Woke Up Married

He is a man of Integrity

With these thoughts in her mind, Julia's tears flowed uncontrollably down her cheeks.

"Mummy," Julia cried and began to sob.

Her sobs woke the servant who was fast asleep.

"Ma'am, are you alright?" the servant asked in a calm voice, but was met with silence and the sobbing continued.

The servant, Veronica, got up from the sofa, sat next to Julia on the bed, and rubbed Julia's back gently. Julia was lying on her side with both hands put together and her head resting on them.

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Veronica in a gentle voice, but Julia shook her head in a 'no' and sniffled as she controlled her tears.

Veronica continued to rub her back gently. It did stop Julia from crying, but her eyes remained open as she stared straight ahead at nothing till the morning.

"I will be back," Veronica said, and got up to leave the room, realizing it was morning.

Veronica yawned and stretched as she walked down the hall towards the stairs leading to the living room. She had sat on the bed till morning watching Julia, who would not sleep.

"Why are your eyes so red?" asked one of the servants as soon as she entered the kitchen.

"I couldn't sleep, that is all. It's nothing. I think I was over-exhausted and the reason I couldn't sleep," replied Veronica, knowing they only asked to have something to gossip about.

Under Veronica's instruction, breakfast was prepared and sent to the dining area, and she took a tray of food to Julia's room. Veronica placed the tray on the table upon entering. She sighed, seeing Julia still lying in the same position on the bed, staring straight ahead. She went to the bathroom, filled the bathtub and returned to the room.

"Ma'am, please you need to take a bath," Veronica said, but Julia did not respond and also did not move.

Veronica moved closer to Julia and held her hand. Julia's gaze shifted towards her and Veronica smiled. Veronica pulled Julia up and she complied. Veronica led Julia to the bathroom and helped Julia out of her clothes. She made Julia sit in the bathtub and Julia just sat in the bathtub hugging her legs.

Veronica was very patient with Julia even though she was clueless about what may have caused Julia to behave in such a manner. She grabbed a sponge and bathed Julia and led her back into the room. She made Julia sit on the bed, and she went through the closet and picked a dress for Julia. Veronica dried Julia's hair and held it up in a pony. She smiled as she saw how beautiful Julia looked even though she carried a sad expression.

"Ma'am, I brought you something to eat," Veronica said with a smile, but Julia remained silent.

Veronica went for the bowl of cereal and tried to feed Julia, but she would not open her mouth. Julia just kept staring at nothing. After multiple attempts to feed her had failed, Veronica carried the tray of food which had gone cold out of the room and left a glass of fresh juice on the table for Julia.

"How is she?" came Jason's voice, who had just descended the stairs to the joining hallway.

"Sir, she had not slept the whole night and still wouldn't eat," Veronica reported, carrying the tray of food just a distance away from Julia's door.

Jason said nothing but proceeded to the stairs leading to the living room and the servant followed. Jason walked straight to the dining area while Veronica continued to the kitchen.

"It's 48 hours she had not slept and had equally not eaten anything," Jason thought as he poured himself some coffee.

Jason dialled Peter's number and placed the phone on a loudspeaker as he ate his breakfast.

"Hello boss," came Peter's voice.

"How far are you towards finding the murderer?" Jason asked.

"Boss, they are armed robbers who tried to rob her," replied Peter.

"Was anything stolen from the house?" asked Jason.

"No, boss," replied Peter.

"Then your investigation is not done. Call me when you have the answers. I want the murderer found," Jason said, and ended the call.

Jason left the dining area towards the living room front door and left the house for work. Later in the afternoon at work, Peter called Jason.

"Sir, Ms Julia's mother was not the target of the robbery. The robbers, in their attempt to escape, went through Ms Julia's mother's house. She got in their way and was shot in the process," Peter reported.

"Where are the robbers?" asked Jason.

"Handed over to the police, Boss," replied Peter.

"Good, make sure they get a life imprisonment sentence," Jason said and disconnected the call.

Peter was at Belle Glade with another bodyguard who was very surprised by Jason's behaviour. He doesn't go anywhere near women or get involved with anything that has to do with them.

"Who is this woman?" asked the other guard.

"Our boss is a man of integrity. The fact that he is distant from women doesn't mean he will sit back and watch when something bad happens to one," replied Peter, and they both entered the station where the two robbers were being kept and did as Jason had requested.

Jason was soon done with work and left the office for home. On his way, he gave Peter a call and asked him to make arrangements for the burial of Julia's mother.

"How is she? Has she eaten anything?" Jason inquired as soon as he entered the apartment upon arrival.

"No sir. She will still not eat. Just lying there in bed staring at nothing," replied Veronica.

"Hmm," Jason said and headed for the stairs leading to his room and the servant who had opened the door for him went back to join his other servants.

Jason, upon reaching the end of the stairs, instead of making a turn to the right and climbing the stairs to where his bedroom was, decided to go check on Julia. He knocked on the door but was met with silence. He opened the door and found Julia lying on her side on the bed using her hand as a pillow for her head. He stood there and watched her for a while.

"The people who did that to your mum have been arrested today. They will pay for their crime," Jason said, and Julia's gaze shifted towards him.

Jason was cold and had a straight face. He turned and exited the room and went straight to his room. Julia's gaze shifted back to staring straight ahead at nothing. Memories of her mother flooded her mind again and her tears began to fall.

Veronica entered the room a few minutes after Jason had left and found Julia's face turned red and her eyes teared. She moved a little closer and realized Julia was crying again. Even though she had no idea what could make Julia cry like that and refuse food, she suspected the cold hands of death had touched someone Julia cared so much about.

"You know, when I was 16 years old, I lost my father in a car accident and lost my mother too, just before we could lay my father to rest. My mum could not believe my dad was gone, and it made her health issues advance, leading to her death. My uncle said to me in my grief," Veronica said, in an attempt to console Julia.

"Child, it's unfortunate what has happened to your parents, but remember, they have not left you. Even now, they are watching over you from heaven, and they will be sad to see you break down. Your smiles and moving on to achieve your dreams as they wanted for you will make them happier," Veronica added.

"I don't know what happened to you, but lying down in bed and not eating only means you have been defeated. Your loved ones will want to see you strong and achieve your goals wherever they are. So please make them happy and let them see you achieving everything they would want you to achieve in life," Veronica said.

Julia's gaze shifted to her, and she sat up on the bed. Veronica sat next to Julia and hugged her.