CEO’s REDEMPTION

I am frigidly squirming as I saunter inside the castle as the clock ticks quarter past ten. I am a nervous wreck right now because I didn’t tell Jerol that I was gonna be this late. Heck! I didn’t even tell him that I was going out! I wasn’t intending to stay out this late, honestly, but the traffic was just savage. If only I knew…

Locking the door behind me, I sigh in relief when I don’t find this nosy big-mouthed lazy asses loitering around. They must be snoring in their rooms. I dash upstairs albeit with shaky legs. My heart is becoming heavy with every step, and I am even forgetting how to breathe at my age. Fear is taking full control.

I compose myself when I get to our bedroom door, and take in a good amount of oxygen to try and calm my nerves. What awaits me inside this room is scaring me, because I can’t tell what his reaction will be. All the same, I summon my courage, and push myself inside.

Emptiness! That’s what greets me. There is no one in this room except the paralysing screams of lull. Jerol isn’t here. I swallow hard and dry.

I walk to the bathroom, but no sign of him. I peek at the balcony, but still nothing. A cold shiver cuts through my backbone, almost making me numb.

“Where are you Jerol?” I mumble to myself as my pouch slips out of my hand and falls to the floor.

The only idea that flickers through my medulla oblongata isn’t a good one. It’s more scaring the hell out of me, but the good thing is that it fuels my legs, and I find myself running out of the room.

I get to the gym, the evil room, clenching on to my chest, beseeching with my heart not to leave its rib cage. It’s pounding heavily, my gust rapid and loud. I peek inside through the transparent window, and my heart stops pounding for a second to do a small dance when I don’t see him inside. Nonetheless, I pick up my pace again in the opposite direction, this time around, at a slower pace. At least, I don’t expect the worst.

I knock on the door of his study. I can see flames of the orange light at the base of the door, meaning he is inside, but he doesn’t answer. I push the door open and straddle inside, holding my breath.

There sits the statue! I don’t know whether I should be happy, worried, or should I pee on my pants because of his state.

He is just here, resting his bandaged hands on the table, and his head at the back of the swivel chair. His broad chest is heaving up and down with deep breathing. His face appears so dull under the lights.

I shuffle my legs further and stop a step away from the table, and murmur his name, but no response comes from him. He is gazing at the white ceiling, lost. So deadly lost.

I walk to where he is, tapping him gently on the shoulder.

“Jerol!”

“YES!” He bursts out, snapping from his statue state as if an electric shock jerked him, making me leap back from him.

Ghosh! Where was he? He seems like he was chasing a ghost or he was lost in a dark jungle with demons. I get it, it was his ghost again. It’s always about her.

I look at him as he stands up, starting towards me and I take another step back.

The way he is glaring at me, the slow steps he is taking towards me… He is like an angry lion taming its prey. I don’t want another scar. Not another wound on top of the one I got yesterday. Not another pain. The only way to save myself is to obey his order- to stay away from him when he is possessed by this demon. He is not himself and this weird side of him is so new to me.

RUN!

My brain screams, and I promptly half turn to run for my dear life, but I halt on my steps when he speaks.

“ANGEL!”

It wasn’t a scream, but a pleading roar that massaged through the delicate walls of my ears and my heart. Everything stands still, except the slow movement of my body as I veer back.

I turn around to find his eyes closed, his head bowed down. He stopped on his feet, perhaps when I attempted to run away.

Angel? He called me… that’s not what he calls me.

“Jerol?” I mumble softly, making his eyes open. “Are you okay?” I force myself to ask despite the fear and confusion.

He doesn’t answer.

He lifts his face to face me and he opens his arms wide. In a flicker, I am engulfed in his hands in a tight bear hug. I’m thunderstruck! I am trembling with a mixture of a thousand feelings and questions. He is choking me with his tight embrace, but instead of pushing him away, I find my hands sheathing around his back, caressing his flawless straight back in a soothing motion.

What on earth is happening? Or what happened? This reaction is new!

“I thought you left too!” He mumbles behind my back, pressing me to him more. He might choke me to death with his strong arms, but for some weird reason, I am closing my eyes to savour this moment. I can’t explain the feeling. I guess I am excited because he isn’t mad at me.

“Sorry I went out without letting you know.” I mumble, and he pulls away slowly, as if my words touched his heart.

My hands drop from him, but he keeps his on my shoulders, scanning my face, his eyes looking a bit lively today. Or maybe it’s the effect of the lights and my confused self.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” He explores. His cold eyes are soft as he pleads, giving them a small glow that I have never seen in them.

“I… I..” What do I say, huh?

“You thought I wouldn’t let you?”

“Maybe. And I also didn’t want to bother you.” I lie.

“You are never a bother. Next time, at least go with a chauffeur. That way I wouldn’t have to worry.”

Was he worried about me? He thought I ran away? Maybe he thought I was serious about that threat I made to him yesterday.

“Were you really worried?” I ask, but he looks away.

“I am not a beast. And I am not mad either.” He mutters, shoving his bandaged hands in his pockets.

“Who said you are?”

“Everyone thinks I am. You should stay away from me, though, until… I am not like this?”

I think that sermon I gave him yesterday made an impact on him. That is the only thing that can explain why he is this way, well, except for that kinda romantic hug though. I am not proud of talking to him that way. But if it will help him wake up from this nightmare, then I am willing to do it again.

“Married couples stick together for better or for worse. You are my husband, Jerol, and until our contract expires, I will be here. I am not leaving you.”

He looks at me for a decade, and he starts walking back to his swivel chair without saying a word. I get it, maybe that’s what that bitch, Ellie, used to tell him. That she will never leave him, blah, blah, blah, but in the end, she left. And here I am, a stupid girl who knows nothing about couples promising nonsense. I should even laugh at myself. Sigh!

I grab his hand to stop him from walking to his chair. Does he even know what time it is?

“Can we go to bed now?” I ask, as if I am expecting anything to happen under the sheets. Beh! I just want him to rest.

He nods his head, and we walk out together hand in hand. We get to the bedroom, and we tuck ourselves under the cover like a couple, and we drift off to sleep.

I still don’t know how, but I have to help him. I want to challenge that mother of his and laugh at her face when Jerol regains his sanity again. Let’s see what she will have to say then.