“Chantal will do whatever we ask her to do,” Bram answered me, then he turned his back to me and went out of our room.
During dinner, only the sound of the fork and spoon could be heard as it hit our plates. Nobody talked. I could see him stealing glances at me but I ignored him. I focused on my food. When I was done eating I stood up and thanked Maria for the meal.
I requested for Maria to make me some green tea then I went to one of the two extra rooms in Bram’s three bedroom unit. I went to the room near the main entrance. It was smaller than our room. It had a combination of blue and gray colors. I sat on the bed with a gray colored bed sheet and blue blankets.
I scanned the small space. It did not have a bathroom, so the people who would stay here would use the common bathroom. I laid down on the bed horizontally so I could feel how soft the bed was. Our bed in the master bedroom was still better. I heard a knock on the door but I did not get up.
“Come in, Maria,” I yelled softly. She was probably bringing in the tea that I requested.
“Why did you call me “my love” last night?” I heard Bram say.
I sat up, “I did not say that!” I told Bram as he closed the door.
“You want me to call mum as a witness?” Bram said smugly.
My jaw dropped. I could not believe how over confident he was right now. He was smirking at me! Then we both turned our heads to the door when we heard a knock.
“Come in,” I said as I glared at Bram’s smiling face.
The door opened and Maria entered, “Your tea is ready, Madam.”
I stood up and walked towards Maria, “Thank you, Maria.” Then the three of us walked out the room.
Roland and I were on a messenger call on Bram’s laptop. I decided to stay in the dining area so I would not bother anyone. He was explaining to me some of the expenditures during the two weeks that our mom was unable to move from her fall. I was not very savvy when it came to MS Excel so I asked him a lot of questions. I caught Bram glancing at my direction several times while he watched a movie in the living room.
When I checked the time it was already eleven in the evening. I did not want to ask about Alicia so I told Roland that we could continue our discussion tomorrow. I turned the laptop off and closed it. I removed my hair tie as I walked towards our room. I saw Bram turn the TV off and followed me.
Maria brought me three sets of sleep wear and I decided to wear the emerald silk gown with matching robe. When I went under the covers Bram parted my legs and wrapped his arms on my waist.
“We should call each other with an endearment,” he said as he rested his chin on the middle of my breasts.
I laughed softly, “You’re not over this topic yet?” I asked him.
He looked up to me, “Just call me “my love”, anytime you want,” Bram told me without blinking.
“You’re not going to let this go?” I asked him as I shook my head.
“No,” Bram replied. Then he cupped my right breast and sucked it. I gasped when I felt the sensation crawling my entire body. He licked my nipple and said, “Connor and I never fought before. This is the first time.”
I shook my head, “Then why did you punch him? And what was in the audio recordings?”
“You can’t read between the lines?” Bram asked me, with disbelief all over his face, “You were talking to him.”
“Which part do you mean? And do you have a lot of audio recordings?” I asked, confused. I was not sure if we were talking about the same thing.
Bram just shook his head, “Connor just said he liked you.”
I tried to recall the conversation that I had with Connor at the coffee shop. But Bram slid down and started to lick my intimate parts.
“Bram!” I whispered to him, “We’re not done talking.”
“Well, I am.” Then he continued what he was doing to me. I closed my eyes and gripped our bed sheets.
Friday
After cleaning Bram’s wound I left the condo with just Jonas with me. Chantal requested for a bereavement leave because of a death in her family. Bram said that Jonas could take care of me. During our drive, I recalled my conversation with Bram.
“Jonas is a mixed martial arts expert,” Bram told me. Then he blinked when I dabbed his wound with antiseptic.
“Jonas?” I exclaimed, “Wow, really?”
“Sometimes he is my sparring partner when he’s not busy,” Bram added.
Now I was looking at the back of Jonas’s head with admiration. He was wearing the same color of uniform as Chantal’s most days but his was in a different design. And he was wearing a hat. When we reached the hospital, Jonas turned the engine off and opened my door for me. We walked inside the building with him just slightly behind me. I put out my ultrasound request and we went to the reception to ask for directions.
I could not stop smiling when I got the printed images of my baby. I sat on the bench in the waiting area and took a picture of it and sent it to Bram. I got a reply from him in seconds.
Bram: Hurry back to me
I almost cried just by reading Bram’s message. He did say he was falling for me but it did not count. He was half asleep at that time and he had probably forgotten all about it now. I sighed and assessed myself. Do I love Bram?
I closed my eyes and shook my head. How do we really know when we love someone? I opened my eyes when I heard my ringtone. I saw Bram’s name on the caller ID.
“Hello?” I said to him,
“I sent the image to mum,” Bram said from the other line, “And now she wanted to see us both in her house. I’ll meet you there in one and a half hours, okay?”
I smiled and answered, “Okay.”