Lost in madness

Chapter 4

Dabe

The following morning, just when I finally shut my eyes, a loud knock on the door startles me awake, whoever it is, is persistent and annoying.

Groggily, I stumbled out of bed and made my way towards the door, the pounding growing louder by the second.

I open the door to find Andrew standing there in his workout clothes, his expression a mix of anger, concern, and then anger again.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, not even slightly surprised to see him at my hotel so early in the morning, the man thinks he can do whatever he wants.

He glares at me, his eyes narrowing. "you thought it was a good idea to answer the door in your underwear? What if it was someone else?" he demanded, his voice a harsh whisper. I was suddenly aware that I was in my underclothes, an odd habit of mine.

I blush, suddenly self-conscious. "I was sleeping, I didn't have time to put on clothes,"

"That's not an excuse." He forces his way into my room, looking around frantically. He's mental.

I rolled my eyes, feeling a blend of annoyance and amusement. "It's my fucking room, I can wear whatever the hell I want," I retorted and went to pull on my robe or this will go on for hours,

"Did he spend the night? Explain why you are naked."

I shook my head, trying to process his accusations and this bizarre turn of events.

"What's this?"

"You're driving me mad, Dabe." He groans, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Sighing at his state, I went to the corner and grabbed a bottle of water for him,

"Drink this, and calm the hell down, it's 4 in the fucking morning. I'm going back to bed, you can see yourself out when you're done ranting nonsense." I say and hop in the warm covers to catch some sleep, at least I thought I could.

The bed shifts under his weight as he climbs in with me. I want to pull away from him and run out of the hotel, but I'm paralyzed. I cannot move and lie stiff, not yielding at all.

Silence.

"Remember when we had that Hawaii trip."
He whispers between the silence, I don't turn or answer but he continues to ponder, "You, me, Sally and what was that other kid's name again, the Ghanaian boy with the weird hair..." He's trying to get me to talk to him.

"Alex," I whisper.

"Yeah, Alex, whatever happened to him?"

"They moved to Germany."

"Yeah, I remember that." Gently, he pulls me into his arms, burying his nose in my hair, kissing my neck, "Things were so much easier when we were teenagers, you didn't hate as much then and I got to see you every day. I wish we could all go back to that." he breathes softly against my skin, his voice achingly sad, "I wish you would stop avoiding me."

"You're married." I remind him. He's clearly forgotten or messing with me.

"I've always loved you and only you, what Sally and I have is nothing but paper. " My heart clenches anew and releases a wave of silent sobbing because of how laughable his words are and yet I can't seem to shake out of it, the thing about love is that it blinds you from the truth. "I love you." He continues to kiss me softly, and tenderly, but I remain aloof and wary.

We lie together like this, neither saying anything for ages. He just holds me, and very slowly in his arms, I turn so I can face him. I am resting my head on his arm. His eyes are closed, I gaze at his face before gradually falling asleep.

Dawn comes and goes when I open my eyes, and he is gone, his empty side of the bed, neatly pressed like I had imagined him.