Chapter 53: His Past Haunts His Future
Her words stung him. He was clearly surprised. But Angela did not push it further. She turned away from him. He was still where she left him, standing with a stunned face. He was rooted firmly his head stooped.
Angela could not hurt herself anymore. She couldn't wait for him to say something she might like or something she might hate. She picked the clothes Helen had for her and went to the bathroom to freshen up. When she came out, the room was already empty. She took Edward's absence as a sign that there was nothing left between them.
Sighing heavily, she went out to the balcony. The cold evening breeze blew her hair away from her face. She took the chair and settled herself. She wrapped herself with the quilt and stared blankly at the night sky.
Blotches of white clouds were still visible. The big moon stared back at her its face serene and melancholic. Angela smiled at the moon. "I guess we're both lonely huh."
She lost tract of time as she enjoyed the view before her. She looked down below the garden and saw a shadow moving from the house. She could tell it was Edward. She watched as he moved about the garden walking aimlessly. He touched the flowers unmindfully. He went as far as the end of the garden then she lost sight of him.
Another sigh and Angela could feel her eyelids getting heavier. She closed them for a while not wanting to sleep on the chair but to relax her mind and heart from her present dilemma. But she fell asleep almost immediately.
In her sleep, Angela dreamed of holding a baby in her arms then Edward took the bundle from her. The baby wailed loudly. She could feel the baby's pain. She struggled to get up to get the baby back but Edward pushed her away. She clawed her way towards the baby but Edward was stronger pinning her on the bed. She cried pitifully begging him to give her back the baby but he only laughed hysterically holding the baby away from her.
She shuddered from the pain. Then suddenly she bolted from her sleep. She looked around feeling disoriented. Edward was immediately behind her consoling her. She cringed at his touched as she remembered her dream or was it a nightmare.
Instinctively Angela placed a protecting hand on her belly as she stirred away from Edward. She immediately remembered sleeping on the chair. Now, she was on the bed with Edward.
"Are you alright?" Edward asked hoarsely.
Breathing heavily, Angela stared at Edward in shocked. Beads of sweat broke on her forehead and all over her body. She focused on the present blinking in the dark. Edward got off the bed to turn on the light. He took the pitcher and poured a glass of water and handed it to her.
With trembling fingers, Angela took the glass, brought it to her mouth and drunk her fill. She handed the empty glass to Edward who took it and replaced it on the table. He came back to her. Her breath was beginning to ease out.
"What happened to you?" He asked sitting on the bed. The soft bed dipped on his weight.
"I had a nightmare."
"That explains your scream. Was I trying to kill you in your dream?"
Angela looked at him with bewildered eyes. "No." She whispered.
"Then why were you screaming my name?"
"Did I?"
"Very loudly. I was afraid you're gonna wake the whole house up at this time of night." Edward grumbled much to her dismay.
"You sound like a nagging wife." Angela complained bringing the sheets up her head before collapsing on the bed again.
"Do I sound like a nagging wife?"
"Yes you do. And please let us go back to sleep. We might wake the whole house you said."
Angela buried herself beneath the sheets and tried so hard to sleep. She felt Edward lay down beside her but not too close. She turned to her side with her back to him. She felt him turn the other side. Morning will not be too soon, she surmised as sleep will be elusive to her this time.
As soon as the morning light filtered through the room, Angela made her move. She called Dominic and asked him to take her home. She gave him the address and told him to pick her up in the afternoon so she could talk to Edward's grandma.
Edward was already up when she finally left the comfort of the bed. Maybe he had gone on with his day and went back to the city without her.
She went outside to venture the garden in the morning. She might not be able to come here again so she would make use of her time in seeing the garden by herself.
The sun had slanted quite a few degrees since she came into the garden exploring all corners and taking pictures of the view. She took a video of the place turning around and around memorizing them for she might never set foot in this place again.
She reached the far end of the garden. She turned to view the mansion at a different angle. With the sun against her eye, the building glistened gloriously under the morning sun. It was so breath taking.
"It's marvellous isn't it." Helen suddenly appeared from behind her startling her immensely.
"You startled me!" Angela turned to see Manny wheeling the old woman's chair.
"You didn't see us so I figured I made our presence known to you." Helen smiled at her.
"I really did not see you."
"l always take my morning coffee in this garden. I love it here." Helen let her eyes scanned the whole place with loving eyes. "This had been my whole life."
"I can see why you love it here so much. The view is magnificent." Angela let her eyes feast on the beautiful scene before her.
"We built this place when Edward's father was still young and had been here since."
"How long had you been here?"
"I bought this villa sixty years ago. I was young and ambitious but there was a part of me who always loved the life of the province that's why I decided to buy this." She smiled with melancholy.
"You must have missed your husband." Angela replied wistfully
"No I don't." Helen replied almost angrily. She then signalled Manny to leave them. "My husband had never loved the provincial life. He preferred the bustling life of the city. He tried to make it big but he was always short of ideas. He squandered quite a huge portion of our fortune trying to be someone but his dreams were too far from his reach. Then he came home." Her voice trailed off in sadness.
"I'm sorry to hear about it."
"Don't be. He made his choice and he was happy for it."
Angela fell silent she found a spot to settle and settled herself. She could sense that the old woman needed to talk about her life's story so she could unburden herself.
"Edward's father followed my husband's footsteps. I thought he disliked him so much for he wasn't here while he was growing up. But I was wrong. He followed his dreams in the city like his father. So I moved to the cottage near the sea." Helen smiled.
"You built that garden too?"
Helen smiled. "Yes. I guess having a garden keeps me sane as my boys wasted their life chasing their dreams. I wanted to be close to my son. So I bought that property. It was the closest I could get to the city and still live my provincial life. I wasn't willing to give up my own life either but I could make some compromise. But like my husband, my son failed. One day he came home with Amber, his wife. She had Edward and I was so heartbroken to see another man in my husband's line."
"You feared he might leave you again like your husband and your son."
Helen nodded. "But Amber promised that Edward would be different. And so Edward turned out to be half his father and half his mother. Mathew hated Edward for being such a weakling. He took Edward's kindness as his weakness. But it seemed Edward had proven to them both that his kindness was the missing ingredient of their ambition. Edward set out the city like his fathers before him and conquered it." Helen's eyes were shining with pride.
"When did you decide to move back here?"
"When Edward brought home Erin to become his wife, I decided to leave the cottage for them."
All of a sudden, the mention of Erin almost marrying Edward put a huge lump on her throat. Was he really trying to marry that woman? No wonder she was so adamant in getting back Edward. They were supposed to get married!
"What happened to them?" Angela asked curiously her heart thumping.
"She got pregnant long before they could tie the knot. So Edward decided that they will get married once the baby is out. It was Erin's request of course. I remember him beg her to marry him so he could give the child his name."
"Where's the baby?"
"One day they had a fight. It was huge. It seemed like Edward caught Erin being amorous with one of his business partners. She told him that she was sorry. But Edward won't take it. He sent her out. But every now and then Erin keeps popping into his life and he always welcomes her back. He must have loved her then."
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