37. Cherish

After a night in silence, returning once more to my bed of towels I am bathed softly by Martha. She looked at my green and purple wrists with confusion as I soak in the tub.

“Cherish, is everything okay?”

“It is,” plunging my arms into the murky water, “we had some fun that is all.”

“Some fun,” she replied with a sarcastic click of the tongue, “is that what it is called now.”

I squirmed in embarrassment, “yes, Ivan has made it clear this isn’t a…match or relationship.”

“Ivan has?” Martha undeniably interested but I couldn’t say much more on the matter. Even if Ivan was blowing hot and cold like a monsoon he had asked me to keep the escape trunk idea to myself. There were too many sides of Ivan to understand.

How could someone so sweet and softly mannered be able to turn away from someone so easily? When his resolve snapped and he lunged at my body, his hot, feverish kisses were like a man possessed yet he was able to turn himself back to stone?

Maybe I am merely a plaything,