Wildflowers; After the long wait

chapter 4

Alice stepped into the Harrison's house for the first time in her thirty-two years of life unsure of herself. She rung the doorbell and the housekeeper opened the door for her. "Misses is waiting for you in the study with mister Dwayne, he has just arrived," she informed her as she let Alice pass through to make her own way upstairs to the private study on the second floor. Alice thanked god her heart was strong. She had been shocked too many times for the past week and a half, to still be sane. The last she had seen Dwayne was the morning she had left him sleeping on her sofa, that was a few days ago. She did her best to avoid him. Dawn told her Dwayne had started working in the company and was busy helping their dad to bother her, not that she minded. Mr. Harrison wanted to retire the following year, so he was teaching his boys the ropes.

Alice opened the door to the study hesitantly. She poked her head around the door. "Come inside young lady!" Commanded Marlene. Alice walked into the room and to her astonishment, her soon to be ex-husband sat solemnly in the corner of his seat, looking like he was about to get the beating of his life, she was scared. Gingerly she took the only available space which was right next to him on the settee. Marlene paced the floor in front of them, they both eyed her with a sense of deep apprehension. Alice swore she saw Marlene holding a long rod in her hand. Obviously, her imagination was just running wild.

"You guys mind telling me whats going on?" She demanded in a loud huff. They both looked up at her confused. "Why did Dwayne receive a letter from the family court." She narrowed in on Alice. "When did you two get married?" she finally asked. Marlene squeezed her templed with her fingertips. Alice almost went white; it was becoming increasingly harder to think. She didn't know where to start explaining things to Marlene, and words didn't want to come.

She loved Marlene Harrison more than her own mother and she didn't want to hurt her. How could she tell this woman that she loved so much, that she wanted to divorce her precious son because he had abandoned her to her death after she had lost their baby. Marlene would be heartbroken if she knew how Alice had struggled to keep herself alive for the first three years after Dwayne had left her and he was the reason she had tried to take her own life more than once. The betrayal and shame of it would most likely shock Marlene's fragile heart and send her to the hospital. She didn't want that.

She had told her lawyer to keep her divorce private. She wanted it kept a secret but somehow Marlene found out. The Harrisons had given Alice more love and respect than she would have ever thought she deserved. She wanted to get a divorce from Dwayne without hurting anyone of them. She hadn't planned on his parents finding out they were married. Alice sighed.

Dwayne looked at his wife and knew he had to save her somehow, she looked lost. Telling his mother the truth would cost him but he deserved it. Alice was innocent in all this, he deserved the full blow of his mother's rath. 

"Mom let me explain," Dwayne interjected, and Alice looked at him unsure. 'What was he going to tell his mother?'  They both knew, his mother was a heart patient. She dreaded the thought of losing such a good woman. " We got married ten years ago," Alice held her breath as he spoke, she couldn't look at either of them. His mother stopped her pacing and she looked at her son in horror and Alice felt a little hurt.

Marlene wasn't horrified because he was married to Alice. She couldn't believe, they had kept such a big secret from her. She loved Alice and she did want her as her son's wife. It's just that she had thought it was her youngest that would have tied the knot with her. A wave of dizziness came over her, and she stumbled back against the study desk. They both rushed up to her side. "Mom?" Dwayne grabbed her by the shoulders, Alice reached out to her and they bought her over to the settee.

"I'm fine she dismissed him with the wave of her hand. Its nothing." she sat upright.

"Mom do you need your medicine?" He asked in a worried tone.