Pamela
"Where on earth did I keep it?" I said to myself, searching around for my bracelet. It just occurred to me that I hadn't seen it in a while now. In fact, since I moved into Eric's home.
My hour-long search turned up nothing which then shot my despair up. The bracelet meant so much to me. It was a special gift from Mom before she passed away.
I slumped to the bed, exhausted only to sit up almost immediately. Eric's room! It was possible the bracelet had fallen off when he'd forcibly pulled me into his room.
Shit. This was a sticky situation as I'd be flouting his orders if I went to his room. Only God knows how he'd react.
Yet, that didn't deter me. I gathered up courage and left my room, making sure nobody watched as I turned to the hallway that led to his room.
Facing his door, I swallowed before giving a light knock.
Once, twice, no response came.
I had no choice but to let myself in, fully aware I'd regret it if caught.
Careful not to make a sound, I entered the room to find no one. I could hear the faint whoosh of running shower. I needed to act fast.
And so, I got to work, looking around. The bed, the nightstand, the study table but there was no sign of the bracelet. Even on the ground. Nothing.
I glanced at the nightstand again, concluding that I just had to look into the drawers. If it turned out nothing was there, I'd accept my sad fate.
I tiptoed to the nightstand, shakily drew the first drawer and voila, there it was.
As I dipped my hand to pick it up, a door squeaked open.
Shit.
Without thinking, I dove under the bed and held my breath. It went still for a while with just the light sound of footsteps being audible. Nothing else happened for a long time, so I moved towards the front end of the bed to know what was going on.
His calves were the first thing that met my eyes. He then stayed still, making me wonder what he could be doing.
Curious, I crawled an inch forward for a better look. That was when he took me unawares by discarding his towel.
My eyes snapped shut, only to open again and pick up the well toned, rock-hard back muscles. My gaze travelled further, cascading down the curve of his spine to reach his buttocks. An image appeared in a flash. I saw myself holding onto his shoulder as he thrusted into me and…
Krrring! My phone blared.
Jerking, I hung it up. My eyes rounded in fear. It was so silent that a drop of hair strand could be heard. Then, my worst fears materialised as Eric drew near to the bed. Every step he took was met with several more of mine towards the far end of the bed.
If only the floor would swallow me up!
Then, all of a sudden, he stopped. He didn't peek under the bed nor pull me out by my legs.
Instead, he spoke. "Yes." Silence. "Tell Carl to assemble the stakeholders. I'll be there shortly."
I heaved a sigh, at the point of tears given how close I'd gotten to being caught. His phone rang at the same time as mine. What were the odds of that happening? Almost zero.
Eric was out of the room minutes later. I didn't hesitate to leave too, completely out of breath from anxiety.
Later that day, Eric's grandfather arrived from Scotland. I joined everyone else to welcome him. Mr. Heywood Galloway was the patriarch of the family and the brain behind the billion-dollar automobile company. Galloway Motors. He'd established the business long before getting married and had been based in his home country, Scotland. His first and only son, Eric's father, had set up an offshoot here in the US.
"There is my daughter-in-law." Eric's granddad spread out his arms, beckoning for a hug.
Somehow, my gaze fell on Eric's mother. Her disapproving eyes, however, didn't stop me from the hug.
"It's good to see you again, Grandpa."
Eric's family and mine had known each other for as long as I could remember. We had a solid relationship; thus it had been quite logical for Kayla and Eric to be arranged for marriage. Except that death had decided to put asunder and I had to betray my sister.
Eric's grandfather wasn't usually around. He lived in Scotland, overseeing the family estate. Amongst everyone in the family, he was the only person I felt comfortable around.
He chuckled heartily. "Please forgive me, child. I couldn't attend the ceremony, no matter how much I wanted "
I smiled. "I understand. I know you've given me your blessings."
"Certainly. And speaking of which." He looked past me towards Eric's mom. "The young chief isn't here to welcome me?"
She replied, "He left not too long away for the office." Just by mentioning Eric, my mind flashed back to the sensual sight I'd caught in his room. I mentally chased off the thought.
Eric's grandfather scoffed. "Office indeed. He's got a wife now. He should spend more time with her." Switching his attention to me, he gestured for me to come with him. "Tell me how the wedding went."
***
Eric's grandfather decided to host a dinner party to celebrate my marriage. That, of course, had come with a tight-lipped smile from Eric's mother and…pretty much no response from Eric. This was my fate now; the sooner I accepted it while staying determined to make my marriage work, the better for me.
So, as part of making my own contribution to the dinner and partly to impress, I offered to prepare the meal. Who knows, some of the guests might turn out to be first-time customers to my restaurant. A win-win situation.
After a long time cooking, I went off to freshen up and change into an evening dress. The guests began trooping in shortly after. To my absolute surprise, my dad was one of them.
He reached up to me and pulled me in for a hug. Since we were in the midst of people, I had to pretend everything was fine. Forcing a smile and wrapping my arms around him.
"Good evening, Dad," I managed to say.
He gave a curt nod before moving past me to greet my in-laws. A hint of sadness pulled at my heartstring. I would be lying if I said I wasn't annoyed with him.
Soon, everyone was seated in the dining room. Eric's grandfather tapped his wine glass with a fork, drawing attention.
"Tonight, we're celebrating a new union. Between my grandson, Eric and his beautiful bride, Pamela. To long life and a fruitful union. Cheers!"
Everyone tipped their wine glasses. Eric listlessly tipped mine. We unfortunately had to sit close to each other.
"And did I mention what a talented chef she is? She was gracious enough to bless us with one of her exotic recipes."
The maids entered with a food cart, making my heart pump with excitement. I couldn't wait for everyone to have a taste.
"Hmm. Looks amazing," one guest commented as his food was dished out.
Right as I began dishing mine, someone screeched. A female guest seated next to Eric's mother.
"Where's the restroom? I need the restroom!"
Some maids rushed to her side, helping her out of her seat to find the restroom. And just like that, everyone was thrown into confusion.
I couldn't believe what I saw. People spat into their napkins, others were gulping water like their life depended on it.
Blindsided by the playout of things, I stared down at my plate. Putting a spoonful of food into my mouth, I immediately spat it out.
Nausea hit the back of my throat, nudging me to throw up. This tasted nothing like what I had prepared.
Someone had tampered with my food.