I woke up when I felt someone touch my face. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Bram. He was seated on the left side of the bed as he stared at my face.
"What time is it?" I asked in a hoarse voice. I placed the back of my left hand under my chin and curled up into a fetal position.
"It's quarter to eight in the evening," Bram answered me. He took my left hand and held my ring finger, "Sorry we were not able to buy an engagement ring."
I shook my head from side to side, "There's no need for that," I said to him. Our contract will end after three years. I did not add the last part, instead I asked him, "Have you eaten dinner?"
"No, I came here straight after our meeting," Bram said as we stared into each other's eyes. He let my hand go, lowered his face to mine and kissed me full on the mouth.
"I forgot to brush my teeth after lunch," I said, as I pushed him away.
"I don't care," Bram whispered, and he kissed me again.
I responded to his kiss and he kneaded my right breast with his left hand. A moan escaped my lips and Bram changed his position. His upper body covered me as our kiss deepened. I wrapped my arms around his neck. Then we abruptly stopped because we heard a knock on the door. It was Aunt Calla. She told us that dinner was ready.
"We'll be right out, Auntie," Bram yelled, so Aunt Calla could hear him.
We paused to make sure that Aunt Calla was no longer by the door. We gazed at each other for a moment, then he stood up. He went to the bottom of the bed and removed his shoes, pants, long sleeved top and undershirt. I could not help but to travel my eyes down to his lean body.
From what I know, F1 drivers follow a very strict routine of diet and exercise. He was putting on black denim pants when he turned to me and smiled. I smiled back and got my bag from the nightstand. I moved quickly and got my hairbrush. I had just started brushing my hair when Bram spoke.
"We need to hurry up, they're waiting for us outside," he told me as he put on his V-necked shirt, "Jonas brought you your clothes from the house." Then he gave me the paper bag.
I checked the contents of the bag and it was indeed my clothes. I took out my short sleeved baby doll dress and my brown and gold sandals. I went to the bathroom to freshen up. My baby doll dress was in a dark shade of blue, which complimented my white skin. It was mid thigh in length; I quickly wore my sandals and placed my hair in a tight bun.
I checked my face in the mirror and cleaned the sides of my eyes. I wiped the lower part of my eyes with wipes, then I stared at myself in the mirror. I got my symmetrical nose from my mom. She said that I got my fair complexion, expressive eyes and wide lips from our Spanish-Chinese ancestors. My dad was brown skinned like my brother. People were surprised when we told them that we were siblings, they would not believe us because of the difference in our skin color. I was applying my lip gloss when Bram knocked on the bathroom door.
"Emma, let's go!" he yelled.
I opened the door and took out the paper bag of my discarded clothing. I also placed Bram's discarded clothes inside the bag. Then I left it at the bottom of the bed. I left my bag on the bed and then we went out.
Aunt Calla said that Brando needed to leave because of a family emergency, so it was just us four. It was probably better that he left because the square table of Aunt calla could only accommodate four people. Bram was seated on my right side and George was on my left. Aunt Calla and I were facing each other. We were having grilled fish steak and rice.
Aunt Calla started the conversation by mentioning the name of the restaurant where she ordered the food from. Then she focused her full attention on Bram. She was asking him a lot of things that George and I could not relate to. I turned to George when he called my name.
"Remember when we saw each other last time?" George asked me as he cut a portion of his fish.
"You mean at the hospital?" I asked him and put some fish and rice in my mouth.
"Yeah," George said in acknowledgement, "Turns out my girlfriend did have an alien inside her."
"Oh wow! That's great!" I smiled and exclaimed, "Congratulations!"
George shook his head from side to side, "We broke up."
"Oh no!" my smile disappeared, "Do you want to share what happened?"
George took a sip of his Coke and said, "The alien was not mine."
"I'm sorry to hear that, George," I said to him as I shook my head in disbelief.
He shrugged his shoulders and focused on cutting his fish. I did the same. When I looked up in Bram's direction, his brows furrowed. We finished our food quietly and said goodbye to Aunt Calla. We made it to the Glass House earlier than expected because of Bram's mad driving skills.
He did not bother to talk to me during the drive. When we entered our gate, he asked me to go out first and not to wait while he parked the car. I did not know what had caused Bram's sudden change but I did not say anything. I went straight to my room with Maria trailing behind me. I decided to take a warm shower because of the lateness of the time.
The bathroom clock showed half past ten when I checked it after my bath. I was choosing what pajamas to use when I accidentally opened the other cabinet. I was positive that it was empty the last time I checked. It was now filled with branded silk pajamas and lingerie. I touched the silk fabric of one of the black camisole dresses then put it on. It felt amazing on my skin. I decided to wear it, then I removed the towel from my head.
I was blow drying my hair in the bathroom when I thought I heard someone knocking on my door. I turned the hair dryer off and paused so I could hear better. Then the knock came again. I put the hair dryer down near the sink and walked towards the door.
"Is that you, Maria?" I asked when I neared the door.
"It's me," I heard Bram's deep voice.
I quickly went back to the cabinet and took out the matching silk robe for my camisole. I put it on, tied it in front, then I opened the door. I did not wait for him to enter my room. I immediately went back to the bathroom and turned on the hairdryer again. I was startled when I noticed Bram was standing by the bathroom door.
"Let's go to sleep," he said.
"You go ahead," I said to him, "I'm almost done."
"I want to sleep now! Turn that thing off and let's go to bed!" Bram ordered sternly, then he walked back towards the bed.
I turned the dryer off, unplugged it and placed it back in the bathroom drawer. I turned the bathroom light off and went out. Bram had already turned the room light off and left the bedside light open. He was removing his socks when I got near the bed. I removed my robe and placed it on the nightstand.
Bram went under the covers facing down with his boxer brief on. Then he switched off the lamp on his side. I left mine open because I could not sleep in complete darkness. I went under the covers too and closed my eyes. Bram pulled me closer to his side, then he covered my upper body with his.
He rested his head on the right side of my neck and whispered, "Am I allowed to get jealous, Emma?"
My mouth hung open after I heard what he just said, "What?"
I heard what he said but I could not understand the reason. I shook my head when I heard his light snore. I sighed and closed my eyes. I wanted to ask him about Alicia and the contract but I drifted to sleep too.