Bought my Life

4. Grand Return

***Narrator***Hastleton Villa***Wednesday

After ten days, Marcus came back home, he arrived a bit later than planned so he had delayed dinner so he could have it with her; he knocked on her door and walked in. “How have you been? I apologize, I had an emergency business trip…” Marcus says as he sits down at the table. “I must say, this dress looks fabulous on you.”

He then serves her portion and then his. “How are you feeling? Did you enjoy the gifts I left you?” He asks her as he starts eating; she slowly gets up from the bed and sits down on the chair beside him and puts the iPhone on the table with the 4 digit pin. “I see you have not solved the riddle,” he says smiling. She looks at him confused... He grabs the phone and shows her the pin. “Now you can call me or perhaps texting me will be more efficient,” he was mocking the situation.

She doesn’t eat but she drinks water, and she listens very attentively. “It is so nice to see you join me tonight; you are so beautiful… Has therapy been helpful? We can change the therapist if you don’t like her,” he says.

He grabs a forkful from her plate and brings it to her mouth to make her eat. She cooperates and opens her mouth. “I wish I could trust you outside this room Jane… I don’t like to make you a prisoner.” All of sudden she says softly “my name is Ivy.” He was extremely surprised, he thought she might never talk again… “You have a beautiful voice, I apologize, I will call you Ivy from now on... I have so many questions… How did you end up being sold into slavery?” She didn’t speak anymore, “when you are ready to talk; I will listen” Marcus says. He decided to take her out for a walk in the garden after dinner… he warns her that if she tries to escape or misbehaves he will not bring her out at night again.

He walks her to the garden accompanied by security as Ivy may not be trusted, she still acts like a wild animal from time to time. Ivy’s facial expression changes drastically, it is late in the evening and the sun set is reaching the horizons. It was a picturesque landscape, the garden was illuminated, she walked off the path… she looked so content. She starts running playfully, she trips on her dress, falls to the ground and she laughs. He had never heard her laugh before. It was so beautiful to see her relaxed but he really wishes she would talk.

When he leans in to pick her off the ground, this time she lets him grab her and she stares at him with her sparkling eyes. He places a kiss on her forehead and smiles at her. It is the first time she lets him touch her without defending herself. “I wish you would talk to me Ivy; I will never hurt you… I will keep you safe and I do hope that you will be happy one day. I know you cry every night, but I can’t fix what’s making you upset because I only have a vague idea.” She looks at him and a tear drops down her eye; she appears to want to say something, but no words come out.

That night he takes her back to her room and lets her change. He then puts her to bed pulling the blankets over her. She had never allowed him to be so close to her before; he leans in to kiss her forehead but she moves her face and meets him with her lips. He deepens the kiss and explores her mouth slowly then passionately. When he lets go of her embrace he meets her shiny eyes and he wishes her good night as he walks away. He didn’t realize how much he has grown to care for Ivy, perhaps he even loved her...

She kissed him… why did she kiss him… she didn’t mean to, she just saw him lean towards her and she just kissed him. He kissed her back deeply, passionately even… and he walked away after wishing her goodnight. What just happened...

He was standing against the wall outside her doorway, catching his breath; she offered her sweet lips, and he took them without even thinking. He knows she is vulnerable; he do want her to fall in love with him, but he doesn’t want her to feel pressured in any way. How did he get myself into this mess? He just wanted to free her… he didn’t think he would fall for her; now all he want is to kiss her deeply and make her melt with pleasure. “Marcus, you have to control yourself,” he tells himself.

***Him***Hastleton Villa*** Thursday

The next night, I took her back to her room after visiting the garden; when I was about to leave she said “I miss my family…” I stopped dead in my tracks. “Where is your family?” I asked. “In Hamilton Valley,” she answered. “Hamilton Valley… that is five hours away from here; I will organize a trip there so you can see them again. Please tell me... how did you get yourself into being sold at a slave auction?” I asked. “My father sent me to collect an order from the manufacturer… out of nowhere five men captured me.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, Hamilton Valley was not known for such poaching… there had to be more to this story; I will have to investigate . I was afraid that making her happy would mean that she would prefer to stay in her town and not come back… I had grown fond of her; she was beautiful and she was intelligent. I hold her hand, “I want you to be happy; I don’t want you to leave but it would tear me apart to see you unhappy… whatever you want is what we will do…” I see a twinkle in her eyes and she says shyly “I missed you when you were gone… I thought you had given up on me.” “I missed you too, sweet Ivy; I will not give up on you unless it is what you want.” I put my hand through her hair and she leans in to ease my caresses.

She starts crying softly, I remove my shoes and join her in bed… I sit behind her so she is seated between my legs, her back against my torso, I wrap my arms around her and she leans back into my embrace. In the worst possible way, we were falling in love.

***Narrator***Hastleton*** Thursday

He was handsome, young, sexy even, and he was there comforting her. He wasn’t the bad guy, he was strange, maybe fetishized… He saw his deceased wife in her. Did he even see her for who she was or was he blinded by Mary?

“All I want is to hold you, I will never ask for more... Ivy don’t get me wrong I would take all of you… I know I said you remind me of Mary… My wife passed away 3 years ago… I don’t expect you to replace her in any way, you are not her and I am well aware. I just feel like I have the privilege to comfort her again when you are in my arms but as soon as I see your face… I know it is you... not her.” He explains. “I can tell you loved her very much… it pains me to see how much losing her has hurt you,” She replies with sadness in her voice. “I don’t think I would be able to ever stop loving her… She was my everything for almost 8 years and her presence is truly missed. Everyday it becomes a bit more bearable to live without her; I was planning to grow old with her, perhaps time will heal me. I feel guilty, I can’t help to think I have killed her by impregnating her… she desperately wanted children even if it was against the doctor’s advice. It took her years but she convinced me to make her pregnant, I couldn’t handle her being sad… I am so weak,” he replied.

She felt one of his tears fall on her head and she turned around to face him. She was kneeling in front of him between his legs and she saw him trying to hold back his tears. She leans in to kiss his cheek but he turns his face and kisses her deeply. He pushes her back slowly, “If we start, I might not be able to stop… so don’t initiate something you don’t really want, Ivy…” He says softly. She leans in to kiss him again and he responds passionately to her kiss sliding his hands down her back. “I am not sure what I am starting but I know I need you” she said. “Ivy… you don’t have to do this… I need you to think about this… If I take you, I will not be able to let you go” he replies… After a long moment of silence she asks “why did you buy me?”

“I didn’t buy ‘you’, I bought your life… and all I wanted was to give it back to you. I will not own you like animals are owned, I employ people… When I saw you outside going into that basement I couldn’t live with the thought that a woman that looks exactly like Mary could be mistreated; I had no intentions other than to free you but you couldn’t speak. I couldn’t leave you behind helpless and trust me I thought about it when you escaped for the second time... Now I realize, I do want to own you but only if you would own me back.” He pauses. “I regret restraining you but I didn’t know what else to do and I couldn’t allow you to put your life at risk… I wasn’t going to beat you into submission and I wasn’t going to let you out in the world defenceless. You were vulnerable like a child… I am truly sorry.” He slides his hand down her cheek to catch the tears falling off her face.

“Don’t be sorry, I was awful, you never gave me a reason to fear you or to defy you… in fact it is the opposite. I was so afraid, I was reacting, not thinking.” She says, after a moment of silence she murmurs “I also want to own you.” “Ivy, I just want you to know that you don’t owe me anything, I would have repatriated you already if you could have told me where; keeping you against your will was not my intention but you would have gotten yourself killed or imprisoned otherwise, and I couldn’t live with that. I couldn’t live seeing you thin and dirty being sold to my biggest rival either.” He says seriously. “I don’t want to lose you, I realize how much you meant to me when you left me for those ten days; I had no idea if you were coming back…” she sobs as tears fall down her face. He kisses her forehead and wipes her tears. He can’t believe what he is hearing… Ivy has feelings for him. “I am here, Ivy, if you want to stay by my side, I will be the happiest man in the world but I will not be your lover unless it is what you truly want. You need to be sure… we need to be sure, I could not survive losing you.”

After holding her for an hour, he releases his embrace and starts getting off the bed. “It is time for you to sleep sweet Ivy” he says. “Please don’t go, sleep with me, I feel so safe in your arms…” Ivy begs. “Ivy, I am not sure that is a good idea… you need to think about what you want for yourself. I don’t want to pressure you if I am not part of your future, it is fine but if you want me in your life then i need all of you and forever… think about it, it is not a small decision. Not even twelve days ago, you wanted nothing to do with me; forgive me if I need you to be sure.” He says seriously. Tears fell down her cheeks, “I don’t know what there is to think about, I would like to know every detail about you; perhaps you don’t know me as well as I know you. For days on end you talked to me about your life and yourself. You showed me the most important thing I need to know about you. Your character and your sense of ethics are impressive… The only worry I have is that you will confuse me with your wife; that you would not be able to distinguish between your deceased Mary and me, Ivy.”

He sits on the edge of the bed and grabs her hand gently. “It is hard to explain, you remind me of Mary but I do not think you are her in anyways. You are very different from Mary but you physically resemble her. You give me too much credit, I would have never taken any interest in you if you didn’t look like Mary… I am ashamed but it is the truth, I don’t buy slaves… Now sleep, I will see you tomorrow, I am not locking the door. I do expect to find you not far from your room. Goodnight sweet Ivy” He says while putting her to bed.