Crimson Lights

The Princess Has Her Say

Finallydone with her 'maid' duties, Anna made way to Iman's room, wanting more answersto a question that was troubling her for reasons that she was unsure ofherself.

"It's a bit sudden, don't you think so?"

"It...bothers me; this job bothers me."

"It bothers you or does Samar doing it bother you?"

Anna kept quiet, unable to answer Iman's question. She wasn't sure what was wrong with her – all these thoughts about Samar had been dominating her mind for a while now and she didn't even know much about Samar to begin with.

And yet ...

Every time she sees Samar, she feels a lift in her heart. Wearing Samar's hand-me-downs makes her blush every time she thinks about the clothes being worn by Samar previously. She wasn't even thinking of anything lewd yet the mere thought of Samar often left her feeling hot and bothered.

Her feelings were chaotic and in a mess; she wasn't sure where it was leading her or if she wanted to pursue it further. On the other hand, she wasn't even sure what she was feeling – she could hardly define anything since her failing memory left everything inside of her blurry. Every time she got close to remembering something, her heartbeat gallops; the palpitations it caused shakes her whole being.

Push as she might, it never seemed to become clearer.

"I don't know, honestly," she finally answered.

Iman looked at her, bemused. Tanned and tall, Iman easily towered over her. Her cloudy grey eyes, an effect from the contact lens that she wore regularly, made her hard to be read. Anna couldn't help but admire her beauty; her dusky skin glowed under the sensual fluorescent lights that enhanced her appearance in that flimsy camisole that she wore as an excuse of a nightwear.

She was Aphrodite in every sense, oozing out sensuality effortlessly yet there was something about her that just seemed off.

"You would probably be surprised at my reasoning but since you wanted to know so much, why not?" Iman said as she combed her hair while sitting in front of her dresser, peering at Anna who's on the side of her bed through the mirror. "Though I doubt knowing will take you closer to understanding why someone would want to do this."

*****

No one would have guessed that I was from a rich family that was still around up North. My family's three-storeyed-bungalow was a prominent building in my kampong, which was expected as my father was the kampong's head. If you had told me that you expected my father to be a wise and pious aging man because of his position, I would have laughed at you, even though I understand what you would expect such.

My father was anything but pious.

Though the eldest male in my family has been the head of the kampong for generations now, my father was less inclined to be one. However, for the sake of keeping up with tradition, he agreed to partake, as long as the responsibility of being the kampong's head did not interfere with his business.

He was a well-known businessman in the import-export industry. Dabbling in the shipping industry as a hobby rather than as a second business, he was making a substantial amount of money in a short period of time. On the outside, it looked as if he was making it big; the kampong kid that made money and a name for himself with just his grit and perseverance. It was only those behind the scenes, or family members to be exact, that knew his 'real' source of income and success.

The repercussions if caught smuggling was extreme and not to mention, embarrassing, however, if done well and carefully, the returns were nothing less than handsome.