04 // Blind Spot

I groaned as I tried to get up, my body felt weird. I don't suppose this is a result of a beauty spa.

My thighs were paining as if I'd just begun working out after being on hiatus for years, I could barely move.

I ran my hands over my skin, and my eyes shot open, prompting me into a sitting position, and I regretted it immediately because it was a bit painful down there.

My mind started racing with thoughts, and I could feel my eyes stinging with tears. Why was I stark naked? I raised the bed sheet and peeked under just to be sure that this was all a dream.

A choked sob escaped my lips and the tears started rolling as I wrapped the sheet around my body and climbed out of bed, my eyes widening in horror at the blood spots on the linen.

"No." I shook my head furiously, taking uncoordinated steps backwards.

The main door opened and a chirpy Esra walked in. "Hey, sleeping beauty, you are finally awake! You were sleeping like a–"

I moved at a lightning speed and locked myself in the bathroom, my body shaking as the tears continued falling. My heart felt like it was being crushed between two rocks.

How did this happen?

An urgent knock came from the door, but I completely blocked it out.

The sheet slipped out of my hands when I caught my reflection on the mirror, my hands instantly flying to my mouth to muffle my cries.

I stumbled across the room, towards the basin, my eyes never leaving my reflection. My hair was a mess, my lips were swollen, and my face had a whole new glow that was not there before.

But what really caught my attention were the marks on my neck and chest.

I shook my head, my mind refused to believe it, but my body and soul felt it, it was real. I'd lost my virginity last night and I did not even remember a thing.

This was not how I planned for things to happen, yes, I didn't fully agree with some of the things set by my family and the church, but one thing I firmly stood by was no sex before marriage.

Now, not only had I broken that vow, but I didn't even know how it happened.

I completely zoned out, I was like a zombie as I stepped into the shower and let the water flow down my body, and I jerked away from the spray when the hot water stung my shoulder, it was unbelievably excruciating, and I couldn't understand why.

I literally just poured water on myself and then stepped out of the shower, and then I went back to the mirror, nearly fainting at the huge bite mark on my shoulder.

Grabbing the towel off the rail, I stormed back into the room and found Esra sitting on the couch, a grave look on her face. The moment my eyes landed on her, the tears just started pouring, and I felt her pull me into her arms before she led me to the couch.

She comforted me without a single word.

I cried until my tears dried out and then sat there, staring into space.

"Sweetie, what happened?" Esra asked after what felt like forever.

I quickly pulled out of her hold and looked at her. "I should be asking you that, I don't know! I don't remember anything."

Esra grimaced. "Uhm... you... I..."

I frowned, Esra always had an answer and she always got to the point, she was not the one to run out of words or to stutter. "Esra," I pleaded.

Her cheeks turned red and she avoided my eyes. Was she blushing? "You guys were uhm... I got back late and found you. Gosh, Yvonne!" She got up and paced around the room. I sat there and followed her movements, waiting for her to explain.

"Do you at least know who he was?"

She scratched her head awkwardly. "I didn't see his face, I was a bit tipsy, and you were on top of him." This time it was my face that burned as I processed her words. "You were busy."

"No!" I covered my face with my palms, tears clogged on my throat.

I desperately hoped that nothing had happened, that maybe I was imagining everything, the soreness, the marks. I couldn't even imagine what Esra just said.

"I don't even know who the guy is, I can't remember anything."

"What do you remember?"

"I remember you dragging me to the spa, and then–" I closed my eyes, trying to remember what happened afterwards but I was as blank as a white paper. "We went to the spa and then..." I stared at Esra in panic, and she gave me an apologetic look. "Esra, why won't I remember anything? What's going on with me?"

"Yvonne, were you perhaps drinking?"

I got up from the couch and approached her. "Drinking? You know very well that I'm not a heavy drinker, if I had something to drink last night, I would know!" I yelled.

"I'm sorry! I just thought maybe there's a possibility that you blacked out." She raised her arms in surrender. "Anyway, we need to get going. It's no use pondering over this."

I laughed bitterly, and she flinched. "Great, that's right. It's not like you are the one who just lost her virginity and do not remember the guy or how it happened."

I went to the closet and threw all my things in the shopping bags since I didn't have a luggage. I was a bit surprised to find that the bedding had been changed, and the thought that someone else was going to wash my blood and all those fluids made me want to throw up.

We finished everything and left the room, Esra signed out and left the keys, and we got into the car and drove out of the resort.

"We will be home in a few, it's not that far. I'll just drop you off and then go to work, I called them and told them that I had a running tummy but I would be in a bit later," Esra said, turning to the right, going in the opposite direction to the city.

"I don't want to go to your place," I blurted out. "Take me home."

"Home." She snorted. "Fine, Yvonne, I'll take you home, but don't call me when your parents start interrogating you," she said without making an effort to stop the car or make a U-turn. "What do you think is gonna happen when you arrive? Your mother is going to notice that something's wrong. Don't you want to find out what happened first before taking drastic steps?"

I clamped my mouth shut and didn't say anything for the rest of the drive. She was right, my mother would notice that I've changed, she knew the day my sister lost her virginity back in high school and she also sensed that she was pregnant before my sister could tell her, she just kept quiet and pretended that she did not know anything.

If I went home, I would be in deep trouble, how was I supposed to explain what happened when I didn't even remember a thing? All I knew was that I slept with a man out of wedlock, and the worst part, a total stranger whose name I did not know and whose face I couldn't remember.

Oh, God! Was this my punishment for disobeying the church and my family and for sneaking out of church before the end of the service?

Who was this guy? And whoever and wherever he was, could he still remember me? Was he thinking about me?

We arrived at her place, and as much as I was shocked by what I walked into, I couldn’t bring myself to enjoy the moment as much as I would normally do.

House, my foot! She owned an entire estate with a huge house and was surrounded by greenery.

The house was a Victorian mansion suited for kings and queens, everything inside was expensive and the place was perfect and spotless. It was so big though, it only made sense why she preferred staying at her apartment, even I would never live here alone.

“Let me show you to your room.” She led me up the long staircase which separated in two directions at the top, we turned to the right and then went through the long hallway. We passed many rooms along the way and came to a stop in the middle where there were two doors opposite each other. “Okay, this is my room.” She pointed to the one on the left. “And that will be yours.” She pointed towards the door on the right. “You can go anywhere you like in the house, but the west wing is off limits,” She said in a serious tone.

I raised my eyebrow at her. “Why?” I asked.

“It is very… private. Just promise me you won’t go there.”

I shrugged. “Okay.”

“Yvonne,” she gritted, warning in her voice.

I rolled my eyes. “Fine, Esra! I promise.”

“Good. I’m going to get ready and then go to work, you’ll find your way around.” I entered and was about to shut the door when Esra stuck her foot in between the door and the frame. “One more thing.” I sighed. “Whatever you do, please keep it down.”

I closed the door and dropped my bags on the floor. The room was bigger than all the rooms back home combined. On one side of the room was a corner to corner and floor-to-ceiling closet, and on the opposite side was a headboard and a king-sided bed, and then a door that led to the bathroom.

There was a dressing table beside the main door, and a huge window in the opposite direction. It was just spectacular.

I put my things away and went to the bathroom, and I felt at ease immediately. It was the most comfortable place in the entire house. It was more than just a bathroom, it was a place where someone could just relax.

Esra left for work a few minutes later, and I went downstairs to make something to eat.

I ate and then washed my plate, then I was back to my boredom; although I'll admit that it was better than being at home since I was always on my feet and my mother always had something for me to do, I never had time to rest.

She always said that she was preparing for marriage because no man would ever want to marry a woman who was lazy or couldn't do any house chores. It made me angry at times because it was as if all I was good for was becoming someone's housewife.

I wanted to be more than that, I wanted to be my own woman and be independent like Esra, and this has always been my wish from a very young age, it was what made me different from the girls in my community, and I guess that's why I had no friends till I met Esra who was more open-minded.

I walked around the house, getting acquainted with every room downstairs, and then I went upstairs and checked out the rooms in the east wing, most of them were empty with no furniture.

What caught my attention was the library, it was right at the end of the hallway and was huge and surprisingly packed with books that dated to over a hundred years ago.

Esra did not strike me as a bookworm, she hated books with everything in her.

After checking out the library, I went back downstairs, stopping at the top stair to glance at the forbidden west wing. It was dark that side, I couldn't see a thing.

I went to the sitting room and watched TV. Quite honestly, I was bored. If I had known that we were going to come to her house, I would have brought my painting set.

My phone rang and I didn't even need to ask who it was. "Miss me already?" I answered.

"Hey, idiot. Glad to hear you are much calmer," Esra said, and a smile crept up to my face. "Are you still okay over there?"

I rolled my eyes. "You make it sound as if you left me at the church."

She laughed. "Okay, I was just checking up on you. I'll see you later."

"Bye." She hung up.

I threw my phone on the couch and browsed through the TV channels. I was even contemplating switching it off when I came across a music channel that was playing one of my favourite songs, Whitney Houston's "How Will I Know."

My family was strict to some great extent, we weren't allowed to listen to American music or music by anyone overseas unless it was gospel.

I always stole moments to just explore the internet and find some good music. Honestly, I am a hopeless romantic and I am crazy about love songs. Play me anything that spells love, and we will be friends for life.

My mother would go crazy if she ever got hold of my phone.

Next, they played Fifth Harmony's 'Angel', and I turned up the volume and sang along. It was not like Esra had any neighbours or a school next door, she owned an entire estate.

I was on cloud nine, dancing and singing, but within seconds, everything blew up into smoke. Everything happened too fast for my mind to grasp, and a loud scream broke out as I felt myself being tossed to the couch.

My heart was literally hammering in my chest as I looked up and found the entire stand in a mess, it was torn in half, and everything including the TV, decoder, and speakers were broken as if something had chewed them and spat them out.

What in the world just happened?