Jackson frowned at the sight of Ella fast asleep on the cream colored couch, and he moved closer to take a better look at her. Her full lips were slightly parted, and a quiet, almost unheard snore emitted from between them. Her long lashes almost touched her high cheek bones. She had one hand resting on her stomach, while the other laid above her head in a nonchalant pose.
She was a beautiful woman, but he'd never tell her that to her face. Maybe if they had met under a different circumstance, he would have opted to date her. For some reason unknown to him, he felt a pinch of guilt in his dark heart. He knew it was wrong of him to have gone to Stacey again, and have sex with her not even only one time, but four times in the duration of the day. It wasn't fair to Ella, neither was it fair to Stacey. Even if it had just been a kiss he shared with Stacey, he still felt that it was wrong seeing as he had a wife. As much as he didn't want to admit that he was married to Ella and against his will, he couldn't change the fact that they were married. But would feeling guilty not mean that he was beginning to dance to his parents tunes?
He had spent a whole day at Stacey's, banging her. It just didn't feel right for him to abandon a lady who had been his girlfriend for five months, all because he was now married. He and Stacey never really spent that much time together, because his time in Paris was always for visit.
The word marriage brought a bitter taste to his tongue and it would have sounded much more pleasant to his ears if it was not a village woman he was married to; a woman he didn't choose for himself, a woman he didn't love or care about.
He made up his mind a long time ago to never accept her. He didn't want her no matter how beautiful she was. No matter how most of her actions seemed to turn him on, he just didn't want her. Besides, he wasn't sure she would be able to keep up with his high sexual drive, he was sure she was going to be boring in bed. She looked the type, and boring sex just wasn't worth it for him. Stacey was just it for him. She gave him a good time in bed, so he kept her. If she started getting boring, he'd drop her and opt for someone else. That was Jackson.
He took the food he bought from a restaurant on his way back home for them to eat, into the kitchen, and put her's in the fridge with the thought that she'd microwave it the next morning. He felt guilt eat away at him once again for a different reason entirely. He starved her. Even though he didn't like her, he shouldn't have done that.
After keeping hers, he took his along with him to the dining room where he ate, before going to his room to get sleep. He contemplated carrying Ella to her room, but he decided to leave her there. What was his business where she slept anyway?
*
Ella's eyes squinted open, and it stayed glued to the ceiling in a state of drowsiness, before it moved around to take in her surrounding. She slept in the living room? How, when? She thought.
As she sat up slowly, she let out a wince every now and then in pain as her neck protested. She had slept in an uncomfortable position through the whole night. With that thought in mind, she remembered the reason why she had not gone to her room to sleep, and Jackson was the reason; she had been worried about him. She had stayed up late waiting for him. She didn't even know when she slept off. Is he home yet? She thought.
She turned her head from side to side, trying to move her neck muscles back to position, as she staggered up and made her way to the window. Looking through it, she spotted Jackson's car in the parking lot, and she sighed in relief. He was okay, it was a relief.
Just when she turned to walk away from the window, her stomach groaned to remind her that she had nothing to eat since the afternoon of the previous day.
She frowned as her hand massaged her clothed belly, and the other hand massaged her neck to free some muscles as she found her way to her room to freshen up.
*
Ella hovered outside the door to Jackson's room as she contemplated whether to knock and have him come out to scold her, or wait for him to wake up and come out on his own. She didn't know of he was one of those people who got annoyed whenever they were woken up from sleep.
After contemplating some more, she went with the former. Her hand lifted like it had a mind of it's own, and tapped lightly on the door to his room. This way, even if she woke him up, he wouldn't be too angry because she didn't make an irritating sound.
Just when she thought that he didn't hear her knock, and was about to knock again, the door was pulled open, and an annoyed-looking Jackson appeared in the doorway, making her hand fall back down to her side.
He looked like he just woke up from a very nice sleep, and his dreadlocks were scattered all over his head, falling down over his shoulders.
"What do you want?" His raspy sleep-induced voice asked as he leaned up against the doorframe, and concentrated his firm gaze on Ella. Ella gulped slowly, getting nervous from his full attention on her. His gaze unnerved her to no end. Why did she decide to knock on his door again?
"You stayed out late yesterday, I waited up for you." She said, staring everywhere but at him. He was a distracting sight and still managed to look insanely gorgeous even though he recently woke up from sleep.
He brushed his fingers through his dreadlocks to put them in order, before letting a sigh escape from between his lips.
"What did I tell you about you looking out for me?"
He stepped out from the room, letting the door close behind him in the process, while Ella took a few steps back to avoid him bumping into her.
"I was worried something happened to you." She confessed with a frown, as she wrapped her arms around herself.
A chuckle escaped Jackson's lips, and he regarded her with unhidden curiosity.
"Nothing happened to me as you can see. You better get used to me staying out late, or possibly sleeping out." He said.
"Oh," Ella mumbled out. Was she disappointed? Yes. She would get to sleep in that big house alone? Yes. Was it appealing to her? No.
"I'm hungry." She stared straight into his eyes as she said this.
Jackson on the other hand, frowned unconsciously at her words, he looked to be deep in thoughts.
"I'm sorry I left you with nothing to eat." He apologized, and Ella's eyes almost bulged out from their sockets.
He was apologizing? She didn't know he could apologize. She thought he was allergic to saying the word sorry.
She leaned in closer to him with her eyes searching his.
"What?" He asked in irritation, as he leaned back slightly.
"Are you ill?" She inquired with wide eyes peering into his. Jackson's frown deepened at her question, and he started walking towards the living room whilst asking,
"What kind of a question is that? Do I look ill to you?" He looked behind him to regard Ella who was trailing behind him, before looking forward.
"You said sorry," She voiced out, and Jackson halted on his heels and turned to stare at her.
"So?" He shrugged with his head cocked to the side, not seeing what the big deal was in that.
"To me." She pointed her index finger to herself to lay more emphasis. Jackson on the other hand still didn't seem to catch on to her awe.
"You don't want me to say sorry to you? That's weird. People usually accept apologies."
"If that's the case, you owe me a truckload of apologies then." She blinked at him.
"So that's what you've been driving at?" His eyes narrowed at her before he continued walking. He branched from the living room, headed for the kitchen, and Ella followed suit.
"Yes." She walked ahead of him and hopped on the counter. Jackson eyed her for a while before grumbling out,
"Do you have to sit on it?"
Ella shrugged in a response, not making a move to get off it, and just then, her stomach made the most embarrassing of sounds. She cringed inwardly, as she placed her hand over her belly.
"I'm very hungry."
Jackson pulled the fridge open and took out the packaged food he had kept for her the day before.
"Do you know what a microwave is?"
He asked as he put down the food on the counter and turned his head to stare at her with a brow up in askance.
"Of course, why wouldn't I?" She couldn't understand why he would ask such a senseless question. Who didn't know what a microwave is?
"Good." He tapped his fingernails on the counter, with his brows scrunched together as if in thoughts.
"How did that get in the fridge?" She nodded at the food in a take-out container.
"I can swear that it was not in there yesterday."
"I bought it so you could eat last night, but you were already asleep."
He murmured as he picked the food container and made his way to the microwave on the counter in a corner.
"Oh." Her fingers pressed down hard on the spot on her stomach that itched non-stop, and she grimaced in pain. Jackson on the other hand didn't miss this small action of hers.
"Do you have stomach ulcer?" He inquired, staring intensely at her.
"I don't know." She answered, with a grimace still on her face.
"Do you know how to use the microwave?" He asked as he opened it and put the food container inside, before closing it and pressing the on button, then timing it.
Ella shook her head in a no, unable to get her mind off the sudden pain she was feeling in her stomach. Did the sight of food bring about the pain?
"I would have thought you how to, it's quite easy actually, but it seems to me like you're in no mood to learn, so that will be done another day. Once this microwave goes off, take out the food in it, eat all of it, then go get ready, we're going grocery shopping so something like this doesn't repeat itself."
When he was done talking, he turned on his heels and left the kitchen. Ella's eyes stayed glued to his broad back, watching his muscles move enticingly underneath the thin fabric of his white shirt until he disappeared from her line of sight.
She smiled to herself, biting down on her lower lip. They were making progress, she couldn't be happier. He wasn't acting like talking to her was a total waste of time or like she was not a human being, that was progress, right?
She let her eyes stray to the microwave, and stared long and hard at the numbers counting down. When it stopped counting, she could perceive the fine aroma coming from the food inside.
She wondered what type of food it was as she climbed down the counter and headed for the microwave.