Four Years Later
I woke up like every other day, the day was dull, nothing special was happening. It's like everyday I woke up and did the same thing over and over again, my life had become a record player that re-winded every single day. Well, my wish for not being pregnant was fulfilled but after I had tied the knot with Asher. It was a false positive and I wish i had discovered it before I had married him because after discovering that it was a false positive Asher completely closed off, it was like he believed i did this to trap him or something. I have thought of leaving this marriage but with every minute that passed my heart keeps telling me to stay and hope that one day we would truly live as a married couple.
We didn't sleep on the same bed nor in the same room. We were married on paper but in real life we were roommates sharing a house. The few weeks and months it wasn't much of a problem but with time i could feel the cold, the loneliness and everything else. When I got married to Asher a lot of people criticized our wedding, me. They called me the replacement bride, the stand in and at first i didn't care but with every minute i spent alone in this house and barely talking or interacting with Asher it suddenly sunk in. I pretended to be okay in front of the world but I knew that at night sometimes, I cried myself to sleep.
Like last night.
I went downstairs for breakfast and surprisingly today he was there at the breakfast table, "Morning," I said as I sat at the other end of the table. He looked up from the news paper he was reading, he looked really good with his reading glasses on. "Morning," he said his expression unchanging. "No work today?"
"No, I decided to stay in today," he said as he sat the newspaper aside as Rosy served us breakfast. "Oh that's nice, a break from time to time is nice."
"Any plans for today?" he asked, looking at me expectedly. Today his gaze was different...warm. He seemed like he cared for once about what I said, "Uh not really, I usually just spend my day inside the house," I said without adding the other details about how I spend my time learning cooking recipes pretending as if I was in culinary school. "Doing what?" he asked with a raised eyebrow like he knew i was hiding something from him, "Nothing much," I said.
"Oh Madam spends her time cooking delicious dishes," Rosy said to Asher as she poured him some hot coffee, I gave her the eye and she just giggled as she walked away, "You cook?" he asked, tilting his head in amusement. "Ah it's nothing, I will just be practicing and learning new tricks," I said trying to brush him off but he seemed to want to take the topic further. "Then today I will spend the day cooking with you, you teach me what you have learnt so far," he said.
"Really?"
"Yes. I am free today and I plan it at home," he said with a slight smile.
We were now in the kitchen, Asher was looking at me waiting for me to tell him what to do but all of this seemed unusual, him being here smiling and wanting to spend time with me, "So what do we do chef?" he asked looking around.
"Aprons and then decide what dish we are making?" I said handing him one of the Aprons.
"What were you planning on making?"
"Well today I wanted to make pecan pie, I have been craving it."
"Well let's make whatever pie you mentioned."
"Pecan pie. You have never had Pecan pie?" I asked giving him a shocked look.
"No."
"What? Multimillionaire CEO Asher Sterling has not had Pecan pie?"
"Well being a multimillionaire doesn't mean I have eaten all dishes in the world."
"But stilllll," I said as I gathered the ingredients needed, I had ensured all ingredients were there the previous night so it was all about bring them out, I instructed Asher on what he could do that was beginner friendly but he sucked at it and I had to help him, we were giggling and playing around. This was the first time we were enjoying each other's company and I wished for the time to pause and for us to stay like this forever, just him and I.
We looked at each other, our eyes looking deep into each other and in that split of a second I felt like everything was perfect, everything was where it was supposed to be. We were interrupted by one of the servants entering the kitchen, "Uhm, you need to learn how to cook seriously," I said as I got back to my section.
"Now that you mention it i have to, will you teach me?"
"Me?"
"You seem to be really good at it," he said as he looked at me, that gentleness on his face made my heart swell. If the stars had somehow aligned today may they always remain aligned like this, may they always remain the way they are. Maybe, maybe just for once he will truly see me as his wife and we could be happy together.
"You do this everyday?"
"Not everyday, some times. It can get boring and lonely in this big house even with the cooking and everything," I said as I stared at what I was doing, i could feel his eyes on me but neither one of us said a word. After a lot of struggle with teaching Asher the right thing to do we finally completed making the pie and it came out amazing partly because I was a pro at what I was doing.
"Are you ready to have the best pie ever?" I said cutting him a piece. "I feel like you are exaggerating," he said. " Let's make a bet if this is the best pie ever you will give me 10 000 cash," I said.
"10 000 for pie?"
"Not just any pie, the best pie," I said.
"And if it's not, Will you give me the 10 000?"
"It doesn't work like that, you are disputing my claims not the other way round."
He tasted the pie and at first he wanted to act like it was not that good but the smile on his face sold him out, he took out his phone and transferred the money into my account. I wasn't penniless, being married to the Sterling family meant that I had unlimited access to cash but this 10 000 meant so much to me because it was like a symbol of our first real interaction ever since we got married. As we were enjoying the pie and chatting a call came through for Asher, he answered the call and whatever the other person from the other side said made him alert. He dropped the call and the light that was in his eyes suddenly dimmed.
"Ah I need to go to work, it's an emergency," he said walking out without waiting for my reply. Today was a good day for me, it made me forget that I cried myself to sleep last night, I cleaned up with a smile on my face. Maybe this was the beginning of something new. Time went by and Asher had not returned, he would probably be working late and today I thought it would be a great idea to bring him some food but I knew a part of me wanted to confirm that what happened today was real and that I wasn't dreaming...and I wanted to see his gentle eyes on me again.
"Mrs. Sterling," the butler, Gary, greeted, I could see the way he looked surprised at how happy and smiley I was.
"Today I am going to visit my husband at the office and give him food," I said excitedly, Gary was one of the few people who was kind to me. He was a busy person considering the fact that he worked for the Sterling household but whenever he came across me he genuinely cared about me and sometimes lingered around to have a conversation with me.
"That is very nice of you Mrs. Sterling," he said with a smile.
"It's nothing compared to the hard work Asher does."
"Let me get the driver for you so that he can take you to work," Gary said as he excused himself. I dressed nicely, put on some make up and sprayed my favorite perfume, I got into the car and the driver drove me to Asher's office. When I got there people were looking at me awkwardly but I was used to it, they always looked at me with criticizing eyes but today I was in a good mood and I didn't care. I made my way up and I was met with Jason, he was surprised to see me but not the amused surprise but the anxious, fearful surprise.
"Mrs. Sterling," he said as he approached me.
"Jason, Hi"
"Are you here to see Mr. Sterling?"
"Yes and to give him is food," I said showing him the lunch bag i had with me.
"Uh he is kind of really busy so why don't you give it to me and I will hand it to him and tell him you dropped it."
"No, I want to give it to him. I will wait for him to finish whatever he is doing."
"Uh it will take some time," he said avoiding my eyes. I looked at him with confusion and suspicion, why was he acting that way?
"Why are you acting this way, are you hiding something?" I asked , I approached Asher's office and as I walked towards it the employees were looking at me and whispering amongst themselves like they knew something I didn't. "He is really busy right now Mrs. Sterling," Jason said standing in front of me but I gently pushed him aside and opened the door and the sight before me made me freeze.
There she stood, as glamorous and beautiful as she always was. She had her arms wrapped around his neck in a hug. She was dressed in a tight body con red dress that hugged her curves beautifully.
I must have dropped the lunch bag I was holding because it seemed to have startled them from their moment. They turned their attention to me and as soon as Asher saw me his eyes widened but her, she looked amused and surprised.
My sister had returned, my husband's first love was back.
"Zaliyah," she said with a wide smile but all I had in my mind was them hugging. I tried to pick up the lunch bag but my head and hands were not working together, so I decided to let it be and walked away but she followed me. She wasn't supposed to follow me, I wasn't in my right senses. As I approached the lift she held my hand, "Zaliyah, it's me your sister."
"Let go of my hand Ari," I said in a low voice. She looked confused, but she saw the look on my face and let my hand go. I got into the lift and as the lift doors closed I saw Asher standing there looking at me like a lost puppy. I called for a cab and called the one person I knew would comfort me, my friend Eloise.
"Baby girl," she answered over the phone.
"I need you Eloise," I said as my voice trembled.
We were at the park, our favourite park . I told Eloise everything that happened today about our fun day, the call, my plans and most of all my once disappeared sister's return.
"You are saying Ari is back?"
"Yes."
"So what if she is back?"
I looked at Eloise like she was some alien because why was she acting like she didn't know what this meant. "Ari is back and this means that everything changes, everything."
"Everything like what?"
"Eloise, my marriage with Asher. I was the stand in bride now his true love is back I have to step back down."
"Did Asher say that is what has to happen?"
"He doesn't have to say it, I already know. I am not going to wait for it to happen. I will divorce him."