Love in Relationship (LHR 2 sample)

Chapter four

After Gary left, Michael was left alone in his house again, he thought about calling his mom over or better still tell her what was happening to him and the things he was seeing, but he decided against it. Since when did he become mommy's boy? And again, he wouldn't want his mom to know that that's how he had been treating Sasha.
He went up to his room to take a nap or even still work on some documents, maybe getting himself busy will make him not to think much. He got to his bedroom and immediately he pushed the door, the door opened but only for him to see the man like him dragging Sasha by her wrist out of the room, Sasha was crying and trying to free her hand from his hold but the man only tightened his hold on her.
Michael got angry and wanted to free her from the man but they walked through him to the stairs, out of impulse he followed them, determined to free her from him. He saw himself dragging her down the stairs in a fit of anger and three more stairs, he pushed her down. Michael gasped as he watched Sasha missed her footing and fell down the stairs, she supported herself with her hand to reduce the impact of the fall and he winced for he knew her hand had sustained an injury.
Michael glared at the man who was a reflection of his very self, the man was busy berating Sasha and he turned to walk up the stairs after saying his piece when Sasha suddenly looked up and muttered her name and something else, the man turned and screamed at her 'I don't care!' And stomped up the stairs, passing through Michael again. Michael stared at the weeping Sasha on the floor, he saw how she rubbed and messaged her wrists and knew she was in great pain, he wanted to go to her, to comfort her, to tell her everything is going to be okay but he knew she would vanished at his touch and for the moment, he didn't want her to go.
He stayed with her, watching her curl herself into a ball, and as he watched that, he remembered the day that such happened, it was the morning after the night he had been drugged by Amanda and he had came home but only to suck up to his wife, that night, they had shared a very intimate moment and he remembered every detail of it clearly, he had woken up that morning and had been angry, putting all blames on her but he knew within himself that she was innocent. If he hadn't gone to that dinner to meet Amanda, if he hadn't taken that drink, then he wouldn't have been drugged and what happened wouldn't have happen.
It was all his fault and he had blamed her for it, realizing his mistake, Michael felt his eyes welled up as he looked at the sobbing woman who had been judged wrongly and he also remembered what he had said to her that day 'you are not in my heart and you will never be' he had regretted those words immediately he said them but he couldn't take them back and he didn't want to because if he do, he will have to explain himself and then she will come to know of his feelings for her and he don't want that but now, how he wished he can go back to that day.
A while later, the ghost version of him came out of the room, dressed up for work, Michael watched him with red eyes as he walked down the stairs, passed the woman who was crying at the foot of the stairs and walked out the door, just then the lady vanished and he heaved a deep sigh. He had wanted to go to her that day when he saw how she curled up on the floor but his pride didn't let him and now he regrets it, very much.
The next day, Gary came in the morning as usual, when he saw Michael, he noticed there were huge eye bags under his eyes and he wondered whether he didn't sleep at night and his curiosity got the best of him "didn't you sleep last night boss?"
When Michael had the question, he let out a deep breath, of course he didn't sleep since his mind kept on playing scenes of him and Sasha in the bedroom and he also spent the rest of the night wallowing in regrets. He had left the room to be away from those visions or illusions or hallucinations, he don't even know what to call them. He had came into the living room but scenes of the ones that happened in the living room started. In fact, there was no place he went in the house that he didn't see her and the ghost him hurting her.
In truth, Michael feels his house is haunted by them but the worst of all is that he can't tell anyone, not a single person because in all sanity, who will believe him? Who will believe that he kept on seeing where he hurt his wife and the pains he brought her? Absolutely nobody and in fact, they will also label him as crazy but he knows he is not crazy and there is no way he is going to let himself spend a single day in those damned asylum.
"You okay boss? You don't sleep well here anymore? Should I move in?"
Michael shook his head and took a bite from his bread "no need" he said in voice lower than a whisper and Gary had to stretch his ear to hear him.
He don't know why but he feels his boss had lost weight overnight, when he came yesterday for breakfast, his boss was okay, the way he used to be but when he came for lunch, he noticed there was something different about him but he couldn't ask and when he came for dinner, his boss was already looking worn out and he knew immediately something was wrong which was why he came early this morning and only to meet his boss looking like the ghost of himself, he looked so thin and pale and Gary fears he was sick "should we go to the hospital?"
"I'm fine" Michael repeated in the same voice, he knew Gary will want to insist and so he raised his head from his plate to look at him but only to freeze, she was there again, sitting on the same seat as Gary, Michael gulped as he stared at her, she had been crying, her eyes were swollen and red and she had tear lines on her face, her nose was red as well as her face which meant she had been crying and really hard. Michael shut his eyes and looked away, he was tired, tired of seeing her in that state, tired of seeing every thing, he just want it to stop, he don't want to see anymore. The realization he had yesterday was already enough, no need to start again today, he pleaded in his heart.
Gary watched the change of expression on his boss face and couldn't help but wonder what was going on in his mind, his boss looked like he was in pain with the way his brows creased. Gary wanted to ease his pain but he knew he wouldn't let him and for some minutes he wondered if it was his mistress who was the reason of his pain. Ever since his boss stopped them from following her around, he noticed that his boss kept drifting farther and farther away from the world and into the seclusion of his room.
Unlike before, his boss always disturb him to bring documents home for him to work on and when he comes in the morning of the next day, he world be done signing the documents but now, the documents he brought home two days ago have not even been touched by his boss. Gary stared at Michael who was eating his breakfast like he was been forced to. He doesn't have any willingness to eat the food and Gary felt bad for him.
Gary was feeling bad but to Michael he was fed up, he doesn't know what to do. Even though he was sitting on that dinning along with Gary but his two ghost friends had been messing with his mind, they kept on moving around the house, engaging in one thing or the other and it always ends with Sasha crying. Michael was tired, he didn't want to watch them anymore and so focused all his attention on his plate but he don't even have the appetite to eat. He had also forgotten that Gary was there and his mind was subconsciously aware of his ghost friends even though he was not watching them, they kept on playing their part.
Gary left later and Michael was left alone again, he already know how his day was going to be since he was not the only one in the house. Sasha and the ghost him kept walking around the house, showing him one thing or the other and truth be told, he doesn't want to see anymore but there was nothing he could do because he can't stop them. Gary returned again that afternoon for lunch and also in the evening for dinner and each time he came, his boss looks worse than he did the last time and his heart ached, looks like his boss is going through breakdown again.
Later in the night, Michael couldn't stand watching what was been shown to him in his room so he came to the living room and just as he was about to relax, he saw himself, dressed in red, rushing down the stairs. Sasha was sitting on the sofa dressed in a red gown also. Exchange of words happened between them and he could see the ghost him was angry and so was Sasha. The next thing he knew, the ghost him grabbed Sasha by the neck and while struggling to breathe, a tear slipped from her eyes and his ghost left her and walked out of the living room.
Sasha cried for some time, dried her tears, stood up and walked out of the door too. Michael didn't need to think more, he already know the day it happened. They were going to have dinner with his parents and she had gone into his walk-in closet and took a gown from there and put on. He had been angry, very angry because she had done so without telling him and so he had shouted at her but Sasha had gotten angry and shouted back at him, resulting to him acting like that. He sighed and wheeled himself into the kitchen for a cup of coffee.
As he think of that night he knew he had been wrong and Sasha had been right, she had walked into her husband's walk-in closet and saw a lot of lady wears, of course she had to be suspicious and he had taken it to be angry at her. He heaved a deep sigh and sipped from his coffee before wheeling himself into the living room only to meet another sight again. Sasha was lying on the couch, sleeping, she looked so tired that mere look at her face told him that. The door opened and in walked the monster him.
Michael heaved a frustrated sigh and knew he was going to disturb her rest "can you please leave her alone?" He asked of himself but the man didn't even look at him, the man stared at the sleeping Sasha and as if been pushed by something, he picked up the TV remote and switched on the television, he surf the channels looking for a particular channel. Seeing him doing that, Michael knew what he wanted to do after all, he was the one that did it but just that, that day he didn't noticed how tired Sasha looked "please" he pleaded but the man ignored him.
The man found a music channel, he increased the volume of the station to maximum and a blasting music filled the house, too bad only Michael and the sleeping Sasha heard it. Out of impulse, Michael jumped out of his wheelchair to stop the man but he seemed to have forgotten something, he can't walk. He winced for his unplanned action was heavy and it reopened his wounds. Michael sprawled on the floor in pain and he watched as Sasha jumped from the couch when she heard the loud music, the ghost him looked at her then and walked up the stairs.
Michael watched Sasha reached for the remote and turned off the television, she sat back on the couch sobbing. Michael wanted to go to her but he was in so much pain, his waist hurts him but he stilled crawled on the floor to get to Sasha and just as he raised his hand to touch her, she vanished and only then did he remember that it was not real, that everything that was happening was not real now but something that had happened before. Michael sprawled on the floor and for the first time in two years he let his heart open again and he cried, as he did, he broke his vow, his vow of never again in his life will he say her name "Sasha...Sasha" he called for her in a whisper.
It was only now that he let himself say her name did he realize how much he miss her and how much he really wants to look into her eyes and call her name. The feelings that he believed he had locked away in his heart seem to finally free itself from his cage and it overwhelmed him. Just what was he thinking? How did he think he will stop loving her just because he said so? He built a wall in his heart to keep away his feelings but he never knew that all these while he had been leaving himself to think of her that  his walls had been crumbling brick by brick.
He let a heartbreaking scream escape through his lips. The scream was heart wrenching coupled with the pain he feels in his heart, his mind and all over his body. He miss her and God, he still loves her, his love for her has never changed, never depreciated and he regrets, he regret not using the only chance he could to win her heart "Sasha...my Sasha" he whispered, letting his heart control his brain once again.
When Gary came in the morning as usual, he was surprised to see his boss lying on the floor in the cold. The house was so cold and his heart missed a beat. He rushed to Michael on the floor and quickly checked his wrist for his pulse and when he felt it, even though it was faint, his heart jumped in jubilation and he quickly called for Fish who was outside waiting on them, Gary had never felt so happy that he brought Fish with him. They immediately carried Michael outside, they put him in the car and drove straight to the hospital.

Michael opened his eyes to see his room crowded, his head throbbed and he reached to rub his temple when someone caught his movement "honey" he heard his mother's gentle voice and his gaze met her worried ones "how are you feeling?" Michael tried to get up and she put a hand on his shoulder to stop him "not now my dear. The doctor said you caught a cold and you had a little fracture at your waist. You still need some time to nurse it before you can continue your previous actions."
Michael let out a deep breath and nodded "how long have I been here?"
"Two days. You have been unconscious for two days" Joseph answered,  his eyes filled with worry for his son "what happened son, how did you end up on the floor?"
Michael looked at him and he remembered everything that happened in a flash, including his realization "I fell and I couldn't get up."
"The doctor assumed the same thing. You see, that's why I said you don't need to be staying alone. I can move in with you" Vanessa suggested.
"No need. I'm fine" Michael rejected immediately.
"Then get Gary to leave in with you or one of your housekeepers. If anyone had been with you, it wouldn't have taken so long to find you" Joseph added.
"It's not necessary dad."
"It is necessary. Michael you don't understand, the doctor said if you have not been found in the next two hours, it would have been critical. You are all I have, I can't lose you. It breaks my mother heart whenever I see you in pain, don't you get it?" Vanessa's eyes welled up and her hand reached to touch that of her son in an affectionate way.
Michael squeezed her hand and Joseph rubbed her shoulders to comfort her "I will be fine mom. This time I have to cause I have a lot of wrongs I need to right" he offered her his rare smile and Vanessa somehow found comfort in that and she smiled before nodding her head.
They stayed with him for some time before they left after saying they will return in the evening. Michael was lost in his thoughts immediately he was left alone. Ever since Sasha left, he had believed she left because they were never meant to be only for his hallucinations to make him realize that he was the reason she left, because no woman could endure such treatment from her husband.
Gary walked in to check on him, after reporting to him about the things that happened in the company these past two days he had been out, he stood up to leave when Michael stopped him and he turned to look at him with a 'yes boss?'.
Michael, who was looking at the window in his room heaved a sigh "talk to me" he looked at Gary now "let's take for instance that I'm not your boss, I'm just a normal guy who is lost and really need your advice. So go on and talk to me like a friend" he sighed "why did Sasha leave?"
Gary was shocked when he heard him asking him to talk to him as a friend but he was more shocked when he heard him say his wife's name. He has never heard him say her name, it got to a point he thought maybe he doesn't know her name and now, he pronounced it effortlessly. Gary gulped and searched in his mind what to say to him to avoid making him angry "well, I can't say. Maybe..." He was saying when Michael interrupted him.
"You are older than me with two years, talk to me like an older brother. Don't see me as your boss. I need you to go all out with me. Because whatever you tell me now, is what I'm going to do, so give me your best advice."
Gary sighed and dragged out the chair to sit down. He looked deeply at Michael "if it's like that, then let's start from the very beginning. Ever since I have known you, there have been only one woman, Miss Sasha. You have us monitor her like she is your life. You don't hesitate to do things as long as it was something that will make her happy. As your assistant, I have felt bad for you and I have assumed a lot of things. Maybe you told her and she rejected you, maybe you are shy to tell her. Maybe your parents are against you two, those and so much more and then one day I heard the news that you are getting married to her, I have been so happy for you because I believed that now you don't need to worry about being rejected, that all you have to do is just to show her how much you love her or that's what I believe" he heaved a sigh.
"Then after the wedding" he shook his head "you started first with your rules. Don't touch you? What is a marriage without that? Don't talk to you? What is she to do then, talk to herself? If she has a problem she can't bring it to you. You relied on the information we can get for you and you forgot that something's are better said or discussed between two people in the middle of the night, a better solution arising from the discussion. Stay out of your business? If she doesn't worry about you then who else is she to? If she doesn't care for you, then what makes her your wife? You don't eat the food she cook, do you know how heartbreaking it is to a woman that her husband doesn't eat her food? You can ask your mother."
Gary looked at Michael but he had his eyes closed "the way you treat her in her presence, it made all my assumptions go away. I doubted if you love her. I started believing that maybe you were just infatuated with her and after the wedding you realized you don't love her and you just wanted to make her leave. But then, the way you make me run around for her sake, the way you went all out just to bring up her company. Sending million dollar worth contracts to her company even to the extent that the boarders called a meeting for your sake but you didn't care, you just wanted to make her happy because you realized that the contracts makes her happy. I became confused, I don't know what to do think anymore and I stayed up a lot of nights asking myself what is your feeling for her, do you love or hate her?"
Michael heaved a deep sigh and opened his eyes to look at Gary "both" he  answered in a deep voice.
Gary let out a low breath "you need to decide the one you want. You need to choose, will you take love or will you take hate because if you don't take your time to know exactly how you feel about her, you will never have rest. When you see her with another man, you will feel broken, but when she is by your  side, you will feel irritated. So you need to stand your ground on one emotion, which do you feel more?"
Michael closed his eyes again "when she was still around, it was both. They were both so strong but days ago, I don't know anymore. You won't believe me but it's the truth, I have been having this hallucinations or illusions, I don't know. But I use to see myself and her, our past days, the way I hurt her, the way I make her cry even I myself while watching that feels that the man is wicked and any time I remember that, that was exactly what I did to her, I feel remorse and regrets" he looked at Gary "I was wrong, I shouldn't have been like that, I shouldn't have been so angry."
"Let's me ask you a question, back then when you were still in college, she was your everything. What happened after you got married?"
"To be honest, when I agreed to marry her, I wanted to use the opportunity to win her heart."
"Then what happened?"
"Fish" he looked at Gary "I asked Fish to report to me about her reaction when she got the marriage proposal. He told me that she rejected but immediately her father mentioned the contract, she agreed. Hearing that, I was broken and then all the past pain that she inflicted on me, they all returned and I was filled with anger. Then I swore to make her feel the exact pain she made me feel, to make her experience even it is an atom of it."
"From my understanding of women, they love to be pampered, to be loved. I believe if you had given her a chance she might explain herself. Did you consider the fact that she might not have known you were the groom? I saw Fish report, from what I saw there, it appeared her parents withdrew the information and the name of the groom to be. Did you think about that?"
Michael was silent, he remembered Fish mentioned something like that but he had been angry that she accepted the marriage immediately the contract was mention. Why didn't he think about that? Why didn't he see that as a possibility?
Gary noticing that he didn't consider that fact from his expression sighed "if you ask me why the mistress left. Then I will say you pushed her away."
Michael nodded "I know that now. It was all my fault."
"You didn't give her a reason to stay, from her personality, she persevered longer than I expected."
"I shouldn't have taken it on her. I shouldn't have been so angry. In fact, I doubts if she knows she had hurt me before countless times. I doubts if she was even aware of it because whenever it happens, I don't let her see. So you see, I was at fault, I shouldn't be angry at her for no reason because she doesn't even know she had hurt me. I was just angry and then, that contract of a thing made it worse" he sighed and looked out to the sky through the window "she is innocent, I was angry at her for what she knows nothing about."
Gary really wanted to ask him what she did but he knew his boss didn't want to talk about it after all, he hasn't even acknowledged whether he loves her or not "so, what are you going to do now?" 
Michael was silent for a long time that Gary almost believed that he didn't want to answer him when he said "I have to right my wrong" he looked at Gary "I have to win her back."
Gary smiled when he heard that "then you have given yourself the best advice Sir."