A Night to Remember - Part 1
"Wow!" was all Peter could say, and his eyes widened like a bright light.
"I guess we are ready," said Peter, and offered Julia his hands like an invitation to a dance which made Julia smile.
"Time to go, my lady," Peter added, and led her out of the place.
Peter opened the car door for her and closed it after she was comfortably seated. He quickly sat behind the wheel and smiled when his phone screen lit up. He picked it up, unlocked it and smiled at the simple message;
'The boss is waiting in the limo'
He quickly typed a reply.
'We are on our way,' and he clicked send.
The car engine came to life, and they drove out of the compound. It was getting late and Julia wondered where they were going.
"Please, where are we going?" Julia asked.
"Back home," Peter replied, and Julia felt more relaxed, but she had a great time at the spa and couldn't help smiling about it.
Julia didn't give much thought to her appearance after Peter had informed her they were going home. After a couple of turns on the road, it was now a straight drive to the apartment. The car arrived at the apartment at 7 p.m. and drove into the garage and parked. Peter got down from behind the wheel, but before he could open the door for Julia, she had already done that and was out of the car. Peter smiled at her.
"Please come with me," Peter said and Julia got confused but followed him anyway, wondering where he was taking her.
Julia stopped when she realized he was leading her to the limo. "Please what is going on?" she asked, feeling a little anxious.
"Please, the boss is waiting," Peter said to Julia and her eyes widened.
"The boss, as in Mr Haward, as in Jason Haward," Julia thought and stared at the limo frozen to her spot.
Peter opened the door for her, and she slowly took some steps towards the limo and went inside it but almost jumped when she met the gaze of Jason, who was already seated at the other end of the L-shaped seat, holding a glass of wine in her hand. His eyes were deep like the depth of the ocean. For no reason, Julia started trembling and wanted to get out, but Jason stopped her.
"Sit down," Jason said in a deep but calm voice with a straight face.
Seeing Julia was shaking like a leaf and had cornered herself to the end of the seat, the side of Jason's lips curved up slightly.
"Relax, I am not going to bite," Jason said and poured himself a glass of wine and also filled a glass for her.
Julia was not the only person feeling uneasy in the limo. Jason may not be trembling like Julia, but he was feeling equally uneasy. He was calm and collected before she entered, but now he had emptied a glass of wine and on his second glass, which was almost halfway through the moment, she entered.
Julia sat at the corner of the seat watching him as he offered her a glass of wine he had poured for her. She looked at the glass for a while and, with a trembling hand, accepted it.
Jason looked at her, admiring her beauty from her face down to her legs as he gulped down one glass of wine after another. Julia could not count how many glasses of wine Jason had gulped down as they both sat in the limo in silence. She looked at the wine bottle sitting on a small stand, and it was halfway through.
"We are married and even if we want to, we have to wait a year and a half to get a divorce. So while we wait, tell me what you remember from that night," Jason asked, breaking the long silence between them.
"Is he thinking about divorce? And wants to know what happened that night. How am I supposed to know?" Julia thought.
"Nothing?" Jason said, pouring himself another glass of wine, while Julia still had hers which she had not touched in her hand.
The limo was nicely set up. The light was not too bright and not too dark, giving a perfect balance of a romantic setting for Valentine's Day, even though it wasn't. There was a red rose on the wine stand.
"You know I hate it when I ask questions and get no response," Jason said, his voice sounding a little threatening, causing some chills to round down Julia's spine.
"I went out with my friends and I had a couple of drinks. Next, I woke up at your house. That is all I recall. I promise," Julia said, almost pleading.
Jason looked at her curiously sipping his wine.
"Okay, tell me about yourself," said Jason.
"I ...I am the only child, and I was living with my mum. Well, I was. I was able to go to school and specialize in architecture. I always wanted to design and build a nice house for my mum," Julia said and lowered her gaze.
"When I couldn't secure my dream job, I became a school bus driver to earn some money to help my mum take care of the bills," Julia added. "That is all about me," she said.
"Your father?" Jason asked, refilling his glass.
"I never met him," Julia replied.
"You don't even have a picture of him?" Jason asked, tilting his head to the side in a more relaxed manner.
"My mum never spoke of him as far as I can remember," Julia replied, her head still lowered.
Jason emptied his glass and refilled it, looking at her.
"Architecture, huh!" Jason said, smiling.
Julia lifted her gaze to see he was pouring another glass of wine and was surprised to see him smiling. She had never seen him smile. Her eyes shifted to the big bottle of wine on the table, and she realized it was empty. He was drunk.