One

“What are you saying, Rose?”

Rose hid her eyes from the woman across her and replied, “My husband… He has not touched me since we got married.”

“Oh Lord, have mercy,” Deborah exclaimed. “Are you sure?”

“Am I sure?” Rose tried to hide the sneer on her face, but she could not. “Deborah, what sort of question is that? Last week, we had a class on sex, and I made sure I took notes. Based on the teachings, I AM very sure that my husband has not had sex with me.”

“B-But…” Deborah confusedly glanced at the ceiling as though the answer to Rose’s predicaments were written there. “You have been married for almost… five years.”

“I got married at the age of twenty-five, Debbie. “ Rose leaned forward, the devastation and desperation in her soul written all over her. “I am still a virgin at thirty, thanks to my husband.”

“But why?” Deborah frowned. “You are attractive. You don’t have a terrible personality. You look like you would not be shy in bed, either.”

“I am just tired of keeping quiet about this. I used to fear being made fun of if I spoke my mind, but not anymore. I am tired of begging my husband to touch me.”

“He does not touch you?! Like, not even holding your hand?”

“Have you ever seen us hold hands in public? Deborah, he does not bother to pretend to care about me. I am a stranger in and out of that house, Deborah. I am nothing but a stranger carrying Richard’s last name.”

“God have mercy. What do we do now, Sister Rose?”

“That is what I want you to help with! I need your help. I need the church to help me.” Rose could not bear to be patient anymore. She could tell that Deborah was trying to be careful with her response, but that would not solve her problem. “If you have to involve the head pastor, please do. I am tired of waiting for a man that does not want me. I have tried to divorce him so many times, but the divorce files are piled up on our dining table. He uses them to taunt me, just as his confusing distance does. That is how bad it is.” Rose reached for the woman’s hand, her soul wrenching at the contact; that was how much she desired human warmth. “I need Richard to let me go. Please, help me. I am fed up.”

“Hmm.” Deborah nodded, her middle-agedness briefly revealing itself as she frowned. “All options will be explored. Don’t worry, Rose, I will speak to Pastor West, I believe the church will look into this matter and help you out as much as we can. God will take control.”

While resisting the push to fill her eyes with tears, Rose bit her lip and nodded, “Thank you.”

“Thank you for coming to me, Sister Rose.”

Rose left the room as fast as she could.

She never planned to approach the church to solve her problems, after all, she had only recently joined them when she noticed that her husband went to church on Sundays. But, attending church was another failed attempt to get closer to Richard Walms. As usual, he did not pay attention to her even when she forcibly found a way to enter his car before he left for church. The car rides were always filled with small talk; only she did the talking like a fool.

Such car rides were a perfect example of what living with Richard was like. No matter how much she examined the silent treatment, Rose could not find a fault or a reason. During their dating era, Richard was always all over her. He showed her how much he loved her through words and actions. They went on dates and had fun without including physical intimacy because he respected her desire to get married as a virgin. Their relationship was blissful and fantastic.

But things changed when she entered his house as his wife. He went from doting on her to neglecting her, acting like she was invisible. He refused to speak to her, did not eat the meals she prepared, and did not do as much as hug her. The few times he looked at her, she failed to find the affection he once held for her in his eyes. 

At first, Rose thought it was a prank. Then, it became too serious to ignore. However, no matter how much she tried to make sense of the situation and how she begged him to look at her, things worsened. Weeks of maddening solitude turned into months of confusion and silence, which turned into years of living with mixed feelings about her situation.

“Hey! Watch where you are going, you fucking idiot!” That was followed by a vicious honk, which made Rose fling her body backwards before the car could rush into her. 

Thankful to God that she did not meet her end there, Rose quickly found a bench and sat down. As she sat, she noticed some eyes were pitifully fixed on her. 

“Hmm,” she released a low groan, distracting her heart from beating fast with anxiety. On days like this, she suspected a stranger or two could tell how much of a burden she was carrying. 

“That was close, wasn’t it?” a chilling voice beside her commented, nearly giving her a jump scare.

“Wh-who are you?” While it was clear the person was a man, she could not see his face, which concerned her. That morning, she had read about a lunatic who lured troubled women from bus stops to his abandoned warehouse under the guise of helping them. “What do you want?”

“You.”

“Huh?” Rose was sure she did not hear wrong. “Me? You are a creep, aren’t you?” Her viciousness instantly came out. “If you think you can drag me to a shady place to kill me, think again. I will make a show of you if you do not leave my side, you fucking prick. Oh fuck.” Rose recalled the pastor’s teaching about swearing. “Shit.”

“How amusing,” the man maintained his mysteriousness. “Even at this distance, you make me very curious.”

“Mister Man.” She gripped the neck of his hoodie. “Are you trying to play an expensive joke?” With a firm tug, she tried to yank the covering off his face. “Who exactly are you? Show me that ugly face of yours and-”

His hand rested on hers, and the unsettlement in her soul felt little peace as if the sun had risen to chase away a stormy day. Confused, her grip loosened, and her eyes wandered to the hand covering hers. The hand was nothing like her husband’s. It was bigger, had aesthetic veins, and, most importantly, was not just touching her but making contact with her soul. 

Rose could not neglect the change hovering over each inch of her body. It forced her to focus on the strange man who had not provided his name. 

The man’s hoodie came off, and time stopped for Rose.

His features transported her to a new world. His eyes, especially—a mix of purple and silver—made her stare deeply as if treasures were hidden inside them. 

“I see you, Rose. And I want you,” his velvety and firm voice confessed again. This time, she could not argue. The peace she felt from just looking at him was overwhelmingly great, she did not want to escape from it. 

With his short hair dancing with the wind, the man gathered the strays in her hair with his other hand and said, “Soon, we will be together; nothing in between us in all of the realms of this world.”

“Oh,” Rose replied as if she had already accepted that the man was no longer a stranger but a hero sent to help her escape her troubles. “What is-” Her phone rang, and the thrilling moment ended. Unable to ignore the call since most of her calls were business-related, she distanced herself from the strange man and stood up to receive the call.

A look at the screen revealed the love emojis she had saved her husband’s number with. Her heart started thudding, and for a few seconds, her hands shivered. She almost let the phone ring. But she picked up the call, brought the phone to her ear, and, after a couple of deep breaths, said, “Hello. Richie?”

“Come home. Now.”

The end tone beeped, and it felt like something had been ripped from her chest. Richard’s voice was not pleasant; it reeked of something terrible. Her hands trembling in fear of what could happen, Rose turned to the unfamiliar man, desperate to heal her fear. But he was no longer there. He was gone as if he had never been there. 

“Maybe… Maybe I was d-dreaming,” she said while pushing her hair back. “I… I should go home. Richard is waiting.” She looked around again, something inside her wishing that someone would hold her back. Nothing of that sort happened. “Yeah. Yeah, I should go home.”

[break]

Rune wondered if he had left too soon. He had finally caught a closer view of her gorgeous yet sullen face, but it wasn’t enough to quench the desire building in his soul. Neither were the many questions he had answered. Indeed, it would not hurt to follow her for a few more minutes, Symon’s show would have to wait.

“Alpha Rune!”

“Damn it!” Rune almost punched the man as he turned. Symon surely knew when to ruin things for him. 

“You are not trying to escape, right?” Rune laughed as if his life depended on it. “I can’t believe you keep doing this. Today’s the last day, you can’t make more excuses. You promised to do this, Alpha Rune.”

Symon had a point. It would be disloyal not to attend his show. After all, Beta Symon forfeited a great life and came to the human world with him; going to his show was one way to show him appreciation. 

“I am sorry I haven’t been around,” Rune muttered, his apology almost choking him. 

“You are?” Symon inched closer, curiosity in his eyes. “What have you been up to? You went from sitting at home like a bag of beans to jumping all over town. Also,” his eyes drilled harder, “why are you dressed like a creep?”

Rune huffed and began walking. “One more question and you will lose your tongue.” As he moved, he stopped himself from glancing back at the path the woman took while his wolf whined about his decision to go to Symon’s show.