By the moon, I swear

DARK NIGHT

Amber opened her eyes to see his face pale as if he’d been painted with white wash, his breath shallow and then with one step backwards he went down like a sack of onions hitting his face on the floor. Fear of him dying traveled in all her veins but it never made to her knees. Tristan had been nothing but good to her and now his life depended on her. The only way to help him out was to overestimate her skill level and order her body to fall in line so she can go and get help. She wouldn’t let him die not when he had gone far and beyond to put a smile on her face. She ran as fast as she could her feet kissing the land. If there was anyone who could help Tristan that would be William. He might scare her a little but he was the best solution. Outside the sun poured out its brilliant hot orange rays on her like a pot of molten lava threatening to slow her movements but she kept her breathing steady, heart strong and pushed forward her already tired legs. It had been long since she had run like that, all fast with intent. But she had a life to save.

Amber got to William in about seven minutes since she left Tristan. Her clothes, her hair were slick with perspiration and they both clung to her skin. The skin itself was invaded with thick salty beads of sweat trickling down as fast as her throbbing heart inside her chest. Lucky for her both William and the Nanny were in the kitchen the same place where they left them. It’s good it was the first place she thought of looking. On seeing her, they both got to their feet and headed towards her. Exhaustion having taken toll on her, her lungs felt as if they would burst at any moment and her throat too dry to let out a word. Instead she just pointed at the direction where Tristan was. Nanny and William ran towards the barn and she followed behind them ignoring her roasting skin.

Tristan heard them coming in but they had such wrong timing. His stomach was badly heaving and in no time another small mouthful of bile dribbled from his quivering lips. ‘Tristan are you okay?’ Nanny asked concern written all over her voice but before he could barely answer, Tristan Clung to the basin at his side which already had a pool of rancid vomit and lost all the contents of his stomach. ‘I’m fine just food poisoning. You can guys can go,’ he responded barely being able to keep his voice steady.  He knew he looked terrible but not as much as the shame he felt in his heart for being in that state in front of the woman he liked. His ego had been stamped on.

‘Can I get you anything?’ Amber asked but he barely looked at her. Her voice was music to his ears but he was still too afraid to move what if he soiled her beautiful dress with his vomit? What then? How would he come from that? But then a sweat broke out across from his body and before he knew it nausea crept from his abdomen to his head and the world went black.

The doctor had arrived just in time. They had just put Tristan on the bed when he came in. After examining him he prescribed some medicine to help give him a quick recovery and assured them he would be okay in no time. Amber couldn’t help but wonder how funny it was that the two of them had just met but she felt quite peaceful around him. William had refused to explain to her what was wrong with Tristan but that didn’t matter. She was here to help him and help she would provide. The doctor had just stepped out with William and the Nanny and Amber was left alone with Tristan.

Cutting a piece of cloth from the previous clothes she owned, she went into the bathroom opened the tap and wet it. Then she brushed it against Tristan’s forehead then heard him whimper in relief. He was burning up, his eyes looked sunken and skin sallow. Lifting him up a little, she pulled off the blanket to let air cool him off a little. Had it not have been for the doctor, Amber would have mistaken his shaking for being caused by cold but now she knew better. He had food poisoning. Probably from the pancakes that he had prepared earlier. It was a wonder that the rest were still okay. His immune system must have been too weak to fight on its own. Pinching his nose, she forced down the medicine doze on his mouth which he gulped down before shutting his eyes again. Sinking down to the couch next to him, she laid her head back and shut her eyes. If he was going to need help she was going to be there for him just like she had been there for her sisters each time she was unwell. The world was full of unkind people and a good person was rare to come by. She just gained a friend and she was going to make sure as far as he needed a friend so long it was in her capability, she will help him out.

‘I need to use the restroom,’ Tristan’s voice croaked waking Amber up from her sleep. Using all her effort she helped him get up and led him to the restroom. She was about to give him privacy however his fingers were shaking unable to pull down his zip. He looked so helpless and fragile. Anticipating his next move, she quickly went to his side to hold him steadfast before he pinned her down with his weight. Brushing his fingers away, she unzipped his pants for him, her face heating up before facing the opposite direction. Without intending to, her heart rate accelerated. She felt as if she had been ripped, broken and bleeding from inside. It felt as if she was relieving the moments with her father and she heard to keep repeating in her head over and over again that Tristan and her father were two different people. Luckily he was soon done and she took him back to bed where he relaxed and fell asleep. The rest of the night was more or less the same. To the bathroom and back to bed back and forth.

Sometime at night, Tristan woke up feeling better already. The medicine had worked wonders on him. He barely even remembered taking it. Turning to his left to figure out why his hand was numb, he saw Amber lying down on it. The advantages of a full moon, one could always see even when the lights were off. Slowly sliding underneath her, he got up went round the bed and lifted her from the couch and put her on the bed. She mumbled something underneath her breath but she never woke up. Pulling the covers over her, he tiptoed out of the room and headed to the kitchen as it was his stomach was already growling.

AMBER

The sun was still resolutely below the horizon as a brought my hand down in a semi drunken stupor onto the noisy alarm clock and switched it off. ‘Who in their right mind wakes up that early?’ I thought to myself grudgingly. Half asleep, I snuggled back into the duvets a bit more when I hit a snag bringing all my senses to full alert. I was on the bed, imprisoned by an arm against a solid chest. I laid still for a moment as all the occurrence of yesterday came crushing down on me. Tristan was sick and I must have fallen asleep while taking care of him but of course the selfish me had to just steal a big portion of his bed from him. My first instinct was to bolt out of bed but then at my first small movement, the arm squeezed a fraction tighter pressing me closer to him, his breath husky and shaft alert.

I didn’t know what it was with me that made me constantly embarrass myself in front of Tristan. How the hell was I even going to explain the reason for me jumping onto his bed? To add to my humiliation his erection snuggled against my bottom flaring heat in my body. As if that was not enough I felt as though my body, my mind was betraying me because despite the heaviness in my stomach, I felt myself flatter at the feeling of my body pressed against his. I should have been scared considering the ordeal I went through in my life yet in his embrace, his big strong arms seemed very protective as though shielding me from the cruel world. ‘Go back to sleep,’ his low silent order rumbled in my ear pulling me from my thoughts back into reality. To be sincere I wasn’t in the mood of arguing and I was still half asleep so I obeyed and drifted back to sleep.

I don’t know how long I had been out but I woke up to Tristan giving William an order to take me out and enjoy the rest of my day. I rolled back to face him and couldn’t push back the smile as he looked so much better. There was color back on his face, his eyes blue showing liveliness. Smiling back at me, he requested me to have a shower, breakfast then go and enjoy my day. At first I was reluctant because I wanted to be present to ensure his full recovery but he insisted and I knew better than to argue with my boss. Going out was going to be fun anyway, all I had to do was not annoy William. He was hard to deal with and still freaked me out. If it were up to me, I’d prefer to go out with Tristan than William.

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The silver grey Chevrolet Volkswagen cruised down the freeway with William gazing straight ahead half aware of my presence on the next seat no5 that I was looking forward to a bonding moment. When it came to William it was hard to say what was better anyways, his silence or his lethal words. My head snapping in an instant from gazing outside the window, I turned to face him. I had drank the silence through every pore, my heart beating all it could though my body remained still to my fill. I couldn’t take it anymore. Nature might have conspired with him not to whisper any reassuring words of what lay ahead that day but I was done giving in to my fear. Waiting for him to snap at any moment, waiting for him to destroy my peace as he usually does. I f it was going to be one hell of a rough day, I’d rather know sooner than later but I wasn’t going to let the silence lay on my skin lie poison making my backbone hurt from anticipation.

‘Get on and say it. I hate people staring at me,’ Williams’s voice rumbled like a storm making my skin tingle bringing me out of my thoughts. I don’t know what it was with that man but clearly there was something about me that he couldn’t stand. Given that we were going to spend a lot of time in close proximity it was better to find out what fueled his hate towards me sooner. Maybe it was something I could fix. Better yet, I like me the way I am and there was nothing wrong with me.

‘Why do you hate me so much?’

Turning to look at me, wide eyed, as if not believing my guts he burst into laughter his voice echo filling the car and spilling out through the tiny ventilation of the barely open window pane. It was a purely high cold crackle though it had all began as a mockery. All the time I have been around him, I have to admit that was the first time I had seen him let loose. It was nice watching him sincerely. I don’t know what I said that amused him so much but nevertheless the William that was happy was the one that from that moment I intended to bring out more often.

‘Don’t overestimate your importance woman,’ he said, ‘Just stick to your job – Making Tristan happy and stop trying to get close to me.’

‘If you have a problem with me please say it so that we can both move on from this weird situation.’ At that point I knew I was trading though a thin line but I dint care. Okay I did but the persona in me could not just been tamed. He had humiliated and treated me as a garbage bin yet I was barely three days old in that house. It was he who came to me with an offer. One that I did not ask for though so far apart from him I had no regrets. Tristan, who was my immediate boos and his older brother was a better man and more pleasing to be around than him. Yes, my job was to make him happy not that I can pin point where his problem is but to be sincere I think the one who needs help more is William. There was just something about him that made me scared to my core. I mean which normal man would whip a grown woman and enjoy it. Was he a psychopath or something? Or was his childhood that disturbing?

Pulling the car off road and stopping it, he turned to face me his attention fully mine before he responded, ‘My brother is lying on the bed ill and while my place is to be beside him, am here with  a very chatty annoying person. How do you think that makes me feel? ‘

‘But….’

‘No buts. My orders are to make sure you are happy today and so it will be but don’t expect me to pretend to join you in your charade. Here,’ he said giving me an unlimited card, ‘Use all the amount you need but stay out of my way.’ With that said he started the engine again and off we drove with more silence and more tension between us than before. It wasn’t my doing that he was there with me at that moment than at home with his brother and it wasn’t my fault either that we were stuck together for the whole day but I did understand him more than he could ever imagine. Family always comes first and on that day I was the one that stood in between their bromance moments. No amount of apology could make it right. God forbid Tristan gets worse.

Thirty minutes later we arrived at the hotel Royale, the most expensive and biggest hotel in the country. A place where only the rich and most important business people went to. The hotel was not only known for its impeccable décor but its cleanliness to the point of sterility. Truth be told, I wasn’t looking forward to shopping or massage or fine dining but being there just made my mind send exciting sizzling jolts thought my body and shift my priorities.

‘Welcome sir,’ a valet took the keys from his hands as one of the front office guys came and ushered us inside. Nothing absolutely nothing that I had heard before did justice to that hotel. In fact all I heard were nothing but rumors of the real deal. All the furniture was high end probably the most modern Scandinavian designs, the couches perfect. Between their fabrics that were spotless and color coordinated in muted natural hues; each couch told a story, a testimony to the personality of whoever sat on it. Everything looked like it was made more for style than comfort. A true perfection.

‘Have my guests arrived?’

‘Yes sir. They are in restaurant having lunch,’ the goddess of a receptionist answered. I mean God really did take his time creating that one and all the ones I had seen so far. She wasn’t someone one could use as a subject of art, she was art. She doesn’t need a paint brush, by will she could use her finger tips to draw the colors of life. Her lips were carefully tinted red and her skin flawless. Her smile left me breathless and am a fellow woman. Imagine what the men constantly went through. I peeked over to William but nothing in his physique had changed. He was as calm as he was when we got in. Was the man made of steel or something? Then my thoughts danced back to what he said – guests and suddenly I felt unease. Was I going to be sold or part of a very long boring business meeting?

‘Can I wonder around while you are in your meeting? I asked all smiles hoping for a yes but he just looked at me then back to the receptionist as if he hadn’t heard a word and commanded, ‘send them up to my pent house and arrange your desk. It’s not pleasant to look at.’ Not pleasant, I mean what was this guy a net freak? The desk was impeccably arranged with not even a piece of pin out of place besides who did he think he was? Being rude to me was okay, I mean I work for his brother, so he can intrude but a hotel? Did he have no limits or is it that he thought everyone loved to hear his opinions? As if reading my thoughts he answered with a plastered victorious smile, ‘I own the place.’ Before leading me deeper into the hotel.

The hotel was one thing and the hotel was another. It was clear from what I saw that the hotel was just a tip of the ice bag. The pent house was just magnificent and I couldn’t tame the astonished scream that escaped my lips. It was all just magnificent. Before my eyes could feat on its beauty though, a soft knock came on the door and in stepped my most precious. I turn to face William in disbelief as seconds pass my brain trying to take them in, struggling to comprehend that they were are reality. That they were truly in front of me and not a cooked up image that my mind created to sooth my lonely heart. How the ground between us was erased I didn’t know but one moment they were at a distance and another morphed into my body’ their hands folded around my back drawing me in closer. I rain kisses on them happy to see them again as I let all my defenses loose and cry. God, I had missed them so much. My sisters my biggest treasure in the world. f**k all the rules of never shedding a tear in front of him. I didn’t care. I was with my sisters and extremely happy damn all the upcoming consequences. They were with me and that was all that mattered. After so many days, that was our chance to make new happy memories.

Looking over to William I mouthed a thank you before diverting my attention back to my sisters. I didn’t know what his reasons were at to be sincere at that moment I didn’t care but what he did for me not even a life time would be enough to pay back.