Lustful Eyes | 18+ |

27

Lise sat under the umbrella that stood still, protecting her eyes from the blazing sun. It always appalled her how sunny it was in the morning and how cold it could get by the evening.

The book in her hand is still on the first page. She sat out looking at the gates, far away, hoping to cross it one day.

Her little heart was hoping that Andreas would show some mercy on her and would let her go. She was missing her family. She wanted to hug all of them and hold them closer to herself. And maybe appreciate them more as well.

It is weird how it took her getting kidnapped by a heartless man to actually understand the value of the people around her. A very disastrous yet disturbing way to learn.

Lise tried not to think about them much. But every time she sat idle, which was all the time, her memories about her life rushed back. She loved the way her life was, even to the extent of thinking that bullying was fine.

She just couldn't take it anymore. Her fragile heart had broken into pieces knowing a random stranger had robbed her of her purity and most precious thing. Something she wanted to share only with the man she loved.

She had asked Marco to get her a book and Marco, who was understanding enough, brought her a new-age young adult novel, which had a lot of cute romantic moments. It took Marco some time to find a book that was fun and nice and not something depressing. Google researched and asked the teens in the bookstore which one was the best, he settled with the upside of falling.

But Lise hadn't even moved from the first page. She just sat out, looking beyond the gates.

All the free time makes her rethink her life choices. What if she hadn't agreed to marry Peter? Maybe she could have gone to college. She may not have the fun life everyone had due to her disability, but she would enjoy at least some of it.

She'd always wished to have a lot of friends. But her reserved nature and Disability made very thin room for it. She just wanted to be normal. Was that too much to ask for?

She wanted to be like every other teen who ate popsicles during summer all day long and spend her time in the local mall shopping with her friends. Watch movies and go to parties, enjoy it all while it lasts.

She had seen Mila go from a teen to a working woman. She knew that she barely had time to speak with the family. It surprised her how in a matter of some time people's priorities changed. Like Mila, who was a wild party animal during college and high school now was a workaholic who barely had time to tell how her day was during daily dinners.

Her eyes were wet as she batted her long lashes thinking about how much better it would have been if she hadn't called the cops that day. She may have been with Liam and her family. But she wasn't exactly ecstatic about the fact that she would have to marry Peter. She just couldn't open her mouth and tell her mother no and that was the only reason she was getting married to a man she didn't love.

Not that she didn't like her mother's choice, she wanted to fall in love before she got married. According to the one time she met Peter, he was a nice man, may not be the one she loved, but she would be happy knowing she was getting married to a kind man.

She exhaled sharply and looked to her left where the large pool was. It was her first time sitting by the pool on Andreas's large property. She couldn't help but admire how beautiful and extravagant this place was. It was like a modern palace.

She looked at the deep blue water. How she wished she could swim, her immobile legs would never let her.

She had seen the images of Mike's pool party. He had invited her but Lise refused it knowing she would just feel awful about not being able to swim. Since then, she wanted to swim.