Ellisande stood quietly behind her husband while they watched the elder Kincaid’s getting out of the car. She clasped her hands in front, gripping them lightly while trying to calm her nerves. She heard SJ greeting his mother softly.
“Hello, Elli,” Mrs. Kincaid greeted with a warm smile.
“It’s nice seeing you again, Mrs. Kincaid,” Elli replied formally with a smile.
“Don’t you think it’s time for you to call me Mom?” Mrs. Kincaid asked gently. She turned to her son and gave him a light frown. “Are you disallowing Elli to call me Mom?”
“No, he did not…, Mom,” Elli quickly answered to prevent any anger from SJ. “I just presumed that it’s more formal. My apologies for assuming wrong.”
“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Kincaid stated with a smile. “I gained another daughter and I’m not regretting it. And, so does Mr. Kincaid. Your dad.”
“You’re family, Elli,” Mr. Kincaid assured gently. “And, so is your father.”
Elli nodded with a smile. Without waiting for her husband’s reaction, she carefully guided Mrs. Kincaid towards the house, while she could hear both men behind them discussing about an apartment being prepared back in the city.
“I will have some tea ready for you, Mom,” she said gently when the elder woman took a seat on the couch inside the spacious living room.
“Let William take care of it, child,” Mrs. Kincaid responded as she tapped the space beside her. “Why don’t you seat here with me and we can talk? How is that painting of yours that you’ve been doing when I was here the last time? Have that one reserved for me, okay? I have this wall back at home that will suit the painting perfectly.”
“Just a few remaining touches and it’ll be ready,” Elli answered as she smiled at the maid who served them their tea. She carefully handed one to Mrs. Kincaid. “I will find time later or tomorrow so you can take it with you when you go back to the city. Please send me a picture of it once it’s up.”
“You can take a picture of it when we go back,” Mrs. Kincaid said.
Elli looked at her for a while, don’t know what to say.
Mrs. Kincaid noticed the look that crossed Elli’s face and she turned to her son. “You haven’t told her yet, have you, SJ?” She asked calmly, placing her cup on the table after taking a sip. She clasped her hands on her lap and looked at her son. “Are you trying to lead me on again?”
“I will tell her today, Mom,” SJ answered tightly.
“Then, tell her now,” Mrs. Kincaid insisted. “I assumed that you went ahead here to arranged everything on what we had talked about.”
“What do you mean?” Elli asked politely as she looked back and forth at the mother and son.
“You’re coming to the city with us when we return,” SJ said firmly as he looked at Elli straightly. “It has been discussed that we will be presenting you as my wife before you turn 21. But, prior to that, you will work with the ranks in the company to learn the system for a few months. Your employment has already been taken care of as well as the apartment you will be staying in has already been furnished and just waiting for you to move in.”
Elli remained silent for a while, absorbing the news.
“It’s just a few months, dear,” Mrs. Kincaid assured as she reached out and squeeze her hand. “After the press release, you will be staying with SJ, then. We’re just taking precautionary measures and let you adjust for a few months.”
“No,” Elli finally stated. She pulled her hand away and stood up. “I don’t understand. Don’t I have any say on this?”
She then turned around and run out of the room, clutching her head at the shocking news she just heard.
I’m not going there, she thought over and over in her mind. She walked towards the pool by the garden, calming her nerves. This is not right.
“How dare you run out from my mother?!” SJ scoffed angrily behind her. He grabbed her upper arm and turned her to him roughly and gave her a slap on the face. He grabbed her by the chin tightly and tilted her face up with one finger pointing at her. “I warned you, Ellisande. You’re going to regret by disrespecting my parents.”
“Let go of me,” she begged with tears in her eyes.
Elli was roughly pushed away and she tried to regain her balance, which she did. However, she took a step back to get away from him only to feel nothing but air. In a flash, she fell into the deep part of the pool, making a loud splash. With her arms flailing, she shouted for help, fear creeping up to her.
“Help me!” She shouted.
“Ellisande!” She heard Mrs. Kincaid’s voice screaming in fear.
“Sir, madam cannot swim!”
Two hours later, Elli remained sitting on the upper corner of her bed, wrapping her robe tightly around her as she stared out the window blankly. Her husband had dive in and saved her, but it didn’t made her feel better. It only made her remember a lot of bad memories she wanted to forget.
She pulled her knees up and hugged them as tears streamed down her face. The incident a while ago made her remember how her mother, who doesn’t know how to swim as well, unselfishly saved her after she was pushed down the pool by a boy, who keeps on bullying her when she was ten years old. Her mother died while saving her.
She remembered the look of the Kincaid’s when William told them the reason on why she doesn’t know how to swim while the town doctor checked on her vitals.
“Elli?” She heard Mrs. Kincaid’s voice outside her door along with a soft knock. “May I come in? I have Cherry brough some food for you. You need to eat.”
The knock finally subsided a few minutes later.
Ellisande touched her cheek where SJ’s hand had touched, and she could still feel the pain. She closed her eyes as she recalled what her father said.
“He’s going to treat you well, Elli,” he assured as he gave her a kiss on the forehead on the day of her wedding. “I know SJ and he’s a very good man.”
She finally stood up from her bed and went to her desk, reaching for her journal and started pouring out her emotions. She stopped from time to time, looking at the family picture of her and her parents as well as the square painting her mother had given her on her 8th birthday. It was a painting of a tree with a swing in winter season and the reason for it was because Elli was born on the first day of snow.
It was early evening when she heard a firm knock on her door and she stood stiffly when it was her husband’s voice that came from behind. She quietly opened her door and stepped outside the hallway, stood in front of him quietly, her eyes on lowered.
“They’re waiting for us downstairs,” he gruffly said and started to walk towards the stairs.
Ellisande followed him quietly up to the dining room where his parents, especially his mother looking at him expectantly. She greeted them formally before taking a seat beside SJ. She thanked Cherry quietly when her food was served.
“Would you like some wine, Elli?” Mr. Kincaid asked gently.
“No, thank you,” Ellisande replied with a smile. “But, thank you for the offer.”
“William did say that you never drink,” Mrs. Kincaid commented with a smile as she placed down her glass. “Anyway, I’m heading towards the town tomorrow morning to check and buy some local goods to bring back home. I would really love for you to come with me.”
“Yes, I will go with you,” Ellisande answered.
SJ looked up from the report that he is reading when the driver told him that they are now approaching The Upper Hill Apartment on Saturday evening. He placed the documents on the space beside him and looked at Ellisande, who is sitting quietly on her side, her eyes staring out the window.Ever since she fell down the pool at the country house, she had changed drastically when she went out of her room that night when he came to fetch her for dinner. From the carefree and active lady, she became quiet and submissive, a complete turnaround from all the reports that William had relayed to him over the years.Unbeknownst to Ellisande, he has started keeping tabs on her when her father died. After pestering him with calls to borrow money to pay off her father’s medical expenses and the debt he had for his hospitalization, SJ became curious of the woman he had married. It took her months mourning her father and he assumed that when she called him up again several times
Ellisande opened the door to her apartment on a Thursday night, a week later from the day she started working at Kincaid Development at the Kincaid Tower. She took off her low heel pumps and walked tiredly towards the couch. She sat down and leaned her head on the soft pillow, closing her eyes.In her first week in the city, she managed to get lost on her way back from the supermarket by making a wrong turn and crashing into an ongoing store renovation. A furious SJ came picking her up on a late Sunday morning at the police station after paying for the damages. The policemen seemed to know him well enough not to say anything and watched her being dragged back to his car and berated at her furiously the entire way to her apartment. He yelled at her, for the car she was using will be taken for repairs. She tried explaining that she made a wrong turn but he never believed her.“I just said yesterday that it’s not for racing!” He shouted and he started po
“So, how is she doing?”SJ looked up from the construction drawings he is reviewing and looked at Brian coldly on a busy Tuesday morning. He then looked back down and continued his checking. He never said a thing and waited for Brian to continue.“I heard she got into an accident at the food hall last week,” Brian continued casually as he placed down the drawing he is reviewing as well. “No one even helped her up. Poor girl then has to suffer through some tantrums of some bitch she accidentally bumped into.”“Anything else?!” SJ sneered.Brian gave him a wry look.“Just letting you know that your wife is not having the time of her life in your company,” he commented dryly as he returned the drawing to SJ and made some notes on his Ipad. “On my way up in the elevator, there was this group of women snickering and gossiping about her. Presumably, your wife was discovered by one of the j
Elli went back to her desk after having a quick lunch at the cafeteria of the building’s service crew. Thomas Jones, a man in his sixties, discovered her having lunch at the broom closet last week. He then invited her to eat where the crew eats. After the accident she experienced at the food hall, she decided to bring her own lunch and find a small, private place where she can eat in peace. It would also be the time to allow herself to rest from all the orders her supervisor, Valerie is throwing her way.“Are the drawings done, Elli?” Her supervisor’s voice came.“It’ll be done in ten minutes, Ma’am,” Elli answered formally as she neatly stacked the drawing pages and filed them properly. “I will put it on your desk.”“I don’t have ten minutes!” Valerie sneered at her coldly. “I told you that I need them right after lunch! God! You’re such an idiot! Are you doing this to rui
SJ’s eyes hardened as he re-watched the file footages sent to him from the security office of all the accidents that Ellisande has been involved in. He watched as he saw the culprit, who whacked and pushed her inside the meeting room that made her lose her balance.He then clicked on another video where the supervisor she was assigned to, threw a thick file of drawings that landed on her face while screaming curses at her.After receiving a hard slap and some tongue-lashing from his close friend Florence over the predicament that his wife is going through, he called up security and ordered all clips that involve Ellisande’s accident sent to him. He was surprised to see that there are more than twenty files.“You are such a despicable man!” Florence screeched after slapping him. “Did you see the state of your wife just now? Let me guess. Of course, you didn’t. You just came back from lunch with your lover, didn’t yo
“She’s over fatigue and dehydrated.”SJ looked up from the Nordic lazy sofa chair after the doctor had finished the diagnosis and his eyes narrowed at the statement.Dr. Paige McIntyre took off her stethoscope and placed it inside her bag and stood up. She looked at him, whom she had known since childhood, being cousins on both their mother’s side.“She can see a specialist, if she wants,” she commented lightly as she followed him out. “Probably more rest and some fluids. I gave her a sleeping pill so she can recover her strength. I don’t recommend her going in for work tomorrow. You should call Flo and informed her about it.”“And, then received another tongue-lashing from her,” SJ muttered as he went to the refrigerator and open it, finding himself and hers two bottled waters. “I swear, if you tell her what happened here, I’ll definitely make your life hell.”&ldq
Elli slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. For the first time since she arrived in the city, she felt well rested. She clutched the blanket to her face, closed her eyes and rolled to her side to savor a few more minutes before getting up and was shocked to collide with something solid.She opened her eyes and quickly sat up, backing away when she saw her husband, sleeping beside her, only wearing sweatpants. She turned to her bedside table and saw that her clock read eight in the morning and she suddenly jumped out from her bed, rushing to the toilet.I’m late! She thought frantically.She took off her clothes and took a quick shower, her mind picturing the face of her supervisor screaming at her. She cringed at the thought as she turned off the shower and grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her body. She then reached for her lotion and applied it quickly as well as her face cream.“This will do,” she mu
SJ looked up from the costing he is studying when his cellphone rang. He placed the document down and reached for his phone, looking at the caller.“What have you got for me, Leo?”Leo Reynolds, his long-time private investigator sighed at the other end of the line. “Nothing except for all those standard information, SJ,” he said calmly. “My men are still digging up but so far we have nothing that can help with whatever you’re planning.”“He couldn’t be that difficult,” SJ pointed out.“Yeah, well some are good at keeping their lives private that they even take them to their death,” Leo replied with mild irritation. “This Michael Porter was one of them. I’ve been digging information for the past month and that’s the only thing I came up with.”“Have you checked his wife?” SJ asked again.“Yes. Same results,” Leo said.