Bands of the Unpaid Dowry

Chapter 12

The rooster crowed being highly exuberant to see the first rays of the sun, waking up most in the city of East Legon. Meanwhile, the hens like most mothers started clucking in preparation for the day at dawn right before the daybreak. Millicent laid in her bed oblivious to how nature sought to wake up the light sleepers in its own way. Her legs wagged in the air, with the rest of her body laying face down on her blue floral print silk bed sheet. A pillow propped up her chest and her head was held up by one of her arms to accommodate her posture and enable her to read her bible that was open up before her for her devotion. She knew she was not as devout as she wanted to be but she never left her home in the morning without seeking out the book.

She hummed out a tune she learnt from her Sunday school days, smiling at the memories the tune evoked.

Out of the blue, the image of thin pink lips engulfing her dark full lips took over the words she was meditating on. Millicent quickly shut her eyes to try to dispel the image; however, the tighter the lids of her eyes pressed together, the more vivid the image played behind her closed eyes. Her eyes again snapped open, and she hit her hand on her bed in frustration when she felt the loud and hard beating of her heart within its cage.

"This is why I didn't want him to touch me. Now I'm seeing these unholy images during my devotion!" She muttered out, feeling especially confused at the way her body was behaving at the mere flashback of Jace. She sat up fully on her bed unable to enjoy the peace she craved. She was going to put her heart in a perilous situation like Manuela had said, if she indulged in her new feelings for a man who probably did not care; not that she was looking for a love life. The said man was just helping her because of his pity on her unfamiliar predicament.

Her doorbell associated with a loud knock from her front door drew her out of these thoughts. She turned to the bedside table where her clock gloriously sat to see that it was just ten minutes after six. Frowning in displeasure at being woken up earlier by unceremonious dreams or rather memories and the notorious pounding on her door, she stepped down from her bed and trudged out of her room grumbling. In her state of chagrin, she forgot about her slippers and was attacked by the biting chill of the marble floor of her hallway outside of the living room's silver gray rug. Unlocking the heavy, lustrous, wooden door, and pulling it open, her slightly squinted eyes were met with dark curly hair, and traveling her eyes down she came to face the blue-gray eyes of the man who plagued her dreams the entire night.

"You!" Millicent exclaimed and her eyes gradually widened to express her astonishment.

"Hi." One of Jace's fair hands simply lifted up in a wave while he possessed one of the most beaming smiles on his face. While he was excited to see her, the smile looked almost unnatural on his face. His own eyes lingered on her exotic look in her short peach colored silk pajamas.

Millicent to a defensive stance, widening her legs and placing her hands on her waist, positioning her body so that it held her door open. "What are you doing here?" She asked in a low tone to prevent her voice from being carried away by the stillness of the morning.

She saw his hands move from the corner of her eyes, so her gaze naturally traveled there only to be met with confusion as he held a rather huge suitcase in hand.

"Why are you holding your suitcase in front of my home? How did you even know where I live?" Her sharp eyes moved to find his, which still lingered on her body. Traveling her gaze down she found that she was still in her nightwear much to her embarrassment. She rushed back in to get her robe.

"I didn't say you could come in." Millicent drawled out tiredly when Jace seated himself as if he paid her rent with her. She was now covered in her robe. A shame. Jace muttered under his breath.