Chapter 90.
1853 Words
"Change of Heart."
Alejandro.
Alejandro hurriedly gathered Isis into his arms, giving her a moment to let whatever she was bottling in, out.
He closed his eyes to the wafting scent of her hair. She smelt like tropical fruits, flowers and essential oils.
How had she come to this? And who’s responsible for her tears?
He was shocked at his own reaction towards seeing Isis cry. He found his heart cornered in Isis’ hands.
"Let me take you to the car."
He grabbed Isis’ hand and led her back to his car, furious with whoever had taken away her happiness and seemingly ruining his plans.
I mean, that’s all he cared about right? Just because he wasn’t going to be able to carry his plans through. Not because he began to care for her or anything corny like that...right?
I need to get ’Mission Isis’ out of my way and fast.
"Let me take you to someplace quite so you can relax and talk to me, if you’re ready."
Isis didn’t react or even speak. She was vaguely staring out into the oasis of the bamboo and palm trees in front of her.
He drove with a concerned look on his face. He was genuinely worried. He didn’t know if it was about Isis or about his thwarted plans. He just didn’t know anymore.
He constantly checked on her, asking if she was okay and if he needed to stop anywhere.
He couldn’t help it.
Isn’t that caring for Isis? Just saying.
His inner voice pissed him off.
She eventually told him to stop the car.
They were on an open road that was parallel to a vast beach, void of life.
Isis got out of the car and started walking towards the voluminous body of water and earth.
She took off her shoes and let her toes sink into the sand. She looked back at Alejandro, who was standing next to his car, unsure what to do.
She stretched out her hand towards him and he slowly crossed the road and approached Isis, placing his hand in hers.
Isis.
Alejandro had swooped me in his arms, caressing my hair and rubbing my back. It calmed me down and brought me back to earth.
On their car ride, Isis thought about what she had just seen and how much it had affected her.
What’s the exact reason for crying?
She loved her father so much and every memory she had of him, came flooding into her mind, and out through her eyes.
Her mother was happy.
That should’ve counted for something but it didn’t if she was choosing to build her happiness on the crown of her father’s memory.
That was her problem.
And that was what was making her angry.
First she defiles his memory in their own bedroom, with a man she did not introduce the family to, let alone, married.
Then she decides to rub salt into the open wounds of the tragedy and dirt onto the fresh memories of her husband.
Isis was convinced that her mother never loved her father. And it could be possible that she didn’t love Isis either because what she had done, could not be classified as acts of love.
Not just that but every day, she lived through the epitome of her mother’s disregard for her.
She couldn’t even remember when was the last time she had a mother and daughter bonding session. None of that.
No loving calls. No cute texts. No spoiling. No tenderness. No affection. And now, no trust, no loyalty and one thing that was always missing - love. No love.
Wasn’t her mother the one who always taught her Galations 5:22-23? The fruits of the Spirit? What happened to all of that? Where did the love go? Where is the joy? The forbearance? The kindness?
She decided that none of all of this was her fault and she was no longer going to live in her mother’s shadow or allow her mother’s decisions to influence her life. She was going to live it the way she saw fit.
Starting by allowing Alejandro, to make her happy. What could be the worst case scenario anyway?
She stared at her hands folded in her lap, feeling Alejandro’s eyes on her every now and then.
She cleaned up the closet in her mind and neatly tucked her thoughts away for another day.
She smelt the sea and heard the crash of the waves, looking up, she asked Alejandro to stop the car.
She got out and walked across the road to the beach.
Taking her shoes off and allowing the warmth of the earth cover her white-painted toenails.
She looked back at Alejandro and stretched her hand out to him, beckoning him.
She knew he wasn’t a fan of nature, but he said he wanted to change for her, right?
Alright then, Mister. Let’s go for a swim.
Aisha.
"Oh Sergio, you know that we can’t keep seeing each other in public. What will the congregation say? It’s getting too risky and you know Archimede’s daughter loves coming to this place. God forbid she finds us here. Lest she’s a nosy fellow."
Aisha gently removed Sergio’s hands from the folds of her inner thigh and finished up the last of her drink, getting up to leave.
"I’ll call you later and we’ll make more appropriate arrangements to meet sugar."
She pecked his lips and licked off the alcohol from the sides of his mouth, before turning on her heel and making her way out of the bistro.
She had called a taxi because coming to meet Sergio in her own car would have drawn too much attention to her. Everyone at church could recognise her car from a million light-years away.
Her taxi arrived and she practically ran inside, to safety, and away from possible prying eyes.
As soon as she got home, she asked her mother if Isis was back yet.
"No, Aisha. The child is out being a young adult. Get a life." she said, as she carried on knitting.
She glanced at her watch. 18:48.
Aisha felt like screaming.
Where could this i***t of a child be?
She only had a practical today so she should’ve been back 4 hours ago.
She flipped out her phone from her handbag, while making her way up the stairs, to her room.
"... Hi! This is the answering service for 00..."
She angrily pressed the ’end call’ button and swore to punish Isis once she was back.
Alejandro.
Alejandro watched Isis in awe as she carefully opened the back strings of her mustard-yellow off-shoulder top and threw it at him.
"Come on Mr ’Too-serious-in-life-to-have-anything-to-do-with-actually-living-it’," she said as she pulled a grimacing face in hopes to resemble Alejandro.
He burst out laughing and mischievously licked his lips as he placed his gaze on her chest.
She had on a yellow swimming bustier that complemented her skin tone to the utmost perfection.
Indeed she was an Island girl. Always ready for the beach.
Her body glistened in the sunset and her eyes gleamed along with it, meeting to form a constellation of wonders to Alejandro’s eyes.
She smiled at him and his mind fell in deep, and coveted.
He found himself walking towards her, removing his baby-blue chambray shirt.
It was almost as if there was a magnet, attracting and pulling him towards her.
Flipping off his leather sandals, he attempted to unbutton his khaki shorts when Isis slowly placed her hands, over his hands.
"Let me," she shispered.
Damn. He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw.
What is this?
Now she smelt like coconuts and the ocean.
She placed her quivering hands on the button of his shorts and slowly unbuttoned them, allowing them to drop.
Her eyes fell on his swollen manhood.
Why did he decide not to wear any underwear?
And why the hell was Isis behaving so calmly at the sight of my nakedness?
The thought troubled him and he started to become self-conscious too. He wondered if he wasn’t big enough. If she’d seen bigger. Or maybe this was her way to finally decide if she wanted to sleep with him or not, based on his length.
He was guessing that the answer was a ’no’, judging from her placid reaction.
He started to panic.
And then he took the wheel again, "It’s not fair that you let me swim naked while you have your swimsuit on now, is it?"
Isis.
Hello sugarcane!
Isis did not expect for Alejandro to be butt-naked under his shorts !
She was horrified. But she kept her cool because she needed to keep her game on check.
Although she was a virgin, she had seen a number of p*****s before. She was 20 for heaven’s sake. That needed to count for something.
Not just the age and the responsibility that came with it, but the experiences too. Of which she had none. Zero. Zilch.
She saw the p*****s in Biology class, and on the internet. Not that she was watching porn but just that she Googled it out of curiosity.
Alejandro had hinted that she take off her swimsuit so that they could both swim naked.
Smart move.
She tried to think her way out of it but there was nothing she could come up with.
She slowly took off her jeans.
As she was going to unclip her bustier, she thought for a second.
Isn’t this the same thing that I’m condemning my mother for? But the only difference is that she acts like she’s perfect, and I know that I’m far from perfect.
But still, here I am with a man I hardly know and now I’m about to show him my nakedness. We’re not even dating or anything. What if he’s actually playing a game and me doing this, would mean he’s scored a point against me? It can’t be that bad. It’s not like we’re going to touch or anything... Right?
She contemplated before slowly unclipping her bustier and letting it fall to the ground, all while keeping her hands across her breasts.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
She looked at Alejandro, who looked mesmerized by her every step.
He was anticipating this.
She looked down and saw his anticipation, it reeked of male fervor.
Isis felt excited at his desire for her.
She slowly let down her guard from her chest and untied the sides of her yellow, bottom piece.
Thank God she was shaved.
It’s almost as if she had expected something like this to happen. After that first encounter with Alex, she had made sure to keep her body hairless.
Nasty virgin.
She felt extremely self-conscious and tried to hide her body but Alejandro’s smooth, strong hands had slowly removed her hands, for his prying eyes to ravage her whole.
She remembered Zainab’s words and gained the confidence to turn away from him, seductively walking towards the water and casually throwing her head back to invite Alejandro in, after her.
Here’s to a night of desert dreams and Sicilian skies.
- Writer
