount of water filled my mouth to my lungs chocking me.

He is trying to drown us! My subconscious croaked .

I kicked, punched, kicked and punched. I even tried to scream but all I got was soapy water getting into my lungs, ears and eyes.

It burnt.

It itched.

It didn’t stop no matter how much fighting I put forth. I was certain that this time this was it. I was finally going to leave this realm and I would go peacefully since this is what I have been yearning for eears now.

Call me all you want. Call me a coward but you would only understand my decision if you had witnessed what I had been through and what I am going through every single day. This is only a dose…you haven’t seen or heard anything yet. So after everything I am ready to let it go this time. I stopped fidgeting and let the water take me away and just when I saw the darkness. I heard a muffled voice, it was shouting and it seemed to be waving off the darkness.

No. Please come back. Come take me away with you! My subconsciousness screamed but it didn’t listen.

Suddenly my head was pulled out of the water, I gasped for air and coughed out the soapy salty water out of my lungs. I was practically shivering from fear as I backed away hugging my body.

“What the hell were you thinking son?” a motherly voice admonished and I already know who it is.

Mrs. Kris Steele; she is the perfect ideal mother in front of her son’s eyes. Honestly I don’t blame him for being a mamma’s boy. She has brainwashed him so much that he trusts her so blindly. I can swear with my life that if one day she asks him to jump off the balcony he would do it without thinking twice.

Even way before he became like this, I used to tell him that his mother didn’t like me and he never believed me or trusted me once. She was the perfect mother to her son and the terrible mother in law to her daughter in law. Just like in the movies.

One of the reasons she didn’t like me was just because I had no identify or a clan to call myself with. I am an orphan and just because of that stain I am a gold digger and her son the gold mine. Hate at first sight, that’s what she had for me the first time we met. Back then it was alright because I had my best friend and husband’s support but now I have no one. Both of them hate me so very much like I am slimmest thing they have ever come across. I have no family to run to, no mother or husband. I am back to being just Maia.

“I don’t like her either Andre,” she states glancing over to me with a sneer. “I told you this before but you didn’t listen to me. You told me you loved her and now see, she has started showing her promiscuous side. Fraternizing about another man despite being a married woman. How long has it been now? Three solid years and she still hasn’t given you an heir to this empire. I told you she was a good for nothing wretched orphan, maybe that’s why her parents left her out in the cold to die.”

That stung. I clasped my trembling lips together to avoid a whimper from escaping and just let the tears stream down.

“If you asked me she should have died or eaten by street dogs that night. I hate her that much but I also don’t want your hands to be tainted by her dark blood Andre. If you kill her, it will be the end of you and everything you have amassed so far. Being a mother I won’t let that happen. You just have to tolerate her for now. Do you understand dear?”

I didn’t have to raised my head to see if he agreed to it or not because I already know the answer. He made it clear a long time ago.

“Good. Now freshen up and meet me down for breakfast,” she states. “Listen girl,” she calls out to me and I quickly meet her eyes. “What are you waiting here for? You’re not that badly hurt. Now get up and prepare breakfast for us. And for lunch inquire with me what to prepare because we are having guests over. Get up quickly.”

I struggle to get up but I do eventually and limped my way out of the bathroom to the closet and grabbed a white max lacey bodysuit and paired it with white sandals.

Ready to make breakfast for the mother- son duo.