Chapter 1
The sound of the cold water which Diana poured on her body as she sat in the bathtub today sounded louder than the ones she had been using to bathe herself before. Despite having intolerance for cold which has lasted since her childhood, Diana had punished herself by using cold water from her freezer to bathe. She also refused to make use of the shower while bathing, so she would sit in the bathtub, keep a bucket outside it, and stretch forth her hand to fetch water from it. For some odd reasons, she made this system of bathing and scrubbing, some sort of penance. As Diana punished herself with the cold water on this Saturday evening, her mind quickly flashed back to the previous Friday night which was Maureen and Anthony’s wedding eve.
‘Stoppâ¦ohhhhâ¦go harderâ¦stopp,” Diana kept moaning and muttering incomprehensible words as Anthony kissed and stroked her lips, neck, and all other parts of her body. Oh, how she loved this man who will be married in less than twenty four hours. This wasn’t right, especially given that Maureen was the child of her mother’s friend, but she couldn’t stop herself from enjoying what she thought would be her last intimate moment with this man whom she had learned to love so deeply. After they had sex, he hugged her tightly, as though it was a reminder that this would be their last intimate meeting, and this brought tears to their eyes. Diana was so sure that this man loved her but this was a strange kind of love. This love was forbidden. She should have ended this relationship the day she found out that Anthony was engaged to Maureen, but that would have meant putting an end to love, happiness and peace in her life. She finally let him go after his friends called to ask him why he was not at the venue for his bachelor party yet.
The loud ringing of Beyonce’s Listen on her phone jolted her back to reality. While lost in thoughts, she had spent so much time in the bathroom. She rushed out and picked up her phone, only to discover that Anthony had called her five times. She wondered if there was a problem. The last she spoke to him was on his wedding day when she presented him and his wife their wedding present. The thoughts that ran through her head momentarily was stopped by the buzzing of the phone in her hands. It was a text message from Anthony, and it read: ‘Meet me at the Avalon Hotel by 6pm. I have a dinner date with Maureen by 8pm, so don’t be late”
Wait, he had called her âMaureen’, and this surprised her. They had only been married for a week. Shouldn’t he at least accord her that respect and call her his wife or something sweeter? Well, this wasn’t the time to think of what Anthony did or didn’t call his wife. Curiosity had gotten the better part of her, so she hurriedly requested an uber ride, dressed up and headed out to the hotel.