Temptations

40. THE LOUD SILENCE

NATHAN

The only good thing that could come out of this shitty party was that I got to kiss my dear wife.

Which was wrong. So wrong. Good but wrong.

I loved having Ellie in my arms. Her small yet curvy body fitted perfectly in my large arms and the feel of her soft, supple flesh was enough for my mind to stop making rational decisions. The dance had started off as a way of showing people we were deep in love but it ended up making me lose my control and I ended up kissing the corner of her lips.

And that's when it went down the drain.

One minute, we were lost in each other's touch and the next minute, Ellie was running far away from me. I didn't know if it was something I did or something I said. I just know that she wasn't alright and it was because of me.

I looked around myself to see if everyone was looking and my eyes landed on Sabrina, dancing with her husband while her judging eyes towards me.

She stopped for a moment and walked over to me. The way she took strides, it was clear the fox in her was wide alert. "Won't you follow your wife?" She asked sarcastically and I gave her a seething glance. Choosing not to answer, I turned around and followed Ellie's trail.

Ellie was not inside the party so I walked out of the hall in search for her. I went to the garden of the hotel and looked around for her but she was nowhere to be found. Suddenly, I got alarmed and began thinking about her safety. We were at a secluded part of the town and I didn't want her roaming here alone.

After searching for a whole five minutes around the hotel, I finally found her sitting on a bench, sitting peacefully as if she didn't just turned my night upside down.

"God, Ellie, what is wrong with you?" I asked in anger but once I reached her, all my anger transpired. She looked at me with teary eyes and seeing her like that, my body froze. This might be the right time to admit that I had no idea how to deal with a crying woman.

"Go away." She said in a hurt voice. Her lower lip was trembling and she had her arms wrapped around herself to sheild her from the cold.

"What happened? Did I do something?" I waited for her to say something but she didn't. Instead, she just kept looking at a distance and ignored me altogether. "Is it the kiss? It wasn't even a proper kiss." I muttered awkwardly, not knowing what to say to make her feel better.

"Was it proper enough to make your ex jealous?" She gritted her teeth.

"What? I… I…" I don't know where she got the idea that I did this to make Sabrina jealous. To be honest, I was so mesmerized with Ellie the whole night that I didn't even give Sabrina a second glance. Instead of feeling jealous from her new husband, I was boiling over her exchange of laughters with Drake.

"Shut up. Don't try to negate it. I saw her." She looked at me with her big, brown eyes, filled with moisture. "You never care about others feelings, do you?"

"Ellie…" I sighed and sat down beside her and she slid away.

"I'm not a puppet in your game. I am a human being with feelings." Her voice broke as she spoke and my heart trembled. "Just because I signed a contract doesn't mean you can touch me whenever you want."

My chest tightened in grief as I saw her crying because of me. I had no idea what to do and how to make her feel better. I felt angry at myself for doing exactly what I stopped myself from a few days ago.

Knowing her sexual history, or the lack of, I should have been sensitive towards her and here I was, trying to kiss her in the middle of the hall because I couldn't control my damn hormones.

"I didn't know Sabrina was around." I said but she was in no mood to listen.

"I want to go home." She said, wiping her cheeks.

"There's a party going inside. People will talk." I tried to reason with her.

She stood up and crossed her arms. "Then call me an Uber. I'll leave."

I stared at her for a long moment, waiting for her to change her decision, but she didn't. There was no way in hell I would let her leave in an Uber right now Sighing, I stood up and walked over to her. "Come on. Let's leave."

Her eyes furrowed in confusion but she didn't say anything. We both walked towards the car and the driver walked out to open the door for us.

"You can stay for the rest of the party." She said once we sat inside.

"And leave you alone? No thanks. The party isn't that important." I said, sighing.

"Suit yourself." She replied.

The car drive was silent. She kept sitting on the other side of the limo, not making eye contact, not even looking at me. I, on the other hand, felt restless and anxious. I began to speak multiple times to clear myself and make her feel better but each time, I closed my mouth before a word could leave my mouth. I didn't want to make the matter worse.

As we reached the house, she walked out of the car before me. I had to increase my speed to follow her inside. On our way to the room, we came across Mom, who was surprised to see us come home early.
"How was the party?" She asked, assessing both of our faces.

Instead of replying, Ellie stormed off towards our bedroom, leaving me standing awkwardly in front of Mom. I cursed myself internally for landing myself in this position.

"What happened?" She asked in a worried voice.

"Nothing. We'll talk tomorrow." I said and walked behind Ellie.

When I entered the room, I found her lying on the bed under the blanket with closed eyes. Her dress was lying on the floor but she had not removed her makeup or tied her hair. I knew she was not sleeping but I wasn't in mood to argue anymore and I knew she wasn't willing to listen to me right now.

"Ellie..." I called her name gently. "Talk to me."

"I'm tired." She replied in a sleepy voice.

Sighing, I changed into a pair of fresh pajamas and lay down beside her and closed my eyes forcefully. When leaving home earlier today, I didn't know we would be returning not talking to each other.

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