PROLOGUE
ETHAN STARED at Agatha for a while with a thoughtful expression on his face as she threw popcorn into her mouth and chewed on it. Dressed in grey sweat pants and a black large sized t-shirt, she seemed like one not yet ready to face the world as this was now her third day of being in her gloomy mood and it was beginning to grate on his nerves.
His daily routine had suddenly changed ever since she fell into the slump after having sent the children to their grandparents place. It now consisted of work, his home to get a change of clothes and Agatha’s house, his last stop. He doubted she even noticed that he now slept over, since all her concentration was glued on the flat screen TV on her wall, bingeing on romantic films that managed to make her shed even more tears at their happy ending. He would order a meal from the restaurant which he coaxed her into eating before she dozed off to sleep.
She had totally cut herself off from the world and her phone had been thrown aside as if it didn’t have any purpose. Watching her fall deeply into depression bothered him a lot as he contemplated on what to do to take her out of it.
He had managed to also take a peek at her boutiques to make sure everything was in order. He chuckled at the fact that Claire, one of Agatha’s employee and friend, seemed to think that what she needed was a dose of love from him that could surely bring her back to the land of the living. If only pigs could fly then he would have been able to accomplish that feat, except Agatha never in any way acknowledged him in that manner.
To her, he was like a young brother she dotted on like all her brood and flipped his attention aside as if it was nothing. He longed for a time when she would finally see him.
Heaving a deep sigh and raking his fingers in his cornrowed hair while she still remained oblivious to his presence, he slowly moved into the room almost gagging at the smell of sweat. How he so hated dirt, yet for his love he would have to trudge through it. He had been standing at the door for almost five minutes without her head turning to look his way as she intently concentrated on the movie at hand.
In the past days he usually found her in her darkened bedroom, cross legged on the bed with a bowl of popcorn, bingeing on movies, not having taken a shower and wearing the same grey sweat pants and black t-shirt that might have belonged to her husband.
And to think she had been confident, rather looking forward to the new page in her life a few weeks back, while they celebrated her divorce with a couple of friends. She had been radiant then as she saucily called him by his nickname, Cookie and danced around without a care in the world.
How the mighty have fallen, he thought with a chuckle while walking towards the bed. The woman terribly needed a shower and fast. The light streaming from the screen enabled him to see that she was still the same from three days back, the only difference being her messy cropped hair, puffy red eyes and of course not forgetting the smelly room.
Tentatively calling her name, “Aggs” he watched her turn her startled face to him, noticing for the first time that she wasn’t alone. “Cookie, how are you love” she chirpily greeted and he could tell that it was all for show, she was dying on the inside. Taking the remote next to her and muting the sound, he reached out for the switch on the wall and flipped it on. His beautiful Aggy was a mess, was the thought that flooded his mind as tenderness for her washed over him, making him get the courage to deal with the matter at hand, take her dainty soft hands into his large ones and look at her with the love he felt.
“Aggy you know I love you right?”
Staring into her eyes, he frowned when tears rolled down her face before she whispered, “I am not lovable, look at me, am disgusting and I don’t deserve to be happy.”
“Hush now love,” he comforted berating himself for having started that conversation once again. He knew she was hurting, yet couldn’t stop his foolish heart and lips from uttering the words that seemed to manage to bring another torrent of tears into her eyes which were already red rimmed from tears prior.
“You are beautiful and have a heart of gold Aggs. Luc doesn’t deserve you weeping over him like this.” At that she wailed even louder and he engulfed her in his embrace, twisting his face at the thought that a shower was long overdue. The lady was a walking bucket of sweat odor. Rocking her like a baby, he muttered some encouraging words in that it was all going to be ok as her tiny frame trembled from the racking sobs that had overcome her. Agatha was tiny compared to most women her age and he rather felt like a hulk of a man next to her. She continued clutching at him while she wept further.
Reaching out to a box of tissue on the dresser, he swiftly removed a few sheets and handed them to her to wipe off the tears from her face before suggesting, “I was thinking we go out for dinner?”
She pouted her cute mouth and answered instead “Not interested, I am just tired of living.” Always the dramatic one as usual, he rolled his eyes and looked for another way to get her off her butt to that room adjoining her bedroom, with free running water in it known as a bathroom that appeared to have become alien to her. He rather missed his clean, talkative Aggy not this dirty creature that said a few words, stayed in bed bingeing on movies and was allergic to water.
“Why don’t you take a shower while I order something to eat? A box of your favorite pizza and we watch a horror film.”
Shaking her head negatively, she curled up in a ball before pulling a bed cover over her head almost eliciting a laugh from Ethan on how she was behaving as he couldn’t believe she was the same business woman whose confidence exuded from her very pores. She was acting like her twin five year old girls, who usually scrammed off at the sound of ‘bath water’ being mentioned.
Already having raised his hand to chide her for such behavior in a fatherly fashion like he would with her twins, his phone rang and he heaved a heavy sigh from being interrupted from his well thought up speech to an adult woman being childish, took it out of the pocket and answered it. “Greg, how are you doing?”
“Good and you? Have been trying to get in touch with Agatha but her phone is unreachable, is she ok?”
Ethan detected the concern in his voice and informed him that he was at her place before removing the phone from the ear and calling out to her, “Its Greg, he wants to talk to you.”
Agatha huddled further into her covers and he could hear her muffled reply, “Don’t want to talk to anyone.”
Shrugging his shoulders having known she would refuse, he left the room for her study to further chat with Greg without having to hold his breath in the process.
“I think its best I came over for a visit.”
“No man, you have Sophie to take care of now and she is almost due. Am sure I can do something about stinky Aggy here,” he retorted and could hear Greg burst out in fits of laughter. “All the best then, remember get rid of the kid gloves,” Greg advised with a chuckle before hanging up. He considered the advice, sighed loudly as this had gone on for quite some time and made the decision to end the pity party for good. Climbing the stairs taking two steps at a time, he yanked the covers off Aggy before swiftly picking her up as she tried to scramble off the bed, seeing his handsome face stern, not at all ready to pamper her up as usual. She screamed and scratched to his annoyance forcing him to hold her flaying arms in a vice grip so she wouldn’t gouge his eyes out. Good Lord, she sure was a wild cat, he thought and carried her to her bathroom where he regretted not having filled up the tub to dump her in it, clothes and all.
Not to be deterred by that minor setback, he moved with her squirming bundle to the shower and got in, fearing if he placed her down, she would scramble off and go back to bed.
“I am a grown woman Cookie, just put me down,” she yelled while he growled in return, “Act like one then.” Placing her feet on the floor, he made her stand in front of him while exerting enough pressure on her arms so she would not fight him.
“You wouldn’t,” she pleaded like a five year old and grimaced when he opened the tap and the cold water gushed on both of them silencing any further protests. “That’s my good girl,” he whispered in her ear after having observed she had calmed down. Aggy snorted in return, at a loss for words.
She thought the water was rather refreshing yet wasn’t going to be treated in this manner by him. Turning to face him with a smart remark that would send him scampering off to hide behind his mother’s skirt, all her words died in her throat at the sight of a wicked delicious grin pasted on his face and she realized that her Cookie wasn’t Cookie at all, but a hot hunk with a white shirt clinging on his body showing his nice physique she has always known he had but never paid that much heed to.
Her legs suddenly felt leaden and butterflies fluttered in her tummy. Did he suddenly seem older, more handsome and solid or it was just her mind playing a prank to her starved senses? This could not be him, yet here he was, dripping water as it ran on his smooth chin to his well- toned upper body. For a while she wished she could follow the part with her finger and touch every crevice of the nicely toned abdomen that was hinted by the tight fitting and now transparent shirt.
Funny, she had always thought him to be slender. She knew why she had thought him to be that way, even though at times she had noticed his beautiful physique.
The Cookie persona he donned on like a cloak at the flick of a hand, making everywoman around him think safe, harmless, girlfriend and gay. He had definitely taken them for a ride and Aggy was none the wiser. She suddenly realized her blunder in placing him in that category as his grin widened, signaling he knew her line of thought and this time wasn’t going to help abate her fears that she was in trouble of losing herself to him. Vulnerable is what she felt as she suddenly shifted away from him to the wall, pouted her cute lips fearing she might do something that would send her straight to purgatory, except she was pulled back and clutched at his strong arms to avoid falling. He bent close to her and Aggy could only stand in a daze as her breath became shallow and she anticipated what would follow. Already her hormones screamed starved woman here while it suddenly dawned she was divorced, pitiful and scandalous to desire someone younger than her. Did this mean she was now turning into a cougar?
Divorced women with six children like her were meant to be exemplary, be heard but not seen, do charity work, take care of their children and not at all contemplate being alive and in love. Either that or become a cougar out on the prowl for her next target?
Lowering her eyes so he wouldn’t see the confusion in them, she stood in wonder with the thought of discovery, like Tarzan saying me Tarzan, you Jane and looking at this delicate creature that seemed different from him. Ethan tilted her face and breathed out warm air near her cheek while her crazy eyes, closed in anticipation. Already she was trembling at the nearness of their bodies as the shower continued running.
“Will you take it from here and strip your clothes off, or you want me to bathe you?” he whispered in his deep voice, managing to heighten her jumbled thoughts as her body thrilled at that prospect of having him do that.
Wait a minute, wasn’t she just weeping for her lost marriage a while ago, bawling her eyeballs out for her dear unfaithful husband who she wished alive and dead at the same time. And now here she was, seeing her best friend in new light and about to drool like a Labrador while he suggested a striping game.
She squeaked, cleared her throat and tried again, this time sounding like her usual self, the mother of six, the divorcee, and the sensible one. “I will take it from here; you scamper off and get ready for dinner.”
He shrugged his broad shoulders, smirked cutely before walking out without a backward glance. He reached out for a clean towel on her shelf and shut the door. Guess he wasn’t affected as she was then. Dragging out a long sigh of relief, she thought that if he had just kissed her, she would have not resisted him at all, but would have made a spectacle of herself by being clingy and begging him to stay with her forever.
She groaned, removed her dirty clothes, suddenly loathing them since they were a reminder of Luc, before lathering her body with the lavender scented showering gel and getting the much needed bath. The smell of the gel filled her bathroom, managing to also sooth her, at the same time bringing to her awareness that her usually clean friend had dirtied his hands.
Ethan was particularly a neat freak as no hair could be found on him out of place. He usually cringed and cleaned up when he saw dirt and her twins loved to see him squirm while doing it. The only time she ever saw him sweaty was when he played basketball with his mates. She chuckled at the thought of him scrubbing off the smell of her sweat and stopped short when her thoughts wandered to the attractive body it was.
Aggy its time you got your head checked, Cookie is not your type, she gave herself a mental shake, hoping she had knocked her head over something while she struggled with him so as to avoid taking a bath, than the obvious that he turned her into mush. Getting out of the shower she felt refreshed, clean and her mind seemed clear. Who ever knew that a cold shower could be the antidote to her depression?
She chuckled when she got into her bedroom and noticed the open windows and curtains, a slight breeze of fresh air drifting through and a made up bed. Off course her clean friend had changed the bedding, not a surprise there.
Staring at the clock she realized she had taken longer in the bathroom and shrugged her slender shoulders at that fact. She had to cool off first before she could get another dosage of Ethan. Cookie, Ethan whatever her mind would choose to call him from now on. He had laid out an outfit for her to wear, a habit he couldn’t temper down apparently since he strived in making women clothing.
Walking towards the French doors, she opened them and came out to the balcony of her house and stared thoughtfully at the sun setting over the horizon as she encouraged herself that it was going to be fine. All things would work together for good. It wasn’t the end of the world. It was the end of her sanity but not the world, the world would always remain the same. She watched the tree leaves rustle around due to the breeze, looked over at her neighbors backyards. Everything seemed normal, parents calling out to their children to get into the house, lights being turned on as evening set in, except she knew that her relationship with Ethan would never be the same.
Moving back into her room, she stared at the outfit he had laid out for her and instantly knew it wasn’t something that came out from her closet, rather his creation. She wore sensible clothes, knee length dresses, suits and pencil skirts that made her exemplary at church to be pointed out by the priest for modest dressing. Not sexy, alluring or attractive, except for that one time she went to serve her husband with the divorce papers whilst he was in hospital.
She ran her fingers over the cool grey satin as it felt soft like butter and nearly moaned. The soft fabric slid easily on her skin and exposed one of her silky caramel shoulder. The bodice was made of light grey lace and had one long sleeved part. The satin skirt had a split front, showing off her attractive thighs as it fell to the floor and swished when she moved. She guessed Cookie might have sewn it with the intention to make her feel desirable as it exposed and at the same time hinted to her body. For a mother of six, she definitely looked and felt beautiful.
Along with the dress was a box he had placed on the dresser. Grey high heeled shoes were snuggled up in it with a clutch purse. She noticed the intricately placed lace like the one on her dress at the top of the heels. Settling down on the chair, she donned them on muttering under her breath, Cookie, you surely know how to make a lady feel special. Her hair was done, check, makeup done, check and she even puckered her lips for an effect. Satisfied with the way she looked, she picked up the clutch purse and glided out of her room.
She wished she could be brave enough to wear something that exposed her back like Sophie did but was a chicken. Sophie’s style could only be pulled by her, alone. Wondering about the young woman, having witnessed her gyrate on the dance floor like one not pregnant at all, she thought there was definitely something about her as she didn’t seem like an innocent Greg had portrayed her as in the first place. Shaking her head from the thoughts that had drifted in pertaining to her new friend, she climbed down the stairs.
She could hear Ethan talking over the phone and wondered who he might be speaking with. He turned in time to see her come down the stairs and the look he gave her made her feel shy. He coughed, said a few words over the phone and hung up. Dressed in a light grey suit with a Chinese collar and buttons that arrayed the front in a slanting fashion to match her outfit Aggy took note that they wore a couple’s outfit.
The jacket had flowers the same ones on her lace though from far it seemed plain. “Did I disturb you from your call,” she pointedly stared at his hand with the phone feeling nervous at the same time that the reprieve she thought she had gained had been for nothing. Her mind had taken the forever three hundred and sixty degree turn; he will never be Cookie to her.
“Just girlfriend trouble, nothing for you to worry your pretty head about.”
She giggled, flipping the statement aside and not believing a word of it. Ethan didn’t do girlfriends; he only loved her. He appreciatively stared at her, whistled as she glowered at him. “Look at you, all spruced up girlfriend,” he airily stated pulling on the womanly mannerisms, except she now knew his secret. Never would she ever under estimate him again. She had done that before by thinking him harmless, she thought as she watched him walk towards her and take her hand before twirling her around.
“Shall we,” he asked and placed her hand in his crook at the same time managing to send her body into a fritz, took her out for dinner, wined and dined her making her forget on what’s his name. Yes off course horrible Luc, her ex-husband.
Yvonne Sibanda 