Darian had been gone for two days now, two days without picking up Lena's calls or calling her to tell her his whereabouts and why he left the house in a hurry that evening.
She was worried to death, it had never been like that, she and Darian had grown stronger for him to treat her like she was an alien to him. It really pissed her off, but she occupied herself with getting acquainted with Isabella, trying her best not to think too much about her husband, but then, it couldn't be helped.
"What's on your mind?" Isabella noticed how unhappy Lena had been over the days and she felt asking her the cause of her gloomy mood was the best to do.
She was feeding, clothing her and even giving her a comfortable shelter and caring about her was the least she could do for her.
"Nothing," Lena increased the volume of the television, fixing her eyes on the family soap opera she used to watch with Darian whenever he wanted to spend time with her in the living room.
Kissing her teeth, she glared at Isabella and suddenly wished it was Darian who was seated there instead of her. She wanted to rest her head on his chest, and kiss his lips while they watched the show together. But he had been gone for two days and didn't even bother to talk to her about his whereabouts.
"Er, I haven't seen your husband. Are you missing him?" A teasing smile played on Isabella's lips as she stared at a troubled Lena.
"No, I don't." Lena snapped her fingers very sharply. She sighed, the expression on her face betrayed her. It was glaring that she missed Darian so much. "Maybe I do, Isa…" She whined and finally succumbed. "I do, I miss him so much it gets me so mad. He left the house without telling me where he was going, I have been calling him for days but he isn't picking up and his bodyguards are telling me not to worry about him, they told me he was fine, but I don't believe that. I want to see him with my eyes." Groaning, she kneaded her fingers against her temples and gazed down at Isabella.
"Maybe he has important things to deal with. Give him time, he will come back home." Isabella smiled and she nodded her head. Lena knew that he would surely come back to her, but she was mad at him.
"It's just so unfair that he left the house without telling me anything. It didn't end well the last time he left like this and I am truly worried."
"Hey, I know that you are worried but just take it easy, okay? I know how you feel, I used to be worried about Raymond too. Sometimes he leaves and never shows up for weeks, I just stay in my house and await his arrival."
Lena looked at her and nodded her head. The only person Isabella had spoken about since she knew her, was Raymond.
She must have loved him so much, she stared pitifully at Isabella and tried to get a hold of what happened to her and how she ended up losing almost all of her memories, getting ill and looking older than her actual age.
She got up and walked into the kitchen, she appeared with a glass of water in her hand and pillboxes in the other hand. She handed them to Isabella and waited until she had swallowed the pills before she sat down beside her.
Her maid had gone to get a few things at the grocery store, Tina was busy in the kitchen and Lena was left alone to take care of Isabella.
"Everyone cannot do this, you know?" Isabella stated. "I mean not everyone can bring in a stranger to their home and take care of them like you are doing now."
Lena smiled. If only Isabella knew who she was to them.
"Isabella, you are not a stranger to us." She was quick to say that before she realised the words had slipped out of her mouth. "I mean, we've known each other for about a month now and we aren't strangers anymore."
"I think we aren't." Isabella shook her hands, smirking at her.
"Yes. Isabella, do you know that you look so much like someone we both know?" Lena asked. Sometimes she wondered if Isabella couldn't see that she and Darian looked so much like each other.
"Who is it?" She asked.
"My husband, I have told you this before. Have you ever had a conversation with him to get an idea of the kind of person that he is?"
"No, I don't think I like him. His demeanour oozes trepidation." Isabella shook her head in repulsion. "I love to talk to you only, do you want to stop talking to me?" She pouted her lips, blinking her eyes cutely.
"No, I will never do that." Isabella clamped her palm with mine and laughed. "Will you be okay staying alone here?" She asked.
"Yes, I will focus on the television."
"Do let me know if you need something and I will get it for you. I have to attend an interview now and it would take some time." Lena explained to Isabella how she was hunting for a job without Darian's knowledge. She had gotten an invitation for an interview from an online firm and she was working towards getting the job, securing it before letting Darian know about it. "Oh, Tina is in the kitchen too, she can attend to you if you need something."
"Thanks for all that you do, Lena." Isabella gently ruffled her fingers.
Lena nodded her head, rising to her feet. She smiled one more time at Isabella before walking out of the living room, heading towards the bedroom with thoughts of her husband on her mind.
She missed him terribly, she wanted him so badly. Though very mad at him, she still craved his presence.
-
Isabella was so engrossed with the movie she was watching she hadn't noticed that Darian walked into the house. She laughed and turned around, her eyes suddenly met with Darian who stood behind the couch, gawking at her.
She recoiled, smiling. "Hey,"
"Hi," Darian folded his arms against his chest, heading towards the door.
"Hey, wait up. Don't go in yet, she's so mad at you."
Darian slightly raised his eyebrows. "I know that she's mad at me, you don't have to interfere in matters that concern my wife and me." He stated harshly, taking another step toward the hallway.
"Darian!" Isabella yelled out his name. He stopped on his track. His name sounded different when she called it. It was motherly, swift and sterner. He looked at her and asked what she wanted. "Can we talk? I just noticed that I have never really had a conversation with you and I feel it's unfair. I don't even know the kind of person my benefactor is."
He stood still on the spot, the words too heavy to leave his mouth. "What about me do you want to know?" He managed to utter after a long time. "As if there is something that means anything to you." He said, kissing his teeth.
"Your name?" Isabella walked closer to him.
"You do know that already. You just called me by my name. What else do you want to know about my name?" Darian didn't fancy that he was being rude, but he couldn't help it.
He was still very angry at his mother for abandoning him, he needed explanations of everything that happened. But there was no way he could get now that Isabella didn't know a lot about herself anymore.
"Your full names. Lena didn't tell me that."
"Darian Dawson."
"Dawson? That name rings a bell." She raised her head to think about it. She snapped her hands, shifting her away from Darian. "Dawson, Raymond was a Dawson too, but he was too dangerous." She said sadly. "They took my son from me, are you part of the men who took my son away from me?" She howled, grabbing his tie.
He snatched his tie from her and she almost lost balance but he didn't hold her back. "Why would you even do that?" He yelled. "Why would you threaten me because of your son but failed to recognise him when he was standing right in front of you, huh?" Darian was mad, his eyes blared with anger. "You see him, yet, you don't know that you birthed him because you abandoned him when he was just a baby and you never came back to check if he's alive. You just gave up on him and you stand here to accuse me of taking your son from you? What were the things you did to have him back? Did you even attempt to get him back? You left him at the slightest chance you had. Tell me, what makes you different from the Dawson family who took that baby away from you?"
"You know nothing about what happened! You know nothing about my son. He was my everything until he was taken away from me! Who was I? I was nothing! I couldn't even wage war against the Dawson family, none of them was on my side and I just couldn't…" Isabella held her head and shook her head.
She hurried into the guest room, slamming the door shut. It was too much for her to hold in and her head was spinning.
Darian hated that he was harsh on her but he just wanted her to feel his anger. But even at that, she still didn't recognise Darian to be her son and it hurt him. Then he thought of Lena and how mad she would be at him. He got to the doorway and pressed the doorknob, opening to the bedroom.
His gaze met Lena's immediately after he entered the room. She got up and carried her laptop, not waiting for him to talk, she flounced out of the room.
"Hey, Lena. Don't walk out on me, please. Listen to what I have to say." He walked behind her, yelling her name, but she didn't stop to take a look at him.
She was mad at him but was also happy that he was back home, safe and sound.