Chapter 5: How It Came to Be
She enjoyed the silence and kept drinking on her own. The time simply went by.
But while she was opening the third bottle a hand snatched it from her.
Loreen was surprised. She forgot she had company.
She turned to him and gazed at him for a long time. She did it in purpose since she could not see his face clearly.
Her vision got even more blurry with all the liquor. She could barely see her surroundings.
The man seems to have fallen asleep and woke up to the sound of her opening another bottle. No wonder it was so silent earlier that she forgot she wasn't alone.
"That's enough. You already drank too much. You should sleep instead. In the morning, they will come to check the room. We could get out by then," he explained.
Loreen barely understood what he said but nodded.
"Just one last glass," she added.
He sighed and poured a bit on her glass.
Loreen was not satisfied with the amount and poured more until the glass was almost full.
The man sighed in exasperation and just watched her drink it. But after she drank a half of the glass, he took it from her.
"That's enough. Have you ever heard of alcohol poisoning? Are you trying to kill yourself?" he scolded her. He drank the rest instead.
"Right. Thank you," Loreen had forgotten about those. "What's your name, sir? I owe you a lot, but I don't even know your name."
"Edric. Call me Edric," he introduced himself.
"I'm Loreen," she responded in turn.
They laughed since it was out of order. They were not able to introduce themselves earlier because of Sera.
They talked to each other while Edric drank the rest of the liquor. He did not allow Loreen to have any more.
While watching him empty his glass, Loreen felt very sleepy, so she searched for something to lean on as her head felt heavy.
The couch was too low.
The next closest thing to her was the man beside her.
His broad shoulders looked sturdy to lean on. She let her head settle on it as she closed her eyes. It was sturdy indeed.
She was thinking of simply trying what it felt like, but he surprisingly did not tell her off. Instead, he even fixed her hair and smiled.
Loreen smiled back at him, and he cupped her face.
His handsome face with a gentle smile was the last thing she recalled as she fell asleep.
.
.
.
'Hmm. Feels warm. What's this hard thing?' Loreen hugged something warm.
She realized she had fallen asleep for a bit.
'Eh?!'
When she opened her eyes, her head was on Edric's sturdy body. It felt warm and cozy, so she did not lean away. But she stopped hugging his arm when she realized it was what she was holding earlier.
"Are you alright?" Edric asked, noticing that she woke up.
He was still drinking so she must have not slept long. It felt like she had just closed her eyes for a second, but Edric was almost done with all the liquor in the room. There was only one opened bottle remaining.
"Yes," Loreen replied, still letting her weight be supported by his sturdy body since he didn't seem to mind.
Edric just kept drinking after that without saying anything.
"Let me help you with that," Loreen reached out for the glass he was holding.
He stared at her and wordlessly let her drink from his glass.
"Mmm. This taste better than the others," Loreen licked her lips. This one was sweet. She rather liked it.
"Did no one tell you not to do that while a man is looking at you?" Edric said.
"Huh? Why?" Loreen did not understand what he meant.
The next second, she felt something warm and soft against her lips.
Loreen was wide-eyed when she realized he was kissing her. She would have slapped him by now if she wasn't drunk. But this was the man who had been helping since earlier.
She shivered when he licked her lower lip and lightly nibbled on it.
"Do you understand now?" Edric asked, his face still so close. She could feel his breath on her.
Loreen was speechless and just nodded her head.
'What just happened?!' her heart raced wildly.
Edric gazed deep into her eyes and cupped her face. He gently caressed her cheeks before touching her lips with his thumb.
Loreen gulped. The way he looked at her and how he touched her gently stirred something that lay asleep inside her.
She became more aware of the heat of his body and how hard it was compared to hers. He smelled nice, and his voice sounded so manly when he spoke earlier too.
Edric kissed her again. This time, longer, and much more sensual. He opened her mouth and let his tongue touch hers.
He tasted like the liquor she drank from his glass.
Sweet.
With the alcohol in her system, Loreen didn't mind him kissing her. And she realized she didn't dislike it.
Everything happened before she could think. It was just kissing at first. But before she knew it, they were naked in bed doing something more.
It was her first time.
Loreen never thought it would happen this way. Still, she allowed Edric to lead her to do whatever this was. And she was shocked because when it came to the final act, it hurt so much.
She felt the pain even with her alcohol sated body. How much more if she wasn't drunk?
'Who f*cking said s*x felt good? It hurts!'
Loreen couldn't help a gasp as he plunged it into her. She felt a searing pain. Like something inside got torn.
Her tears flowed from her eyes on their own. But she didn't dare make another sound as she tried to steady her breathing.
Edric noticed and stopped. He was wide-eyed as he asked, "It was your first time?"
Loreen merely nodded. She felt embarrassed because of the look of shock on his face.
Even high schoolers do it nowadays. But her, someone already working and taking her doctorate, had never done it.
"Sh*t. I'm so sorry. What have I done?! Shall we stop?" Edric suddenly looked guilty.
But even if they stopped, Loreen already felt the pain. He was already inside her. And he was still hard and raging. She could feel it pulsate inside her.
Though her sight was still hazy, Loreen gazed at his face. He had such a pretty face. And a hot body as well. He had been so kind to her earlier too.
She didn't feel bad losing her first time to him.
Loreen had also been curious what s*x was like. She never thought it would happen this way. But this was her chance to experience it. Especially since he was already inside her anyway.
'I am a working adult. I support myself. And I am at the age when doing this is alright,' Loreen assured herself to push back the guilt.
She had never done this before nor prepared herself for something like this, so she was still fearful.
But she wanted to try it too because of how people made it seem like it was something so great that she was missing out on her life for not doing it.
'The first time is always the hardest. But it's okay. We are already here.'
"No need. Let's continue," Loreen braved a smile.
"Alright. I will do my best to be gentle," Edric caressed her face gently, dried her tears with his thumb, and gave her a lot of kisses.
Loreen was relieved and grateful that he was being considerate. He took her gently despite his desire, and she let him do everything since she did not know what to do.
From then on, Loreen's life changed completely.
***
(Back to the present)
Edric's call was finally over.
Loreen ran to meet him and give him a hug. But what greeted her was his furious expression she had never seen before.
"You liar! How could you lie to me all these years?!" Edric barked at her.
"What?" Loreen was shocked by the sudden outburst.
What exactly did he mean by that?
"I never lied to you," Loreen defended herself. It was the truth. She had been true to him. Why would he suddenly say this?
"You are still going to keep your act? Heh. I won't believe a word you say from on."
"Edric, I don't know why you are in such a bad mood. Please calm down first," Loreen tried to reach out to him, but Edric gripped her wrist.
"F*cking drop your act. How dare you kill my child?! I could have forgiven that you are only after my money. But to get rid of my child…how could you be so merciless?! Sera told me everything. Please stop with all your lies," Edric screamed at her.
Loreen froze at his words. Not a word came out from her mouth.
'How could he say such things? I never lied to him even once. I'm not after his money either. And how could he accuse me of killing our child?!!'
"Edric, I don't know what exactly you heard from Sera. But I never did any of those. I was true to you all these years. I married you because I wanted my child to have a father. I was never after your money. And I could never stomach aborting my child," Loreen defended herself.
"Stop. Just stop! I won't let you play with me anymore! Just… Just sign these documents and get the hell out of here!" Edric shoved a folder to her face.
Loreen had no choice but to open it. She was speechless at the contents.
Divorce papers.
And Edric had already signed them.