- ACE - It hit me like a wave. I passed through the first stage of shock when her hand slipped away from mine and her body hit the ground. Lorelei collapsed. . . The distraught amazement took a considerable amount of time for me to process that I didn’t move for a while, not because I didn’t want to, but because I couldn’t. As people swarm in front of me to check in on my fainted wife, I just stand there, faced with guilt and what I assume to be regret. It happened in the twinkle of an eye. One moment, her stifled voice was the only thing I could hear, then the next. . . I no longer felt her warmth. No longer felt the heat that burned through my suit from her body. I no longer felt her weight against my arm. At first, when her hand slipped out of my arm, anger surged through me till I witnessed her body withdrawing backwards alongside. Then it stung me, deep. The woman I wanted by my side had lost consciousness. . . . and I was too stunned to react accordingly. To hold her
- LORELEI - Every delayed step I take feels like my legs are on fire. It’s not the heels that hurt my feet, no, my legs hurt due to the reaction of that drug Catherine gave me through the waitress. And I can’t even say a word to the person by my side because he has made it clear to me, no matter how my body feels, as long as I haven’t given him the satisfaction of achieving his wishes, I will keep doing his bidding. I swallow, bearing the pain. My throat burns and every fibre in my body craves rest. My entire being needs a quick yet prolonged reset to be back to normal yet I’m not having that. And from where I stand, not anytime soon either. He has refused to call me a doctor. I don’t think this man cares if I’m alive or dead. And that alone hurts my soul way more than I would’ve ever expected it to. Maybe it’s because he bears the title of ‘my husband’ or maybe it’s because my life rests on his hands and he does not care about me. I don’t know, I can’t tell. But it surely do
- ACE - “Have you met her yet? I can’t help but be concerned, Ace.” Are the words that visit me at the door once I waltz in through the exit I followed Catherine through. Almost as if Isabel knew I had gone there and awaited my return. I don’t know what to say about this. “With the way you care about her, I wonder why you’re not sisters.” Is my response to her. Isabel has done no wrong to me to prompt such a bland reply but I’d rather not be pressured into doing something I intended to do, at least, not too long ago. Isabel makes a face. “She’s a woman, Ace. Somehow, you seem to forget that women are people too.” Isabel scoffs at me. Just immediately, the door behind me pulls open and Catherine walks out. I notice the distasteful glare Isabel passes my way when she saw Catherine before walking away from me. I want to stop her. I want to go after her and pull her back to give her an apology, to be nicer and possibly clear a doubt that may have brewed due to Catherine’s appear
- ACE - The sound of heeled soles hitting the floor of an enclosed pathway resounds in the corridor. I’m hidden in plain sight, inside one of the ‘staff only’ rooms made for storing cleaning equipment. She’s here. She’s so close to me that I can perceive her perfume. It’s a pleasing fragrance, but since it’s worn on her, it has become detestable. I wait a while, counting seconds in my head with each step she takes forward, waiting for the right time. Catherine is standing before me. I reach my hand to put, grab her by the arm with one hand while using the other to conceal her mouth then pull her into the cleaning room, shutting the door behind us. Her back slams hard against the door as she is placed in front of me. “Don’t scream. No one would come to get you.” I say, looking deep into her eyes. She did not try to break out of my grip, nor was there any restraint. I wait till her heavy breathing calms before taking my hand off her mouth. “What is this, Ace? What the
- ACE - The sound of heeled soles hitting the floor of an enclosed pathway resounds in the corridor. I’m hidden in plain sight, inside one of the ‘staff only’ rooms made for storing cleaning equipment. She’s here. She’s so close to me that I can perceive her perfume. It’s a pleasing fragrance, but since it’s worn on her, it has become detestable. I wait a while, counting seconds in my head with each step she takes forward, waiting for the right time. Catherine is standing before me. I reach my hand to put, grab her by the arm with one hand while using the other to conceal her mouth then pull her into the cleaning room, shutting the door behind us. Her back slams hard against the door as she is placed in front of me. “Don’t scream. No one would come to get you.” I say, looking deep into her eyes. She did not try to break out of my grip, nor was there any restraint. I wait till her heavy breathing calms before taking my hand off her mouth. “What is this, Ace? What the
- ACE - I don’t know what I was expecting when I made the request for Catherine’s background but it definitely was not this. If I had found out about all the things recorded in here long ago, I would’ve gotten rid of her. For good. I shuffle through the file in my hand, scheming through each page quickly yet carefully. I need more of this. I need Alejandro to dig into her deeper. For one, her real name is not even Catherine. It’s Matilda. There is no last name recorded in these files and this just makes me wonder who the hell she is and what else she hid from all of us. It makes me wonder if this woman’s real name and identity recorded in these papers are accurate or just an alias she forged for herself. No being does not have a last name attached to it and this fact only prompts more thoughts I never thought I’d consider. I wonder what kind of woman my uncle let into the family and how she could weave her way into being a Salvatore knowing how orderly and careful my fam