CHAPTER 31

Lucius came back earlier than I expected. He was in a foul mood and I didn't care. Looks like his date with his mistress didn't go well. Before his arrival, I'd ordered breakfast through the telephone, myself, settled down in the bedroom and turned on the TV while I ate. It'd been so long since I had anything visual to watch, except just reading books and I felt so contented being alone in the hotel room.

Not until he came in looking like some monstrous being whose been let out of its cage. He stood between the television and I and kept his hands hidden in his pockets. I said nothing to him but just looked at him with a bored expression on my face while he blocked my view.

"Bad meeting, I suppose." I said to him. "Why? They found out you have a wife at home?"

"What do you mean?"

What do I mean? Was he seriously trying to play dumb? Was my question not proof enough that I knew exactly what he was up to?

What if I was wrong and he really had something wrong going on and it had nothing to do with Juliana?

But if that was the case, does that excuse the fact that he had sex with her on our honeymoon?

The questions in my head were endless and I craved answers, and the only way I knew to get them was to ask the man behind it all.

“What I mean, Lucius, is that I know you weren’t out on any meeting. I just happened to see a message from the slut you’ve been fooling around with, while you have a wife.”

His expression changed from shock to anger rather quickly. A part of me shivered from the thought that I might be wrong and it was a prank text, that I may face wrongfully accused him and now he’s mad at me. But, a more dominant and clear part of me stood her ground and folded her hands, waiting for his response. If it were a lie, he simply had to deny it.

We stood there facing each other. I waited for his response, somehow I was scared of what the answer might be. Whatever the answer was, it was evident that I wouldn’t like the outcome. I shifted my weight from one foot to another, unable to hide my unease. What was taking so long

He looked like he was contemplating something, but it was impossible to be sure because his stoic expression was unchanged.

After five minutes of staring at each other, he picked up his keys and left. Not even a single word. He didn’t think I was worthy of a word. A simple word!

My eyes stung with the tears that threatened to fall. Many times I told myself I’d never cry over this man. But it was easier said than done.

I slumped back on the chair I sat before he came in. I looked around the vast room, I was all alone. His Aunt promised that he cared for me. So much encouragement, and I was foolish enough to believe any of it.

Who cheats on their wife on their honeymoon?

Maybe, I thought, she did mean well. Maybe she thought she knew him, but he wasn’t the man she thought he was.

I admit there are times when he showed me that he too could be vulnerable, that he had a heart and he could feel. I believed it was fate that worked its way for me to be with him.

I laughed at the thought.

“Fate?!! I must be really stupid.” If anything, I was just foolish enough to fall for a man that kid Napier me and plucked me from the only euros I knew, to compete in a stupid game only to be married into a world of lies and danger. I must have Stockholm syndrome.

After a while of sitting around and moping, I stood up and went to take a shower. I was in Paris! And instead of going out to explore, I was in a room, crying over a man that didn’t give a shit about me.

I dressed up in a white play suit, it had an open back and tiny blue flowers all over it. I tied my hair in a low bun, wore blue sandals and matched it with a tiny white cross bag. I didn’t bother about makeup, I was horrible at it.

I called the front desk and asked them to get a car ready and a hood tour guide. This city wasn’t going to explore itself.

I took the elevator down to the ground floor. I dropped off my keys with the receptionist and I was escorted to the car. There was a young guy standing beside a man who looked to be in his late forties and clearly the driver.

Hello Mrs. Moretti, my name is Louis, I’m going to be your tour guide today.” He smiled and extended his hand. His accent was so cute, I had to stifle a giggle. I smiled and shook his hand.

“Hello Louis, it’s a pleasure to meet you. And please call me Anna.”

“Yes of course, Anna Ma’am.”  As much as I did not like to be called with such formal terms, I decided not to push it.

I slid into the back seat and smiled quietly as we made our way through the city.

Our first stop of course was the famous Eiffel Tower. The view was amazing. I felt so high up and I wasn’t even scared. I had developed a fear of heights after the last challenge when we were asked to jump off a building.

But standing there, I felt free. Like a weight was lifted off of me. I wanted to scream into the wind, but of course I didn’t. I was definitely too shy for that.

We visited a restaurant afterward. I was suddenly craving some local Paris food. But if course I had no idea what to order so I let Louis do that for me. He had been really helpful throughout the whole tour. Although he kept to himself when I didn’t need him to explain stuff to me, he was extremely polite and patient when I found some things difficult to understand.

“Have a seat, Louis. You must be starving. You can get whatever it is you want.”

“Oh no ma’am, I could never afford such a fancy place. I must decline.”

“Do not worry about that. It’s my treat. So come on now, hurry up.”

“But ma’am….”

Ugh I just about had enough of it. It was like someone had a gun pointed at him. The poor boy followed me all around and explained so many things to me, clearly whatever rules he followed at the hotel, prevented him from eating until his work was done.

“Louis, I’m currently on a honeymoon with my husband. We are supposed to be on this tour together. Do you see him anywhere? No. And right now I simply do not want to eat lunch alone. So if you’re not going to sit with me, then let us just go back to the hotel.”

My eyes got watery again as I thought about Lucius, the fact that he left me all alone again. I didn’t want to cry again, and certainly not in front of Louis, so I blinked back the tears, and forced a smile.

He contemplated for a while and finally drew back a chair beside me and sat down. He walked around like a fish out of water. He’d never eaten at a restaurant as fancy as this, I could definitely tell. Then I thought, before marrying Lucius, restaurants like these were things we’d read about in novels, not ones we thought we’d ever be in for real. Whenever we thought about exploring, we were careful not to dream too big about these kinds of places. And yet, there I was, acting completely normal like I too wasn’t a fish out of water.

I ordered some steak for Louis and me. He repeated endlessly how grateful he was, I couldn’t help but feel nervous about it. I nodded and smiled and asked him to enjoy the meal.

We ate in silence, none of us had anything to say to each other, and for once, I appreciated the silence. I was focused on the food, I didn’t have to think about what was bothering me and it was nice to escape just a little.

After the meal, we drove around a while longer, we made a few stops whenever I saw anything to ogle at and by evening, I was exhausted.

We drove back to the hotel, I thanked Louis and the driver and gave them tips which they tried to politely decline but I wasn’t having any of it.

By the time I got to our suite, I was smiling to myself. I had a really good time. I loved that I could enjoy myself without bothering too much about him, it was refreshing to know that I could live a little. I practically skipped to the door, with shopping bags clad on both hands.

I opened the door and my heart dropped. He was standing right in front of me.