Amalia got up and patted her blue silk night gown that flowed down to her knees, it was just small enough to show the out line of her curves and the extension of her chest which made her simple night gown, quite alluring.
After patting out the wrinkles, she made her way to the bathroom inside her master sweet.
Her room was the entire top floor of the hotel, looking much more like a lavish penthouse than a hotel room.
Since that day ten years ago, she had decided to start a new life, so she moved away from Colorado Springs in order to escape the memories that defiled her mind.
Everywhere she went, he was there, in her mind. She saw him in restaurants where they frequented, saw him at the corner of crosswalks, saw him in her house, her bed… It never ended, so finally her therapist had suggested getting away from it all.
For the most part, it did work quite well, she used her family's influence in order to acquire a top hotel in New York City, so that she could change her life and earn for herself. Turned out she was quite good at running a hotel and ended up running three more hotels in different cities. She frequented each of them often and spent her time living back and forth at each one. She enjoyed being busy and always on the go, it kept her mind busy and her heart in check. No time to herself meant no memories, Amalia considered this a fair trade off.
The only times she can't shake the shadows of her past are in December because they creep into her dreams and dig their hooks in for a long stay. She decided the shadows will have to start paying rent if they plan on destroying the place every time. Her head was always left in a state of panic and duress after each nightmare of memories, specifically of her wedding day.
"You are over thinking it Amalia" she said firmly to her self and slapping her cheeks a few times in the mirror.
She refused to let it get to her! She was a new women now. She even had a new man who cared about her. He just was never good at showing it. She was to scared to leave him though because sometimes he would get this look in his eyes that scared her to death. Though she felt this way, she had convinced herself he was what she needed and that no one else would want a women who was left at the alter. Plus she worked so often they rarely saw one another and he always gifted her roses or jewelry after each time he lost his temper.
She shook her head side to side and told herself not to think about it to much. She looked in the mirror and staring back at her was a head of red curls that went to her shoulders. She smiled and showed off perfectly white teeth and two adorable dimples that rested at the ends of her smile, her eyes could draw anyone in, they were a hazle color with a splash of color around the irises. It always depended on the person looking but everyone who looked into her eyes found them selves seeing a different color than the person before. Some had said it was a light ocean blue while others claimed it to be an emerald green and at times it even appeared to be a mix of both, it was intoxicating to look at.
Her freckles seemed to dance their way across her nose stoping near her cheek bones.
"You can conquer anything queen" she snapped her fingers and used her best drag queen voice for emphasis. Trying to motivate herself.
After snapping herself out of it she quickly brushed her teeth and pulled up her hair into a bun, her curls refusing to stay in one place, darting out from every direction of her bun.
To this she just shrugged and rummaged through her closet for something comfortable to wear.
She could wear something nice, and she probably should to keep up appearances, at least that's how most people thought especially Armondo Plight, her boyfriend.
Amalia was not most people though, she did not dress like a manager of a successful hotel franchise would dress. Instead she found her favorite cotton t-shirt with the wide collar, the shirt started just near the end of her shoulders, nearly slipping off, it was short sleeved and said 'Not Today' on the the front.
She threw this on along with a pair of pants made out of soft stretchy fibers making them comfy and easy to move in.
That's when a buzz came from the front entrance, the intercom in the bathroom spoke,
"Hey Amalia, you there? Weren't we going to go get coffee before I went to work? Don't tell me your baboon butt over slept again".
Just as the voice finished the door flew open next to him and out came Amalia, her face as red as her hair,
"How dare you say that Armondo!" Amalia threw a pillow she grabbed on her way out of the room, and hit him in the face.
Armondo laughed catching the pillow in his hands, "easy there tiger, I was only joking" he spoke with a teasing tone tossing the pillow back to her gently as she caught it.
"Anyways, as you can clearly see I'm awake and ready for the day".
Armondo took that second to glance over her outfit and sigh, "how many times must I say you mustn't go into public looking like a common person, you look sloppy and poor. What would people think?"
Amalia crossed her arms and looked at him stubbornly, "and how many times must I say that I like dressing this way, it suits me and I am comfy. That's all that matte…" but before she could finish speaking Armondo had her by the wrist and was dragging her back inside.
Armondo stared at her with flames in his chocolate colored eyes, his hair was a golden blond that fell to his neck but was pulled back into a short pony tail. His skin was blemish free and nicely tanned almost like it was a spray on tan. He was like a model with his perfectly chiseled cheek bones and full lips.
——-
This women was really going to test him. What was the point finally achieving her if she wasn't going to do the one thing she was good at, being mesmerizingly beautiful.
When she wore this trash it took away from her delicate features. He wanted to see her dainty and beautiful like a flower but she always insisted on refusing him.
"Amalia, I am the only man who can ever love you for who you are, did you forget that? I don't have to remind you about him do I?" He asked her in a harsh tone as to make her question her earlier confidence in herself.
"Don't forget that when I found you, you were a mess, your family was even embarrassed of you, and you think I could ever love someone who dresses in such un lady like clothing. It is quite unbecoming of you. "
Curses, if only he didn't have to deal with business out of town so frequently, she would be completely submissive to him by this point and yet, each times he's gone she regains her confidence and belief in herself. He couldn't have that though, she needed to always be submissive to him and only him.
He would think of a way, but for now he absolutely was not going to see her dressed in such an un appealing manner.
"Armondo! How could you be so cruel?" She looked down at the ground as she fiddled with her fingers, her voice meek and not as sure of herself as before. " I just want to be me and dress in a way that is comforting to me… yet you never let me… I got rid of all my nice clothes" she looked away as his gaze seemed to burn holes through her skull.
"And why In the sam heck did you do that!"
Armondo shouted furiously at this dim witted women. How dare she! That was all he liked about her and she dared to dispose of it?
"Because" she said keeping her head down, to scared to look into his eyes, "you would make me wear them, so I gave them away".
Armondo noticed a small smile start to form on her mouth and he lost it.
Without another word he grabbed her by the bun on her head and throwing her down onto the couch in the living area near the door. Now she looked at him with fear in her eyes which gave him a since of joy.
"If you won't obey me, then I will just have to make you".