“The water is warm enough now” George muttered to Rachel as he reached for the basin of water beside him. He lifted her sore feet gently and dipped them in the basin.
Rachel smiled lovingly and watched as he opened a bottle of sweet smelling oil and poured a few drops into the basin of water. “You make me feel like kissing you a hundred times whenever you do this”
“Really?” George raised an eyebrow and smirked “So what are you waiting for? I should probably do this everyday then”
Rachel laughed “And you will get a hundred kisses in return every single day. Can you handle that?”
George winked, “Trust me, I can.”
A few minutes passed and he reached for a soft towel and dabbed her feet, drying the excess water that dripped off her toes. He reached for the jar of oil and poured a small amount on his palm. Rubbing his palms together to spread the oil, he kneaded Rachel’s toes gently, rubbing the oil evenly around her feet.
“We can’t go shopping again today since your feet ache. We’ll go another time” George whispered calmly.
Rachel pouted “But I was really looking forward to going there”
“That will be another time. You need to relax and avoid putting any pressure on your feet for now”
“Alright. I’ll just g-”
The door to their bedroom opened forcefully and George’s mother, Patricia barged in with an angry look on her face.
George glanced up, surprised. His mother was not the type to barge into rooms like that. He stood up and walked towards her as Rachel watched quietly, wondering what was wrong.
Patricia paused in front of George, her chest heaving as she panted in anger. “Why would you do something like that, George? How could you?!”
George blinked, confusion evident on his face “Mom, what are you talking about?!”
“You should know what would make me come over here very angry, your father told me you are investigating Arthur Reeves case again, is it true?” Patricia fixed her gaze on him, silently hoping that he would say it wasn’t true.
“He is right. I am”
Rachel sat quietly as she observed Patricia Anne Scott’s expression. She looked very angry. This was complicated. If she had known, she would have told George to stay away from her father’s case and leave her to handle it.
Not because she didn’t trust him to investigate properly, but because of a situation like this where it seemed like he was turning against his family. To set her father free. She was sure Patricia would never forgive her for “twisting” George’s mind against his family. She never twisted his mind in the first place but that was what it looked like at the moment.
Patricia yelled, her voice shaky “Are you trying to give me gray hair before I get old? Why would you go against everything your father has warned you about, concerning this case? Why would you open a case that you were warned to stay away from?!”
“Mom, some things have to be done. Sometimes, you have to go against the rules. You have always suspected that Arthur Reeves never did drug trafficking. It won’t cause any harm if we investigate just a little more. Would you want him to remain in prison for more years?”
“Are you listening to me at all?” Patricia thundered, getting angrier at his stubbornness. “I forbid you from investigating Arthur Reeves’ case further!”
“I will not stop and I won’t change my mind” George muttered “Make sure you tell father what I said. Any damage or mistake I make, I’ll handle the consequences by myself.”
Rachel gasped at the tense atmosphere, she didn’t want things to go this way. It was beginning to look like there was a barrier between George and his mother and it was all because of her father. Things were not supposed to go this way. This would make her the ‘enemy’, she never planned to get George involved in all this from the beginning.
Rising up from the bed, she rested on her ‘strong’ feet and whispered “It’s not what you think Mrs Patricia. I’ll find a way to talk him out of it, I assure y-”
“Oh, will you shut it?!” Patricia yelled as she tore her gaze away from her son and focused on Rachel.
George frowned at the way she snapped at Rachel, not liking it. He was the one who made the decision to investigate her father’s case, she was supposed to focus her anger on him, not his wife.
“Why are you acting like that wasn’t your plan from the very beginning?” Patricia snapped at her. “Morris told me. You married into this family so you could investigate your father’s case, right? You want to put my son, my family in trouble with the police over a case we were warned to stay away from, huh?”
“Mom, stop it” George whispered firmly, trying his best to remain calm. What was wrong with his mother? She wasn’t normally like this? Why did she always choose to believe whatever Morris said? Why was she still trying hard to win the heart of a man he didn’t even see as a father?
Patricia ranted on as her fear increased. A fear that she had accepted an enemy to be her son’s wife “You brainwashed my son!! That’s the reason why he can’t think straight about doing the right thing when you are around him. You want to ruin our family just the way your family was ruined, huh? He has to divorce you! You are no longer wel-”
“I said stop it!!” George yelled angrily at his mother. He had heard enough! “I have had enough of you gobbling down the words of a man who doesn’t even regard you as his wife! For years, you’ve been trying so hard to be his perfect wife, following him blindly, answering all his demands, being his doormat! You’ve traded my sanity for his happiness over and over again, what else do you want?”
Rachel pulled his hand gently, urging him to stop. This argument was entering another level. George ignored her. He was determined to end this nonsense with his mother today. It was time for Patricia to let go of Morris’s hold on her.
Patricia stared at George in disbelief and shock “How can you stand there and say that to me?”
“It’s the truth, dear mother” George muttered irritatingly. “I’ve finally gotten the woman I wanted, and just like all those years you took what I wanted away from me just to make your precious husband happy, you want to do the same thing again? Just because father said so? Do I look like a toddler to you? Are you really my mother?! Can’t you trust my decision for once in this lifetime, I’m Twenty-six years old for crying out loud!”
“George…” Rachel whispered softly, urging him to stop. She didn’t expect that things would go this way.
Patricia remained silent, shocked to her bones by the words that flowed out of his mouth. She never knew he had kept all those things in his mind.
“Despite your consistent love and devotion to him over the years, what did he do?…” George grimaced, the memories flooding his tired mind. He hated this place! “… He ripped your heart in pieces and had an affair with not just any woman, but your maid. Your own maid!! What else do I have to tell you so you can stop taking him seriously? Can’t you see? He deserves nothing, absolutely nothing from you!!”
The room became so quiet except for their angry breathing. Rachel stood beside George, shocked at everything that just happened.
She had always known that her time in this villa, as George’s wife, would not last long. But she didn’t expect it would get to this level so soon.
It was clear that Morris was behind Patricia’s confusion and sudden anger. Rachel was not sure of what to think, but her mind was clear on one thing…
Morris never saw her father as a friend. Not even for once.