Holy Mary

"It was a long journey home. I can't really recall what caused most of the incidents that occurred" Oliver said.

"I understand, you should rest then" her father told him.

"I will leave then" Oliver stroke Isla's hair before he stood him. He left shortly.

"Yes my child?" Her father asked.

"Papa what's that man doing here?" Isla asked straight away.

"What man do you speak of dear?"

"The man that had breakfast with us the other day, I heard from him today, he intends to live here and he said it was permitted by you," Isla tried to control the frustration in her tone.

"Oh you mean Devon Balthazar," her Father beamed with realization.

"So it's true after all. You agreed" Isla exclaimed "But why?" She relaxed when the question crossed her mind.

"Because he wants to devote his time to God as a missionary, we can't deprive him of that right now, can we?" Her father said calmly.

"You are serious about this missionary work you spoke about," Isla was surprised.

"It's not me my child but him, he is serious about it."

"But still why does he have to live with us to accomplish his goals?"

"My dear he is a foreigner, don't you think it's bad if we kick him out? Let's try to understand his situation first, okay?"

Left with no choice, she nodded with a plan to make sure the stranger hates his stay here and live. If he truly wants to be a missionary then he would still do it without staying with them.

He was not actually staying with them but a quarters at least three miles away from them. She still found it too close. The idea of another man apart from her father and uncle staying here didn't sit well with her.

Isla left her father's office, she tried walking carefully not to bump into that man or have any encounter with him.

When she successfully made it almost to her room, she breathed out in relief.

She was so close to her room door. She saw Mary approaching and she acted normal with a forced smile. Mary also smiled back, however it was not faked like hers.

Mary shifted her gaze back to focus on her way. Her eyes caught something, she looked carefully with narrowed eyes so she could be able to comprehend what she was seeing.

Her pace slowed down, her jaw fell open and her hands holding a tray became weak. She stood still with a shocked expression. The tray she held slipped through her fingers and fell.

Something dropped with a flump sound. Isla became stiff, she turned to the source only to see Mary standing with a shocked and mesmerized expression that slowly turned to a dreaming look. She didn't actually know the cause of all these, this was the first time Mary acted this strange, paying no attention to her surroundings.

Mary was young and beautiful. She was seventeen years of age and knew little about the outside world. This made her naive, submissive and prissy, this made a lot of people to refer to her as, holy Mary. She was also a bit cautious whenever she saw things out of the ordinary but this was out of the ordinary, her behavior right now was shocking to Isla. And out of curiosity, Isla turned her back to look at whatever it was that made Mary this startled, however Isla also froze to her toes.

From afar the small wind blew through a shiny blonde hair, revealing a masculine face and blonde eyes that gleamed for an unknown reason. The skin was so smooth and just like the hair and eyes, the skin had no difference. It was also shining. The body was out of this world.

The person was tall and bulky. The built was unbelievable. Isla was so stiff just like Mary but they were stiff for almost similar reasons.

Mary was stiff because she had never seen any human or thing that was this strange but undeniably beautiful and pleasing to the eyes. Just where on earth did he come from?.

Isla would probably ask the same question but for different reasons. The man was indeed not just eye catching but mesmerizing as well. She could hear her pounding heart that danger was fast approaching. She prayed not to see him, yet here he was. He was coming closer with an air of warning around him.

He walked elegantly and stood in the front of both ladies who stood at each side of the hallway, leaving only a tiny space in the middle.

Devon raised his brow in questioning as he looked at the ladies unsurprised. Isla was the first to snap out of her trance when she saw his perfect shaped eyebrow raised.

She turned her back and walked at a fast pace.

Mary was left alone with the stranger whose eyes followed Isla.

She blinked her eyes to see if the stranger was just the figment of her imagination.

Devon still stood there. He slowly turned his head to look at the lady whose face was flushed. His gaze moved down to the tray on the ground. He looked at it for a while before walking away.

Mary's eyes followed him until he was out of sight. She finally woke up from her trance and hissed. The man didn't even help her with the tray. Not that she wanted that from him, but at least she was expecting him to be a gentleman. He was so good looking with bad manners, Mary was sure ignoring the tray was just one of it and there were more to come.

She picked the tray and gazed back one last time. She walked away with only the stranger's handsome face in mind.

Isla got into her room and shut the door. She went to her bed with the thought of staying indoors throughout the day, however she forgot it was still early and she hadn't had anything, she hadn't eaten even breakfast yet all thanks to that man.

She was soon tossing and turning on her bed. Her stomach was singing to be fed. Left with no choice, she made a plan to go to the kitchen and find what was edible. She would be very careful.

She opened the door and it made a cracking sound. Isla frowned and hastily covered her mouth with her free hand as if the sound was coming from her.

She gradually made her way to the kitchen. Isla got there, it was sparkling and there was no trace of food there. She decided to cook something very fast.

She wondered why she was hiding from that man. She understood that she was uncomfortable whenever he was around her. She had met a handful of men but never had she stood close to them, except for father with uncle and her best friend.

How would she make him go away if she kept avoiding him? She had to think rationally and stick to her plans instead of hiding and cowering away from him. She got that his aura was frightening and spellbinding at the same time, something that even got 'holy Mary' in a trance was indeed powerful.

She walked out to get the water she was fetching a while ago.

"Isla" someone called her the minute she stepped outside.