I got advanced money transferred to my account that day when my husband was about to come home late. Just when I got the money, I was surprised. Before I could even think about it, Lewis called and asked when I picked up, “Did you get the money?”
“Yes.” I paused for a moment and couldn’t help but be curious. “This was your doing, right?”
He was silent for a moment before he opened his mouth and said, “Yes. You sent so much money to clear my debt. So I wanted you to earn them back. I had negotiated to give you the advance salary.”
I couldn’t help but feel elated at that. My heart melted after listening to what he did, and I couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s talk when you come home.”
“Okay.” Although he said okay, I knew he didn’t want to cut off the call. So he lingered for a while before saying, “Elise, are you happy?”
I knew why he was asking about it. I still hadn’t told him about what happened between me and Vampire, and the reason why we broke up. So perhaps he was still thinking that I was probably forcing myself into making up with my husband out of immense guilt. Even though I did feel guilty, that wasn’t the only reason why I wanted to choose Lewis over Vampire.
The latter was just the result of my infatuation when I didn’t have Lewis’s love with me. The former was like a replacement for my husband when I was feeling immensely emotional. But now when everything returned to normal, I realized that I was transferring Lewis’s emotions to that person. Maybe that was why I would always feel irritated whenever my husband was around me.
It was like I subconsciously knew that I was in the wrong, but I was still doing it because this damned heart needed love for beating against my chest.
So I parted my lips and replied, “Lewis, I still haven’t told you what happened between me and Vampire. Come home. I’ll come clean tonight, and don’t worry. I chose to be with you on my own. You didn’t force me into it.”
I heard him heaving a sigh of relief as he said, “Okay. I’ll be back.”
After this, he hung up the phone as I rested my head back on the couch. It was already 11 pm here, and I was still wide awake. Generally, I had the tendency to sleep at 9 pm sharp, but these days, I wouldn’t get enough sleep unless I’m in my husband’s arms. Only after sniffing his masculine scent that I would calm down and sleep quietly. Otherwise, I would be haunted by Vampire’s memories that would make me go crazy.
These days, even though I had nearly forgotten about him, I would still get nightmares about him. In those dreams, I would always see how I had chosen Vampire over my husband, and how Lewis had to face all the atrocities all alone. In one nightmare, I even saw him dying all of a sudden because of me, and I didn’t have a single trace of sadness in my eyes.
Watching myself like that sent a chill down my spine. It was a clear indication that I hated myself for doing this to my husband.
It didn’t take long for Lewis to return home. When he did, I was already wide awake and stared at him with eyes filled with depression. This wasn’t the first time I got depressed after remembering those nightmares, but this was probably the first time my husband saw my expressions like this. I would hide my face every time I had a dream like that, so that Lewis wouldn’t have to see what had happened to me past the breakup.
But today, he finally saw it, and was surprised. A hint of anxiety flashed in his eyes as he walked over to me and crouched down before looking deep in my eyes. “Elise, did something happen?” He carefully touched my cheeks, probably fearing that I would hit him like before when I was still dating Vampire. But I didn’t instead, a teardrop escaped my eyes as I brought his hand closer and rubbed myself against him.
This action of mine made him feel even more anxious. He sat beside me and hugged me while gently caressing my hair. “Tell me, what happened?”
And I did. I told him everything starting from how I met Vampire, how I got attracted to him, how much time I spent with him, and how brutally he broke up with me. From start to finish, he didn’t say a single word and kept caressing my back as if he were coaxing a child. I even told him about my nightmares I was having these days.
The major cause of my nightmares was because I was probably still living in the familiar environment. Me and Vampire had also tried to spend a night on this very couch. The living room was still reminding me of him, and how much I had hurt Lewis. This house was slowly making my heart feel suffocated because I was afraid that one day Lewis would leave me too.
But I didn’t expect him to completely avoid these things and say something completely out of my expectations. “Let’s get a new house.”
I glanced at him in surprise.
“Don’t worry. I’m still here.”
***
The next day, both of us purchased a house a few hours away from the current home. It was already furnished and had clothes arranged. From start to finish, every single thing in the house was new and we didn’t even have to move things. Of course, there were still things like photo frames and personal items in the cupboard, but the majority of the things were there.
Just how did my husband manage to arrange all of these things in just a few hours? I gaped at my husband with widened eyes.
The house was amazing, much bigger than the previous one. It was an apartment far away from the city area, and had a big balcony that showed the beautiful scenery of a beach. I stood there, looking at that place with a complicated look in my eyes. Me and Vampire had also gone to such a place. What was the point of choosing a house at this place? And where did he get so much money to buy it?
“I got advanced payment. So money isn’t the problem.” He stopped behind me as I stood on the balcony and looked at the beach before he hugged me from behind and whispered in my ears. “I want to replace every memory you have of him. And what’s better than staying and having sex right in front of a beach?”
My eyes widened after hearing those blunt words. From my experience, I had never heard my husband speaking so directly like this. I turned back and checked his forehead with the back of my hand. But he didn’t even let me do that. He got my hand and kissed it before smiling. “Should we start practicing? I think if we did it multiple times everyday, you will surely forget that you ever had a weekend at that beach.”
Before I could even blush, he leaned forward and kissed me fiercely as if he was venting out his jealousy.
Really, I felt like my husband had turned into a completely different person after all of these fiascoes, but I didn’t hate it. I smiled into the kiss and pressed myself against him even more firmly.
Soon, even my clothes were off of me as he continued to play with my body. I couldn’t help but feel delighted, especially since we were having sex outside in the balcony and no one was around to disturb us.