Chapter Eight: Strange

Christopher Bridger sat in the balcony and worked on his iPad. If his members of staff could see him now, they would be bewildered; why the heck was he working on his honeymoon?!

But this was far from a honeymoon to Christopher. He knew what this marriage was all about and what was expected of him and now that they were not really in the eyes of the public, there was no need pretending to be a couple in love.

Christopher wasn’t married for up to three days and he could not wait for the one-year marriage contract to be over so that he could go back to his life and space, but then again, Christopher’s mind wasn’t even fully concentrated on work; his mind was elsewhere.

On his wife, Ashley Grander.

“What is going on?” Christopher asked himself.

It was early morning the next day and he just wanted to spend this time alone, so he had called the hotel service staff assigned to them for the period of their stay to take Ashley out on a tour. In truth, Christopher could not stand Ashley, and he would do anything possible to have her out of his hair.

Christopher’s phone rang. He picked it up.

“Aimee, it’s barely 8am and I am on my honeymoon,” Christopher said, but his voice had a teasing sound and Aimee knew this.

She giggled softly over the phone. “I wanted to check up on you and I know that you are an early riser,” she said.

“Ah, you know me too well,” Christopher said lightly.

“I know you more than anyone else in the world, Chris, and why wouldn’t I? We have known each other for more than a decade now,” Aimee said seductively but Christopher did not catch it.

“Did I interrupt anything?” Aimee asked when she figured that once again, Christopher did not even realize that she was flirting with him.

“No, you did not,” Christopher said. “Is there anything that needs my attention at work?” Christopher asked.

“There is nothing; I am handling everything just fine, but regardless, I would let you know if anything comes up,” Aimee said.

“Thank you, Aimee. I knew that I could always count on your efficiency,” Christopher said as his mind drifted back to Ashley Grander.

“When will your…the honeymoon be over for you to get back?” Aimee asked, sounding as harmless as possible. Referring to the honeymoon as his honeymoon just made it look like Aimee was accepting the fact that Christopher was with another woman, and Aimee could not stand that.

With Aimee, Christopher was always clueless and sometimes, it made Aimee really frustrated. She should have gotten used to it by now but, the feeling just never gets old with her.

“What did you say?” Christopher had missed what she had asked.

“When will you get back?” Aimee asked again.

“Oh, when the honeymoon is over,” Christopher answered vaguely. He was hoarding details from Aimee again; she did not like it, but Aimee was being extremely careful with Christopher. She knew him too well, and she knew just how to get him, so she painfully let it slide. “I have to go, Aimee. I will talk to you when I am back,” Christopher said and ended the call before she could say another word.

Then he sighed deeply and allowed his mind to take him back to where it had been all morning; Ashley Grander, his supposed wife.

Christopher had always been a discreet and secretive person, and that was just how he operated. It was one of the secrets to his success over the years; keeping things to himself, and even his longstanding friendship with Aimee has not made him open up to her. He knew that she was asking, because she wanted to know the specific day, but Christopher was just being himself by not telling her. He did not want her or anyone else to know about his plans and movements

Thinking about Ashley, Christopher could not shake off the feeling that something was awfully wrong somewhere. To some extent, he knew Ashley Grander, because when their families had arranged their marriage, he had heard snippets of her escapades. Christopher hardly spent his time on the internet feeding on baseless gossips, but occasionally, Ashley had popped up on the news. Either she was caught in an expensive clubhouse, dead drunk and dancing on the table with her extremely short skirt and long pair of heels, or splashing millions of naira on a brand new car, or travelling to another country just to buy a pair of trending earrings…just something. 

Ashley Grander was always up to no good.

And the first time they had had dinner together at the Grander’s mansion, Christopher had pegged her as being loud, uncouth, and extremely scandalous, and he had been turned off, but ever since he said ‘I Do’ at the altar and kissed her, there had been something really different about her.

Ashley Grander had been too calm and she always acted as though she was seeing luxury for the first time. Also, Ashley hadn’t shown any of those attributes she was popularly known for, and it began to trouble Christopher greatly.

Something was amiss; from her reaction in the plane that she thought he hadn’t noticed, to the fact that Christopher had been informed that Ashley did not spend up to ten minutes at the beach, to the drama that unfolded with her last night when she had that terrible nightmare. Christopher wanted to know what was wrong with Ashley and why she wasn’t acting her very self.

Just then, the door to the suite opened and she walked in.

“Great, just the person I wanted to speak with,” Christopher said to himself.

He got up and walked into the room from the balcony just as Ashley entered. She stopped when she saw him; another weird thing about her, but Christopher was about to find out what was going on.

“Ashley, we need to talk,” Christopher said and he watched color drain from her face.