Ch. 2: Welcome Back To Reality

Stephanie rushed into the room, throwing her handbag aside. She looked at Archer surprisingly before turning her attention back to her friend. She needn't ask further questions seeing Archer beside Natalie.

Archer straightened up, picked up his own bag and shifted from the couch so that the ladies tended to Natalie. His eyes skimmed through the living room, pausing twice to stare at a portrait of Natalie and Oscar on their wedding day.

She was smiling, but her dark eyes were clouded by sadness. His heart tightened at the thought of what came after the wedding. The thought of Oscar making love to Natalie makes him want to puke.

His eyes slid to another picture of them placed beside the television, Oscar's arm was around her waist, but she folded her hands around her lower abdomen, staring down at her wrist. Then he noticed the bracelet he had made for her resting securely on her wrist, she was gazing at it while her husband held her.

He had made it and gifted it to her on the second night that he made love to her. They were young and she was a good girl, but he changed and hurt her because he has always been a bad boy.

He sighed heavily, adjusted the bag on his shoulder and quietly left the room, aware that the women were looking at him, especially Natalie. He has to go back to where he belongs. What brought him to the main house, he has no idea.

"Do you need anything?" Judith asked Natalie worriedly.

"No, I am okay. Get something for my friend and leave us alone, please." She sat up and returned her friend's quizzical glare.

"What is he doing here?" Stephanie asked as soon as Judith closed the door behind her.

Natalie knew who she was referring to, and she knows that she is as surprised as herself but she won't believe it. Why did he have to appear after so many years? Why does he still have the same effect on her? Why did she have to show her weakness in front of him? She has so many questions to ask him.

"I don't know. He just appeared." She mumbled, staring blankly at the television. "I'm not even sure he is real. It could have been my imagination." She added, reconstructing everything that happened in her head.

"But I saw him, Judith, too. This is his brother's house and he's part of the family. I just didn't expect to see him again after…" Stephanie stopped talking when Judith came into the room again.

"Thank you," She said as Judith placed a mug of hot coffee on the table and left the room.

"You don't look too good. What did you want to tell me? I was so worried when I heard your voice, especially when you called me by my full name." Stephanie coaxed, holding her hand.

"I feel caged in here. I'm tired of this suffocating life. I have tried to hold everything in and pretend to go with the flow, but it's getting worse and I want out," Natalie sniffed, then covered her face with her palms.

She told Stephanie in tears that her husband, Oscar Georges, hasn't touched her ever since they got married. She further explained that she hasn't left the mansion apart from those few times that she came and took her out.

"The reason why I didn't accept your last invitation to go out was because Oscar would always yell at me for ever leaving the house at all. He's not a possessive freak, but he doesn't want me to go out of his castle." She finished, letting her tears flow uncontrollably.

"What? Like seriously, Natalie?" Stephanie exclaimed, swallowing a lump that formed in her throat. Her heart broke for her friend. "Why haven't you told me this? Why did you choose to live in bondage and die in silence?"

"I wish I could wake up one day and find out that the life I have been living for the past two years is a dream. I hate my parents for doing this to me. I will never forgive them."

Stephanie gave her a handkerchief. She used it to wipe her tears and blow her nose. If only she had known better than to keep hoping that Oscar would one day care for her and treat her like his woman. He's gentle on the surface, good-looking and clean, but he's the most dreadful man she has ever known.

"You are trapped, Natalie. I don't believe this!" Stephanie shook her head in disgust.

"I should have run away from home a long time ago if I knew that this is how my life would end." Natalie looked up at the photo of her and Oscar during their engagement party.

That day, she was mad at herself because she couldn't stop looking at the bracelet that Archer gave to her after making love to her for the second time. Nobody knew their relationship. It was secretly between them.

That night, they did the craziest thing together. They made love behind the couch in the parlor while her parents were bickering at each other.

She was scared, but he promised her that they wouldn't know because her mother was high on drugs and her father was drunk as he usually does after betting. They were arguing about who would sell the refrigerator and who wouldn't.

He came in and found her crying in the room. He told her that he would do the craziest thing with her so that she would remember it during sad and lonely days and laugh at what they had done.

Right behind the couch, watching her parents, he lifted her mini skirt, shifted her lingerie, knelt between her thighs and pushed his dick inside her. He covered her mouth with one of his palms while the free one held her hip as he thrusted in and out of her.

Her hands thrown over the couch, her breasts pressed against the back of the couch and her head buzzing as they shouted on top of their voices and the muffled yelps that always died in her throat. They looked at them, but couldn't make out what they were doing.

"And you, don't just stay there! Tell this woman that the refrigerator is mine and I have the right to sell it anytime I want! If she wants to sell something, it should be her body because that is all that she came into my house with!"

Her father had yelled at her while she was being banged right in front of them, separated only by the couch.

Archer whispered reassuring words to her ear and told her to close her eyes and shut her parents off. He assured her that she had nothing to fear because they wouldn't notice what was going on in their state.

She obeyed his sweet command and shut them off. Everything became Archer and her. The world wasn't there. They were in another world, and she only heard the hissing noise of the couch as it vibrated and Archer's sweet words.

When he pulled out, pushed her skirt down, straightened her blouse, and told her to open her eyes. Her parents had already fallen asleep, her father on the ground and her mother on that couch. Yes, they were crazier than them.

He stood up and led her outside even though it was late in the night. They always felt free under the moonlight and enjoying the cool night air. They would just hold hands and walk side by side until they are ready to go back. Parting with him was what she most dreaded.

The reason why she was mad at herself was because she remembered the words he said to her when he gave her that bracelet. She believed his sweet lie.

"You are my sweetheart and I will never leave you, Natalie. I will always be by your side to make you happy. I will protect you with my life because I love you."

He had held and kissed her so passionately that she felt the intensity of his words. She simply melted into him and told him to make love to her again under the moonlight. And he did.

But he left her. He lied to her. He wasn't by her side when she needed him the most and she couldn't even throw away his gift. She kept it in a safe. During her engagement party, she remembered all that and only felt like crying.

"Natalie?"

Stephanie's voice shook her thoughts away. She looked up at her and she squeezed her hand. She's tired and wants to lie down.

"What should I do, Stephanie? I don't know how to get out of this mess. Should I continue living my life like this? I told you because I needed your opinion."

"Opinion on what?"

Stephanie and Natalie looked up at once to see Oscar standing in the doorway, his hand still gripping the doorknob. Natalie gasped as Stephanie bit her lip. They looked at each other, wide-eyed, as Natalie hoped that he didn't hear the rest of their conversation.

"Answer me!"