4. A NEW HOME

A few minutes later, the car stopped in front of a gigantic building, the driver honked, and someone came out. Lena didn't know how but she was sure no one had pulled the gate open; it did itself.

She smiled, but the smile quickly faded when she remembered Darian was sitting close to her.

They got out of the car, and he let out a smug smile.

"Welcome to my house!" He voiced out, walking into the house without her.

Lena was outraged. She had expected him to be nice to her since they had just gotten married.

She looked around the big building and almost lost her way. She'd never seen a house that big all her life. The painting was a mixture of white and cream colour, there was an orchard with different kinds of flowers in it, a big garage with over ten cars, and a few tiny houses made part of the big building.

She was stunned as she walked towards the entrance and surveyed the building. She loved it already; it was typical of her dream house.

She was welcome into the house by the gatekeeper and five hefty men in uniform, their faces had no smile. They acknowledged Lena's presence with a simple nod and resumed back to their assigned post. Lena surveyed them, and made a deduction that they were Darian's bodyguards, they sure had the body of a bodyguard.

Darian was gone when she turned back to look at him. She recalled the side he took when he entered the house, and she followed the same path.

The door to the foyer widely opened for her. She walked in, assessing the whole place with her jaw dropping, what she saw outside was little compared to what was inside.

Darian sure had expensive taste, and it was evident from his expensively furnished apartment.

The living room was large and divided into compartments, the bar, the foyer, the first living room, the second one, and the third one so big. She presumed the third one was the main one. The couches in the three living rooms were different colours and designs.

Lena shook her head. Even the smallest living room was far bigger than their living room at home.

The second one was located close to the hallway. it was a bit smaller than the first, and the third one was huge, more than she would expect a living room to be, it was painted white and cream just like the outside —he must like that colour, she thought.

Different chandeliers with huge lights were hung around the ceilings, and the dining room was well-arranged.

Lena was still surveying her new home when a young lady walked into the living room. She wore an apron over her neck and wore a white and red uniform.

"Good afternoon, ma'am." She welcomed Lena with a smile on her face.

"Hello?" Lena returned the smile.

"I'm Tina, the house help here. Your wedding dress is beautiful." She smiled again.

"Oh, thank you. Nice meeting you, Tina. I'm Lena, I just got married to your boss." She said, stretching her hand out to Tina.

"We know about that. If you need anything, you can call on me, and I will always be at your service." She said, bowing her head as she gently let go of Lena's hand after a brief handshake.

"Thank you so much, Tina. Can you please show me to the room?" Lena asked politely.

"Of course!" Tina smiled and led Lena to the bedroom; she went back afterwards.

Lena got to the doorpost and stood still. She wasn't sure she wanted to go there.

Darian didn't acknowledge her. She came with him in his car and dumped her outside; she frowned and rolled her fist into a ball; she placed her hand gently on the door and was about to knock when it flew open. She lost balance, almost falling on his chest.

"Clumsy." He said and walked back into the bedroom.

"May I come in?" Lena asked him.

"You can if you want to." He responded. She swallowed hard and walked into the room. Everything about the house marvelled her, but she wouldn't act like she hadn't seen these things before in front of Darian.

"This is the room, the bedroom." He said and walked out of the room, but Lena's voice stopped him.

"I don't know my way around here and..." He didn't wait for her to finish before walking out of the room.

Lena plopped on the king sized bed and heaved an exasperated sigh, that was their first day together, and he was already acting coldly towards her. She still had more years to live. Would she be able to cope? She rubbed her hair wearily and stood up again.

Darian was no longer in the suit he wore for the wedding. She felt it was time for her to pull her dress too. She gently undid the zipper and was pulling it down when she remembered she didn't lock the door. Lena was not used to having a man around her in the same room; she quickly ran to the door side to shut the door, she pulled down her dress and was left in her underwear.

She walked to where the mirror was and stared at herself, tears dripped down her face, she felt so lonely in that big house, and she wasn't sure how long it would go on that way, she wished her best friend was around to cheer her up, but that won't be possible anymore.

She heard a knock at the door and quickly looked for something to cover up, it was then it dawned on her that she didn't come with clothes, her wedding gown was the only cloth that belonged to her in the house, she ran around, panicking.

She couldn't wear the dress back; it took a lot of effort to put it on the first time.

She searched and found nothing. She could not let him see her that way.

"Open up!" He knocked again, but Lena didn't respond to him.

She was still looking around for something to cover up when she heard the door clicking. She blinked her eyes and ran to the window blinds, hiding behind the curtains, hoping he would not find her.

Darian walked in and searched around. He got hold of what he wanted and walked away, noticing Lena was not in the bedroom.

"Hey, where are you?" He called out, but she didn't respond to him. She tried her best to stay calm and prayed that he wouldn't start looking for her. "Hey!" He called again. 

Lena watched every step he took through the transparent curtain, but he had no idea she was behind the curtains.

When he couldn't find her, he left the room, and Lena thanked her Stars; she got hold of the blanket and wrapped it around her body, she remembered Tina had almost the same body size as her, and it wouldn't be a bad idea if she asked her for some clothes, she left the room in search of Tina to ask for some clothes.