Chapter 5: Her Foreign Home
2047 Words
“Are you accusing me for having an affair? What about you?” Desmond replied scornfully with a scowl. “For all I know, you’ve been with that ex-boyfriend of yours in the Philippines for two years!”
Dasha’s mouth gaped open, and she narrowed her black eyes. “You don’t know what I’ve been through! How dare you insinuate that I have an affair? With my ex-boyfriend? I don’t even remember I have one!” she hissed, face heating up.
Oh, God! This man’s impossible! Why did I even marry him?
She saw his jaw muscles jerk as he gritted his teeth, glaring at her with those blue-green pools that looked so stunning. Even though he was pissed, she could not deny how attractive he was. She had the urge to touch his face, soothe his anger and kiss him passionately. And yet, she knew she should not do it. It was inappropriate at this point. Even more so, his accusation about her having an affair while she lost her precious memory was just downright galling!
“Sure you don’t,” he sneered.
“Why don’t you believe me? You have money, so we can go to any doctor you want and let them examine me,” she challenged. “Let’s see what they have to say.”
She saw his eyes waver for a moment. But perhaps she was mistaken. His blue-green globes looked vexed now.
Why is he so angry with me? What exactly did I do to him?
“I don’t trust you anymore, Dasha,” he said in a low tone. He stood up with such plush that she could admire in a man.
She inhaled a lungful of air as she followed him with her eyes. He went to the back of the plane, where the private cabin was. The stewardess told her earlier if she wanted to go there and rest more comfortably. She did not dare go there, however.
Her heart was crumpled painfully as she absorbed his words. “If you don’t trust me anymore, then why am I here? Why did you have to bring me back to your home?” she whispered desperately, confused. “I would’ve have been better off without knowing you existed… And now, you just inflict pain in my heart.”
***
Dasha was left on her own after that squabble of theirs. His laptop was on his seat. She just slammed it close after seeing another picture of her husband and the same blonde woman in another setting. They were on a yacht. Although they were not alone as Dasha could see other people, it seemed that the two found time and place to be together, looking serious and intimate. Again.
She tried to take her mind off Desmond and enjoy the Korean drama instead. But she got tired, and eventually, her eyelids became heavier.
She woke with a start when she heard the captain speak, telling them they were approaching the island. She noticed the soft violet blanket that was wrapped around her. Her heart pumped hard. She loved this color.
Is this my favorite color before I became amnesiac? Does this mean Desmond knows it?
She straightened on her bed, adjusting it into a seat again. She thought that the stewardess must have made her comfortable since Desmond did not go out from the cabin. Well, she just guessed. The TV in front of her was already off, and her earphones were gone.
She took a deep breath and peered outside the window. She could see the island that was majorly in green color. It gave an impression that it was all nature, and she loved what she saw. As the plane was getting closer and closer to the island, she could make out the buildings and different structures on the island. Majority seemed to have rust-colored gable roofs, and the coastlines were breathtaking. The sea was calm, and Dasha thought her heart belonged to this place.
She had no idea why her eyes became misty as the plane started to descend. There was some kind of inexplicable anticipation that built deep inside her heart.
It’s my home, her heart and mind whispered. Her chest grew warm. She wanted to think it was weird, but it did not feel odd at all. It felt that she did really belong there, on that island.
She wiped away the tears that dampened her cheeks and sniffled.
When the plane taxied, she saw a few other planes that were already sitting on the airport, waiting for their turn to fly. They already passed by the air traffic control tower and some running cargo carriers.
As soon as the aircraft stopped, she looked around the plane. Desmond was nowhere to be seen.
“Mrs. Crellin, please wait for some minutes. Mr. Crellin will take care of some things before you can get off the aircraft together,” the blonde flight attendant advised her.
Dasha noted that the woman had the same accent as Desmond.
“Oh! All right. Thanks for telling me,” her rejoinder.
“Anything you wish to drink?”
“Yes, something warm please.”
“Coffee, milk or chocolate?”
“The last one,” she answered with an appreciative smile.
“All right. I’ll be right back,” Desmond’s employee told her amiably. She turned around but stopped when Dasha spoke.
“Thank you for this blanket and for making comfortable,” she enumerated gratefully.
“Oh, I was just doing my job, since Mr. Crellin instructed me to do it.” The woman then smiled and left.
Dasha blinked a few times while processing what the flight attendant said.
He ordered her to make me comfortable?
She looked at the laptop next to her. He seemed to have left it there, still. She was confused for a few more moments and decided to dismiss her husband’s thoughtfulness. It could have been just for show.
She went to the bathroom to refresh, washing her face fast. The restroom was quite spacious, and it was definitely clean, gleaming white. It was unlike the commercial ones, she noticed.
Her brain seemed to remember something. A memory that flashed momentarily. She was on a plane, in a small and cramped space, the restroom. All she could remember, however, was that she was on a plane going to London. She had no idea if she was going to the Philippines after that or if she was from the Philippines going there.
Or maybe I came from the Isle of Man? her mind supplied.
She inhaled deeply and dabbed her face dry with a soft cotton face towel.
She went back to her seat where her chocolate drink was waiting in the holder. The two bulky and tall bodyguards were also waiting for her. She drank the warm, delicious liquid and loved how it soothed her throat and stomach.
“Everything’s ready. Let’s go,” Desmond announced as soon as he was back.
She was just finishing her drink and did not notice him. She suddenly choked and coughed.
“You startled me!” she complained, flashing him a protesting glare.
He took a handkerchief from his pants front pocket and wiped her mouth gently, looking at her lips intently.
“Must I hire someone to announce my presence every time so that you won’t choke and mess yourself like this?”
“I’d rather not. He might just shout from out of nowhere, and that would scare me instead!” she grumbled. She tried to ignore the way he was looking at her lips. It was so… sticky and anticipation-provoking. She wanted him to do something—something that she had been imagining now and then during the flight, especially when he was near her.
Excitement began to flutter deep within her.
Is this what I always feel when he’s around when I had no amnesia yet? she wondered.
Her mind drifted to the time they were at the antique shop.
“I was always fascinated by that chocolate-colored birthmark of yours, Dasha. It’s near your inner thigh. I always kissed it, and I even licked it multiple times!”
Dasha swallowed when she felt her throat has gone dry like an old well. And yet, she felt the throbbing of her center and the flowing of liquid fire that she had consciously perceived. Nonetheless, she did not want to show any emotion to him, as much as possible.
“Let’s go,” she urged him instead, evading her eyes from his probing ones.
She placed the empty cup in its holder and picked up her shoulder bag. They followed the bodyguards that went ahead of them. He was holding her elbow as they got off the plane, with another bodyguard behind them.
“Aren’t we going to see the Immigration Officers?” she queried when she saw they were going straight to the helicopter.
He helped her up before he followed her. “We have three days to have your passport stamped. We can do that tomorrow or the next day or even on the third day, whenever that suits you—but just within those three days.” He sat next to her behind the pilot.
They were given a helicopter headset each.
“I want to get it over and done with as soon as possible. So, I don’t mind if we go tomorrow.”
He nodded. “A bodyguard will escort you tomorrow. I’m going to be busy at work,” his reply.
“Of course,” her limited words, as her thoughts went to the woman she saw on his laptop. She suspected that he and that woman would meet, and her heart was being stabbed by invisible knives.
I should ask him who that woman is, she mused. But in her state, she had no guts to do so. She was still trying to adjust at the fact that she was actually married to someone who was practically a stranger to her.
She wanted to not get affected by his affairs. She just had to regain her memory first and then settle what was left between them.
Or should I just make a step so that he would not hate me? But how? Where would I start? I’m not even sure if I’d ever get my memories back. The doctor did not promise me anything.
She let out a sigh and turned her face away from her husband’s scrutinizing eyes. It seemed that he was observing her so closely, trying to read her mind—or emotion for that matter.
Her eyes met a huge estate down below. There were trees that lined up on each side of a private road, going to a U-shaped palatial building with a Victorian design. There were also other a few other smaller buildings behind the huge main house. On the left of it was an amphitheater, a tennis court and a golf course. On the right was an indoor swimming pool, which had a fiber glass roof, and a helipad.
Dasha could see that it was far from any neighbor, although she could see some other structures and long roads nearby from up above. She glanced at the grand house once more. She noticed some people coming out of it, hurrying and lining up toward the main entrance that was in the middle of the building.
Her heart still pumped hard as the helicopter landed on the ground. Its whirring blades were louder when she removed the headset. The bodyguards jumped down, followed by Desmond. He waited for her and offered his hand. It was what she thought until he pulled her toward him and scooped her into his arms instead.
He ducked as he carried her toward the house, ascending a few steps. She thought she must protest about this dramatic entrance, where his family or staff witnessed freely. And yet, she loved the feeling of being close to him like this. She was not even aware that her arms circled around his neck, and she was staring at his face.
“Welcome home, wifey,” he whispered and looked into her eyes. “Now that you’re here, you’ll start to pay me your debt.”
- Writer
