12 Days to Find a Husband

Chapter 4 - Revelations

"Aaahh! Why would you do that? Help me!" the man yelled out in pain.

Something in the man's voice caught Anna-lea's attention. She had already made it down the stairs and was at the front door when she stopped.

"Are you there? I need help," the man yelled again, stumbling out of the bedroom door and towards the stairs.

The house was open plan and from where Anna-lea stood, she could look straight up to the first level. The bedroom she had just come from was located at the end of the short corridor.

Immediately Anna-lea recognized her would be kidnapper. It was her great aunt Hilda's lawyer, Gregory Benton.

"Oh, crap," Anna-lea exclaimed, realizing who she had just attacked.

Immediately she ran back up the stairs and reached Gregory as he found the railing. His eyes were a nasty red and swollen.

"I am so sorry. I didn't know it was you," Anna-lea started but was interrupted by him.

"Why in the hell would you do that to me, you stupid woman!" Gregory yelled, the pain in his eyes seeming to grow with his anger.

Anna-lea was stunned.

Yes, I sprayed him in the eyes and yes, he is obviously hurt, but he doesn't have to yell at me like that, she thought.

"Hang on a minute. I sprayed you because I woke up in a strange house with a stranger's shirt on. I thought I had been drugged and kidnapped. I didn't know who was walking into that room. I was scared. And secondly, I am not stupid and I will not be yelled at like that by you or anyone, no matter how bloody hurt you are. Got it?"

Gregory waited for Anna-lea to finish her tirade and then spoke in as calm a tone as he could manage in his current state.

"I understand how you could have been confused when you woke up but the fact is you have hurt me and you are not doing anything to help me so, if you don't mind, I need to find my way to the bathroom so I can wash this stuff out of my eyes. You know where the door is."

Anna-lea couldn't stand this man. He had no empathy for other people's feelings whatsoever.

"Fine," she said in a huff and headed for the stairs again.

Halfway down, she turned back to look at him. Gregory was trying to make his way along the railing to the stairs. One wrong step and he could get seriously hurt. Anna-lea's conscience wouldn't allow her to leave without helping him. After all, she was responsible for his injury. She reluctantly climbed back up the stairs and moved over to him.

Taking him by the right arm she said, "I can't let you fall. I'll help you get to the bathroom and rinse out your eyes, and then I'll leave."

Gritting his teeth Gregory said, "Thank you. It's down the stairs; head toward the kitchen and take the first door on the left."

"Okay," Anna-lea replied and concentrated on guiding Gregory to their destination.

Only the odd intake of breath because he was in pain passed Gregory's lips as they made their way to the bathroom.

He really is in a lot of pain, Anna-lea thought to herself and felt guilty for her actions. Why hadn't she just waited to see who it was? What made her so scared that she had to flee? She didn't know and didn't have time to self analyse at the moment.

After spending ten minutes flushing out the deodorant from Gregory's eyes with running water, he started to feel some relief.

"It's feeling a little better but I think I'll still need to see a doctor," he said.