AMELIA I lay in bed for a while after I had woken up. Everything about this place demanded that I sleep in, but the thought of seeing Damian again and maybe exploring got me out of bed and out of the house. It was just after dawn but already, the servants were up and about their business for the day. They greeted me cheerfully as I passed. A woman, carrying a large basket filled with fresh vegetables into the house, told me breakfast would soon be served. Damian had left me sometime last night to go sleep in a tent at some distance from the grounds. I pressed my ear against the flap of the tent when I got there, but there was no sound of movement from inside, only soft, even breathing. I tiptoed in. Damian was wrapped up in a blankets, still fast asleep. He looked so innocent, harmless in sleep. A lock of his dark hair fell across his brow. My hands inched with the urge to stroke it. I jumped on the bed, raised his eyelids and kept them open. "What the-" he began, then c
AMELIA I was furious; completely, and utterly enraged. If I wasn't so angry, I supposed I would be crying. I didn't want to cry so I held on to the anger which was probably not a good idea considering the fact I had almost crashed the car into one of the tents a few seconds ago. I sat in the car, breathing hard, thankful that a rather nasty accident had just been averted because I was sure there were people in that tent. I could hear their raised, confused voices. Moments later, I saw a couple of faces, peering out at me from their tents in surprise. In another moment, they would come to check if I was okay. I pushed the door open, scrambled out of the car and ran towards the palace. Already, my eyes were getting blurry with tears I didn't want to shed. I couldn't clearly see the faces of the people in my path, but I could see that they were reaching for me, evidently concerned. "Out of my way!" I shouted. "Get out!" Later, I would be sorry for my rudeness to these people wh
AMELIA I stirred, and opened my eyes. I couldn't suppress a groan. There was no escaping the crushing weight of sadness I felt now that I was awake. Some time after I had cried my eyes out, I must have fallen asleep. The clock chimed 8pm and I realized I’d slept for hours. The mental and emotional exhaustion must have really gotten to me. Through the half open window came the sound of crickets chirping. Their song filled the silence of the night. Slowly, I sat up to wipe the tear tracks I could feel on my face. Just then, my stomach growled loudly and I realized that I was hungry, really hungry. I hadn't gotten anything to eat since breakfast. I glanced at the door, feeling hesitant to go out. I didn't want to set my eyes on Damian. Not now. Probably not ever but the hunger pangs grew insistent with every passing second. Finally, after another moment's deliberation, I swung my legs out of bed, having decided that I would go get dinner and immediately return to my room. That
AMELIA It was morning. I had woken up a few hours before, but I hadn't even thought of leaving my room. I just lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling in silence. They were two reasons was hiding away in my room: I wasn’t ready to speak to anyone yet. And the second- the most important reason- was that I couldn't stop thinking about what had happened last night. With a sigh, I turned over to my side. It was a wonder I had gotten any sleep at all considering the state of mind I had been in. The sadness I had felt after Damian had made his odd proposal was nothing compared to the gut wrenching sorrow I felt now. My agony had somehow created a rope of despair around my heart and with each passing moment, I felt like it would crush me to death. 'I will always protect you from myself.' Those words echoed in my head over and over again. How did a man, a good man, get to the point where he thought of himself like he was some kind of monster, a monster I needed protecting from?
DAMIAN The moment I closed my eyes, I found myself back in time to the neat living room of my father’s mansion with the perpetual smell of pine air freshener. There are lights everywhere, too many to count, because of mother’s fear of darkness. In the room, with my favourite action figure tucked into my side pocket, I was joined by my mother, a tall, plump, kind-faced woman who spotted me and exclaimed, "Oh Damian, there you are! Did you go to play in the toolshed again? Remember how many times I have-" "Mum!" I interrupted with a frown. "You promised that we would play. Can we play now? Please?" Her plump face relaxed into a smile as she bent to ruffle my hair. "Okay, kiddo," she said. "We'll play. How does hide and seek sound?" "Yay!" I excitedly jumped up and down on my sneaked feet until she told me to hide so she could find me. "Make sure you get a good hiding place," she called after me. "And count to a hundred, mum!" I called back. As I ran up the stairs, I
DAMIAN I turned on the television. On the news channel, I already knew what I would find. Only one thing had been the most talked about topic of conversation for the last couple of days since Amelia and I returned home from our ill fated trip to Morocco. Every news outfit, every blog was talking about the city's new sensation. This sensation was a big time investor who had recently moved into the city and looked set to settle here. Her appearance in the city had caused quite a buzz both in the business and entertainment circles. Amelia knew about her, of course. In fact, she had just been watching a news feature on the investor, but had immediately turned off the television and taken herself off to her room the moment I came in. I could not suppress a sad sigh. She had been avoiding me a lot these days. I understood why she was doing it but it hadn't made it easy to get used to. I turned off the television, more focused on my own problems than in some rich woman who had taken
AMELIA I waited until I was sure he had gone downstairs before I quickly got off the bed and curled by the window side. I took care to stay behind the curtains in case he decided to look up. It would be embarrassing for him to find me watching him especially since I’d made it clear for the past days that I wasn’t interested in him. If he spotted me, I wouldn’t be able to face him for a while. As I watched, Damian got into his car and drove off quickly. Something dark and ugly fluttered in my chest. Something I recognized as jealousy. Damian was off to a so-called breakfast meeting with that woman, Monique. There was something about the socialite that I did not like, something that made me feel threatened. I felt like she was up to something, something more than her obvious attempts to try to get her claws into Damian. I had tried, and was still trying, to shake off the feeling, but the more I tried to, the more it affected me. “She’s probably just desperate for partners.” I
DAMIAN I was so shocked I nearly choked on the coffee I was sipping. I coughed, and the coffee spilled over, staining my pants slightly. With a half smile on her face, Monique calmly handed me a napkin. I dabbed at my lips, and then my clothes. I still couldn't believe my ears. The woman had actually asked me to be her lover! Yes, she had been flirting with me despite my constant attempts to remind her I was married. But this offer was... outrageous. I paused to study her face, looking for signs that she was joking or just having me on. "You seem very... surprised," she said, licking her lips slightly. "I am," I admitted. "When you said you had a proposal, I wasn’t expecting this. Did you just ask me-" "To be my lover. Yes, Damian I just did. I'm a woman who sees what she wants and goes for it. I've wanted you since the first second I laid my eyes on you and I don't feel there is any need to pretend about it. We are both adults after all." As I searched for ways to exp