These Vengeful Vows

Chapter Four

Sapphire was in bed scrolling through her phone mindlessly. She wasn't even paying attention to be honest but anything to keep her mind off the fact that her and Olef would be sharing this bed together. She was nervous, her fingers slightly shaking. Even though she was twenty two she hadn't been with anyone because of this betrothal. Her father said she couldn't do anything that would make Olef not take a liking to her. She had to be perfect. She couldn't be too overweight, or aggressive or loud. That's why she felt queasy telling him about her Anxiety disorder. That was an imperfection. She wondered how he saw her now. He probably thought she was crazy.

The door opened and in came Olef. Her heart skipped a bit. He stared at her for a second then locked the door with the keycard. He walks over to the bed and sits backing her taking off his watch. He smelled faintly of alcohol. That made Sapphire's stomach drop. He'd been drinking.

“When did our bags come in?” He asked, walking over to the closet.

“A few minutes ago. I…um arranged your clothes. Are you okay with that? I'm sorry if you're not. It's just that…”

“It's fine, Sapphire,” he said, exasperated.

Sapphire sighed inwardly. She was really winging this. Olef went to the bathroom and her phone rang. It was Olef's Dad.

“Hi s…Dad.”

“Hello sweetheart. How are you doing?”

“I'm okay and you?”

“I am fine, thank you. How was your trip? Hope everything is to your liking?”

“ Yes Dad. This place is really beautiful. Did you want to speak with Olef?”

“Oh no no. I just wanted to check on you. Enjoy yourself okay?”

“I’ll be sure to send you lots of pictures.”

“That’d be lovely. Bye then.”

“Bye.”

Just then Olef came out of the bathroom a towel wrapped around his lower torso, water dripping down his body. She swallowed, staring at the muscles on his chest and torso. Her eyes trailed down, unable to look away from that defined V-line…

“Sapphire.”he said, yanking her from her thoughts. He looked like he didn't know whether to be amused or irritated.

“I asked if that was my Father.”

“What? Oh…yes, yes. He called.”

“What did he say?”

“He wanted to check up on us. Ensure we've gotten here safely.”

Olef hummed and went to the closet and put on his robe. Sapphire could not stop staring. He looked like a Greek God, say Apollo but with dark hair. He turned off the lights, leaving only the one by the bed and got under the covers closing his eyes.

Sapphire sat there stiffly. What was she supposed to do now? Olef didn't seem interested in doing anything. He most likely drank to ease his nerves. Lucky. Her own anxiety was here to stay. She sat there wrestling with her thoughts for about fifteen minutes before hearing him lightly snoring. She decided she should sleep too.

She lay down and stared at his sleeping face. He looked so peaceful. The rage of the storm had softened. After a while of tossing and turning,she too succumbed to sleep.

***

Olef stirred in his sleep feeling something warm beside him. It felt soft and so smelled good, he couldn't help but cuddle closer. A soft feminine sound and he quickly opened his eyes. To his horror he was cuddling Sapphire. Spooning to be exact .How did they even get in this position? The bed was big enough that even if they rolled too much they still wouldn't have to be this compromised. This wasn't good, because honestly Olef's thoughts weren't honourable last night and they weren't honourable right now. It didn't help that she was practically undressing him with her eyes last night. Thankfully Olef had practiced the art of self control and last night was as innocent as a newborn.

He slowly extricated himself from her

careful not to wake her up. He began scrolling through his phone, several texts from Ian which he ignored, a text from one of his sneaky links which he also ignored and several other business texts he replied to. Then he took a look at the photos of her medication. Sertraline and Xanax. He quickly looked them up. They were antidepressants, often the first line of treatment for anxiety disorders.

Olef glanced in her direction and wondered what could have triggered her to be taking such medications. He's already had his bath and dressed before Sapphire woke up. She sat slowly, her hair mused, rubbing her eyes. She looks over at him from where he was sitting at the table.

“Good morning.”she says.

He gives a nod looking at his watch.

“You overslept. It's going to be a full day of activities. Breakfast will be here in twenty minutes. You can have it in bed if you want. But you have to be ready by nine thirty.” He stood. “I'll be in the lobby. Call me when you're ready.” With that he left her to her own devices. Olef knew he probably shouldn't be leaving her on her own like that but honestly he couldn't bring himself to care. He didn't want this. He waited in the lobby idly, people watching, leaning on a chair when he felt a presence behind him. He whirled sharply and saw someone he thought he would never see again.

Chad.

Chad gave a wry smile,hands in his pockets. He hadn't changed much since Olef last saw him. The same white hair typical of albino's, a crooked nose that had been broken too many times, skin too pale. But the most unnerving thing about Chad were his eyes. The lack of pigment in his irises showed the veins beneath giving him a permanent red gaze. Those eyes used to be comforting once. Now they just haunted him.

“You don't look very happy to see me.” Chad said.

“I didn't think I would see you at all.”

Chad chuckled. “You're not getting rid of me that easily.”

“What do you want? Did you follow me here? We aren't friends anymore Chad. I want nothing to do with you.”

Chad placed a dramatic hand on his chest.

“You wound me, Olef. Ten years in prison and you didn't even come once to see me.”

Just then Olef's phone began to ring. s**t. It was probably Sapphire. He needed to end this conversation now.

“I had no reason to. If you'll excuse me…”

Chad didn't budge. “We need to talk to Olef…”

His phone rang again.

“No, we have nothing to talk about. I don't know if you remember, but I don't go anywhere without security so get out of my way if you don't want a bullet in your skull.” Chad opened his mouth to say something when Olef saw Sapphire, her phone in hand looking worried. Chad followed his gaze, then smirked. Olef pushed past Chad walking briskly to her.

“Olef! Where did you go? I was calling but you didn't pick.”

“ It's nothing, I'm fine.”

“ Are you sure?” She looked at him worried those blue eyes peering up at him.

“I said I'm fine,” he said sharply. She flinched. Honestly he didn't mean to transfer aggression but that encounter with Chad had left him rattled. He looked over to where Chad had been and found it empty. He was gone.

“Come on. Let's go.”