Chapter Two.

“I know that what I did was wrong, honey. Please open up.” Natalia says as she stands outside the door of the guest room that her husband had slept in last night.

“Would you please stop being mad at me? You cannot give me the silent treatment forever, do you know?” She rests her forehead and fore arms against the door, leaning into it a bit and standing on her tip toes.

“I know that you can hear me, Noah! Please, just open up, would you?” She says, still resting her head on the door, but using a much softer tone.

As soon as Natalia had got out of bed, she had headed straight to the guest room where Noah had spent the night in— after brushing her teeth, that is.

Noah hates the smell of morning breath, just like a whole lot of bother people and insisted that no one must speak to the other without having their teeth brushed.

She had been knocking for a while and still, she had got no response from Noah, who was supposedly on the other side of the door.

The door opens and a Noah clad in a bathing robe and slippers walked out. Although the visible parts of his body are not wet, it is very obvious to Natalia that he has just come out from the shower. The smell of his favourite bathing gels practically swirls around the top of their heads and his hair is wrapped in a towel.

Noah looks at her with an almost gentle look that makes Natalia feel like she would melt. She zones out and it is not until he blinks furiously at her that she realises that he had been speaking to her.

“I am sorry honey, what were you saying?” She blinks back, painfully aware of the fact that he had been speaking to her after an argument and all she had done was let herself become sidetracked. Maybe Noah had been right when he spoke to her about how she did her household duties and she had just been taking it the wrong way.

She also realised that Noah must have been in the bathroom all the time while she had been standing there, talking and begging him to come out. But he had not heard a word and she had realised how foolish she must have been to an onlooker.

If an onlooker was there to look, that is.

Noah was standing with a raised eyebrow. “Natalia? Did you even hear anything I just said?” He asks and Natalia only looks down out of shame.

Natalia fumbles with her fingers and the buttons on her pajama shirt and says in a small voice. “Actually, I have been standing here for a while.”

Noah tilts his head a bit to the side. “Oh? Is anything the matter?” He asks.

Oh wow. After all I did, he is trying to forget, and act like yesterday never happened. I am so lucky. Natalia thought with a mental sigh.

Natalia drops onto her hands and knees in front of him.

“I am so sorry about what happened yesterday, my love. Please, I need you to forgive me.” Natalia begs, slowly raising her hands towards his, before dropping them at the last minute.

“You understand that you were wrong?” Noah asks with a low, but condescending tone. Natalia nods and stands up, reaching for his hands slowly, as if seeking permission to do so.

Noah holds her hands. She sighs and looks down.

“Natalia, look at me.” Noah smiles gently. “A good, strong woman should always hold her ground against others. You will not repeat the mistake you made yesterday, would you?”

Natalia gives him a radiant smile as she shakes her head, and he pulls her closer to his side in an embrace.

Natalia winces suddenly as Noah’s arm holds her side. She lets out a soft whimper and Noah looks down at her, a frown forming between his eyebrow.

“What happened to you there?” He asks Natalia.

“Um, it’s—” Natalia shakes her head. “It was what happened to me after I fell last night.” She gave a forced smile.

‘It was what had happened to me after you pushed me.’ was what Natalia had wanted to say earlier, but one look at those stormy eyes and she either felt that the truth was not worth risking her marital home for, or that she had feared what it was that could come if she had said the truth, indirectly choosing to speak against Noah.

Noah sighs and shakes his head. “You see what I am always trying my best to prevent? Take me to the medical supplies, please, and pick out the healing balms and soothing ointments.”

Natalia nods and makes her way to their room to get the medical supplies, Noah following behind very closely. Natalia brings them out, and Noah snatched them out of her hands with a mischievous smile.

“I will apply these on to the affected areas, my love. Just go and lie down in a position that I’d most comfortable to you.” Noah says and Natalia’s cheeks are dusted with pink.

Then with the tiniest bit of hesitation, Natalia turns back. “Uh, Noah? Don’t you have to go to work today?”

Noah shakes his head and begins to screw the cap off one of the ointment tubes.

“No, I do not have anything to do there today, so it’s alright. I gave myself a day off, and so I would be in here with you throughout.” He gave a cheeky smile.

“Oh really?” Natalia squealed. “I am so happy that you are staying with me today! My day just got better!”

Noah laughs a carefree laugh, as he tries to steady his wife with a hand on her back.

“Hold still now.” He said. “This might hurt a lot.”

Noah massages Natalia’s body and applies the pain relieving ointments on her bruises and on the few places on her skin that were discolored.

Natalia responds with a hiss as Noah had just rubbed a very sensitive spot.

He pokes se he healing skin and asks Natalia. “Where did these wounds come from? You know that I do not like it when my things are damaged, so why do you hurt yourself so much?”

“I’m sorry.” Natalia says as she quickly stops herself from saying more apologies. “I can just be really clumsy sometimes, that is all.”

Noah chuckles and leans forward to kiss her open palm, which makes Natalia giggle. Then he moves his hand up towards her face, the redness of it and his very obvious fingerprints still on them, making them impossible for him to deny made him feel all sorts of negative emotion.

“You made me to do this.” He says, sounding truly sorry— and like he is about to start crying. “You made me spoil your lovely face.”

Noah had always made sure that Natalia’s skin— and his too— remained smooth and always had that glassy look.  It was something he had always done, and the red marks on Natalia’s face were mocking him upfront, making him feel like a loser for not being ably to hold a forever streak of clear faces.

Natalia had turned when her husband had stopped. She noticed that he had gone quiet suddenly after speaking about the bruise. That was when she recalled that he had always done his best to achieve a permanent glowing, blemish free face.

Natalia had even wondered if he would contemplate cutting that side of her face off. She sighs and holds his hand.

“Honey, that mark would be gone in a while, do not worry.” She smiles gently at him and he only blinks back at her, his eyes darting from her eyes to the mark on her face, before he finally gives up and lets it be.

“It better be.” He says with a grunt as he drops the ointments and balms, and then crawls up to the bed with Natalia. He props his head up with his palm.

“Have I ever told you that you are the most beautiful woman in the world?” He asks with a smirk.

Natalia chuckles. “A few times, yes.”

“Well, I am telling you again. You are the money beautiful woman in the world.” He says, taking out a strand of her hair and twisting his fingers around its length.

Natalia blushes before a shadow of a frown crosses her face.

“I still wish that we had children though.”

“What do we need children for?” Noah asks. “We have everything we need.”

“Children make homes happy. I want us to be happier.” She pouts, playing with her fingers.

Noah grunts and pulls himself into a sitting position before pulling her into him.

“Let us not think about things that would make us argue, we can talk about it some other time?” He asks gently.

“Sure.” Natalia says, stretching a bit. “In the meantime, what do you suggest that we do?”

“Well,” Noah trails off, running his fingers over and around her skin.

“I know a number of activities we can engage in.”

“Noah—” She starts but Noah cuts her in.

“You are not going to refuse your dear husband and lord, are you, my love?” He asks her with a small frown.

“Of course not, it is just that my—” Natalie starts but Noah cuts her in again.

“Then we do not have anything to worry about, do we? Just trust me, I am the head here anyway.” He murmurs, raising her head and joining their lips together.

Natalia decided to do as he asked, because, as he said, he was actually the head, and whatever he said had to go.

Natalia is pulled into a sitting position over Noah, and he runs his hands all over her thighs and over her back, making Natalia shiver involuntarily, and making Noah, in turn to smirk proudly.

“N-Noah. Limits, please.” She groans, but then is silenced by Noah’s lips on her neck, hot and very hungry.

“My bruises, Noah.” Natalia says in a choking gasp and then winces soon after due to the pain of Noah’s palm on her side.

“I am not a child.” Noah says and immediately, he lifts he up and out of the bed and still supporting her weight, he walked to the wall, pressing her now naked back against it.

Natalia hissed as the cool walls made contact with her back.

“Noah, I do not want to do this.” She said as Noah tried to get her to reveal her neck.

“Of course you do, trust me, I already told you.” Noah ignores her and holds her tighter, squeezing her sides.

Natalia let’s out a yelp that startles Noah, making him jump off, and leading to a fall for Natalia who was unable to find her balance before she hit the ground.

“Why did you scream like that?” Noah asks with heavy, angry breaths.

“You squeezed my sides. You know that they hurt.” Natalia says as she tries to gain her footing.

“And you had to make so much noise?”

“Noah, don’t be like that, I had asked you to stop earlier, but you were not listening to me.” Natalia insists, making Noah drag her roughly towards him by her arm.

“You just don’t want anything that would make me happy. And here I was thinking that your apology had been one made out of sincerity.” He sneered at her.

“You know it’s not like—” Natalia begins but Noah pushes her with a lot of force.

Natalia falls down and her head makes a small ‘thump!’ sound as it made contact with the wall just behind her.

“Foolish woman!” Noah  punches the wall, wincing a bit afterwards.

With a cry similar to that of a banshee, Noah gets into his wardrobe and grabs a white shirt and slops it on, leaving Natalia alone in the room.

Natalia lay there, unconscious.