With heavy steps and drowsy eyes Zarah staggered up the stairs with her hands holding the railings for support. It had been very late when they finally returned from the Marriage feast and every strength in her had drained out by then and she was struggling to keep her eye lids up as she struggle to make her way to her husband's room in her mother in law's house which seems to be more farther than usual.
She heave a sigh of relief when she finally pulled open the door and pushed it shut. She leaned her back to the door to regain her strength before going further and immediately her body landed on the bed it felt nothing less than heaven to her.
Few hours later Christian pushed the door to his room open and went inside. Lo and behold his bride still cladded in in her wedding dress was sprawled in her whole with the large balloon wedding dress taking more than half the large bed, he walked with precise steps to the bed and sat at the edge of the observing her figure under the bright light of the bulb that illuminate the room.
With his hand he gently pushed her wavy black her that was covering her face off it. He couldn't help but smile as his eyes came in contact with her face and he couldn't help but crave to touch. Slowly and with uncertainty he ran a finger from her temple to her jaw his hand feeling the smoothness of her face and at that moment he felt proud and lucky to be bestow with a creature such she for a wife. Then unconsciously his eyes fell on those light pink small lips of hers and he blushed under the light of the room remembering how he had kissed them hours ago and even now he couldn't deter the craving to to so,but just has his craving force pull him towards them his wife decide to cough and turn around rolling herself in the layers of her gown.
Zarah began hyperventilating in her sleep,so she stretch her hand towards her back with her eyes still closed and tried to unzip her zip but when her hand held the zipper and she tug at it unsuccessfully while turning her head from one side to another in the process,she gave up and relax her hands on her side with her temple creased in annoyance.
Christian from her side sat calmly watching her battle with her zip with a smile tugging his lips. "strange" he thought as he stretch forth his hand and pulled the zipper down. He heard her sigh and his smile widened while he observed her now calm face. Drops of sweat could be seen around her neck. Feeling uncomfortable in her sleep she began pulling on the neck region of her dress in an attempt to pull it off her body,then she hissed when she didn't succeed and continued sleeping.
Christian smiled at her childish antics taking her pulling as an initiation,he moved his whole to the bed and scooted closer to her.
His cheeks turned red at the thought of what he was about to do, for never in his life had he undress a woman before,for a while he felt unsure while his mind debated on whether it did be right for him to do that and in her sleep.
"there's nothing wrong if she's your wife"a part of him said.
" but she's asleep, wouldn't be like taking advantage of her?" another responded.
"but she's uncomfortable in this layers of clothing,which would be better to take it off and have fully rested or not ?" the first said and as if in response to that Zarah turned her body from one side to another and almost rolled off the bed in the act if it wasn't for Christian hands which served as a barrier when he placed before her and pulled her back with so much force that her head ended up on his thigh. His cheeks had turned reddish tint as his thigh burn where she had placed her head. Full of uncertainty he began helping with the dress as his cheeks turned a darker shade of red. First he helped slip her hands out the dress and the with great difficulty finally pulled the other parts out while his hands graze her skin in the process causing in blush all the more after which he took off her white flats.
He felt his heart beat hard against his chest when he held Zarah's wedding dress in his hands and his eyes landed on her sleeping form which was covered only in a white camisole and a white short tight. He quickly covered her body with the bed cover and made for the closet. He weighed the dress on his hands wondering how many layers were underneath, it was quite heavy that he couldn't help but wonder how she had survived in it.
"the pain women go through to look beautiful" he said to himself as he place the dress in the cupboard and find a position for her shoes.
After a bathe, he finally settled on the bed after saying his prayers. Thoughts came clashing in his mind,never in his life had he share a bed with a lady atleast not someone who makes his heart skip at the slightest touch and even in her slip. He kept his face towards staring into her beautiful face until sleep finally took him. All through the night due to her wild way of sleeping Zarah keeping pushing and rolling of her husband, time and again he had to wake up at put her in a better position but still again to roll to him and pushed him again and once she had pushed so hard that he landed on the floor spraining his back. Never in his life had he seen a wild sleeper such as this,even the covering he placed on her all that time he got up she would push them off her body exposing it to his eyes under the dim light of the lamp and the cold air of the night. It's either she places her hand over him or her legs and this gestures of her left him uncomfortable. At one occasion he had to go find her something in the closet to cover her skin since the blanked will always ride off her body. And yet again she snores and though it was light but he was use to the calmness of the night and that combine with her constant movement in the bed didn't help. He had even thought of leaving the room to sleep on the couch or any other comfortable furniture around the house since there was no other such furniture in his room but he was bothered at his mom or the helper finding out, what will they think?,he gave up that thought and manage to share the bed with his wild wife keeping himself in the farthest position away from the bed away from her.
******
The light radiating from the early morning sun hit her eyes and she couldn't but squirm and sigh under it watch. She was reluctant to open her eyes though she felt very rested and relaxed. She lay still on her back though awake but with her eyes shut. But after a she finally decided to wake up. With her eyes rolled to her right while stretching only for her to come face to face with a sleeping man handsome face. For a while she was lay still hands in air and legs curled up transfix by the appearance of this strange man beside her and just as she began to relax intrigue by his facial qualities he moved slightly and snapped his eyes open causing her to roll over falling with a thud on the ground. She winced as sharp pain pierced into her side. In no time Christian was beside stretching forth his hand to help her up but she pushed his hand away,instead she held the bed tightly and lifted herself off the ground muttering "fuck" with a grunt.
"are you okay?" Christian asked with concern laced in his voice when he saw her face distort as she massage her upper arm.
She gave him a once over taking into his appearance is, sweat pants,tight crisp baby blue v-neck shirt hanging on his upper body loosely,she lifted her upper lip not impressed, his face was impressive that she can testify for but the body under those loose clothings she wasn't a bit impressed with it at all. Not that he was pot bellied and all that,but he wasn't thin with a lean waist and rippled figure either,he wasn't what one will call overweight just a slightly fleshy human, but still to some extent Zarah didn't like his appearance.
Christian on the other hand became conscious under his scrutiny,his cheeks turning red at that. Zarah lifted her eyebrows questionably when she sighted his reddened cheeks.
"what are..... doing here?" she thundered and he flinch and and stepped back shock at her tone.
"I....I...." he stammered with his head hanging low in shame even though he had no cause to be ashamed.
"A cat caught your tongue" she asked rudely and he flinch wondering why he couldn't say a word in front of this lady who he had a tiny bit crush on. Yes he might be quiet and calm,shy,yes but not someone without confidence or with the attribute of fear and it was new to him himself that he felt stupid in the presence of this lady and to construct a sentence in front of her was hard, but he was doing well just yesterday.
"you can't speak?" she questioned.
"is.... is ... it wrong sharing a room with my wife?" he was finally able to say overwhelm by a new found confidence.
She almost laughed but kept quiet when the memory of the previous day occurance came rushing to her causing her to take a step back as the magnitude of it hit her. Her husband, how could forget that yesterday she had experience what the world consider the most happiest day of a person's life though it wasn't hers.
"are you okay?" he asked again and she nodded as her face turned pale.
"am good" she said for the first time in a calm voice.
"she lifted her shirt to her face to wipe off the puddle of sweat that was beginning to form on her temple and Christian couldn't help but smile when his eyes landed on her bare perfectly sculpted stomach.
She on the other hand sniff the shirt as she held it against her head,it smell odd and quite masculine, though she was used to wearing male clothings but judging from the masculine smell emitting from the shirt she knew instantly it wasn't hers and then she quickly dropped it and stared down to her legs,her eyes widened even the pants weren't hers.
"where did all this clothes come from?" she asked no one in particular.
"actually I ...,Christian was saying but she cut him off.
" why will you wear someone else's clothes on me?" she asked in a dishelved tone. " oh my God, you didn't,did you?" her words barely reaching him.
"did I what?"he demanded in confusion.
But instead of responding she stared blankly at him with a scowl in his face.
He blushed as the meaning of her words hit him.
" of course not" he manage to day admist reddened cheeks.
"you didn't?" she she asked rather than say as her tensed features began to soften and he nodded tightly his lips to prevent an embarrass smile from showcasing as he put one hand into the pocket of his pants and scratch the back of his head with the other.
"it was cold and I thought you needed it with your sleeping habit" he said not sure how she would react to his words.
"sleeping habit?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I am very modest when I sleep" she said even though she was more than aware of her wild way of sleeping,which earned the nickname "commando" in military school because of her constant fall from the top tier of the bunk bed.
"we both know the truth,don't we?" he asked wiggling his eyebrow with a giggle surprising himself and his wife.
she glared at him showing him how displeased she was and he muttered a "sorry" in response.
He watch her as she silently move from one corner of the room to another in search for something.
"looking for....
" my bags" she snapped angrily shutting him up before he could complete his sentence.
"they haven't been brought I'm yet" he said covering his mouth as he yawned. He still felt tired and exhausted for he had spent most hours of the night trying to put his wild wife in her place.
She hissed at his words and walk quickly to door surprisingly with her not very long legs.
Immediately she pulled the door ajar one of her bags landed on her left foot pressing her it to the ground and she wince. On impulse Christian who had been watching her from behind strolled towards her and lifted the bag off her feet. She jerked her foot away immediately he placed his hands to massage them and from the ground he craned his head towards and their eyes met.
she stared at him feeling guilty for being rude while he stared back wondering how be had wrong her to warrant such standoffish behavior towards him. He brought down his gaze and she on the other hand shifted hers towards her luggage and caught the handle of the heaviest bag,the one Christian had lifted off the tiles floor. In an attempt to pull it into the room she knock him to the ground unintentionally.
"am fine" he said with a sad smile when he saw the guilt written of her face and she nodded.
"let me help you with that" he said as he took the handle of the back and began pulling it into the room, while she followed with the other two smaller ones. For a while they stood distant away from each other,each of them wallowing in his or her thoughts.
"Christian.." Zarah called her voice dry and even though there was not emotion in her voice his heart couldn't help but leap in joy hearing her call his name for the first time.
"yea" he answered lifting his head towards her.
"could you please excuse me,I.. I need to change" she said. He nodded in response as he made his way towards the door his cheeks turning tint red as the image of his woman without any clothing came to the view of his mind,he chided himself, knocking his head a couple of times for his indecent thought as he shut the door behind him.
Zarah sigh when she heard the door shut behind him and slump to the ground for a while she was still unable to to move a muscle. Her heart wasn't at peace and she knew it and even though her purpose had been achieved she wasn't sure how she's going to earn her freedom.
"divorce" the word rang her head giving her a sense if joy and she smiled widely before making her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. After she was done she put her feet into her trainers and bounce out of the room.
******
"Zarah ooh nice,already wearing your husband clothes,is it?" she heard her husband cousin say immediately she made an entry into the living room.
"it's not like that,actually Christian put them on me last night because be thought I was cold" Zarah said trying to defend herself but she could hear the women in the family going ooo and wow as they giggle at response.
She turned red on the other hand realizing what she had said wich had caused the older women to attribute some different meaning to her words. Christian who had been sitting on the dinning table on the other hand couldn't help as grin embarrassed to the core his cheeks turning red. He stood to his feet and began tip toeing back to his room when one of the three women in the room spoke.
"Nora I think your little boy is getting quite shy,
just look at him trying to shy away under our eyes" his aunt Mary said and everyone eyes turned towards Chris who was halfway up the stairs, her words made him stop in his track and he stood rooted to stair. At that moment he couldn't wish any better than for the ground to open up and swallow him.
"I thought you two will be tired minding that yesterday was your wedding and last night your nuptial night,yet you both look so strong though I can a little dark circle" his cousin said once again and her body couldn't help but elbow her.
"Mira spare my little boy,don't spoil my one and only with words such as those" Chris mom Nora said in defense and the women including workers burst into a fist of laughter.
Christian scurried into into his room and block his ears with his fingers but the women words won't stop resounding in his ears while Zarah had her back turned towards her husband family as she chew the inner skin of chin uneasily.
"Zarah" Mira called and she snapped her head towards her in at once.
"where to?" she asked as she looked down Zarah's leg. She followed her sister in-law gaze and it led her to her shoes.
"jogging" she responded casually.
"you just got married dear,you should stay home and rest" Nora said coming towards her daughter in-law.
"not going far,I will just take a laps round the house" Zarah responded.
"I don't know why you are so bent on indulging yourself in all this manly physical exercise when you have a good figure already" Nora said to her daughter in-law with a smile.
Zarah looked away immediately her eyes met Nora's.
"okay then go" Nora said slightly pushing Zarah towards the door.
Immediately she step out Zarah began running round the house running out her frustration, she didn't stop even when her body got completely drench with sweat. She finally stopped when she couldn't go further,
she placed the mouth piece of her inhaler into her mouth and took two puff taking a deep breath. She walked back to the house only to come face to face with Mira on the balcony.
"I wouldn't be able to half what you just did,girl where do you all that energy from?" she asked bewildered.
"constant practice, I've been doing it for years and am use to it" Zarah responded.
"you're are quite lucky, getting a guy such as Chris, Though he can be quite I just don't know the word" Mira said with a distorted face while gliding her hand not knowing what word to use.
Zarah stared at her fascinated by her pretty features,just an older version of Imelda blond hair with little resemblance to Christian, but she is a bit shorter than her other siblings.
"It seems God has given all the beauty of the world to this family " Zarah thought with a smile.
"you vet don't you?" Mira said and Zarah nodded like a robot forgetting what she had been going on about.
"if he wasn't my cousin, I did marry him when I get the chance,men like him are quite rear" Mira said in a sad tone like someone who had gone through a terrible heart break before.
But Zarah with no interest at all just nodded feeling feeling not fascinated all she wanted at that moment to cool her body under the shower because she was on fire feeling itchy and all of that.
"you reek of sweat" Mira raising her nose in the air and Zarah took that as an initiative to walk away and proceeded towards the door.
"Zarah" Mira called causing her to come to a halt and Zarah almost yelled at her feeling frustrated. But relaxed her features, then turned towards Mira with a courteous smile stretching her lips to the maximum.
"you look great in your husband clothes" she complemented and for a while Zarah stared at her with a raised eyebrow not knowing what to make of the comment while Mira stared back with a full blown smile.
She nodded not knowing what to say before turning back into the house.
Zarah pushed the door to their room open without a knock, the room was scanty and the mess she had made a few minutes ago with her clothes while looking for her trainers was gone,the bag she had left open was now up and properly placed in a corner even the messy bed was now laid Perfectly.
She walked towards the bathroom and twisted the knob but it was closed and her bowel was full. She began pacing from one end of the door to the other, unable to wait any longer she bang the loud and Chris from the other side answered.
"am in here"
"I know,why are you taking so long,come out and pressed" she said.
"I can't am already wet" he responded.
"tie the towel or something and just get the hell out unless you want me to litter your room with waste" she said and he chuckled from inside.
She walked back and sat on the bed feeling a little at ease.
After minutes of waiting and her patience as already drained out Chris made a grand entry into the room with a towel tied around his chest.
Zarah stared at him with furrowed eye brow staring at him from head to toe.
"what man in this generation for goodness sake ties his towel like that" she asked pointing at the at his long white towel .
He blushed.
"the ....the...,the bathroom is free" he stammered in an attempt to send her out of his sight because he was feeling uneasy.
"women are the ones who are meant to tie it around the chest and probably old men who have nothing to show,but since you aren't any better with that round stomach of yours and flesh arms you could do the same" she said causing him to become conscious of his body.
She began pulling off the shirt he had worn on her and he closed his eyes not wanting to see what was being exposed but the more he tightly shut them,the more he was overwhelmed with yearning to take a look even if it's just a peep and he found himself opening the slowly until they were wide as five hundred watt bulb staring down at her perfect figure.
He looked away when she lifted her head towards him.
"Nothing you haven't seen before,I bet you had a good show staring at it last night while undressing me,so stop feigning innocent and look all you want,unlike you I have nothing to hide,and am quite generous and confident of my physical appearance" Zarah said making a show of herself while her husband face fell unable to get rid of the underestimated feeling gnawing at his chest.
Zarah walked with her head up in the air into the bathroom to do her business.
******
After dinner the couple sat metres away from each other quietly each wallowing in their thoughts but thankful for the calmness in the room at a point Zarah raised her head towards her husband for minutes she watch him observing how he was fidgeting with his fingers.
"you have something to say?" he asked not looking at her. This was the first time be was saying a word to her after their morning encounter and she on the other hand hadn't said a word talk more of apologising.
"no" she muttered calmly as she turned her gaze to the wall behind finding the combination of lemon green painting on the lower wall and orange on the upper side of wall intriguing. She stared at the tap top curtains they were of a lighter shade of lemon with orange butterfly pattern on them,they were long enough to puddle on the ground making them look more beautiful that ever. Her eyes zoomed over the room taking in its features from the old fashion clock to the orange cupboards. Everything looks perfect in it place,she wish life could be that way too.
"do you have something to say?" he asked pulling her from her daze.
"is there something you want to hear?" she counter.
"not exactly you don't just look well" she said.
"you don't know me and am fine" she yelled causing him to flinch.
"could you please reduce the tempo of your voice they might here an begin to think we are quarreling" he said calmly and it vexed her more that while she was on fire he was cold like ice.
"are we not?" she questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"and I don't give a fuck about your family" she added in a more calm voice adhering to his request and it's hurt him. His family means a lot to him and anything wrong being said about them easily angered,but he decided to calm when it comes to this woman here,he will bear the cross because he is fascinated by her.
"am sorry" he decided to apologize not knowing what to say and she felt more furious she just wanted to let out her emotions but this man was making hard for by being so calm it did be easier if he returned fire with fire.
"Zarah" he began stretching forth a comforting hand towards her but she scooted away before he could touch her.
"am sorry" he said retracting his hand.
"what for,marrying me?,if that's it you are late" she said her voice full of venom.
"I don't know, but for whatever it that's making you loose your wit" he said so calmly that she was tempted to Share her pain with him" but will he understand when he has such a perfect life " Zarah thought.
"am off to bed " she said instead and lay on the bed with her back towards him.
He sigh and for a while he remained seated on the he plastic chair beside the bed wondering what was wrong with his wife, seeing her hurt that way made his heart hurt as well.
Finally he also moved to the bed and lay down hoping he did have a goodnight sleep today. Overwhelmed by the push to pray for his wife he did with his back towards her until sleep took him away.