"No one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of others."
-Charles Dickens-
***
Once they had arrived home, the first thing Vian did was to turn on all the lamp and rushed into the bathroom to take the first aid kit. She knew it might have been too long for her to start mending on his wound but she thought it was better than nothing. She pulled the drawer and took the box out of the shelf and brought it to their bedroom.
Adonis was seated on the edge of their bed when she returned, he had taken off his suit and changed into a casual t-shirt and shorts for bed instead. His eyes were staring at the full length mirror right across him and saw the bruises on his lips and cheek from Carson’s punch earlier. He did not like how it looked because he knew they would only darken overtime, maybe turned a bit green and odd looking, but there was also a part in him that felt a bit proud of the bruise because it was a mark of his protection of her.
Vian noticed this and could not help but sigh, she took a seat right beside him with a small bowl that had been filled with ice water, she pulled out a thin handkerchief and dipped it inside the water, gently compressing the bruised area. He flinched a bit but she told him to just bear with it. He watched as she carefully treated him and felt the same warm fuzzy feelings inside all over again. He had no idea what she was thinking at the moment as she remained silent but he knew deep down she had a lot of things to say.
Once she was done compressing it, she pulled out some arnica solution to treat the bruise. She added a bit to her fingers and gently rubbed it against his skin. The warmth of her hand melted the products and allowed full absorption.
Eventually, she was done and asked him to put everything away because she needed to take off her makeup and get ready for bed. He nodded and did as asked, he put everything away to its original place while Vian did her night beauty routine. It was something she had never missed. Adonis before bed routine was quite simple in comparison to her, He went to wash his face with cleanser and that was pretty much it.
Soon they were done and both were resting on the bed. There was once more an awkward silence between the two of them. Their night was always like that, ever since they got married they did not have much time to learn about each other, or at least in this case Vian never really had any chance to get to know Adonis because she was busy with work and simply did not care. Their marriage was conducted as her escape from her ex and as a way to appease her mother. As long as both of them knew their part all was good. At least it was what she had said. Adonis in a sense was slightly different. He was a secretly a hopeless romantic inside. Growing up in the countryside had given him a more conservative and traditional mindset. He believed in love and devotion within marriage. So he never expected the kind of arranged marriage that he had at the time.
He thought that night would be just like any other night, pure silence before bed, however that night it was different. To his surprise, she decided to start a conversation that night.
“I don’t know why you did what you did today, however I have to say that I do appreciate what you did for me. Carson was an asshole and you did not deserve that. It was not fair on your part. I know today my family gave you a lot of pressure, but that is just how the way they have always been. Don’t worry, they don’t just hate you, they hate me too. They have always hated my family.” He could have sworn he nearly saw tears gathering on her eyes. He did not think she was the type of woman who would easily cry, but seeing her like that caused him pain.
He leaned in closer to her and placed his thumb underneath her eye rim. She widened her eyes at him but he didn’t seem faltered.
“Don’t cry, I hate seeing you cry like this. Don’t shed your tears for the people who don’t even care about you. Your tears are too expensive, Vian.” She was bewildered by his statement, she never thought he was a man capable of saying such words. He retreated his fingers and stared at her once again, this time with a smile on his face. Without saying anything else, he pulled her in an embrace. Burying his face on her neck.
“What are you doing?” He begged her to stay like that just for a bit without saying anything. He was tired. He really was. The day had taken quite a toll on him and he needed to rest on her. She did not understand it at first, but eventually she understood. Slowly she lifted up her hand and rested her palm on his hair, gently caressing him.
It was the first time she had ever treated him like that, yes, in nearly one year of their marriage, she did not think she ever fully allowed him to rest on her like that. She could feel his body against her skin. He was warm, his breathing was even and the way he held on tightly to her marked the security of his soul whenever he was with her.
In the middle of it, suddenly Adonis asked her a question she never thought he would ask before. It was a question he had tried to bury inside him, but after that day he really needed to ask her, otherwise he might explode from frustration.
“Vian, do you think I am useless? Everyone keeps on calling me a good for nothing. They call me a disgrace to your family. I know I am just a jobless man who can offer you nothing but my service, I can only please you through my body. I know you deserve so much more, you deserve so much better. I know I am not the man you have wished for, but please tell me, do you really think that I am a bad man?” Vian’s heart was pierced upon hearing his question. It was as if he was re-enacting everything her family members had thrown at him.
Initially she had thought those words had not gotten to him at all, but she was wrong. The whole time he was just keeping it inside himself. For a moment she had forgotten that he was human with feelings and emotions. She could have blamed her family members but she forgot that at one point, she too, had had those thoughts about him.
“You are a very unfortunate man, Adonis. I have heard about your family background from my mother and I do not blame you at all. However, you also know that when both of us decided to get married, this is the kind of life you would live. I am sure one of my parents has given you a warning about this family. I know it’s hard for you, but you have to endure it until you can prove your worth to them.”
“No, I don’t need to prove my worth to them, Vian. I don’t care about them at all, what I want is proving my worth to you. You are my wife and I care for you. I want to give you the ebst life you could possibly have. I know right now I am a nobody, but I promise you, soon I would make something, I will, I will make you happy eventually.” She could hear determination in his voice. For the first time ever she felt her heart skip a beat and she had no idea where it came from.
“Okay, I trust you. Prove yourself to me then. I have faith in you.” She had said those words without a smile but Adonis could tell there was no doubt in her voice which meant she genuinely believed in him.
“Alright, now we need to sleep, it’s getting really late and I need to go to work earlier tomorrow. Goodnight Adonis.” She released her hug and pulled her blanket, slowly closing her eyes and pretended their conversation just then never happened. However, for Adonis, her words almost worked as an encouragement. He was filled with a newfound hope and purpose.
Yes, for his wife and future family, he was going to do his best. It did not matter if he failed a hundred times he just had to try one more time. No one could possibly have that bad of a luck to never succeed at least once in their lifetime. Such was the strange way fate works, but God is a fair God. He went to sleep that night with a peculiar peace.
Little did he know that soon his fate would take a turn for the better.
"There are no wrong turns, only unexpected paths,"-Mark Nepo-***He had just sent more resumes and CV to different companies and thought of making himself a lunch. Apparently the whole family members really did not want to have anything to do with their family because they even placed a separate kitchen and dining room, but for Adonis this was an advantage because he could do everything he wanted in peace without any disturbance from the others.Every day Adonis would prepare the breakfast, lunch and dinner for him and Vian. The household had some staffs to clean up their place but occasionally he would also clean up the place here and there. It had become his habit for almost a year. Besides, he would also schedule his day and that day his schedule was pretty darn empty.He thought of spending the day going out to the market to shop for groceries. Yes, he could have just asked one of the staff to do it for him but he mu
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"All discarded lovers should be given a second chance, but with somebody else."-Mae West-***Vivianne arrived at work that day and she was immediately greeted by the receptionist who had informed her that she received a gift that day from a mysterious sender. She walked over to the desk and the woman handed her over a box and a bouquet of pink and white tulip which was one of her favorite flower. She looked a bit confused, who could possibly send her that kind of gift, she already knew it could not possibly come from Adonis. That man barely gifted her anything before just because of his financial situation.She brought it back to her office desk and checked the card which came along with it which wrote, ‘for my dear Vivianne, I love you.’ She had no idea who sent it because there was no sender’s name. Opening up the gift, she found a velvet jewelry box with an Italian private jewelry brand embossed on it. She
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"An obsession is a way for damaged people to damage themselves more."-Mark Barrowcliffe-***Carson had just finished taking a shower when he looked at himself in the mirror and out of nowhere recalled the memory of what had happened in the lobby that evening. He could still remember how angry Vian looked when she saw him, her eyes had radiated such a strong hatred for him which he did not quite understand why. It was such a strange sight for him because in his vision and in his mind, he had done nothing but good to her and sure there were some days when he was a bit rougher with her but it was her own fault for making him jealous.Had she been a good girl with him and obeyed everything he said and wanted from her, he would definitely treat her like a queen, it was her own mistake for being bad so she had to be punished. In his mind, Carson did not understand why she saw him as such a villain, he had even bought her gift of the
"There is safety in small beginnings and there is unlimited capital in the experience gained by growing."-Henry Ford-***The room felt rather cold and empty that morning for some strange reason. No, it was not one of those supernatural things which Vian did not believe in, she thought it might be the winter air that had gotten inside the room. She opened the window curtain to let some sunlight inside and turned to her bed to find Adonis gone from there. It was a rather usual sight, he always woke up earlier than her to make breakfast for the two of them. It had been a week since his first day at work and she had found he had woken up even earlier so he could make breakfast and get ready at the same time. She had suggested to him several times they could hire or bring on of the existing house staff to cook for them but Adonis refused. He found joy in cooking and making meals for her and so far had continued to do so despite his busy sc
"Seduction is always more singular and sublime than sex and it commands the higher price."-Jean Baudrillard-***Tamara batted her lashes as she put the paper down and purposely leaned in closer to Adonis while doing it so her breast was hanging right in front of him. Her soft feminine floral scent lingered in the air and she was sure he could smell it as well. Whenever she was with him, she moved her body in ways that accentuate her curves even more. Due to the professional setting she was unable to show her cleavage as a competitive advantage so she needed to do it very subtly through other ways, from playing with her hair, to smiling flirtatiously at him, but she had not received the desire response throughout the entire week and this was one of her more advanced move.She thought it would surely rouse something within him but when she saw that he was just looking down on the paper underneath him without paying any attention
"I cannot do all the good that the world needs. But the world needs all the good that I can do."-Jana Stanfield-***Vian was sitting in one of the edge of middle row of the fashion show event which was held to showcase a bunch of collections from dozens of mid-range independent brands who were making attempts to replicate designer method in showcasing their creation, it was a brilliant move and there were a bunch of fashion journalists and editors invited to the show as well.The event itself was held in a theatre and the audiences were placed according to their roles, the front row, which was the most special row was mostly filled with fashion bloggers and a few of the showcased brand designers who attended the event. Editors and journalists like Vian were placed in the middle and the back seats were meant for the guests who purchased the show tickets. After all it was a show made for the public as well.What made the s