"A honeymoon? I thought we could just pass that, seeing I am almost due," Kiara said.
"Not at all, my dear. You will be well taken care of. A doctor will be just a phone-call away. It is important that Vine and you get that quality time to celebrate your marriage."
Kiara frowned. She was more than sure that she did not want to go away with Vine.
"I think I will be more comfortable here," she tried to convince the old lady to cancel the honeymoon.
"Everything has been arranged and you are going, Kiara." The lady said with finality.
Kiara hated that about the Pinkertons. They were very good at controlling others. They never seemed to care what she thought or wanted; they only wanted her to live according to what they wanted.
She nodded her head and left the room. Tessa was already done packing Kiara's bags.
When they arrived at the place, Kiara thought it was the most beautiful place she had ever seen in her entire life. There was a thatched house with many lovely rooms. Everything was natural and beautiful. The walls of the house were all made of rocks, and the rocks were shiny, showing that someone had a duty of making sure that they were always polished.
She walked slowly throughout the house, looking at the rooms. Vine was outside, on his phone. The call was really long, for he only came after a long while and handed over a little box to Kiara. A gift.
"Thank you," she smiled and opened it. It was a phone.
"It's very beautiful, thank you," she smiled.
"That phone can only call the family members of the Pinkertons, and your mum and dad. It cannot call anyone else," he stated in a cold tone.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"I mean exactly what I have just said. You can use that phone to call my grandparents, Gareth, Tessa or your parents. And me too, although I pray that you will never find reason to call me. It has been programmed like that. It will not make calls to anyone else."
"But why?" Kiara swallowed hard, doing her best to hide her pain.
"That's how it is. You either take it or leave it."
Kiara looked at Vine and spoke in a choked voice, "you people are too tough. You want to control me, not giving me a chance to live my life the way I want!"
"And by living your life the way you want, you mean having the freedom to call that loser of a boyfriend of yours? Until the day that I prove that the child you're carrying is not mine, you will behave as I tell you to."
"Until when? If the child is yours, does it mean I will have to live this miserable life until I die?"
"You will have to wait until I can trust you. Right now I know that your heart is still with that Jeremy of yours. Once you understand that you and him are over, I will give you the freedom that you're crying for."
"But you and I are not even married."
"It's good that you know that, and isn't it ironic that you're still wearing the wedding ring. I did not sign those papers, and I will never sign them. You took advantage of me during a time of being intoxicated? Do you know that I can get you arrested for that?"
"It wasn't me, it was grandma. And besides, you did the same to me, at the Two-Sons Hotel."
"Oh so this was pay back? You planned it all out?"
"I did not! I did not want to get married to you as well, and…"
"Enough of that!"
And with that, Vine walked out of the room. Throwing herself on the bed, Kiara cried her lungs out.
When a maid came in to announce that dinner was ready, Kiara freshened up and went to the dining area. They were the only guests at the place, besides the staff who were working there.
The table was well set with a lot of nice food. Everything looked perfectly prepared, and Kiara liked it all. She sat down and waited for Vine to join her, but after about fifteen minutes he had still not appeared.
"Where is Vine?" she asked one of the maids.
"Oh, the young master is in the bar," she responded.
"Young master? You also call him young master?" Kiara asked.
"Yes, all staff members should address him as such."
"Staff members?" Kiara was failing to understand.
"We all work for the Pinkertons. This holiday home belongs to them."
"Oh, it does?" Kiara was shocked to hear that.
"Yes," the young maid answered. "Should I go and call him so that he can join you?"
"Please do," Kiara answered.
After a short while, the maid came back in with, "the young master said you may proceed with the dinner, he will join you later."
Feeling sad, Kiara started to eat the food slowly. It tasted divine; the food was very well prepared. When she finished, she did not stand up immediately, with the hope that Vine was going to join her, but he did not. She went to the bedroom and lay down to sleep. The new phone was not exciting at all. She had no desire of calling anyone, so she hardly ever touched it. She looked up at the ceiling, admiring the artwork that was put into the construction of the whole house. It really was beautiful. Before she knew it, she was fast asleep.
***
The sun's rays shone on Kiara's eyes, and she woke up with a startle. She lazily dragged herself to the bathroom and soaked in the bathtub. When she came out, she went to have breakfast. Vine was nowhere to be seen.
"Where is the young master?" she asked the maid from yesterday.
"You also call him young master?" the girl giggled. "He's at the bar."
Kiara nodded her head and proceeded with her meal.
"There are a lot of activities that you can do here. Ask the young master to take you out and you will surely enjoy this place." The girl said.
"OK," was all Kiara could say.
She stood up and went outside, walking around admiring the place. Her mind wondered to all places, until it chose to settle on Jeremy. Jeremy never ignored her; he truly loved her. She terribly missed him, and she longed to see him just once. She walked around the place, everything was really beautiful. There were huge trees and some flowers too. The vegetation made the place very beautiful and refreshing. She saw some horses and a man tending to them.
"Good morning ma'am," the man smiled at her. "You are the wife to our young master. It is a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," the man stretched out his hand to shake Kiara's.
Kiara smiled a little as she shook the man's hand.
"The young master must be very happy. Soon he will be a dad." The man went on.
"Yah, he is happy," Kiara smiled.
She chatted a bit with the man before she left the place. When she was tired of walking, she headed back to the house and straight into the bedroom to take some rest. The day continued like that until evening when she went to eat dinner and she asked again, "where is Vine?"
The answer was the same, "the young master is in the bar."
Kiara stood up and started walking hesitantly towards the bar. She wanted it to appear like she was just passing by the room, and so when she saw that the door was closed, she did not know how to proceed. She stood by the door for a long time, and then opened it.
"Oh, I'm sorry I wasn't aware that there is anyone here. I…I was just taking a tour of the house." She spoke out loud, but Vine flatly ignored her.
"Vine," she called with a small voice.
"What?" the man answered without turning to look at Kiara.
"Why won't you join me at meal times?" she asked with great fear, instantly regretting why she had even asked.
"I prefer spending my time alone, and I would be grateful if I am not questioned about it." He snapped.
"Vine, if you don't mind me asking, was there someone in your life? Sometimes I feel like I disturbed your life by coming into it when you already had someone in your heart."
"What is this, an interview?"
Kiara retreated and quietly left the room. She went back to the bedroom, just in time to hear her phone ringing.
"Hallo?" she answered, wondering who was calling her.
"It's me, your nana. How is the honeymoon?" the old lady's voice was high and full of joy.
"The honeymoon…the honeymoon is fine," she said.
"Is he treating you well?"
"Yes," she answered.
"So do you…I mean, are you sharing the same bedroom?"
"I….we….he spends the night in a separate room."
There was silence, and then the woman asked, "do you ever make him feel the baby kicks?"
"Umm, not really."
"Ok but generally are you enjoying the stay?"
"Yes, grandma."
"Good. Enjoy it." the old lady said.
They spoke a bit more before ending the call. Kiara closed the door, pulled out her diary and made an entry:
Dear Kimmy
I never knew that I was ever going to come to this level of desperation. Why does it feel like I am begging Vine to like me? He told me that he does not love me, and yet I still want him to talk to me. Just to talk. He wants nothing to do with me.
I regret coming here for the honeymoon. I have never felt this lonely in my entire life. The place is lovely, but I would have been happier at my own house, with people to talk to. I would have been happier if I was surrounded by love and joy.
I cannot explain my own feelings. Why am I craving Vine's attention? Why do I want him to talk to me?
Am I starting to get attracted to the soft life…the breakfast served in bed, the luxurious rooms, maids all around me….have I fallen in love with this life such that I feel like I must be friends with Vine, since he is the one who brought me here anyway?
Why do I want Vine to talk to me?
Dear Kimmy, I think I have the answer…it's because I did not expect him to ignore me. I would have preferred it if the ignoring was done by me, and not the other way round.
Dear Kimmy, why does he hate me this much? If the baby turns out to be his, will I spend the rest of my life living so miserably? Do I have the energy to file for a divorce, or I am forever bound to this family?
Kimmy my dearest friend, I am very lonely.