Without hesitating, Hart’s hands moved to cup her cheeks, kissing her passionately.
Please, don’t stop, she implored him in her heart.
The night breeze was chilly, making her shiver in the cold. He scooped her up in his arms, laying her on the bed before resuming his affection on her lips.
Taking his hands, she placed them on her chest. Was this… a direct invitation to touch her? He wondered, stroking her through her thin clothing. She let out a few moans, pulling him closer.
She had to be aroused, but he did not want to be a monster to her. Separating their lips, he lay down next to her and stared into her eyes. “Myra, are you sober?”
She nodded. “Hart, I only want you to think about me when we do… that.” Maybe it was a bit excessive for her to be saying this so early, but she didn’t like him thinking about Milla when he was intimate with her. She couldn’t get herself to pronounce the word intercourse. But every time he was inside her, she had only him in her mind. A surprising fact, when she thought herself to be broken-hearted by Jake then.
Myra was blushing when she made her statement, a fact that Hart found adorable about her. Undressing her carefully, he laid kiss after kiss on her bare skin. The hickeys were starting to subside now, allowing him space for new ones. She shyly helped him out of his clothes, admiring his well-built body.
“Myra, in the future, I’ll never allow you to be hurt or lonely again,” he whispered, caressing her gently. “I’ll go where you want to.”
Did this mean… he wanted to go back to her city with her? Myra thought, clinging tight to him as she felt them becoming one. However, he said nothing more as their bodies moved in sync with each other. He was blessed with so much energy that by now, Myra had already grown used to. He took her again and again, appeasing her with each stroke. For him, the greatest encouragement was hearing Myra call out his name.
“Myra, I can’t explain it, but I love you,” he whispered, finishing inside her for the final time that night. He saw her eyes were already closed, so he had no clue whether she had heard his love confession.
Three days was just too fast to fall in love with someone, but he had in fact, fallen in love with her at first sight. It was too intricate for her to understand that.
Especially when she might not be over her first quite yet. Otherwise, why had she sought his help to ‘forget him’?
Myra feigned that she was asleep, contemplating Hart’s words. Originally, she had figured that she was in love with Jake for five years, but the Jake she had once loved and the Jake that existed now seemed to be two different people. She found it hard to believe how someone could have changed so much in just five years. But maybe, it was all for the better.
In the future, she would not want anything to do with Jake or his new girlfriend.
…………………………………………………………………………………
Meanwhile, back in City V, Jake was dreaming of Myra, again.
“Oh, Myra.” He was moaning her name in his sleep, an action that irritated the woman sleeping beside him. Where had Myra gone?
He remembered her touch as if it had been yesterday they were lying next to each other in his bed back at Hotel Top One. He admitted to himself he had been a bit impatient when he had taken her first time because he could hardly contain his excitement.
“Jake, it’s me, Myra.” She had turned up in a hotel bathrobe, which she slyly lifted to reveal the racy lingerie she was wearing underneath.
“Myra? How did you know I was here? And how do you know my room?” He looked at her with his cold eyes. His long hair swept past his cheek and he did not smile.
“Believe me, I have my ways.” She chuckled confidently as she approached him slowly. “Jake, I’ve liked you for a long time. How could you have not told me that you were back in City V?”
“It’s an emergency conference.” He puffed on his electronic cigarette, placing it on the table. Myra continued to watch him, ignoring the tiny coloured clouds that dissipated around him.
“Jake…” she pleaded. “I’ve come all the way just to see you…”
He tried his best to remain indifferent. Deep inside him, he was bitter at how she had never written to him all these years, and now she just appeared before him in lingerie. What was she playing at?
Different assumptions clouded his judgment. Maybe she had enough fun with her suitors and wanted to have a different experience tonight. Fine, he would allow her to have her way soon enough!
“Prove it then, Myra. If you really like me like how you claim, give yourself to me. Now.”
Myra was staring at him as if she had seen a ghost. “Jake, you’ve changed…”
He took a step closer. “Myra, you’ve just sent the lamb into the wolf’s den. I’ll count to three. You can still back out now before I change my mind.”
Tears were welling in her eyes. “No, I’ll do it!” Despite her ‘pain’, she looked so determined. Jake took it as that she was desperate for a man that night. Nothing that she said earlier to him registered in his mind. In his opinion, this was the girl who had cruelly allowed him to wait for her for three years without allowing him to know how she was doing.
He had spent another two years in China after completing his further studies because he had not heard from her. It infuriated him to see her just come to him so casually, strip and claim that she liked him for five years. If she had liked him, why didn’t she write?
She cried throughout the whole ordeal. It was only when he noticed the stains on the sheets, that cast light on the fact she had kept her first time for him. He had been a total jerk, but he was unwilling to admit the fact. That night, Jake continued to remain silent, without even a word to console her. It was natural that she would have been hurt by his harsh treatment towards her.
When she woke up the next morning, he asked her if she would be a willing participant at the conference. He didn’t have an assistant due to the last-minute decision to attend. Again, he was being negative.
“It’s fine if you can’t. I’ll go on my own.”
“No, Jake. I just don’t have a suitable attire to attend.”
“We’ll head over to the tailor and have one customised for you.”
She said nothing after that. The conference that afternoon turned out to have few female attendees. With her pleasant smiles at the conference, it, unfortunately, vexed him further and he found himself jealous. He treated her as coldly as he could, never allowing her to explain.
All because of his so-called pride and how he had been hurt by her when he was abroad. This had led him to get into so many relationships, none of whom lasted more than a month. The only exception had been Yuna, who would not leave even after he had threatened to end their relationship repeatedly.
“Myra, where are you?” he murmured again, this time meeting with a scream from the woman next to him.
Yuna was livid. A few pillows met their mark, landing unceremoniously on Jake’s face.
“JAKE YU, WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS?” she yelled.
Had this unacceptable behaviour been in the last three months when they were a couple, Jake would have not tolerated her doing. However, as she was three months pregnant from the sonography report she had produced, he did what he had to do.
“Calm down, Yuna. This isn’t good for your pregnancy.”
She howled. “Jake, we’re together, and you’re still thinking about her? She ignored you when you were in China! I’m the one who accompanied you all this while! I helped you out so many times!”
“Yuna,” he soothed her with a hug. “I’m sorry. Just give me some time, okay?”
He dried her tears with his sleeves. “No matter what, I’ll take care of you and the baby. I’ll not let you suffer. I’ll take responsibility.”
That was what he had in mind. He was just taking responsibility. Since they were a couple back in China, he had never loved Yuna. If not for the fact she was an expert at satisfying his desires, he probably would have ended their relationship in a month like the other women. But how could he have allowed her to fall pregnant?
“Are you sure, Jake?”
“I mean my words. I promise to be a good father.”
Jake sighed as he watched Yuna return to sleep, but a sudden beep from his cellphone alerted him. Recognising who was the sender of the message, he jolted up from the bed in shock.
Myra saw Jake hesitate.It was now or never. She had to have answers to her doubts about the marriage with Jake. If she and Jake didn’t have that chemistry together, that proved one thing: she wasn’t truly in love with Jake.Even when she owned those memories of cheating on Hart with Jake, and she knew she loved him at one point.But those three years that she had lost; had she loved him?She only wished that she had written down the memories somewhere, like a diary of some sorts, to ascertain her feelings for him during those three years.She saw Jake come near. That’s right, she said in her mind. Come closer. I just want to feel if we have that chemistry between us.
“Hart, is that really you?”Her eyes widened with terror as she came close to the stranger whom she believed to be who she was waiting for so long. Please, she begged, let this be true. Let this stranger be Hart. She didn’t know what to expect, after having lost three years of memories.She just needed answers. And Hart was the one who held the key to her finding out what she needed to know.The stranger continued flicking on the lighter but to no avail as the cigarette wasn’t lighting up. She stopped just in front of him, trying to find out for herself if he was indeed the man she was waiting for.Jake mentioned Hart had left her for three long years. In her memories, she and Hart had been intimate. He couldn’t have lied to her. Why would h
Love?Myra remembered how she had rejected Jake the night at the old house, but she couldn’t absorb how he readily told her that he loved her. It was like she was dreaming. How was it possible he was in love with her?Especially with the missing three years from her memory, it made her question what was the truth. Putting one and one together, yes, they were married, but there were just too many puzzle pieces that confused her.Jake stopped the car just outside a serene-looking park. She didn’t recollect anything in her mind about this place, though the ambience stole her attention. J&M Park. Jake and Myra. A cheesy enough name indeed. So, Jake owned this place, she thought.She walked with him to the swings. It had been a long time since she rememb
Myra sat silently watching her father in his paralysed state while a middle-aged maid patiently fed him his lunch. Hours had passed since Jake had spoken to her, but she was still unable to accept the fact that it was three years past.Her father had aged quickly, but at least, his face looked a lot more peaceful than before. She wondered what had happened during this time. Had he suffered? Was she a dutiful daughter?The more she tried to rack her brains, the more her mind appeared a total blank.“Myra?” Jake’s deep voice surprised her, waking her from her thoughts. The maid greeted him before resuming feeding the aged man.“Uh…”“Let’s go for a walk,” he ges
To wake up again in a white-walled ‘prison’ was the worst thing to ever happen to Myra, for the second time. Rubbing her eyes, she surveyed the surroundings.There were white walls, but a second glance told her she wasn’t in the hospital. She searched her mind for what she remembered last. But all she recalled was falling down the stairs in her father’s mansion before she collapsed. She and Sierra had gone home for a bit to spend the night there, and in the morning, the accident happened.She touched her flat tummy and contemplated if her pregnancy was affected. If the fall had been so nasty, the life of her unborn child, despite still being a fetus, would be at stake. She crossed her fingers and prayed silently.A tap on the door ensued. She quickly answered for the person to come in.
Two weeks laterMyra sauntered past the corridors of her university, walking past the noisy crowds. As usual, Lionel didn’t bother to look at her and neither did his goons. It was like she had offended them, but there was just too much on her mind for her to bother about them.Time had passed so quickly since the fight between Hart and Jake, but fortunately, Hart’s job was not at stake. Instead, he told her that Jake had delegated Mrs Hoo to take over the collaboration, as if nothing had happened. Neither had he taken any action against Hart for his physical injuries.From that day onwards, Jake never appeared in the university ever again. While it was a relief for Myra, a question remained unanswered. Why was she feeling empty that Jake was no longer in contact with her? Even when Hart made love to her every night, an unsettled feeling lingered deep inside her.[No, stop it. Hart is who you need to be with.]She told herself calm