Chapter 5 - Her Reality

SHE RESUMES lying on the bed while observing the man who just got out of the shower. Observing him drying his hair with the towel, then dressed up in front of her. He didn’t say goodbye or even look back at her. She’s alone again, she can still smell his perfume but the bed feels empty and the temperature becomes colder. She hugs the pillow next to her and covers her whole body with the blanket. She's thinking if her actions these past few days are justified or if she’s just too upset that all her efforts are put to waste. That whatever she does will never be enough and that her main purpose is to follow whatever her father wants. She works hard to be on top of her class and win every school activity there is. She sacrifices her social life, all she knows is to study and make her father proud, but none of her efforts pleases him, he always finds something wrong with her. What pushed her to Blade that night is when her father told her that he’ll marry her off to a wealthy old man and that should be something she can do. His words cut her deep and widened the already unreachable space between them, she knew what she had done before had caused this problem. In her mind, she already paid for her betrayal. Being with Blade is out of her comfort zone but she feels alive whenever she’s with him. She feels happy and valued though she knows it's temporary she likes to think that it will last long. She finally got the energy to get out of bed, she took her bag and put the boxes of pills inside it. She then turns on her phone and checks her other phone which only has Blade’s contact info. Both phones didn’t have any notification, this made her sigh deeply. She was about to get lost in her thoughts again but suddenly her primary phone rang, it was her father. She doesn’t want to answer it and lets it ring, the ring stops but receives an angry text message from him: ANSWER THE DAMN PHONE!!! The text sends a chill down her spine. He calls again and she picks up. "Hello." She says with a frown on her face. "Go home, your future husband wants to see you." The voice on the other line is deep and commanding. "And don’t wear anything dark," he added. Before she could respond the call got disconnected. She immediately dressed up to go to her apartment and looked for the lightest colored clothes she had, she realized while looking at her dresser that the lightest she had was Fossil gray and it was an off-shoulder blouse that she couldn’t wear since it would show the hickeys and bite marks Blade left on her body. The only option she has is to go to the mall and buy a dress. This makes her uneasy, first, she doesn’t want to see his father or his future husband. Lastly, she doesn’t like going to malls; too many people, and she doesn’t like it when the sales lady follows her around. Before she left for the mall she took a shower and chose a dark green blouse on her dresser. She then drank one of the pills Blade gave her, when she was about to open the door she took a few deep breaths and talked to herself. "Everything is fine. Everything will be okay. You’re okay." At the mall, she enters the first female clothing store she saw. Took a Barbie Pink turtle neck top and denim pants but changed her mind and took a black long-sleeve turtleneck, leather pants, black gothic platform boots, and a black coat, she also purchased a black backpack and sunglasses. She looks like a character straight out of a vampire slayer novel. From there she went to the taxi bay and gave the address. When she reached their house, she saw the cars in front and it made her uneasy. She enters the house and is greeted by their housemaid. She was then ushered to the living room where her father, stepmother, and her soon-to-be husband were seated. Her father stares at her in dismay at the clothes she’s wearing, she looks like she is about to attend a funeral and kill a bunch of zombies along the way. After exchanging pleasantries, he told her to sit beside Thomas, her future husband. He is a 50-year-old chubby, bald guy with a full beard. Once they get married she will be his 4th wife and the youngest at 25 years of age gap. Her annoyance can be seen by everyone in the room. Her stepmother wants to intervene but her father stops her and even whispers to her daughter while holding her wrists tightly not to be rude to Thomas. This made her even more irritated. Thomas tried to touch her hand but she gasped and avoided him. Thomas felt insulted but let it slide since he liked how youthful she looked, her small curvy figure satisfied his eyes. They talk about the wedding preparations, and she says as long as the wedding will be held on the date she wishes or later than that everything is fine. Thomas then tries another attempt to touch her this time, her father is staring at her coldly, so she lets Thomas hold her hand and even her shoulder. This made him happy and found the day fruitful and satisfying. When Thomas left the house, Catherine walked to her and consoled her. Telling her that she can say NO. She stared at her stepmother and said, "I’m waiting for him to stop this madness. If he doesn't, that means he’s no longer my father." Catherine hugged her and patted her back. Shortly she left the house. In her mind, "what are you trying to play this time Dad?" While walking to the gate, she looked at the house and saw her father staring in her direction. She waves goodbye to him and then walks out of the residence. When she arrived at her apartment, she immediately took a shower with her clothes on and washed away all the things Thomas touched on her body. She breathes heavily while washing her hands and shoulders till they turn red. She slowly sat on the floor, knees on her chest, staring at nothingness. Water from the shower poured on her head, hiding the tears and muffling her cries for help.