I returned to my residence yesterday to relax. My head is sore from sobbing all the way from the car to my room. I didn't even realise I was sleeping since I was weeping. When I awoke, Athena was already there, apologising for having to wake me up to sign the documents because it was Friday and it was required for the weekly reports. I seldom leave my room. I simply want to stay in bed since my eyes are sore and I don't want to look at them.
I planned to return to work the next day. When I was finished, I went outside to the kitchen to eat my breakfast. I still need to take care of myself, and I know how concerned everyone here is for me. I want to show them that I can still fight and overcome these challenges.
"Did Alek receive his stuff yet?" I wondered.
"Mister Valentin did not return yesterday."
I simply nodded at them. I allowed him time to do so, but I discovered him with his woman. Aleksei doesn't need his belongings here either; he has the money—money that increased as a result of me and that he's now using to do things he likes and pay for his mistress' medicine. He can simply buy new items, and he also owns a condominium where he previously resided.
After I ate my breakfast, my driver drove me to the office, where it's a supervision day. I go over each department to see how everyone is doing. They are all, as are the staff, and there is no issue that has to be addressed. Athena and I again get into the elevator to go back to my floor and do the work in my office next.
As we strolled down the corridors, my legs halted on their own as we were about to pass a certain office. It's only a few doors down from mine.
"You may go first, Athena," I said. She nodded and excused herself. I breathe deeply as I reach for the doorknob, twist it, and gently open the office door. Aleksei's former workplace.
The last time he requested a divorce, he came to my office the next day to quit. That's why, unlike before, we don't see each other very often in the house or here. I entered his old office and shut the door. It was empty; the shelves were empty, the table was empty, and there were no papers on it.
I go around, brushing up against the vacant tables. There isn't any dust on it. This room is properly kept for the next employee who will occupy the office, or if he ever wants to return, he may use this office again, although that is now impossible.
Looking at the sofa, the office table, the office chair, and the restroom, as well as the glass window through which we dare to do all of the explicit things we've been doing within these four corners of the office.
Every nook of his workspace is filled with memories.
Not only that, but Aleksei is the sort of man who would dare to summon his boss to his office so they could spend time together, or who would burst into my office simply to give me a hug or a kiss.
We informed each other that professional and personal matters should be kept separate, that they should be employee and employer within the firm and husband and wife outside, but Aleksei doesn't care where we are and just does what he wants.
I sat on the couch, sighing as I looked around, and simply sitting on this couch makes me feel Aleksei's head resting on my lap and me, caressing or braiding his hair, and he'll keep it all day. He'll never touch it, no matter how messy it gets.
Memory is resurfacing.
I recall him lying his head on my lap and staring at me while I was making a little braid in his hair one day on this couch when he suddenly posed a curious question.
"Hon, have you ever had a crush on someone?"
"Yes, and I truly like that person. That man is ideal." I replied, noticing his grimace before turning his back on me.
"Do you still like him now that we're married?" I said 'Yes' again, and he became silent for a moment. "Even now?"
"Yes, even now," Aleksei exclaims, frantically removing the braids I had placed in his hair. "Why did you do that?"
"Just braid that man's hair instead," he said, his voice full of envy, explaining why he continued attempting to loosen the braid on his hair that had gotten his hair twisted, and he was irritated about it.
"Stop!" I say, holding his hand since tugging it just gets it more twisted. "You'll make matters worse."
I took Aleksei's hand and began untangling his hair with his back to me. The room went silent once more, but this time not because we wanted to feel each other's presence but because Aleksei had suddenly become irritable.
"What do you admire about that man?" he said, his eyes avoiding me.
"Nothing."
"What exactly do you mean?"
"Because that man is simply a tale I invented," I said, chuckling as I successfully untangled his hair. "I'm simply having fun."
"Really?" he asked, turning to face me, and I nodded. "So I'm the only man you care about?"
"Yes, I only adore Mister Aleksei Valentin," I said, enjoying the look of envy on his face. Aleksei then wrapped his arms around my waist. "Did you seriously believe I loved another man other than you?"
"I just thought maybe I wasn't the only one," he added, burying his face in my stomach and mumbling his next words. "I wanted to be the only one."
I grinned as he acted like a toddler on the verge of a tantrum. I only knew if others could witness how he acted like this, but I wanted to see for myself. I'd like to be the only person who sees this side of him.
I poked Aleksei's cheeks and made a sorrowful expression at me. I cradled his cheeks and knelt to kiss his lips, then his cheeks, nose, and forehead. I smiled as I glanced at the lipstick stain that Aleksei had requested and even changed my transfer proof lipstick to the type of lipstick I was now wearing. He might always have that lip or kiss mark on his body, depending on where the stain was transmitted. I'm not sure where it started. He wanted me to kiss him, especially on his neck, but it was infantile of him, and I liked it.
"You are the only one."
Everything I told Aleksei was true. I've never loved anybody before him, since it's only Aleksei who makes me think that being in love is genuine and not just a fantasy. Aleksei was the only man I had feelings for. I'm not going to lie about it.
He was afraid of me liking another man other than him. He desired to be my exclusive companion. I too wanted to be his exclusive companion, but everything flipped upside down when he did the things he was afraid of doing to me; I might love another man if he was in love with another woman instead of me. He loved me even though he was still madly in love with Blair. That is the terrible truth, and his love for Blair is so great that it hasn't dissipated through the years.
Perhaps our years together aren't long enough to replace their memories with ours.
And maybe my love for him isn't enough to make him forget about Blair.
What I warned Aleksei about years ago is still occurring now. Even today, when things are going bad, I still adore him. He hurts me, yet I can't seem to unlove him. It's only that if our story is similar to the one I read when I was a kid, Aleksei is the one I expected to be my prince charming, but then I realised that if we're a fairytale, we're not like Disney's fairytale love stories, but rather a fantasy novel in which he's the villain.
Or perhaps we're in a storybook, but he's the prince of another princess.
That I am simply one chapter in their tale, a side character.
Perhaps I was the witch in their fairytale.