I wake up the following morning filled with confusion when I search for my water bottle on my bedside table and I'm unable to locate neither the water bottle nor table itself which is usually on the right side of the bed.
With a huff, I grab my phone from beneath my pillow to check for the time. On seeing it's just 4:01 am, I turn on my flashlight to figure out what's going on. The first odd thing I see is the white wall paints on the wall, that's when the events of yesterday come rushing back in like a whirlwind and I realize that I'm not at my apartment.
I look at the diamond wedding ring on my finger which should normally be a symbol of love towards my partner. With a sigh, I find the bedside table at the left and rollover to that side of the bed to drink water and go back to bed.
♧♧♧
When I'm up later in the morning, it's to a breath of stale air fanning over my face.
What the…
With a jerk, I'm up in an instant, sitting upright to come face to face with a black doberman sitting on me. A sudden shriek escapes my mouth as I jump up from the bed and run towards the door that's slightly ajar. The door swings open before I get to it and Aliya enters, whistling a song. I grab her arms and push her back into the corridor before shutting the door again. "Wha…"
I shush her as the dog begins barking and whispers, "There's a dog in my room." We're both glued to the door with my hands tightly gripping the knob.
Aliya looks at me like I'm insane before her eyes lit with amusement. She let's out a giggle and opens the door.
"So that's where you were." She squats to rub the dog's back and turns to me. "You don't like dogs?"
"I do, but the smaller breeds. Dobermann's look scary."
Aliya laughs and motions for me to come rub the dog's back too. "Her name is Coco. And I think she likes you."
"How can you tell?" I'm skeptical about going any closer than I already am to Coco. She really does look frightening but I go forward anyway, and when I do, Coco comes to lick my outstretched hand.
"Well for starters, she hasn't bitten you yet."
I swirl around from my position on the floor to see Ivan leaning on the door frame with his hands folder over his chest. He's putting on a white wife beater over gray jogger pants. He looks so good standing there with his Ipad that I get conscious of the skimpy boy shorts and tank top I wore to sleep last night.
He bends to pat Coco's head as Aliya takes her out of the room, leaving just the both of us alone.
"Uh, good morning." Looking up at him, I fold my arms over my chest to cover my breast but that seems to push it up the more so I just put my arms back the way it was. I would consider running to get a robe from the bathroom but then that would also mean giving Ivan a show because the shorts don't exactly cover much.
The amused looks on his face only tells me that he saw the little drama outside which probably brought his attention here.
"Morning. Did you sleep well?"
"I did. Thank you for asking." I'm finding it difficult to concentrate on looking at just his face as those muscles flex when he stands upright and puts a hand into his pocket.
He's so tall and ripped, just the right build if you ask me. Now that he isn't putting on a suit like the other times I saw him, his tattoos are more visible. They're like sleeves on both hands, down to his wrist, and they cover his chest with just enough peeking out of his vest.
"You're welcome. You should come have breakfast before it gets cold." He says before turning to leave, shutting the door behind him.
Maybe living with him isn't really a bad thing. I thought he would give me the cold shoulder or ignore me again but that hasn't been the case since I got here last night.
I go to take a shower. After that I use fifteen minutes to curl my hair and wear a short white strapped sundress with little yellow flower designs imprinted on it. I bathe myself in light perfume and put on my black Dway Slide before heading out for breakfast.
Okay so maybe I shouldn't have spoken too soon about the ignoring me thing because I might have just jinxed my luck.
On getting to the dining area, the first thing I see is different breakfast options stacked atop a ridiculously long dining table. Ivan is seated at one end of the table, already done eating as he sips on what I assume to be coffee, while a singled out covered plate is set at the other end of the table, not arguably for me since it's just us present here.
I take a seat and begin eating, uncomfortable silence maring the air. Finding it difficult to enjoy eating with this arrangement, I look over at Ivan who has his eyes entirely focused on whatever he's reading on his tablet.
It's even hard to enjoy my breakfast with all the onions I see scattered in my scrambled eggs, so I begin picking them out of the egg, leaving a mess on my fingers.
Horrible table etiquette, I know.
When I'm done eating, someone comes to clean up the table and I look around, thinking about what to do with my time. I'll just explore this huge mansion since Ivan never bothered to show me around. I'll do that for a while before going to pick up on the novel I was working on before the wedding.