“Oh, come on in, miss” She beamed, opening the door wider and paving the way for me to enter. I put on a self-mockery smile, ‘this will be fun’ I followed her inside in tow, the interior inside the house was all looking luxurious and I couldn’t help but admire them all. “Please seat, let me get you a glass of water,” She said with a loving smile, while pointing to a single couch in the enormous living room, I reciprocated her smile in the best way I could, burying the deep resentment I felt at that moment inside my heart. Moreover, judging from his wife’s appearance, she knew nothing about her husband’s affair, so I shouldn’t be illogical enough to create a scene here. While having these thoughts within myself, with the corner of my eyes, I saw a slow movement approaching. I swiftly lifted my head to see a not-too-old man in a wheelchair, his head, and mouth are tilted to one side as if they are stiffened. He rolled the wheel with a hand, while the other was staying right on his chest, like it’s paralyzed.
I rose to my feet, feeling so much sympathy for him. Was this Nicholas’s Dad? He stopped rolling the wheel when he got to the small staircase in the living room, “Do you need my help, sir?” I asked him tenderly, but he only growled silently, gnashing his teeth. This made a sense of bitterness rose in my heart. I strode forward in hurry to help him get down the staircase, I was barely close to him when I heard her voice, “That won’t be necessary Miss,” I looked in the direction the voice blared from, it was right behind the man. She was holding a tray of glass of water, so I presumed she was coming from the kitchen. “He can always take care of himself” She added hysterically as she came forward. My brows pressed in a tight frown, why was she sounding like that? Wasn’t this man her father-in-law?
“Come, come, let’s seat” She said eagerly while walking past me. The whole time, my eyes remained on his figure while his innocent eyes pierced into mine as well as he growled again, “Come on Mr. Nelson, this young lady had come to deliver news from your son, so she’s not a stranger” She directed her words to him, but then, he scowled again, looking at my face fondly. “Come on Miss, I’m eager to listen to what my husband had transmitted, it’s been a while we spoke to each other” Her voice dropped to a soft tone, and it was then I realized what I had said earlier, I turned away from the man and walked back to my previous seat, offering a soft smile. “I’m sorry about that, my boss had been in a tight schedule these days that he barely have to take care of himself” I said confidently, trying to come up with the non-existent news Nicholas had sent me to deliver.
However, as soon as I said those, tears welled up in her beautiful eyes. I became strung up, but before I could open my mouth to ask why she was about to cry, she had already beaten me to it by saying, “Oh my poor Nicholas, he has been working his ass out in order to protect the company and also his family” She sobbed quietly, I twitched my mouth and secretly rolled my eyes. ‘And at the same time, he had been having an affair with me, hiding his family from me’ I almost cried out, resenting him inwardly. But I won’t like to ruin his home, the love this woman over here has for her husband was quite evident, telling her things might break off their marriage and I wouldn’t like that, I never wished for a home breaker too. Besides, would she even believe me?
“I’m sorry Miss, I just miss my husband so much” Her low voice snapped me back to reality, I straightened my back then put on a gentle smile, “So, what has he sent you to deliver? Though, it’s quite strange Nicholas is suddenly sending someone else over, except the manager” Hearing those words from her, I gulped the bile in my throat and shifted in discomfort, I speculated the words to utter at that point but couldn’t find the right words, so an idea suddenly struck me and without resistance, I got into action. I hurriedly picked my bag which was lying right next to me on the couch then fetched my cellphone from it, I glide a finger across the screen then pressed the phone to my ear, “Yes Boss, I’m there already” I spoke to the non-existing Boss through the phone, stealing glances at her out of the corner of my eyes, I suddenly got on my feet and said in surprise, “You mean, I should be coming right away?” She also stood In her, watching my face strangely. “But sir, I haven’t delivered the message yet and your wife is really eager to hear it” I continued to speak to my boss, but literally speaking to myself.
“Okay sir, I’ll be coming right away” I pressed the screen and pretended I just disconnected the call, “I’m sorry ma’am, but I’ll have to take my leave now” I told her tenderly, “I hope there’s no problem? You sounded so urgent” She said worriedly, taking a step forward. I shook my head decisively, “There’s no issue at all ma’am, your husband had promised to call you soon” I lied, proficiently. A wide grin spread on her lips immediately, “Really?” She beamed, I nodded and turned around to walk away. “Oh, wait, what’s your name?” She asked, I waited for two seconds before tilting my head to face her and with a light smile on my lips, “Kiara, my name is Kiara” I answered, “I’m Maria” She introduced, “Next time, just call me Maria” She urged, ‘There can never be a next time’ I stared at her for a minute then nodded my head, “Sure ma’am, goodbye”
I had barely taken two steps when I heard his intense growl then a crashing sound behind me, I hurriedly turned around and saw him on the bare floor, growling and struggling. He had fallen off his chair, but to my dismay, Maria didn’t budge, she was smiling at me and was gesturing for me to let’s go, my face darkened as I made to walk forward and help him up. She obstructed my way with her tiny figure, “Get going Kiara, I told you Mr. Nelson can always take care of himself” Her voice become more and more hysterical, “But he needs help right now, he had just fallen off his chair” I stared at her in awe and almost raised my voice at her, what was wrong with her?
The deep sneer on her face exuded, “Don’t worry Kiara, my husband needs you more” She smiled complacently, I took a glance at the man who was still struggling to get up from the floor, I felt a stab of pity in my heart accompanied by unstoppable fury. ‘This is pure wickedness!’ I took one last look at her before finding my way out of the house, wordlessly.