Laura showed up two hours earlier than we agreed.We decided that we would meet up at one of her favour spots by the park, and the time set for our little meet up was 12pm.I arrived there on time, and whatever made me think I was going to be earlier than Laura, I still questioned till now. I reached the benches to see my best friend already waving at me from her distance, her wavy black hair shining and glinting under the light, and her big eyes filled with excitement of all forms.Laura was like a little child. It was just as adorable as it could get annoying. The girl was so happy to see me, and nonetheless, as I walked out of the car, shutting it behind me as I made my way towards her, she would not stop grinning and waving. At some point, she even started to run to catch up with me."Girl, I MISSED YOU!" She was screaming at the top of her lungs as she squeezed me into a tight, breath taking hug.She couldn't have been more excited to see me. Her happiness, I hated to admit, was
DARLENE"Wow."Those were the only words that had left Laura's mouth after I had told her everything about the Mckenzie family and how it had affected my marriage with Alexander.She was so quiet that I started to wish that I did not even bring it up. It took a lot, and I mean, more than a lot to bring down the spirit of a girl like Laura, who always saw the positive in everything and was more than enthusiastic at all times."I just can't wrap my head around the fact that he would keep something like that away from me, till after I married him." I told Laura."Would you have married him if you knew before hand?" She asked me.I pondered on the question. It was not the first time that I had been asked something like this before. But usually, I asked it to myself, and one answer always prevailed after repeated rounds of wondering."I don't know," I said, sighed as I came to one realization. "I don't think so.""So, is that a No or a I'm not sure?" She asked me. It was rare to see Laura
DARLENEThere was no better way to forget your problems than a night of irresponsible drinking. So, once Laura and I had hit the bar downtown, there was no telling that I was going to be on my worst behavior.And with someone just as irresponsibily behaved as Laura, it was my lucky day of freedom.The music in the Bar was very loud and everywhere blared with a mix of Millennial and Gen Z music vibes. Purple and pink lights swarmed all around me, illuminating the entire room and shading everywhere with my favourite colour of sin. I could barely catch a thorough view of the environment, because my mind was fucked and occupied with many other things — including alcohol — but the fancy lights, loud music, and many people were all juggled and mixed up in my head.I had never felt this much euphoria before. For what seemed like an eternity, I had finally tapped back into a side of me that I thought was long forgotten — a part of me that was brewing with the most insane kind of happiness, th
DARLENEI woke up.The air was cold and it felt like I was indeed seconds away from freezing to my death. My throat felt stuffed and clogged and my head banged like crazy. Shivering, I sat up against the suspiciously soft bed and stretched my body, cracked my back, and yawned in reflex; my eyes were still drowsy and adjusting, bluriing over and over, to my wake.I sighed when I started to adjust fully. Slowly, quietly, my eyes roamed the room around me from it's new arrangement which I had never seen: the brown and white shade that illuminated to form a golden colour, the lone king sized bed I was on, the video game set, and the dark curtains that shielded any other source of light there was from the outside, giving only the swinging chandelier in the room a chance to brighten up the entire place."Hm, nice place," I muttered, half concerned for a moment.Before my eyes shot open in shock, panic latching onto my back like a cold blanket."Where am I?!" I screamed as I jumped from the
DARLENEFrederick Mckenzie was standing before me and I was so torn into confusion.The moment I saw my eyes on him, a series of flashbacks barged into my head, but all that made sense was me on the shoulder of a stranger who carried me around at will. That was it.Could he have been the stranger?I remembered very well that this stranger had very, very—"—Dark hair." I said as I noticed the colours and streaks of jet black and dark brown on Frederick's hair. "Dark hair?"I stared at him in thorough confusion, tilting my head to look at him properly as though I may have been seeing it wrongly.I remembered that he had strawberry blonde hair, the very kind that made it difficult for me to even look at him more than once. Not because he wasn't handsome. But because that tone of hair was very sharp, too sharp, to the point it made me wince everytime that I looked at him even.I remembered that I had even voiced it out to him the last time we spoke.Frederick straightened up his posture,
DARLENEI hadn't realized how long I had even spent there in the shower until I came out and it was already looking so bright outside.I remember vividly that it was still early hours of the morning that I had gotten in, do early that it was still even a bit dark outside and here I was, stepping out when the morning sun was already brightly shining everywhere.Shower time had always been this way for me because as far as I can remember, that was the only time that I seemed to get the kind of peace that I was always looking for. It gave me some time to think and reflect and just, well, relax, as the hit trickles of shower water were running down my body and warming me up, little by little.I guess, once again, I must have forgotten myself.Only in Frederick's house.For some reason, a part of me felt like all these was a but not decent, but I had to make myself feel better by coming to terms with the fact that, well, nothing major has actually happened. It was only Frederick being a ge
DARLENEThe car ride with Frederick was quiet.This was a bit weird having that a man like Frederick was not one to be a quiet person, and I wondered to myself just why he had not said a word since we got into the car for him to drive me back to the mansion.Granted, he was a nice guy. With the way he occasionally glanced at me as he five and shot me quick and comforting smiles, I was able to tell that he was gentleman enough to realize that the quiet atmosphere was in the slightest, awkward.It was still early in the morning and traffic was forgiving. The road was smooth and at some points, it seemed like it was just us on the road and if we shared with other cars, they were not more than one at a time. It had been long since I had a ride as quiet and as calm as this. I mean, it was awkward that neither me or Frederick had said a word to each other, but I did not feel uncomfortable.And out of the blue, in the middle of the ride, Frederick popped me a question."Are you happy?"I was
DARLENEThere were a number ofthroghts going around in my head in circles as I made my way into the Mansion.Frederick had driven away the very moment that he had assured I had stepped in. I could not help it however, the way I subconsciously kept turning my head to look back at Frederick who had dropped me off. I was not even sure why but I just kept glancing back at him occasionally, and all the while, his voice kept replaying in my head, reminding me of all he told me, all that we had talked about in the car.Frederick was a smart guy. Even though he was one to joke around a lot and play like a child, act like a child, he did not quite have the intellectual capacity of a child. He was quite intelligent, more intelligent than what he pulled off at first impression.And he was kinda right.I started to feel like I was being a bit too harsh on Alexander. Granted he lies to me. What he did was inexcusable. But if I was being honest, it did not seem like this marriage thing was in any o