Office Diaries - Chapter 107

A black sports car stopped in front of the huge house and a man in a casual shirt and khaki pants stepped out of it. Removing the sunglasses which hid his eyes, he scanned the area, sighed, and decided to come inside.

“Good evening sir,” the uniformed maid greeted him as he entered the door and he nodded in her direction.

“Is my wife home already?” he asked and the maid shook her head. It had been a month since he last saw his wife and he’s terribly worried.

After thanking her, he watched as the staff greeted him before they went out of the house one by one. Ever since his wife’s condition changed, he didn’t allow anyone to stay in the house with them— not to mention he got rid of all calendars and photographs they had together and stored them somewhere for safekeeping. His wife, on the rare occasions she’d show up could be moody at times, and the anger she exhibited might scare their staff away and rumors might start flying around.

He didn’t want that— not when even Michael himself could bȧrėly cope with the change.

Wearily, he walked towards the stairs, down the corridor towards the master bedroom. He stared at the heavy oak door for a few seconds before he sighed heavily as he pushed it open.

For a while, he studied the interior of the chamber and then wearily closed it again and went towards the other bedroom instead, where he had been staying for the longest time since she got sick.

As he trudged towards the closet where he changed his clothes and marched towards the bathroom to take a shower, he thought of ways on how to tell his wife about Ria. Somehow, he couldn’t think of anything that could make it easier.

But Charles was right. If he couldn’t be open about his problem to his wife then he really should just give up. And he couldn’t. That was how much he loved his other half.

If only his mother wasn’t the bitch that she was. If only he had been more aware of what was being done by his own mother to his spouse. If only his mother didn’t do those things to his wife then she wouldn’t have gotten a miscarriage which was the reason for their current problem.

Losing their child was such a huge blow to her which caused a depression so deep, that even Michael couldn’t reach out to comfort the love of his life. If only…

Then again, there’s no place for ‘if only’. Michael couldn’t forever wish for something which couldn’t be undone. He knew that, and yet— and yet he felt so helpless and angry at the same time.

Footsteps sounded outside his door and based on the sound, he knew that it was his wife returning home. Sighing with relief, he sat on the bed and continued to listen as he stared at the clock. He knew it would take a while before he could approach her and so he waited, and waited, and waited.

He was aware that he could be waiting in vain since most times she wouldn’t look for him nor remember he existed but he waited still. Before the clock struck midnight, Michael heard a rustling sound outside his door and he looked up.

“Mikey…” A pair of smoky eyes and upturned scarlet lips beckoned to him as his wife stood by the doorway, a hand outstretched towards him and he swallowed hard.

He knew that if he took this invitation, he’d only be fooling himself into a temporary bliss as he had been doing so almost every night since his wife’s miscarriage. But he missed holding his love so much and so he succumbed to the temptation.

With a gentle expression on his face, he smiled at her as he closed the gap between them and took her into his arms. Even if this was only temporary, he would take all the glimpses of heaven he could find and hold them close with both hands. “Ria…”

The clock ticked as seconds passed. The slender figure of Michael’s wife treaded the carpeted floor wearing nothing but a thin robe, its satin smoothness ċȧrėssing her creamy skin. The young CEO continued to follow in wonder, with his hand linked with her smaller one as he was led towards their bedroom.

Michael’s hand reached out to fumble for the switch but his wife protested.

“Don’t…” The CEO’s eyes narrowed at the breathy quality of her voice but he obeyed.

The hand that was in his then let go, and he watched as his wife slowly walked towards their marriage bed and sat there, facing him.

“Mikey…make love to me,” was his love’s command and Michael’s eyes filled with heated passion as he approached her, removing his clothes as he did so.

On the other hand, Ria’s lips trembled as she watched her dream lover in the flesh undress before her. With all her might, she tried to appear relaxed, and yet she was failing miserably. As her heart pounded against her ċhėst in her nervousness, she tried to recall what had transpired in the month that she’d been gone.

She continued to attend sessions with the psychiatrist back in Korea. With his help, she was able to finally put together bits and pieces of her memories intact as well as resolve her problems with her “other” self.

Getting better had some drawbacks, however. Having been able to recover her missing memories, she felt embarrassed about what she did the first time she barged into the company after waking up as her “original” self.

Since she had no recollection of what happened to her in fifteen months since she had the accident, she thought she was still a fresh graduate back then.

Considering that she remembered nothing aside from signing a contract with Charles with all the perks he mentioned when she woke up in this huge house seven months ago, she immediately came to work as nervous as a newbie. She introduced herself to everyone when she got there thinking it was the first time they met too, including Dylan.

Ria could remember how her friend had looked at her oddly when she had told him “Nice to meet you” seven months ago at the pantry. He had asked her then “Are you sick?” which she misunderstood.

She thought Dylan was just asking about her pallor and she told him with a smile that she was just nervous because it was her first day at work! How Dylan must have found her odd back then!

“Ria…”

Ria’s thoughts dispersed when she heard Michael’s husky whisper and once again, reality set in.

“Mikey…” she whispered back, the familiar endearment rolling smoothly in her tongue.

It was the first time that she tried calling the CEO with the nickname and yet her lips didn’t have any difficulties which meant she was used to saying it out loud.

“Love…” Michael called out in a desperate plea as he pulled her against his ċhėst and embraced her tight. It was as if he’d missed her terribly and Ria couldn’t help the tears that filled her eyes as she hugged her husband back.

How could she do this to Michael? She asked herself.

If she hadn’t gone back to ask his sisters, Ria wouldn’t know what was going on, and she would have been continuously hurting her husband as well as herself.

She woke up seven months ago without her memories of her husband. But in reality, just as the doctor explained to her, even if her brain couldn’t remember, her heart never did forget. Her heart recognized Michael almost immediately, making the “original” Ria fall deeply in love with her boss.

As her ‘other self’ continued to struggle deep within her, only coming out when the original “Ria” was sleeping, her feelings, her love, and hunger for her husband materialized, making her ‘other self’ live in a trance-like existence. In spite of being deeply wounded, her other self couldn’t stop her yearning for Michael.

When Ria’s original “consciousness” was at rest, the “other” her continued to be Michael’s wife, mȧkɨnġ ŀȯvė with him, being held by him.

The original “her” however thought that her memories in the arms of Michael were just her imagination— a product of her secret love for the man, not knowing that they did really happen. Because of those dreams, she had considered herself like Psyche, being visited by Eros only in the darkness of the night.