chapter 4

Vivian asked herself these questions as she wept—silent, shaking—curled on the floor with her elbows on her thighs and her hands shielding her face. Her back pressed against the couch, her body drawn inward, small, wounded. Eventually, exhaustion took her, Sleep claimed her where she sat.

****

The sharp sound of Jerald’s car horn cut through the quiet compound, jolting Matilda awake from her sleep.

In a rush, she padded downstairs with a silk nightwear clinging to her skin, the soft fabric brushing her thighs with every hurried step. The flowery design did little to hide how thin it was. She reached the door, caught her breath, and opened it.

“Hey…” her voice rang out.

For a moment, Jerald froze. His eyes dropped—just for a second—but it was enough. His eyes dropped on the silk night wear pulled tight over her chest, her breasts full and unmistakable beneath the fabric, nipples pressing forward as though. His mouth went dry. He licked his lips without thinking.

God…

“Why does she look like that?” He thought, “Why does she always look like that?” He wanted to touch her, feel her but moral discipline wouldn’t let him do that even though his body was already betraying him.

His body wanted what he was seeing, his body was yarning.

Memories—heated, reckless, as he thought about the good times they shared. unfinished—flickered through his mind.

“Welcome, Jerald,” Matilda said, her voice low, drawn out in a seductive voice. She repeated it, slowly, savoring the word, as much as she repeated herself. noticing exactly where his eyes were fixed.

He cleared his throat, forcing himself to look up, finally at her face.

“Thank you. How—how was your day?”

“Not so bad,” she replied softly. “And yours?”

She stepped closer, close enough that he could smell her—warm, familiar, body smell from their favourite perfume collection.

He could not mistake the smell. She reached for his briefcase, her fingers grazing his hand on purpose. Her eyes never left his face as she bit her lower lip, just slightly. With a smirk on her face, her eyes rolling.

“Come in, darling.”

The word darling landed heavy between them. His heart melted at the sound of the word darling.

Inside, he stood near the suit hanger, trying to get out of his coat, his movements stiff, restrained, he was not in his right mind at this point he was struggling to get off his coat. She dropped the briefcase before he could stop her.

“Let me.”

Her hands slid up his arms, slow, and deliberate. The coat fell away. When she reached for his blazer, her body pressed into his—soft, unignorable. Her breasts brushed his chest, lingered there for a while. He inhaled sharply and her lips found his neck.

Not a kiss—just a tease. Warm breath. A whisper of contact.

Jerald’s eyes closed. His whole body stood in shock as all the hairs in his body stood up in spikes

His control thinned. His car key fell from his hand to the floor

“Hmmmm..” she breathed, a sound barely louder than a sigh.

His name trembled on her lips, over and over, until it blurred into a plea.

“Anna… Anna… Anna…” Vivian called for the housekeeper from the other side of the house where she had fallen asleep, the voice snapped through the haze. What was like eternity at the moment was all cut short. Reality crashed back in

Jerald quickly picked up his briefcase from the floor as he walked toward the staircase. Looking back to see if Vivian was coming but he caught no sight of her, he hesitated—then quickly turned and continued to his room.

Unlike Jerald, who usually came home late, today he was back early, before the day had even grown dark.

Finally, Vivian was sitting upright in the living room and her gaze dropped to Matilda who was standing aloof angry at. but she didn’t say a word.

“Yes, ma’am,” Anna echoed, rushing down to Vivian.

“I needed your help. please help me sir up"

“Okay, ma’am.” Anna responded while Vivian sat on the couch behind her. This was when Matilda hissed loudly and walked past. Vivian observed her for a while, wondering what the silk nightdress was all about but she soon turned her attention from her cousin to Anna who was still waiting.

“Anna, please, let’s get to the kitchen and make something before my husband comes back.”

“He’s back already. He got back not long ago.”

With a swift turn, Vivian looked at Anna beside her, eyes wide open. She asked in haste, “Where is he?”

“He’s upstairs.”

“Upstairs?”

“What’s the time?”

“It’s 5pm.,” Anna replied.

Not saying another word, Vivian thought within herself, she tried to decipher why Jerald came back early but nothing.

She quickly got up and managed to get to their room which she wished she hadn’t. The moment she pushed open the door, her eyes bulged and her jaw dropped—Matilda and Jerald.

She was wearing a G-string pant with no bra on with her perfectly shaped body, she knelt before him—right in between his legs—as he sat at the edge of the bed. She caressed him down there, her hands moving slowly, steadily, all over his body.

She stood there, watching them knowing what triggered him the most. Her mouth covered him. He moaned, shaking heavily on the bed, eyes closed. He lay back, his feet on the ground.

“Right there… awwn… yeah… awwn…” he groaned softly, his fists balled over the bedsheet.

“Jerald?” She yelled, “What’s going on here?” Her voice echoed, tears flowing down her eyes.

“You both cannot even respect me enough to take this shit out. You are doing this on my matrimonial bed, in my matrimonial house.”

With both hands raised slightly above her head, her eyes tightly closed, her upper teeth biting hard against her lower lip, she yelled—

“What the fuck!”

Snapped out of pleasure, he sat up and looked at her standing by the door. As she cried and spoke, he quickly returned to his previous position, lying on his back.

He spoke in a tone void of emotion, as if her feelings meant nothing. His thumb and forefinger pressed hard against the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes, squeezing his face as though he were smelling something terrible. he took in a deep breath. letting it out in a haste.

“Please excuse me” he finally spoke up, “As you can see, I am a bit busy, and you just breached my privacy. Did you knock before coming into the room? Don’t forget, this is my house, and I choose to do whatever I please. Please get out.”