Chaos behind the door

EMILY KING.

It was the second evening, and my husband wasn’t back yet. I still had breakfast in the hotel’s restaurant like I did the first day. Except that I ate alone, which I had to admit was more fun.

I had also become very familiar with my phone. It was my first iPhone, and I didn’t know much about how it worked but I had been up all night and unable to sleep so I toured it. It turned out to be very much easier than I expected. I discovered shopping apps too. All you needed was a credit card. Then I found out that I had a credit card too.

It dawned on me that I was truly Emily King now. The name was inscribed in gold on the card. The first thing I ordered were air pods and they were delivered immediately. It had been in the middle of the night, but I had expected it to come the next day or even take days. I couldn’t tell if it was because I was Mrs. King or if this was just a norm.

All my subscriptions had been activated and I had unlimited access to anything and everything. At first, I surfed the net and read almost every article on my wedding. Some people loved my dress, everyone loved my air. There was not a single hate comment that I thought of as suspicious, everyone in the world cannot like you.

It was either Alexandro King hated hate comments and got rid of them, or he must have done something to filter them away, either way. He was totally in control.

Good riddance.

Unlike the other day, the chef kept me company and made me laugh as I ate. I ate something much simpler, and I didn’t have to go for breakfast in heels. Some people had taken unaware pictures of me and thankfully I looked good in them all.

One of the pictures was captioned, “Emily King is Human.” I didn’t know if that was a compliment or not until I asked Chloe. She came in late, as expected. The hangover wasn’t child’s play. I had only three glasses before the night was over and surprisingly, I didn’t get drunk. I decided my alertness all through the night and inability to sleep was a side effect.

Looks like expensive things liked me after all.

I walked around, smiled with people, made no friends but took some pictures with strangers. Baxter wasn’t looking like he did last night today. When I asked if he had a hangover, he ignored me and the look on his face told me we were back to being professional.

Chloe didn’t ignore me, but she did give me a speech about how last night shouldn’t happen again.

I decided to have a little bit of fun on my own too. So I took a picture of myself, on the bed, I was fully dressed to my shoes and all, but I sat at the edge of the bed, letting my hair fall but all over one shoulder, behind the other shoulder, was the rest of the bed, widely displayed.

The caption: #lonely. Missing my King.

It had a hundred comments in just a few minutes and over a thousand likes. Looks like people were watching me after all. Both men and women. There were millions of comments. Some sweet, some naughty. Someone commented: Of what use is a king-sized bed when there is no king on it?

Some people asked where I’ve been all this while. Again, everyone thought I was beautiful. I was starting to feel beautiful.

One thing I was scared about on social media was someone recognizing me. But no did, at least not yet.

After I got bored with my phone, I dropped it and attempted to watch TV. It wasn’t fun. Everything there was showing was a series, a series of which I didn’t witness their beginning, so I wasn’t inclined to watch. If I was going to watch a movie, I’d love to start from the beginning and not the middle.

It was barely evening when Baxter ran in and gave an announcement that got me a bit scared. Baxter always made sure to call to tell me that he was at the door before opening it. Standing up to see who it was seemed a bit unnecessary, but Baxter always made sure to send a text or call. Just to make sure he didn’t meet in any improper position. I also stopped locking the door behind me. I didn’t think anything bad was going to happen.

“Did you know there will be a party tonight?” He asked, urgency evident in his voice.

“Yeah. Alexandro King mentioned it yesterday. But I don’t have to go since he’s not here, right?” I asked, stuffing popcorn into my mouth. I discovered the fridge after an hour of boredom. There was any and every snack in it.

“He’s ‘husband or Alexandro’ to you, Mrs. King.” Chloe corrected with a snap. I rolled my eyes in response.

“You have to attend,” Baxter replied with no explanation.

“I can’t reach Alexandro. How would I attend a party filled with strangers I don’t know.” I whined. Baxter gave Chloe a look that meant ‘You take it from here. I’ve done my part.”

Chloe stood up on cue and came to stand in front of me, she straightened the collar of my dress. “You belong to this world now; you are Emily King. Your presence holds the same effect as Alexandro King’s. Moreover, it would be extremely rude to ignore and disregard a party that is holding right under your nose. Have you tried reaching your husband?”

I sneered at her last question, “Nope. If he has something to tell me, he’ll call. The party? Get me a befitting dress and I’ll show up. Please, I’d like something simple. I also have the perfect set of jewelry.” I said boldly like I had the confidence to show up all-powerful. I would act it till I became it.

“Good!” Chloe’s voice rang with approval. “You have an hour to rest, I’ll call your makeup artist.”

“Why do I need makeup?” I asked. I planned to show up and disappear, just so no one could criticize me for not coming. “It’s barely six pm. Why do I have to start preparing? The party is at least four hours away.” I complained.

“You’ll get used to it.” That was all Chloe said before typing orders on her phone. Baxter had gone back to wherever he was before. In an hour, the room was flooded again. Three ladies came. One helped me with my makeup, my hair was re-curled and styled while my nails were trimmed and polished.

I loved the nails; I thought I looked good with the curled, but it felt a bit earlier and itchy.

Once again I wore a black dress. This one wasn’t huggy, it was short and puffy. I felt like an underworld Barbie.

Chloe couldn’t follow me but when the clock tricked eleven, I was in front of the hall, ready to act my strongest and put my fears behind me. A part of me hoped Alexandro King was behind the door. The other part of me that had been freaking out told me to turn and run.

Too late.

The door pushed open.

I looked in and saw a world of chaos.