Apart from the painting of a nineteenth century werewolf, everything in the apartment shone as the sun streamed in through the long French windows. Drake sighed as he observed the carved mahogany mantelpiece in his parlor that had been polished. He couldn't remember when he had polished it, but he was certain he had sat on it before he went to bed early, yesterday.
"Good morning, my love," a blonde woman in a white apparel said, as she came closer to kiss him. Her name was Rosetta. Her bright eyes hovered around the parlor until it sparkled, and Drake was able to notice the carved rosettes and female busts of the mahogany mantelpiece in his parlor oiled to perfection. He could not help but admire the long marquetry table in the center of the room. It was well placed as it reminded him of his late parents who had the good habit of rearranging books on top of a shelf until it suited their taste."Do you want eggs? Milk? Or both?" Rosetta asked. She was seriously paying attention to the engagement ring on her ring finger."Milk is fine with me," Drake said, standing up. He could not help himself from being abnormally hooked up with the appearance of his apartment. Everywhere from the ceiling fan to the carpet seemed to be equally handsome as if it had also been equally well tended by someone who was waiting for a special moment to happen in his life. Although it was almost possible for him to figure out the special moment in his life in one guess, he was not eager to think of it above the layer of happiness that his fiancee had already built. The news had gone round the small community of loving people as he had expected. He and Rosetta were getting married. And, they were going to be one soon, like husband and wife, like honeycomb and bee, inseparable, unbreakable and unshakeable."I am going out for a walk," Drake said, putting his hands inside his pockets. "I will be back in an hour."Rosetta frowned. "What about the milk and the eggs? What am I going to do about it? I can't eat all of it. You know I am trying to lose weight, and it has not been easy for me during these past few days. I have eaten so little that one would assume I am fasting."Drake exhaled. "I am so sorry, hun," he said. "You can cover it. I will try to eat it when I come back. I need to clear my head a little bit. You know we have a big day ahead of us. Everything needs to be perfect for you. I don't want to ruin it...""For us!" Rosetta interrupted, clapping her hands gently. "Everything has to be perfect for both of us because it is going to be our first and only marriage. I want to spend all my life with you, Drake. You are my dream husband... So, when you want to talk about our marriage, please use 'us' instead of 'you' or 'I'. When you use 'us', it makes me feel secure and safe. Like I own you and you own me too. Like we are going to be together, and never be separated.""I understand, hun," Drake said. "It just skipped my mind. A lot has been happening since we started making arrangements for our marriage.""I understand too," Rosetta replied, calmly. "You don't have to stress yourself. Your one and only wife understands. Now, you know what is going to happen?"Drake was curious. "What?""You are going to leave your apartment right now. Then, when you are gone, I am going to put your breakfast in a place you are going to easily find it when you are back. Does that make sense?"Drake laughed a bit as he drew Rosetta closer to his body and hugged her tightly. He loved her. Rosetta knew he loved her because he always said it before and after dinner."I will be back as soon as possible," Drake said as he pressed her gently on her shoulder."And I will be right here, waiting for you until you are back," Rosetta smiled.*A week passed.The wedding gifts were lined up on the table, in an orderly manner, as though waiting for inspection. Drake could notice at the end of the table, a small jotter pad and black fountain pen, where he could write down his wish for their marriage - his marriage with Rosetta. He gently took the jotter pad and black fountain pen. He started writing.- We are going to be married for more than fifty years.
- We are going to have three kids before we celebrate our ten years of marriage.- We are going to buy a big house before I turn thirty.- Our first child must go to an Ivy League School.He stopped writing as he raised the jotter pad to look at what he had written. His handwriting was clear and bold. It was like the handwriting of one of the pantry maids he knew when he was in London who dusted the offerings daily while watching the church butler polish the silver wine cups.
"This is good," Drake said aloud as he dropped the jotter pad back on the table to observe the place once again. In his observation, he noticed there was an aura of restrained opulence in the church they were planning on getting married in, of enormous wealth that was clearly apparent but never flaunted. It was as if the residing priest had ordered the new heavy velvet drapes and lace curtains in front of the church mainly because of them. He stopped walking as he got closer to the church altar. It was neat. Everywhere around the church altar was neat. Everywhere around him was neat too, including the entrance and exit doors of the church that were usually dusty was neat today. His phone rang. It was a patient beep.Rori did not feel at ease when her sister, Sandra stepped inside her room to talk to her about their parents' death. The whisper of Sandra's pink satin dressing gown was the only sound in the empty room she could hear clearly as she hurried to make her statements add up properly in order to simplify things for her. "Let us eat," Rori offered after a brief moment of silence. "Food is good for a troubled soul.""Food?" Sandra scratched her forehead softly. "I don't want to eat food now. But if I refuse to eat, you will start acting like Mark. You will either complain I am trying to lose weight or I am too thin to reject a food offer.""I don't judge, Sandy," Rori said, dropping the bowl of rice she had gotten from the kitchen on the dining table in the dining room. The kitchen was close to the dining room.Sandra took her place at the empty chair and pressed the discreet ruby and jade bell push beside her. "You don't have to do that," Rori cautioned. "It is
Drake's coffee was poured from a bronze pot with an ivory handle. The bronze pot was one of the few objects he had managed to bring back home after spending almost a year in Mozambique, along with other treasures that had belonged to his parents' former home. His father was a decent strong man who had cared little for all of what Africa had to offer, and most of what his mother had to offer too about Africa. He spent most of his long well-lived life talking about the location, secrets and sexuality of werewolves. He was far more interested in jaunting around the world, convincing himself that there was more to humans than the normal acceptable biological form, far more in love with the night creatures that circled around, under the full moon, chanting praises in honor of their creator who they barely knew than the havoc caused by watching people live their entire lives tied to a particular location.Once, Drake's father had gotten involved in an argument with a religious man wh
At first, Drake didn't take the first three months of Rosetta's absence seriously. As far as he was concerned, she was gone. And she was never coming back to him. He had been amused when Rosetta's father presented him with a plain sheet of paper, demanding his signature. It seemed more than funny for him to see his almost father-in-law accusing him of murder, and then, eventually, he had realized how much pain Rosetta's death had done to her parents. Her absence had absorbed every tiny bit of energy in them. Then, the sudden discovery of her dead body by the local police close to the river had sparked a deep breath of argument which had led to the formation of opinions by a few members of the small loving community that were considered barbaric. It was a crazy encounter that would go on for days.Drake knew his time of questioning was coming soon. But, he didn't expect it to come as soon as possible. He was well aware that his major political disagreement with Rosetta's father
"She was a very beautiful woman when she was alive. Wasn't she?" Bennett asked. He was Drake's childhood friend who had gone to the same university with him. "You are a handsome lad, aren't you?" Drake replied, faking a laughter."I was when I was a bit younger, and didn't think much about women," Bennett's gentle voice hit the window in his apartment like thunder striking a make-believe pole."We can argue about your beauty and never reach a dead end. It doesn't matter if you believe you are the Prince of Wales or the Duke of Edinburgh, what matters is my perspective about you which is not going to change.""Charming!" Bennett interrupted, dropping the glass of wine in his hands on top of a glass table. His eyes combed Drake, as they always did, expecting to see something that wasn't there and never had been. They had been friends for a long period of time even long before Drake had met Rosetta and had planned a suitable pleasing marriage that will ensure their
Rori's eyes darkened as she thought about Drake. She had considered visiting him without his knowledge because she felt he needed to be with someone who would comfort him even though he denied it. She was about to answer the door in her apartment just behind her when it opened with little force. It was her sister, Sandra in a cloud of green silk and cream-colored lace, her hair cascading over her shoulders as she looked at her in an unusual manner, more like despair. "You are thinking about something," Sandra said. "It is your human friend right?""I don't know what you talking about, Sandy," Rori lied, trying to avoid looking in the direction of her sister's eyes. Sandra sat down, almost in a thud. At full stretch, she stood almost a foot shorter than her younger sister, Rori, and she seemed extremely nervous, as her hands fluttered like tiny birds. "How is Mark?" Rori asked, trying to occupy herself with the onions lined neatly inside a tray."Mark is f
Drake looked truly stunned and Rori had to turn away to conceal her cheerful smile. And when she turned back again their eyes met briefly. It was a short moment. Pure!There was a hidden caress there in Rori's eyes for Drake, not that he would never had known if he decided to take a peek. But there was absolutely no need for that because Rori was not in a position or state of denial. She cared about Drake. It was what mattered to her the most. His state of well-being was the only reason she considered visiting him in the night without thinking about it twice."Thank you," Drake said as he sat down and placed a soft pillow close to his belly."What are you thanking me for?" Rori asked. She was trying to conceal the smile on her face."You came to see me, didn't you?"Rori nodded in approval."It shows you care about me," Drake continued, "because if you didn't, you wouldn't have come here.""True!" Rori affirmed. "I was a bit worried about you
The moment Rori arrived at her sister's apartment, everything seemed to stop dead for a second. Even her voice was gentle in her own ears, and silently, at her sister's own end, she nodded and moved away in a manner that left Rori confused. She wanted to ask her sister if something was wrong somewhere, but she didn't know how. A part of her was even grateful for the call from Sandra Ryder, her sister because she had laughed throughout the conversation in a way that proved that it would take a great amount of evil for both of them to be ever separated. Now, as Rori stood a few metres away from her sister, she could feel a strange uneasiness run through her body as if she had gotten involved in a crime that involved backstabbing her own elder sister. Indeed, she had!"Where are you staying now?"Rori moved closer. "Same old place. But, I am planning on moving to the city to stay with Drake for a while. He is in a bad state now. I would love to get closer to him more. I
Drake was sitting outside the courtroom when Rori arrived with a suitcase in her hand. It didn't take long before he announced to her with joy that Rosetta's parents had dropped all the charges they had laid on him for reasons he could not explain. Rori was excited that he was going to finally sleep in peace, mourning his wife, Rosetta, silently without thinking of her parents trying all they could to make his already hard life more difficult for him. "I will have to go somewhere," Rori told him after he had given her a cup of coffee and escorted her to board a taxi that would take her back to her sister's place. "When will you be back?" Drake asked."As soon as I can set things right with my sister," Rori replied. "I have made a terrible mistake and I am solely at fault for bringing misery into the life of someone who did not deserve it.""What did you do?" Drake asked again. This time, trying to form a unique smile in his face to prove to Rori that he wasn't