Anne Vincent shot out his hand and pulled me into the house, shutting the door right behind me. Next thing, he hurried off and within seconds, he came back with two huge towels. One he wrapped around me, the other, he placed on my hair, then began wiping my hair dry. I was dazed. I couldn’t move or speak. I just stood there, staring at his chest as he dutifully dried my hair. When I regained my mobility, I slowly raised my head to his face and stared at him. My hair and the towel that was moving around it shielded my face so he didn’t see me staring. However, something else followed. When he felt my hair was decently dried, he used the towel to remove the strands blocking my face. That was when our eyes met. Jeez! I saw it! God, I saw it! There, in his eyes, I saw Vincent. He had stopped moving now and was staring right back at me. My breath hitched while my heart bounced up and down my throat and stomach. His hand left the towel and came directly to remove the remaining stra
Anne My thoughts were reeling. I wondered what he was doing in his room. He’d probably be reading a book or… another book. That was Vincent when he was alone. He should be curious, shouldn’t he? He felt something that time at the door; I know. So, he should be curious why he felt that way, right? He may probably pace his room, thinking of why we had so much intimate tension between us. I shook my head and flung up from the couch. I needed to pass the time. It would be weird when he comes down and sees me staring into space. So, I picked a movie that would successfully distract me from the thoughts of him. I was heading for the television when I began hearing the rapid dangling of keys at the door. I paused my movement and stared at the door. Andrew wasn’t supposed to be coming. Did he change his mind? Unless it wasn’t Andrew! My heart sunk when Rebecca entered my head. She was the one that had the house redesigned, so she should have a key, right? I grabbed the lower part of t
Anne I fell asleep through the gnawing cold. I guess he got busy with his fiancée that he forgot he wanted to get a second blanket for me. The movie I was watching was hilarious and interesting, but it did little to erase the thought of those two upstairs getting it hot and sweaty to abate the cold. I’d stood up, paced around, gone to the toilet near the gym room to poo, cause mehn, the thoughts I had, didn’t sit well with my system. After hours of staying up, tossing and turning, throwing pillows and fetching them back, I finally fell asleep. Even in a deep sleep, the cold penetrated my subconscious. It put me in a dream where I was stuck in a locked refrigerator. The more I tried to push the door open, the colder it got in there. I was scared I would die. But after what felt like hours of struggling, the door opened on its own and in rushed warm air. I flipped my eyes open and grabbed the arm that wasn’t mine. The room was a bit darker now, but I could still make out his face
Andrew “Did you get her pregnant?!” mum yelled at me. I didn’t respond. I just stood there and stared at the floor. “Andrew! answer me this instant,” she barked, walking up to me. She forcefully dragged my face up to face her, then with the same force, raised her hand and struck me against the face. My head almost bounced off my neck, but I didn’t flinch. I simply returned my head to its formal position. According to mum, she had hired a private detective to look into Anne before they left India. Well, the detective must have found information about Anne and the baby, and how I frequented her place with baby stuff. Mum must have put two and two together, then decided that Anne’s baby was mine. “I said it!” she spat. “She’d always wanted to plant herself in this household. She had been after our wealth! She’d started with you, then moved over to Vincent, who she believed was the heir. Since I took Vincent away, she now seduced you! You let her! You let her!!” mum yelled, pounding
Andrew I knew he was so disoriented and confused, but he followed me. I know he’d wanted to ask why I didn’t take her to the hospital, but he kept the questions to himself. It made me wonder if following me was a way of telling me he cared but doesn’t know why. We got to Anne’s apartment and knocked. I’d already sent a message to her earlier telling her I was visiting with Vincent and that she should act sick. She had a lot of questions. “What? Why? When? This wasn’t part of the plan, Andrew?” she’d messaged. Her mum opened the door when we’d knocked. The shocked expression she had on her face would have had me howling with laughter if the situation wasn’t dire. “Uh… we’re here to check up on Anne. We heard she isn't feeling too good,” I told Anne’s mum, Rachael. “She isn't?” she asked with raised brows. I didn’t dare look at my brother because he would read through me. Although confused and stunned, Rachael still allowed us into the house. “What will you have?” Rachael asked,
Anne Scared was an understatement. I was mortified. I didn’t know where Andrew was going with this, but hearing my baby cry was terrifying. It was too early for Vincent to know about Lucy. Plus, God forbid, if he has another migraine episode, I don’t know how bad it’ll be this time. Vincent bent his head to the side as if listening clearly to be certain it was really a baby crying. For the first time in my life, I was going to deny my baby. I had opened my mouth, ready to say that the cry was from my little niece, but Andrew beat me to it. “Marie, Lucy is crying. Go fetch her,” Andrew ordered, like it was the most normal thing for me to have a baby crying in the room. I widened my eyes in shock at Andrew’s bold utterances. He was acting crazy. I blinked at him when I caught his eyes, expecting him to get his acts together, but he simply turned his face away and did the worse. “Marie has a baby girl,” he said to Vincent, with a huge smile on his face. Vincent turned and looked
Anne I stood in front of his door again, fidgeting. I’d knocked twice and was going to knock a third time when he answered. “Hello,” I greeted in what I would call a normal voice. “Hello, Marie,” he responded in a voice that sounded displeased to see me. “Andrew is not home,” he added “Ye…ah,” I stuttered. “I’m not here for him. I came to see you,” I said, slightly wincing as I waited for a reply. He stared at me for a while before clearing his throat and responding. “Alright. Come on in.” “No. Why don’t we take a stroll down the street?” I proposed, still wincing. I don’t know why I was expecting him to say no to me and whatever I had to say, then bang the door in my face. I guess it was how he left in the morning. I feel he wasn’t pleased with something Andrew and I must have said or done. I dared not let this fester because I wouldn’t be able to sleep knowing that I must have done something to make him leave like that. It would’ve kept me up all night. He stared at me once m
Vincent I was hurting. I knew she was definitely a part of my past, and I knew I was madly in love with her. That’s the only reason that best explained the spasmodic desires that engulf me whenever I was close to her. But I don’t trust her. She said she didn’t want to reveal the truth for my sake, but I doubted her. She was hiding something. That should be the reason my brain shut her out. I might have been telling myself that coming back here was to inform my dad of my intentions to marry Arya, but that wasn’t the entire reason. I came back for closure. My past haunted me. I felt it was time to return the favor, but in the end, as I walked away from Anne, I realized I was, in fact, ambushed. It got worse. I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t eat properly, couldn’t have a decent conversation with Arya all because my brain kept bringing up images of that lady’s face, which was quite hilarious because the same brain was shutting me out from my past with her. The first moment I laid eyes o
Anne I felt a hand slip into my PJs and began walking its magic there. A moan escaped my lips as sensual pressure built in my core. I was lying on our king-sized bed with white sheets and a duvet, in our large bedroom. I’m too sleepy or maybe lazy to describe it. Just take this though, the walls are white. The side tables holding up the bedside lamps are also white but with golden designs along the edges, matching that of the bed frame, which has extra huge golden spirals on the tall headrest just above my pillow. By the corner, a long wooden cabinet that holds several drawers is attached to the wall. On top of the cabinet are different figurines and sculptures, then close to it is a magnificent white dressing table that houses my very few beauty products, and an equally magnificent mirror with the same golden design on its edges. There are two walk-in closets on opposite sides of the room. One is for Vincent and the other, mine. A second door closer to my closet lead to the bathroo
Vincent The heavens grumbled like an old giant before I began feeling splatters of droplets on me. I glanced up at the skies and smiled. It was as if it knew how I felt inside. It was a thunderous feeling. I sped past cars on Andrew’s bike, squinting to see clearly as the rain had begun pouring with reckless abandon. How didn’t I see it? How could one be so close, yet so far away?! I felt what I felt, but I just couldn’t see what I was supposed to see, simply because of amnesia. Now it’s all coming back to me! Like a waterfall crashing against the oceans, my memories came flooding in. “I’m coming, Anne. Just wait, okay? I’m coming,” I breathed, maneuvering through the impending hold-up that the rain caused. ‘Slow down you dumb-a**’ my mind warned. I listened to it and went slower till I was off the traffic and onto the small road leading to Anny’s. My heart pounded against my chest as I neared her apartment. The gate that’d had been there when I rented the place for her was un
Vincent Arya made it sound like I had the best of times with her. She may be right because the feelings I had for her couldn’t have been created by mere moments. We must have gone through thick and thin for me to have realized what I had and cherish it. Arya made me to almost desire to stay back and savage the little I could from all we had left. I couldn’t. Because I was hurt. I lost my memory. I couldn’t remember any of my time with her, or even her face, yet I couldn’t get myself to make love to any other woman. She had all the knowledge. She knew all the bits and pieces of our trials and tribulations, but the moment I step out of the picture, she finds solace in the arms of my brother. Now, she has a baby for him. I couldn’t live with that. Her love for me didn’t nearly match the way I felt for her. I couldn’t fight when she’d already given up a year ago. Why didn’t she come after me? Why didn’t she make plans to make me remember slowly? She only comfortably devised plans
Anne The knock on the door made me jerk and involuntarily drop the scissors outside the bathtub. Andrew couldn’t have been back so early, and definitely won’t be knocking gently. Pamela wouldn’t too. Who could be knocking? My dead heart arose and, like a diver, dipped into the pit of my stomach as the thought of Vincent being the one at the door entered my head. It couldn’t be, could it? He should be in the airport now if he wasn’t on the plane already. I didn’t really care to check the time since Andrew left. Is It possible that Andrew had talked Vincent out of leaving? That’ll be if he saw him on time. I didn’t want to ignite my hope only to watch it explode in my face yet again. I’d wanted to wait a bit to see if the caller would go away, but then the knocking would wake Lucia, who’d begin crying and wake my mother. That thought made me hurriedly step out of the bathtub. My legs were wobbly from all the fear and trepidation of what I’d decided to do. I gingerly put one foot i
Anne I carefully carried sleeping Lucia and placed her on the duplicate cot in my mum’s room. I slowly and noiselessly stepped back and out of a room, throwing a glance at my mum, who was snoring lightly on her bed. I then switched off the light and shut the door behind me. Finally, the time has come. I made sure I locked all the doors for the night before heading to my room. Pamela had come earlier and suggested staying with me till Andrew comes or calls. Andrew must have called her to come. Well, I refused all her persistence and almost got angry at her stubbornness. She’d grudgingly accepted to leave. In my room, I took out a pen and scribbled down a few thoughts of mine. I hadn’t time to write a full epistle because I was hurting badly. If I did have the time, I would have written long notes to every one of the people I know who would be hurt by my actions. I’d wanted to live for Lucia, but seeing her face, eyes and long hair reminded me so much of him. One would think that wo
Vincent “We need to talk, Arya,” I said, watching her enter the parlor. She stretched her mouth into a thin line, nodding her head in agreement. “We’re finally having the talk,” she said, removing her jacket and dropping it on the couch alongside her bag. “Alright, I’m ready,” she said, after sitting down on the couch opposite mine. Silence engulfed us for minutes. It was as if we both knew where all this was headed. “Arya, I’m sorry,” I began. “I thought I could do it, but I can’t. It would be a total mess marrying me in this state. You guys were right, I’ve not healed entirely, and I shouldn’t have come back here…” I had my eyes on her the entire time, gauging her reaction. She simply looked back at me without a flinch. “Arya, let’s call off the wedding,” I conferred. She didn’t respond or divulge any emotion that showed how she felt about what I said. After what felt like ages, she inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly, then cleared her throat. “It’s sad. Honestly, I prayed it w
Andrew My brother has been ignoring me ever since I took him to see Anne a day ago. I don’t know what he was thinking, but for him to be acting this way, his thoughts weren’t in our favor. Anne had gone there to meet with him that same day while I’d gone straight to the studio. I was going to call Anne and ask how it transpired, but we finished so late at night and I was so exhausted that I passed out immediately my head touched my pillow back at our family house. The next day, I called Anne, but she didn’t answer. I called Vincent, but he, too, ignored my calls. So, after my recording session, I’d gone to Vincent’s but when I saw my mum’s car parked in front of the house, I made a U-turn and headed for Anne’s apartment instead. It was a sunny afternoon. I got there and met her coiled up on her bed, crying her eyes out once again. Racheal and Pam were there trying to make her eat her food. “You’ll make Rachael miss her doctor’s appointment, Anne,” Pam had warned. That was the only
Vincent Mum had threatened to take Anne’s baby away from her. She’d told me how she'd contacted her lawyers and had every paperwork done so that once Arya and I leave, the real work starts. “No, mum,” I’d refused. “Son, that our grandchild there. She cannot live in the slums,” she’d argued. “I’ve been there, mum. It’s not a slum, and Andrew is more than capable of caring for that child,” I countered. I was hurting real bad. I felt like I was drowning… it was overwhelming. Having these massive conflicting emotions, then having to stick up for what I believed was right, was slowly killing me. “Son, she has to pay for what she’d done to us! She cannot go scot-free. My husband and I, for over a year, have had no meaningful conversation because of her. He’d gone rigid around me,” she said in tears. “He’d not touched me for over a year because of that witch, Vincent,” she divulged bitterly. “She created a rift between your brother and yourself in the past, now, a much bigger one by hav
Vincent ‘Anne.’ I guess that’s her real name. It actually rang a bell. I remember pronouncing that name, and it must have meant so much to me because whenever I called it out, which I was doing often since that time with Arya in the kitchen, I felt a cacophony of emotions attack me. There was peace, followed by fear, then agitation, trepidation, fury, and what have you? It was strange. Her name held so much power, yet I couldn’t still remember. It was frustrating! “Have you booked the tickets, Vin?” mum asked from where she sat on the couch. She’d come around right after Arya left the house. Arya has been giving me the silent treatment ever since I mistakenly called her the name that tormented my subconscious, the day before. “Yes, mum,” I replied grudgingly from the dining table where I was getting some reading done. “Have you heard from dad?” I asked. “No, hun, but don’t you worry, he would be available for the wedding. I just received his clothes from his tailor. We’ll be tr