Chapter 19: From Willow’s to Home

Chapter 19: From Willow’s to Home
“Where’s David?” Anna screened the outdoor environment with her eyes “David?” She called out louder, and a white hairy and adorable looking chihuahua came running to her, wagging its tail merrily “Come on boy... fatten up yourself” She bent over on her chair and cuddled with its hair, pushed the small container of dog food towards David.
Leaning back on her chair, she admired the little adorable creature who was now focused on eating than wagging, if only David could be hers, it would undoubtedly go a long way to quench a part of her loneliness. She loved David, but Willow would rather have the world turned upside down than to give up David.
Anna swung her eyes to the sky and saw that the sun was beginning to go dull. She glanced at her wrist watch and realized that the time has ticked to 5:23pm. She looked ahead to the far end of the bungalow to see if Patrick was still secretly keeping his eyes on her but she saw him looking into his phone with absolute concentration. Patrick was her bodyguard, and even though she had talked to Jalan to stop all the men from following her around, Jalan only ordered Ambrose to stay back home but insisted that Patrick must continue to follow her.
She was outside of Willow’s house and the neighborhood has always been peacefully silent with not many passer-byes. Only a five to seven minutes walk from Willow’s house to her house, she couldn’t figure out any reason why Jalan won’t let her walk alone to Willow’s.
As Anna still lingered in her thoughts, an olive skin young woman of about her age, walked out through a door and Anna’s eyes reflexively shifted onto the woman who was holding a plastic tray with two brown mugs balanced on it. Her gait seemed tardy probably from exhaustion.
Awareness settled in her “Oh God Willow. You’re sick. You shouldn’t have burdened yourself with that. I’m supposed to be heading back home right now”
“You just got here. What do you mean? I thought you’ll be sleeping over tonight?” Willow pulled the chair back and sat down, placing the tray on the glass table.
“Not today”
“Oooh... Your husband won’t allow that. Obviously. Its all over your face that you so much missed him” Willow said jokingly.
“I don’t even know what I feel for him now. If its love or just... familiarity attachment” Anna said, revealing a distress look on her face though she quickly turned to looking at cute David.
Truth be told, she is getting bored of her routine life and nothing was making sense. Not everyone copes very well with that feeling of being lost without knowing their purpose in life.
“I didn’t want to be too nosy in your affairs with your husband...” Willow started and paused until Anna’s attentions were now on her “I feel like this is the right time for you to use your advantage and find out about your past” She looked for signs of interest in Anna’s face before she carried on “You know what I mean. Now that he wants a clean start, you should follow him to his workplace at least just once to see for yourself the kind of life he live there. You must not trust a man’s word. How sure are you that he does not keep another woman like you in that country?”
Anna felt a bitter taste and a lump caught up in her throat. Her heartbeat escalated and she wondered why she suddenly feel a pang of hatred for Willow. As much as she hated hearing anything about cheating husbands, she can’t help but admit that Willow is only trying to be a good friend.
“I thought about that...” Anna hesitated, “Jalan is so stubborn, you don’t understand the kind of man I live with. Once he decides on something, its hard to make him change his mind. I doubt if he will ever agree to let me follow him”
“Well tell him you want a divorce. Threaten him with something... anything to make him agree”
Anna swallowed her saliva and sighed out wearily. Willow will never get it. There’s no point in explaining your life to someone who lives a different life. And its not like Willow is not understanding towards her something, but they live in different worlds. Willow’s house and her house are like two parallel universe.
Willow picked the bigger mug and hand it over to Anna “Drink it before it gets cold”
“Thanks”
“Sorry I didn’t mean to make you feel down” Willow apologized heartily. It seemed like she noticed the distress in the woman’s eyes.
“No... Come on... You’re only saying what you think is right and I really appreciate having you in my life. At least you worry about me” Anna managed a smile and took the mug to her mouth “I should get going now” She drank the warm liquid and felt the effects in her throat. Sweet and soothing.
“We’ll talk later then” Willow said before returning her mug into the tray.
Anna left with Patrick and returned to her lonely world. Even though her husband is around, it doesn’t make much difference considering the big commutation gap between her and Jalan.
Motioning for the remote, she turned on the TV and started scrolling through channels to find something interesting to watch.
Bell rung repeatedly and she hurled to her feet to the door to see if Jalan has returned from his evening jog. She unlocked the door and pulled it back, but her eyes fell on the freckled face of her pizza guy friend Robin.
“Robin? Why are you here when I didn’t order pizza?” Anna peeked outside for any sign of Patrick or Ambrose, but her heart felt a little at ease when she couldn’t see them.
“Anna i’m...” Robin started as he brought his hazel eyes to look at Anna’s face “I’m in love with you. I can’t forget you... And I can’t forget that kiss”
Anna felt a panic and a sense of danger looming inside her. She knows Robin has problems with emotional attachment, a history of suicidal tendency and a fear of abandonment. She is a married woman, and Robin does not take anything for an excuse.
“Ummmm... Hey. You sure you’re not exaggerating something here? We are friends... Robin. And you promised to be my friend forever without allowing things like that to come in between us...”
“But I can’t help it...” Robin said in urgency “I can’t even work like I use to. I feel like i am drowning if I don’t see you” He skipped a step closer and caught hold of Anna’s hand “Divorce your husband. He doesn’t even love you. I can make you happy. We can make cute baby girls and make your dreams come true”
Anna felt a fever and headache building in her temple. Robins hands were squeezing her hands in hope to hear her answer. What if she makes a mistake and Robin kills Himself? What can she do to make Robin change his mind?
Before she could think of something, Robin leaned into her face and sealed her lips in an abrupt kiss which she quickly broke and snapped backward to free herself from him.
She began to tremble and her knees went cold when she looked at the man angrily digging his feet into the ground and coming at Robin’s back.
“Robin go! Go go go go...”