Ricardo's obsession

Chapter-27

Ricardo’s feet continued to tap on the marble floor of the small diner they were seated in with Juan as she ran through the final products of the column that they were to publish tomorrow. They were about to dine when she received a call from Juan asking her to drop by the office to give the word in the to be published column she was assisting him on but Ricardo being Ricardo did not want his wife being at Juan’s back and call so he demanded that if Juan needed her assistance he needed to come down here and wrap the things up. He did not like how they were going through the work without a care of the world and as if he was not around.
Every time Juan reached out to grab the things which were at the other side of the table made him lean into Iris and that had him on his nerves. He did not like the proximity his wife and her colleague shared but as promised he fisted his hand and resisted the urge to reach across, grab Juan by his collar and throw a punch at him. It had merely been 30 minutes and he was already at the edge. The way Juan’s silly jokes or remarks made his wife smile or laugh without a care he wanted to end Juan’s life. The fact that her happiness mattered less than his possessiveness was when he mentally slapped himself for. He was wrong to want to be the sole reason of her laughter was not something he wanted to encouraged himself with but he did.
He broke his silence when Juan patted her head for a job well done.
“I’ve warn you well enough not to get hanky-panky on my wife.” He said through gritted teeth and gone was the little smile she had on her beautiful face.
“Man! You need to chill your pants. The way your mind runs when it comes to me next to your wife is not healthy for either of us especially your marriage.” Juan’s word hit a strike as Ricardo put his hand on the table with a bang startling Iris.
“You got no say in our marriage and I’d suggest you not to bother yourself with whatever we have between us. We are capable enough to work our marriage by ourselves.”
“Juan, I’ll see you on Monday.” She pries in their conversation as she feared of where this conversation between them was going to lead to. Juan decided not to reply back and got up for the sake of Iris. But he did just what he wanted to do for so long since he met this arrogant specimen of man.
“When it comes to her you need not worry for It is you that turns me on with that arrogance of yours every time we meet.” He kissed Iris on her cheeks and left leaving both the husband and wife dumb folded at his statement.
The door chimed indicating the exit of Juan and Iris burst out laughing as Ricardo stared at her in nothing but disbelieve. She had been working under Juan for the past 2 years but she never got any sort of hint regarding his sexuality but now she knew about it all thanks to her husband.
“I should have noticed the way he looked at you each time you were around but I only took it for his dislike towards you.”
“We don’t have to pry on his sexuality.”
She said nothing but only stared at him with a funny look on her face. Her jaw on her hand which rested on the table, as she looked at him with laughter in her eyes. He was sulking.
“But then you are one hot good looking man. Who won’t want you?” she said without a thought and the moment he smiled at her made her recall her words and the laughter she had in her vanished as if it was never there.
“The only good thing that Juan ever did was make you admit you are not immune to my looks.”
She cleared her throat and looked away but then why should she look away when she did nothing wrong. She looked him in the eyes
“You’d be the perfect human if only you did not have that ego and your chauvinistic trait.”
“It all makes a package and it is all yours.” There was no way he was going to give in to her so it was always wise to not start anything that will never change no matter what.
“Change of topic. When will Selena wake? Did Lambert gave you any hint?”
He groaned at her change of topic but the sooner she was satiated with Selena the sooner he could have all her undivided attention.
“I warned you not to get your hopes up and Lambert is trying to keep her asleep until her wounds get better.”
“Won’t keeping her sedated make the process of the wounds healing slower?”
“It will but it is this is the fastest way as she is always doing just the thing which is prolonging the process of healing.”
“Did she really try to get away from the villa as soon as she woke up?”
“She did and this is the reason why I was away for a month looking for her and when we found her she had lose way too much blood and you know the rest.”
She did know how she was of a very rare blood group and having no other option he decided to give her way more blood than it was healthy for a man to. they belonged from the same blood group and given that they were in a remote area when they found her there was no way were going to be able to transport any blood in that short period of time so he took the matters into his had ended up in bed for a week. Lambert warned him to not be on his feet this early but he was never one to heed others words. His fracture was also healing up at a slow pace given that he was low on blood count.
“Can I visit her again when she is better?”
“You can visit her but only when I am with you. I don’t want what happened yesterday to happen again.”
“I can protect myself and it was just a onetime thing.”
“You should never trust anyone not all are the way you presume them to be.”
“But can I trust you?”
“Don’t you want to?”
“I don’t.” she said without a moment to think it through. She had nothing it loses and she was willing to fake it just to make the other people feel better when they are desperately in need to be shown the mirror of truth. Ricardo was deprived of honest judgement of himself and she was not going to play up to it. His expression became emotionless making her not being able to know just what he was thinking.
He put the cutlery down on his plate and looked at her.
“Do you want me to trust in you?”
“Why can’t you?”
“You never gave me the reasons to and being my husband is no enough reason to. I never knew before some months ago and suddenly we were tied down by marriage yet I still know nothing about you. What make you think you deserve my trust?” she yelled by the end of her sentence and he got up from his seat and pulled her out of the diner and into the car.
“We will not put our private life on display.”
He said bringing the car to live and he drove away. They would be pulled had they been caught by the patrols but they did not meet any, just talk about luck.
She was pushed against the wall the moment they stepped into the apartment and she began to strip her off her dress as well as undressing himself too. He had her pinned up against the wall. Her hands on his shoulder as he wrapped her legs around his waist.  He pulled his lips away from hers and with his elbow resting on the wall he pressed his forehead to hers.
“I don’t deserve you but I want you to trust on me. It is very difficult for you but why can’t you just let me in. I will give up the world for you if that’s what you want.”
The sincerity his words tugged at her heart. She was not used to having people talking to her in this manner and she would have thought of it as cliché had it been said by any other person but here she did not feel that way. His breath on her tingling lips and this eyes as looking at her in hopes and the groan he let out  which was caused by his bandaged arm made her put her legs down and she hugged him tight. No words made to her lips, she did not want to give say anything for the sake of saying if she did not mean it.
“I cannot give you my false words.”
“Please do if that’s what you want to and I will make sure to turn it into what you truly want and mean. I just need you.”
“I don’t want to.”
“Why?”
“You’ll lead me to somewhere where I never want to be again. I cannot risk it again.”
“Where is it that you mean?”
She stood on her toes and kissed him hard on his lips.
He was wrong to threaten her into marriage.
He was wrong to give her false hopes.
He was wrong to expect anything from her.
He was wrong to even want to make her feel at home with him.
Everything that had to do with him was wrong and something she shouldn’t want to involve herself with but there was this pull towards him. Was it her fear of being alone or was he truly making her feels just what she didn’t want to, at peace.
She took hold of his bandaged hand in her and kissed his hand. She looked up at him and running a hand through his cheek
“Will it be okay for you if I cannot love you?”
He stayed still no words came out of his smart mouth.
“I will be the wife you want me to be, the daughter-in-law your mother wanted me to be but I just can’t force myself to love you. Will you be okay with it?” she asked again and he pulled away from her.
“Is there any other man…
“There is no other man.”
“You can’t or you don’t want to?”
“I don’t know.” She looked away and pulled her dress back on handing him his but he pulled her to him and with a faint smile on his face he hugged her. The cast on his arm felt hard on her back and she hugged him back.
He pulled her to him but said nothing as he listened to her breathing as she did. He put the lights out and stared at the ceiling in the dark. She was sound asleep and was lightly snoring.
“I am undeserving of your love but I want it anyhow, will you ever learn to love me? Can I make you love me?” he whispered to her sleeping form. Though he very well knew she will not be able to but who would? The only good thing he did in his life loved her but that too with a selfish mean.
If he could ever undo anything he would go back in time and woo her and not threatened her into marriage, he was not a patient man but when it came to her he was willing to wait till the universe extinct.