The forgotten groom

Chapter 16

Nik

"Please stop! Don't come any closer!" I tell Max. He is half naked! Wearing only briefs!
I can't! I just can't! He is standing there looking at me puzzled.

"Nik? He asks coming closer

I take his hand and lead him to my closet. I rumage around for sweats and a T-shirt and hand them over to him.

"Here, put these on" I say holding them out but he slaps them out of my hand and they fall to the ground.

"Why? I can't believe you Nik!" He says angrily, "Why must it always be about you, what you want, you are the most selfish person I know" he rages

What? Why is he reacting like this? Surely he knows why i am doing this! Is he so traumatized that he pretends not to know what happened all those years ago?

"Max,its not like that, you know why I'm doing this!" I say bewildered

"No I don't!" He shouts back

"You want to talk about it?" I ask in a quiet voice

"What are you talking about Nik?" He asks sitting down on the bed

I slowly kneel down by his feet and sit down on the floor.

"You remember the day we got married?" I ask

"How can I forget that awful day!" He says as I wince

"That's why I don't want to talk about it" I say

"Start making sense, right know!" He says

"Someone spiked my drink..." I say but before I can even finish, he laughs sarcastically

"Really Nik? Your friends made you drunk so you wouldn't have to go through that awful day with me"he says standing up

" What? Who?" I ask

"Nik! Stop pretending, I got over it, maybe, and your girlfriend told me herself she would do it to save you" he says

"Alexia?" I ask bewildered

"Yeah,little miss Alexia" he says

I can't believe it! Alexia? They spiked my drink!

"Unbelievable" I say

"I didn't expect you to believe me just like I don't expect you to believe me" he says

I turn away from him and face the window.

"I believe you Max, I don't even know how you can stand to be near me, I took advantage of you that night!" I say pained.
That old pain and guilt resurfacing, I abused him, he was just fifteen for crying out loud! I wasn't in my senses. I don't get why he never said anything about it. He just packed and left for his mother's place.

"What?" He asks visibly shaken

"I'm so sorry, I swear I didn't mean to, you can turn me in if you want, atleast I got this burden off my chest, it been killing me for years, that's why I left for school" I say sliding down the wall

"Nik! Look at me! You didn't rape me" he says kneeling in front of me

"Max, don't lie please" I beg you I say

"Look at me! You didn't do anything! What made you think that?" He asks

"I woke up and you were huddled up in a corner, naked and sheets to waist, you were sobbing and looked terrified to see me, when I tried to touch you he says

" I was just crying about my own things Nik, it was hot, I woke up and showered and didn't put on anymore clothes, so I sat in the corner". He explains

"Are you telling the truth?" I ask a burden lifting off my shoulders. All this time I blamed myself, I felt guilty, I couldn't face Max, that's why I stayed away. I didn't want to see his accusing eyes.

"Yeah, I was crying because grandfather threatened to pull my mum out of the rehab clinic if I didn't marry you" he says

"What the hell? I thought you had it easy, that's why I resented you, I didn't know you were being forced too" I say at a loss for what to do

"Well no, I didn't have it easy either" he says

"So you didn't ask your grandfather to buy me for you?" I ask

That haunted me so much knowing I was bought for my husband! It was so humiliating that's why I worked so hard to pay each and every coin Harold gave my family.

"Of course not!" Max says

"I thought so cause I knew you had a crush on me" I say teasingly

"So what? You think I was so desperate for you?" He scoffs

"Yeah" I reply

"Shut up! What an ego!" He exclaims

I've been such a fool! If only we had talked, spent time together after getting married, we would have gotten to know each other. All this anger and pain would have been avoided!

"I'm leaving Max" I suddenly say

"Forever?" He asks looking scared

"I don't know, I've been carrying this burden for a long time, I can't wrap my mind around it, I need to go away for a while" I explain

"You don't have to go" he says

"Yes, I have to" I say going and giving him a kiss on the forehead and leaving. I think I'll go on a long vacation. I hope Ventura is free to come with me.

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