Pains and Sore Thighs

Avril woke up very late and alone in Alejandro's large bed. Her whole body ached and she could hardly lift herself to sit up. Her hair was a mess. It was all over her face and was as scattered as a rice field that was hit by a storm. The bed was not any better. It was like lightening struck it and turned it upside down.

After minutes of just lying there and looking up into the ceiling, she gathered strength and sat up. She rested her back on the bed frame and touched her forehead that was blazing hot. Her head even ached badly. The events of the previous night replayed in her mind and made her cringe.

“I won't think about it. I won't think about it,” she whispered to herself. She looked around the room and saw her clothes on the floor. It was then she remembered her charm bracelet. She had forgotten about it the previous day.

Slowly and gently, she placed her legs on the floor and wrapped the blanket on her naked body. A step she took was accompanied with a scream. Her legs were heavy and so sore, like she carried the weight of the world on her thighs. But she needed to get to her clothes and check for her bracelet. She continued to take painful steps until she reached them. She peered in but didn't see any sign of gold. She could not bend down, that would be World War III.

“How am I going to get this?” she asked in her mind. Then, she looked around the room and sighted a long pole used for decorating a shelf. It was a long way to the wall and Avril could not risk going there when she could just shift the clothes with her leg and endure the pain.

She exhaled deeply and shifted her heavy leg to the clothes. She began to scatter them and saw no sign of the bracelet. She looked around for her bra where she had actually hid it, but did not see it anywhere.

“It must be on the bed. That's where I remember putting it on last,” she muttered to herself. She turned back to the bed and walked there. Under one of the pillows was her bra and the bracelet stuck in its sling. Avril sighed in relief and sat down then took the bracelet.

“Thank God I found you,” she mumbled and kissed it. She hooked it into her wrist and stared at it with a smile on her face. At that phase of her life, the bracelet was her most treasured possession.

The door opened and a fully clothed Alejandro walked in. He was wearing a leather jacket and trousers, with those thick boots and big rings laden on all fingers. Avril tensed and shifted uncomfortably.

“You keep doing that, you will die of hypertension someday,” he drawled in his usual smug voice.

He walked past the bed and towards a closet. Then he opened it and pulled out a white fluffy bathrobe. He turned to Avril and showed her the robe.

“Do you like this? It's mine and smells like me,” he said.

“I hate the well you smell,” she replied and her throat hurt. She gulped down painfully then rubbed her neck.

“Women like the way I smell,” he stated and began to walk towards me.

“Great. Go give them the bathrobe then,” she retorted and scoffed under ber breath.

“Does your throat hurt? Do you need something hot for breakfast?”

“Go away. I don't want anything from you,” she mumbled and looked away. Alejandro walked to her side of the bed and dropped the robe beside her.

“Can you walk?” he asked. Avril shot him a glare and shifted from him.

“I was a little too hard on you last night, wasn't I?” he asked again and yet, Avril did not reply. His presence alone irritated her beyond explanation.

“Wait for me,” he said and went into the bathroom. Avril looked at the bathrobe and liked it immediately. It was a pure white cotton fabric with feathery trims. She picked it up and had the urge to smell it to see if it really smelled like Alejandro. She was about to sniff it when he returned to the room and she dropped it back on the bed.

“Freddie told my friends that you were on the ship with those African women. He said you were friends. Was he correct?” Alejandro asked as he pulling out some things from a drawer beside the bed.

“Yes,” Avril replied.

“You might want to see them. So, I arranged for them to have breakfast with you. They've been here for about an hour and you were sleeping throughout.”

“Chidi and Nana are here? In this house?” she asked with excitement.

“Downstairs, teasing my men in the kitchen,” he answered and turned to face her.

“Time for a bath. There's water in the tub already but I do not know how you like your bath water and what temperature. So, you'd have to tell me. Very hot, just hot or just warm?”

Avril peered at him and couldn't see any trace of that darkened look he carried the previous day, when he wanted to kill those men. Or when he was having sex with her. The Alejandro standing and asking her about bath water was totally different.

“Just hot. I feel pains all over and need a hot bath,” she found herself replying.

“Okay. Give me a minute,” he said and went back into the bathroom. He changed the water temperature and returned to the bedroom.

“You didn't answer my questions earlier,” he said as he walked towards her.

“Which is?” Avril asked.

“Can you walk? I was a little too hard on you last night, wasn't I?”

“I—I can walk a short way. Yes, you were hard,” she gulped down because she cringed at the thought of what he had done to her last night.

“I will take it easy next time. Until you're used to having it my way,” he stated.

Again, Avril cringed and got goosebumps. So she was really stuck with him and would get next times as a sex slave?

“Come on, let's go to the bathroom,” he said while standing right beside her. He tried to pull away the blanket covering her but she yelled and jerked off.

“When did you get here so fast? And what the h.ell do you think you're doing?” she snapped.

“Taking your blanket off? Is that a crime when I was the one who covered your body last night?”

Avril stared at him and sighed.

“Don't remove my blanket. Get away,” she shoved him from her side and placed her legs on the floor again. He chuckled softly and with one swig, he swooped her into his arms. She yelled and tried to hit him, but strength failed her. He took her to the bathroom and dropped her into the bathtub, together with her beloved blanket.

“The towels are over there, when you're done. Don't take long, that Nana of a girl is taking away the peace of my home,” he said and began to walk out

“Alejandro?” Avril called and he turned back to her.

“Why do you seem different from yesterday? Are you bipolar or something?” she asked.

“No. This is me,” he answered.

“Then why did you try to kill those men yesterday?”

“Because the same chocolate humans love are lethal to dogs,” he answered and walked out of the bathroom. Avril could not understand what he meant by that.