The Trapped Lover

Chapter 10

Matthias

Over the next few days, they found a way to be around each other in peace. More often he would hear Rhea talk about her relationship with Samuel. Rhea had left her parents house when she was 18 and Samuel belonged to a poor family, fatherless, with a mother who raised him and his elder brother doing maid's work. Matthias knew this because Samuel was once his best friend and Rhea - his fiance.

She would go on describing how they both started their life together from scratch. And had worked tirelessly for the last five years to reach where they are now. She would tell Matthias about how beautiful a relationship she shared with Samuel and how much she missed her three kids; her three pet dogs.

It was painful. Everytime she would talk about her relationship with Samuel, it hurt Matthias and at the same time it angered him.

Sam - his best friend, Rhea - his fiance, they'd both started dating behind his back. They'd both betrayed him. He couldn't blame Rhea. He didn't blame her at all. She was in a weak state of mind, left her family who were hunting to get her home, crazy ex whom Matthias hated, and even though she had Matthias - she was alone. Matthias was in Canada, she was in India. It was easy for Samuel to play with her head and that's what had happened.

One day, after lunch they were seated in the living room Matthias noticed Rhea had a troubled expression on her face.

"Everything all right, hon?" Matthias asked.

"Umm... Would you mind if I asked you something? You can choose not to answer of course", Rhea said.

"Of course. Go ahead. If we have to spend the rest of our lives with each other it's good that we know everything about each other. I know all about you, so yeah I can understand you want to know something about me. So shoot" Matthias answered.

Still, Matthias could see a little hesitation before she asked, "What happened? I mean what happened after I left? You, I mean, after I left you."

This changed Matthias' expression. Rhea might've noticed it because she instantly said, "You don't have to answer that. It's alright."

Matthias was quite for a long time but decided that Rhea had a right to know.

"I remember the day you left me. In detail. Every word that you said, that I said. I couldn't get over it. People have nightmares of death but this... This was my nightmare. I dreamt about it every night, it was like living in hell. I increased my gym time from 2 hours to four hours. I'd got a job in a finance company as a desk clerk. I'd spend 12 hours in office. And yet the pain didn't just go away. It sounds cliche but everything reminded me of you like everytime I saw someone drinking or when I sat to drink it would remind me of the time when you'd drank a full bottle of vodka, pot wine and brandy at my aunt's place in Kolkata and still all that happened to you was just a little tipsiness but you looked so cute, your face all red like a cherry. It would flash in front of my eyes everytime."

He couldn't sit and speak no longer. So he started pacing around the living room and continued -

"I lost all sense of time, even before I could think of it my court date had come. I'd missed all of my lawyer's appointments. I wanted to get over this pain so I was in the court room and I thought 'Who do I want to stay out for?' and pled guilty in court, got a three years sentence. Mom and Calvin were not happy with it. They hated you and blamed you for me being in prison. Prison life helped me subside the pain because there were bigger concerns there, like surviving for one", to this he gave a humorless chuckle.

"Mom and Calvin would come to meet me in the prison and start bad - mouthing you. We'd fight about it and they would leave. Things got bad between us around a year's time they just stopped visiting, stopped calling. When I came out and I went home, they told me I was disowned. Mother had made a will in which I was given a share of 50% of all wealth. Quite generous of them, no sarcasm."

Rhea got up to move towards him but he instantly stopped her. "Don't. It's not going to help."