The way to his place was mostly quiet and uncomfortable. More than once I stole glances at him, only to find him frowning and focusing on his driving. He had a two-seater luxury sedan, bright red in colour. I remember seeing this model in a showroom last month, the price made me jump. My dad could afford many luxury cars like this, but we had been raised frugally.
"Why did you do that?" I asked him after a silent while. It was something I had to get off my chest.
"What?" he asked me back glancing at the rearview mirror.
"You know what. You can't just invade my personal space without my permission." My voice trembled at the end, for reasons I could not explain to myself.
"Are you sure about that? " he asked me nonchalantly. After a pause, he added, "Here is what I know about the witches. Once they take the vows, they bind themselves to the other person. Their touch increases their powers, and their distance diminishes their power."
"That happens when the witches are bound with their mates, which we are not." My comment seemed to remind him of his status all of a sudden. He fell silent until the next traffic signal.
I secretly wished he would argue with me, but he seemed content to remain quiet.
"Let us not forget that we're married to each other now. For the sake of our families' reputation, we have to keep up the appearance. I will not interfere in your personal life once we are alone, and you will do the same." He sounded authoritative and somewhat threatening.
"Do I have a say in this?" I asked him tersely.
"Would you like to have a different arrangement?"
I was fine with this arrangement. I didn't know what made me counter his idea, but now I started feeling stupid. My silence made him smirk. "I didn't think so," he said.
It took us two traffic crossings, a bridge crossing the river and about an hour to reach his home. It was a small villa built in a contemporary design, a complete contrast of my house, which was built almost one and a half centuries ago. He opened the door for me and waited until I gathered my wedding gown and my purse in my hands, and stepped out of the car. My eyes were fixated on the darkness of the house. He followed my sight and sighed.
"There's nobody at home right now. I would have asked my housekeepers to arrange everything for you, but it is the weekend and the wedding was unexpected. You will have to make do."
I nodded. His cold, almost professional tone made me feel a chill. Taking small steps, I walked ahead of him. The doors in front of me opened automatically. Glancing at him, I noticed him operating the controls on his phone. After beeping a few more keys, he looked at me. Inside the house, I saw all the lights were switched on. The house looked beautiful, standing in the middle of a forest.
"Go upstairs, the first bedroom on the left is a guest room. You can stay there tonight. I will bring the bags."
"I can carry mine," I announced and took the first bag from his hand. It contained my nightdresses and personal belongings, I needed those. He shrugged and stepped back, allowing me the space needed. I carried the heavy bag and took clumsy, awkward steps towards the house.
The house was impeccably decorated. There was a living room, and the stairs led me to the bedrooms on the first floor. I decided to look around later, right now I wanted to wallow in my self-pity and sorrow. I opened the first door as he had described and found a huge bedroom, set up with a queen size bed, a dresser, a separate seating arrangement and an attached bathroom. The first thing I did was to strip off the wedding gown, kick it aside, and enter the shower.
The random thoughts about David, the possibilities, probabilities, and how the future was going to end up for me were making me anxious. The cold water calmed me down to some extent. I let my hair completely wet and scrubbed my skin to wipe off the residue of the wedding. The makeup, the food, the expensive wine, and most importantly the smell of his perfume, everything was too overwhelming for me. Fortunately, The water did its magic.
I would have cast a spell to purify the water, but the threads were still in my hands. Cursing nobody in particular, I picked up my towel.
And then I noticed it. I had not carried my pyjamas. With a disappointing sigh, I wrapped the towel around my torso and another towel over my hair. The bathroom slippers felt soft on my feet. They were a size bigger, but it would do. Tiptoeing, I came out and gasped. There was a shadow in the room.
All the possibilities rushed to me in an instant. Now that I was married to David, Nani should not send any of her ghosts. The shadow was tall, with a broad shoulder, and ...
I screamed noticing the next features. He had a body, a proper corporeal body. It was not a ghost. My scream was immediately accompanied by a loud gasp.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
David shouted even louder than me, "Why are you roaming around naked?"
"I am not roaming around, I am just coming out of the shower. And I am most definitely not naked." Even though I continued the shouting competition, my face started heating up.
"Well, you should have locked the doors."
"And you should have knocked."
"And of course, you would have heard me from the shower."
My towel started slipping at this moment. I clutched it to my chest and yelled, "Look away, you freak."
He didn't have to be told twice. He turned his back towards me and ran his hand through his hair exasperately. "I came to tell you that I have ordered some food. Once you are civil and sober, you may come downstairs." Once he ran out of his words, he ran out of the room, leaving me alone, sweating, cursing and blushing.