Tangled Hearts

Chapter 9

Grayson Blackford

As the alarm went off, I opened my eyes and slowly adjusted to the sunlight that was shining into the room. I proceeded with the daily morning routine as I put on a crisp white dress shirt paired with a black silk tie, followed by a nicely ironed blazer. 

As he reached the ground floor, he was then greeted by the breakfast plate prepared by Heather, together with a small box that was placed on the dining table with a sticky note pasted on it. The notes goes, 'Use this whenever you get a headache/migraine. Works like magic every time I use this. P.S. stop chugging coffee! Drink water instead.' 

The side of my lips slightly tugged up as I read the note and took a look at the medication. 

I placed the medication by the side of my table, but as my gaze landed upon the picture frame on the shelf, the smiling faces of both me and Amelia was like a sharp razor piercing through my heart, filling it with excruciating pain. I was brought back to the day when I found out the news of how she left abruptly, with the reason being that she fell out of love. 

I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to erase the memory from that night. Unexpectedly, the sight of Aurora standing beside me with an umbrella over my head in the heavy rain came into my head. Her hair was soaked by the rain, as well as her clothes which were dripping wet. But she did not look concerned about her own state, in fact, her attention was on me. 

I had absolutely no idea why there was a sudden flash of image in my head after I heard that Aurora was a daughter of a mistress whom her father had been with. It felt familiar but yet I could not remember where I had heard it from. There was a little girl whose face was so blurry that appeared in the sudden image flash. Was she someone I knew from the past? 

Peeling open the box and taking out the medication, I slowly twisted open the cap of the bottle as I rub the oil over my temples and instantly felt refreshed and no longer suffocated. She was right, it works like magic. 

Glancing at the picture, I placed the frame facing downwards so that I would not be able to see it and cause any distractions. 

A knock came over at the door as my assistant came in with a cup of coffee in her hands. Placing it on my table, she hurriedly left the room and closed the door after her. I was just about to take a sip of the coffee when Aurora's words came into my mind. I sighed as I only took a small sip and stick to drinking water for the rest of the day. 

Today's workload was not as heavy compared to other days so perhaps Aunt Isa knew about it as she entered my office with a smile. She took a seat on the couch as I instructed my assistant to bring a cup of tea. I then took the seat next to her as I crossed my right leg over the other. 

"Have you had lunch?" She asked. 

"Hm. I'm sorry for letting you worry." She sighed, as she shook her head, "Don't be silly. I'm grateful enough that you didn't lock yourself away from everyone. I know getting over it will take time, just make sure to tell me anything if you ever need a pair of listening ear, all right?" 

I smiled, "Actually, Aurora played a part in getting me out of my sorrow. We talked last night, and her words were sort of a wake up call for me." 

"Speaking of Aurora, what's going to happen between both of you now?" Aunt Isa prompt. That was a question which occurred to me last night as we chatted, to which I had no idea. 

"I mean, it's not fair for her to suddenly experience a great change in her life. She may have someone she like outside and she had to marry me all of a sudden. But if we divorce now, there would be too much attention on us. So I planned to get a divorce with her after a year or two, after everything has died down." Aunt Isa furrowed her eyebrow deeply upon hearing my words.

"Was this solely your decision or have you discussed this with her?" 

"That's what I can think of at the moment, I was planning to inform her about my plans." 

She muttered some curses under her breath for which I could not catch any of those, but I looked at her in confusion.

"What happened to being a gentleman and respectful to other people's feelings? Are you not going to ask her about what she thinks first before throwing out your own thoughts on her? Gosh, you remind me exactly of my brother." She huffed out, as she took a sip of her tea in front of her. 

"I mean..I thought she would have preferred this plan...but yeah, you're right. I will ask her about her thoughts before telling her about mine." I nodded in agreement. 

It was the first time that I was returning home early at 6.30pm in the evening. As I entered the house, it was in complete silence as Heather was nowhere to be found. Seeing that Aurora was yet to be back, I headed for my room to change out and wash up first. 

As I walked out of my room, a light aroma was in the air as I heard noises coming from the kitchen. Aurora had her back turned facing the stove as she was busy cooking, but yet the counter remained neat and tidy. I purposely walked harder as I went near her so that she would be able to hear incoming footsteps such that she would not be freaked out. 

Unfortunately, it did not work for her as all her attention were on the food that she was cooking. I lightly cleared my throat and she jumped a little before turning back to face me with a spatula in her hand. 

"You were back?" She asked, as she seemed surprised at my appearance. 

"Been back for quite a while. Where's Heather? Why are you cooking alone?" 

"Heather had an emergency in the afternoon, she tried to call you but you didn't pick up so I told her to take the day off instead. I hope you don't mind." She smiled sheepishly. 

"Oh. It's fine. What are you making? Anything that I can help with?" I looked around the kitchen as everything was in order, nothing out of place. 

"No, you can just sit at the table first. Food will be ready in about 2 minutes." She then turned back to the stove. 

I nodded slowly as I took 2 sets of plates and cutlery to place it on the table. Better than doing nothing, right? 

Soon enough, she brought up a big bowl of spaghetti and a tray of baked shepherd's pie. I did the serving since she had already done more than enough. 

"Try it, I haven't cook in a long time." She waited for my reaction before I nod in agreement and commented, "It has the taste of a restaurant." She laughed at my reaction as she looked at me, "I didn't know you can exaggerate so well, but thank you. Have more then."