I may not live to see our glory

8 ~ Say no to this

It had been a week since the Hamiltons had left to Grandpa Phillip's house, and life was getting tedious. Between making sure that Alex took breaks, keeping the house clean and honing my touching skills, there wasn't much else to do. So I would just sit in the study, looking over his shoulder and marvelling at his eloquence.

Ugh. If I have to do this for another three weeks, I think I'm gonna kill myself out of boredom. Oh, wait. I thought, smiling to myself. I'm already dead. Honestly, how had I survived these past sixteen years without dying of boredom? There wasn't much else to do at this point except twiddle my thumbs and wait for something interesting to happen.

My thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a knock at the front door. Bewildered at who could be at our door at this ungodly hour, I sped downstairs after Alex, who opened the door to be greeted by the sight of a beautiful woman in red.

Her brown, curly hair was dishevelled and sticking up in a lot of places, damp with sweat. Her face was flushed and sweaty, and her scarlet lipstick had smudged. It matched the colour of her dress, low-cut and laced at the front.

"I know you are a man of honour, I'm so sorry to bother you at home, but I don't know where to go, and I came here all alone..."

Uhh, alright. Why'd she come here to Alex's house? And alone, too? Is she okay?

"My husband's been doing me wrong, beating me, mistreating me, suddenly he's up and gone...I don't have the means to go on..."

"Uh, alright!" said a flustered Alex. "Do you need money? I'll walk you home, if that's okay, miss."

"Thank you sir, you're too kind."

My blood boiled at the sound of her husband, but something was amiss. Why did this woman come to Alex, of all people? She could have easily gone to the sheriff, or any other member of this street. They were just as honourable as Alex was. I'd get to the bottom of this. I followed Alex into his study, where he retrieved a small sack of coins and pressed it into the woman's hand.

"Shall we?" he asked, offering his arm.

"Of course," she smiled, taking it.

"So, what's your name, miss?"

"Maria Reynolds, sir."

"Where's your house?"

"Just a block away, sir. That's the one!"

"Is your husband at home?"

"No, he goes out most nights to drink. Please, come in, have some tea."

So I followed them inside, investigating the house. It seemed like Maria was telling the truth, and she really was home alone.

I walked back into the living room, where Alex was standing up, preparing to leave.

"Well, thanks, I should be getting back home now."

Without warning, she grabbed his arm and led him to her bedroom, a seductive smile on her face.

Sprawling out on the bed, she smirked, pulling him towards her.

"Stay? Please?"

Uhhh. Slightly flushing, I quickly ducked out of the room so they wouldn't see me eavesdropping on their...private meeting.

Alex, what the actual hell are you doing? Do you recall a certain person...hmmm, what's her name? Eliza? YOUR FREAKING WIFE?! The widely accepted way of taking a break is having a holiday to do what you love, not having a damn one night stand.

The noises coming from the bedroom had gotten worse, so I decided to run outside for some fresh air. The cool summer breeze made my thoughts clearer. What would I do about this? Should I tell Philip? Hmmm. Nah, he didn't need the extra stress, and Alex was a smart man who knew how to cover his tracks. He wouldn't tell anyone about this, right? Yeah, he might be reckless but that was another level of recklessness.