"There is no remedy for love but to love more." Henry David Thoreau
Cape Town. The mother city. Even from afar, the view of the beautiful Table Mountain was prominent throughout the city. That view added colour to her ever-so-dull life, giving her something to smile about each morning.
Perli had always dreamt of travelling to Cape Town and owning a house with a view. The ocean, a mirror of the freedom she lacked, was a sight she had fallen in love with. With eyes glittering, she would watch and listen to the movement of the water, which sang harmonious songs. Facing the horizon, her window had the full view of the sunrise and the late sunset that stole her every breath.
Everything about this place was a dream come true. Everything but the marriage.
Perli sighed and, turning off the tap, stepped out of the shower. Droplets of water rained down the edge of her hair to her back. She enjoyed the cooling sensation it brought to her ever-heating skin and, above all, the ecstasy and freedom that came along with it.
She blew a breath as she ran a towel against her wet skin. With a stroll, she walked out of the bathroom to where a range of beautiful clothing awaited her to try on. Her eyes spotted the full-length mirror on her way. Staring at it, she couldn't recognize who she saw. The gold ring on her left hand was what she noticed of course. It had cost a fortune and became the one thing that bound her to him: Jack Onel.
Bitterly, she lifted her hand to her face and carefully pulled the ring off and examined it, just as she used to do with her parents' rings. For a split second, she felt tempted to throw the ring away. All this was her uncle's fault; his selfish desire for money and power had gotten her into this mess. How could he be so evil? How could he be such a heartless beast, to sell her off like that? 'For your own good', he had said to her, 'the young man is rich and will take care of you', but in truth, it was all for his good. The circumstances around the marriage proposal had been unclear, but what she knew was what her uncle told her: he had apparently gotten himself into a huge debt, squandering the last bit of savings her father had left for her, and his best solution was her getting married to the young multi-millionaire, Jack.
She let out a harsh gust and slipped the ring back to her finger. She was married now and there was nothing she could ever do to change that. Those were the exact words Jack told her.
As she dressed in denim shorts and a baby blue T-shirt, something caught her attention. Her eyes were suddenly glued onto the TV show that had a lot to say about their marriage again. She couldn't stop herself from feeling foreign to all the attention she had been receiving since she got married. She hated it.
"It has only been a few days into their marriage and already hot rumours are roaming about the newest couple, Jack and Perli Onel. So, Anele, tell me what you think about these rumours?" the host asked her guest. That had become a routine topic and discussion in most gossip TV shows for the past few days.
"I think they are relevant; I mean did you see the bride on the wedding day, she hesitated to say yes! Even her tears, I doubt they were of joy. She doesn't love him, and it was all an arrangement to—"
"So, you are saying these rumours hold water?" The host was quick to cut Anele off to ask another question.
"Of course. Jack Onel is a young man! He is filthy rich too and blessed with incredible looks, so it is not a surprise that any woman would want to be a Mrs Onel."
"Not me," Perli snorted out loud as she laid herself down on the armchair, her legs hanging at the side.
"So, you are saying Perli Duo is in it all for the money and glamour?"
"Ha, like which women wouldn't be," she laughed, "Besides how old is he? She will have enough time to suck the man dry of his—"
"Turn that off!" The irritation in Jack's voice caused her heart to judder against her ribcage.
Perli grabbed the remote next to her and turned off the TV. She didn't dare argue with him. Besides, they were supposed to be on their honeymoon at his beach house. She would admit, the design and detail of the house were befitting for a man of his class. However, all that beauty around her couldn't heal the pain she still felt. She didn't know what to think or feel about all this. The past few days felt like time spent in prison. She was a prisoner of a man she forcefully had to call her husband. Only if her parents were alive, then her uncle wouldn't have sold her off like some slave.
"What are you doing here?" she inquired from him, throwing a long and bitter look towards his direction.
With one shoulder leaned against the door frame and arms crossed just below his breasts, he raised a brow at her question.
Perli interpreted that as he didn't hear her, so she repeated her question. "I asked, what are you doing here?"
"Hmm." He frowned. "I thought this was my house and I was entitled to be anywhere," his sarcastic response left his mouth in an almost barbarous tone.
Wow, how childish of him! Perli thought while letting out a sigh of frustration. "Sorry," she breathed out the single word, her eyes staring down at her open palms. She couldn't stare at him, afraid her eyes would reveal her anger.
She could never get used to his rude manner of addressing her. They argued about everything. They argued more than they had any proper conversation. First, it was about them sleeping in different rooms, then it went on to her not wanting to be around him, and then, this. She didn't know what he expected from her. Love? Understanding? Getting married to him was already bad enough for her, but his disregard for her feelings increased her regret of how her life was turning out to be.
"Get dressed, we are leaving in one hour," he announced to her, giving her his usual piercing look of? Affection? Intimidation? Despise? She didn't even know; she just hated it with passion.
"I don't want to..."
"As if I was asking you?" he snorted. "You are going and it's not up for discussion."
Perli fought to interject, "But I am not feeling like it..."
"I couldn't care less!" he interrupted her once again, this time his voice raised.
That was it! Perli decided it was time she stood up for herself. If that resulted in an immediate divorce from their six-day marriage — so be it, she couldn't be happier. With all the courage she gathered, she stood up from her chair and walked up to him.
"Excuse me, Mister whoever-you-think-you-are, if you have forgotten this," anger laced her voice as she pointed to him and then herself, "what you call marriage is a we thing, not an I thing! So, you have no right to tell me what to do!"
"You better watch your tone!" he warned, knitting his brows.
"Or else what?!" she dared, placing her hands on her hips. "What are you going to do? Huh?! Hit me?!"
"Don't push it Perli," he warned again, struggling to keep his tone calm.
He couldn't wrap his head around her. She threw him off balance. Never had he had anyone talk to him the way she did ever since he became an Onel. That was utter disrespect to his pride, and he felt the need to teach her how to respect him. Yet, he couldn't because love had to be patient, so he was told.
She continued yelling at him. "No, you don't push it! You knew very well that...That..." Her eyes gave in to her tears as she tried to phrase the sentence properly. "That I didn't want this! I never wanted to marry you, but you just forced everything! You and my uncle are such demons! I hate you! I hate you so much!"
"Perli, don't—"
"Don't what?!" She gave him a push that only changed the position he stood in. "Huh?! Don't what?! I hate you! I hate you so much!" she screamed, releasing a few punches on his chest before falling to the floor out of exhaustion.
She gave up fighting.
Jack sighed and looked down at her. He shook his head in disbelief. She was going to be a handful... Of problems. The thought of that made him feel amused by her display of anger. She was going to learn to love him, eventually. Which woman wouldn't love him? Which woman wouldn't fall for his charm?
"You are so adorable, you know that?" He decided to tease her, going down on his knees so that he could see the frustration in her eyes. "So, all this was for what? If you wanted me to kiss you, you could have always asked." He gently stroked her cheek, but she didn't hesitate to slap his hand away.
"I would never want those dirty lips on mine!" she hissed at him while trying to catch as much breath as possible.
A smirk teased Jack's lips. "Don't worry, you will end up craving for these dirty lips, my darling," he chuckled, embedding a kiss on her left cheek, before getting back up on his feet. "One hour, then we are leaving." With that said, he turned around to walk out of her room.
A shoe went flying past his head and landed on the floor in front of him. "What the..." He felt tempted to cuss at her but refrained.
"Next time, I won't miss," she asserted from behind him, her voice marked by anger.
Jack closed his eyes, trying to hold on to the leash that controlled his anger. His fingers curled up into a fist, causing multiple veins to appear along his forearms as anger slowly poisoned his system. His conscience fought with him, yelling that he kept calm and just walked out of the room but his anger couldn't take it any longer. She kept pushing him, pressing all the wrong buttons since the day they made their union official and now, he had run out of patience. It was not the fact that she threw a shoe at him but that she found creative ways to disrespect him each time.
He turned to her.
The anger on Perli's face was quickly replaced with worry. She saw the look that painted his face red. Her heart beat violently. She had never seen him like that before and her instincts told her to back away, run if she had to. However, she found herself paralyzed at the spot where she sat. He reached out for her and forced her to her feet by gripping her wrists so hard as if he intended to peel off her skin.
"What's wrong with you?!" he spoke through gritted teeth, holding on either side of her shoulders with the same force.
Perli's eyes twinkled with tears, but she refused to let a tear fall. "Jack, y-you're hurting me!" her voice quavered at his sudden outburst of rage. "Let me go, Jack!" She pushed against his chest, trying to set herself free. "Let me go!"
Jack, stop this now! Jack's consciousness yelled at him repetitively but the anger in him wouldn't let him listen. He tightened his grip on her shoulder. All he saw when he looked at her was the mess that got them both in this marriage. He had bottled up too much anger and dwelt in too much fear that now, all was erupting. Single tears formed at the tips of her eyes and slowly ran down her cheeks. For a split second, as he held on to her, an image flashed into his mind. Her quivering lips and the fear in her tearful eyes were the same; just like how his...
"Jack!"
He shoved her back, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground. With tears running down her face, she met his gaze. She sniffed and exhaled short and unsteady breaths, withholding the urge to burst out in a cry as she rubbed her shoulders. There was nothing but disgust for him in her eyes, if possible, hatred.
Jack opened his mouth to speak but couldn't utter a thing to her. So much anger still dwelt in him and disabled him from processing his words and thoughts. So, he turned and left, shutting the door with a loud bang.