Can I See?

Chapter 8

Can I See?

Lyla Atelo.

Sage and I had not had any more encounters after he broke Teddy's arms. In fact, I avoided him like a plague, including everyone (teachers) who were curious about what had transpired between us three. Students were not left out on their speculations, but no one dared to ask me.

They all wondered what Teddy had done exactly to make Sage go physical with him. My mind was still reeling in shock at that horrifying scene as I drove myself back home. I alighted from the car immediately I got home and rushed straight into the house.

"Lyla? Is that you?" I heard my husband's voice from inside, and I couldn't help but feel guilty that I had forgotten all about him and the issues we were trying to fix. My mind had now been occupied by the stranger from last night.

"Yes." I croaked out, my throat parched from thirst. "I'm back from work."

He appeared from the corner of the stairs, his face breaking into a big smile as he stared at me, arms wide and ready to pull me into a hug. I tried, I wouldn't lie. I tried not to get disgusted as he suffocated me in a tight hug, especially when his hands lingered down my waist moving towards my ass.

I gently extracted myself from his body, conjuring an excuse as fast as possible.

"Michael..." I began slowly, "I'm really tired and sweaty, and I need to freshen up."

His nose crinkled when I said that and he moved away from me immediately. "Oh, yes, that... You surely are sweaty." He tried so hard to keep that warm smile on his face, but failed miserably. He was disgusted too. "Freshen up, love. I'd love to hear all about your day later on. I was waiting for you to make dinner when you came in."

I forced a smile on my face and nodded, carrying my heavy and tired legs up the stairs. This was my moment of realization that I preferred him better on his business trips, because what did he mean by he was waiting for me to come make dinner? I know he has always told me he was a traditional husband, and he wouldn't step his foot into the kitchen for any reason since the spot was reserved for women like me, but still...

A light chuckle escaped from my lips when I took off my clothes, got into the shower and turned it on. The moment my soap glided on my body, thoughts of my husband had been quickly replaced by the tall and dark haired man who seemed to knock me out of my breath.

My hands glided down my body, and I pretended to imagine it was Sage's hands...playing with my nipples while softly massaging my waist. I sighed loudly at myself. I shouldn't be doing this. My mind said one thing, and my body said another thing.

"Lyla?" I heard footsteps approaching the bedroom, moving towards the bathroom.

"In here..." I quickly washed off all the soap from my body.

The bathroom door was pushed open, and I panicked. Why was I apprehensive about my husband seeing me naked? I was about to step out of the bathtub when he held the curtains and pulled it aside. The minute his eyes landed on my body, I couldn't help but try to cover myself from him... like him seeing my nakedness was a wrong thing.

I steadied my breath enough to ask him. "What are you doing?"

He paused before giving me a once over. "What do you think I'm doing, Lyla? I'm joining you in the bath. I miss you. I miss my wife. Plus, it's been six years already..." He gave me a knowing look. "All I've ever had was my hands doing the job while thinking about you. Now...here you are in the flesh. And I swear to God right now, Lyla, you're all I want."

The way he said it should have made my heart flutter... or made something tingle somewhere inside me, but all I felt was nothing. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't help but feel he was lying about something, and not only that... my body didn't seem to want him anymore.

"Not right now, Michael." I struggled to say.

I watched his face fall, filling my heart with guilt. His face slowly morphed into an angry feature.

"Why?" He still heaved himself into the bathtub, taking off his shirt while staring at me. I felt violated, which wasn't supposed to be so.

"I... I..." I was struggling to get the words out. "Look, Michael..." I steadied my breath. "You may have forgiven me for what I did last night to you, but I haven't forgiven myself. I still feel dirty about the things I did, and right now... I don't think I'm mentally there yet for this... For us..."

"Fine... I'm sorry." He stepped out of the bathtub. "I should have understood better. Just remember, Lyla... We can work this out together. And I really want this to work. I will wait for you, no matter how long it takes, okay?"

I could only nod. I couldn't trust myself to speak. How long would it take for me to actually want him to touch my body? I shivered in repulsion at the thought of my husband's hands grazing my skin. My body didn't want him... It wanted another.

I needed to get my head out of the gutters before it was too late. Sage was my student, way younger than I was. I shouldn't be having wet dreams about him and wishing he could bend me over again like last night.

Michael handed me the white towel I hung on the door.

"Before I forget, we've been invited to the biggest business dinner event in town." He seemed excited.

"Oh really? That's beautiful." I tried so hard to fake enthusiasm.

"Yeah... The owner of the company wants to select a few people from town and invest in their business or organisation. This could be our chance, Lyla." He held my hands in his after I had tightly secured the towel under my armpit, his eyes boring into my eyes with more excitement. "I could pitch my idea to the CEO. And once he invests, Lyla, we would be rich. You could even stop working and be a full-time housewife."

I didn't like the thoughts of the last statement he made. I was happy working. Nothing gave me more joy than stepping out of this suffocating house, but I couldn't say that to his face. I had to be supportive to my husband.

"Really? That would really be great, Michael." I told, trying to smoothly extract my hands from his.

This did not go unnoticed by him as he let go of my hands. "We have to work on this, too. This thing between us." He said a little dryly. "We have to convince them that we are the best couple because that is one of the criteria to get picked by the CEO. He is a family man, and he would like to see that attitude in all the men. Now, what would he think of my wife being repulsed by her husband's touch? What does it say about our marriage?"

I gulped. "I'm not repulsed. I just..." My voice trailed off. I knew I was lying to myself when I said that.

"It's fine." With that, he walked out of the bathroom while I followed behind him.

"Michael, look..." I was about to reach out to him when my phone rang in the corner of my side of the bed.

I paused, trying hard to think about who could be calling me. I didn't have a lot of contacts on my phone, and I was certain that it wouldn't be Kendra calling. From the corner of my eyes, I saw that Michael had paused as well.

The phone stopped ringing and a message flashed across the screen. When I picked it up, I could swear my heart stopped beating for a minute or two. Even though there wasn't any caller ID, I still knew who it was.

"When I say no one should touch you, your husband is included, Lyla."

He wasn't physically here, but I could feel every bit of coldness that came from the message. A coldness that excited me...

"What's that?" Michael said from behind me.

I didn't know when I jumped in shock. I wasn't expecting him to be so close to me.

"It's... it's nothing really." I coughed, trying to steady myself from being overly nervous. But the look in Michael's eyes told me he didn't believe me. "It's just my colleague reminding me that I need to work on notes to tally with the school's curriculum."

"Oh... Is that so?" Michael raised a brow at me, disbelief still covering his case. "In that case, can I see the message?"

I almost passed out on the spot.