VII

I had no idea about the passage of time. I just lay there with my eyes closed, unable to sleep.

I heard the door open, and my senses immediately jolted to life. I knew, and I strongly felt it was Gio; otherwise, there would have been a knock.

I closed my eyes even tighter. I was facing away from the door, so he wouldn't notice that I was pretending to be asleep.

His cellphone rang, and he quickly answered it.

"Hello," he said in a low voice. "I'm home."

I tried to sense what they might be talking about, but I couldn't glean much due to Gio's terse responses.

"Tomorrow. Do that, Azi." And their conversation ended.

I heard some noises that I thought were Gio moving around. The bathroom and walk-in closet doors opened and closed. I caught a whiff of Gio's cologne as he exited.

I opened my eyes. Suddenly, I felt hungry and remembered that I hadn't eaten dinner earlier.

"Millie…"

I pretended to be asleep again, but it was too late as Gio was already standing in front of me. I raised my gaze to him, and the dim light from my lampshade illuminated his face.

"You haven't eaten dinner, why is that?"

I sat up and looked at the table near the bed. I saw a tray of food there. I swallowed hard and averted my gaze.

"I don't want to eat alone.” I lost my appetite when they told me you wouldn't be coming home to eat with me. I didn't say that to him; I kept it to myself.

I mustered the courage to look directly into Gio's eyes. I still couldn't quite decipher his thoughts or feelings. His eyes remained calm yet cold.

"Then, let's eat. I had the food sent here. You're not going to sleep with an empty stomach." He turned away from me and went to the table to arrange the dishes.

"I'm not hungry—"

"What did I tell you about talking back to me?"

Right, I need to obey him.

"Let's eat, Millie."

I lifted my head again and looked at Gio, who was now seated in a chair. That's when I noticed there were two plates on the table.

I stood up and walked towards him. I examined the spread of food and felt my mouth water.

"Aren't you hungry yet?" What time is it, anyway? I thought you were going to eat at the office.

"I already ate," he said. "But if you want to eat with someone, I can eat again. Now, sit."

I felt like a puppy, taking a seat where he wanted me to. I bowed my head in embarrassment, especially when he started putting food on my plate.

"Don't skip your meals again."

I bit my lip and secretly smiled to myself. He's not so bad after all... I guess?

~*~

My cellphone rang, and I picked it up with excitement as I saw my sister Sienna's name.

"Sien!" I greeted her.

"Wow! That's new. It was rare for me to hear you all so cheery, Millie," Sienna chuckled from the other end, mirroring my smile. "I love the energy."

My mood at home was typically gloomy. Who wouldn't be if you were treated poorly by your own father?

I joined in Sienna's laughter.

"Did you call for a reason? Is something wrong?" My smile faded as I realized that maybe my absence from home meant my abusive father was now targeting my sister.

"No, I just wanted to check in on you. I wanted to know if your husband is treating you well," Sienna sighed. "I hope he is."

"Don't worry, Sienna, I'm fine. I'm being treated well here," I remembered Gio's actions for me. He might not be very vocal, but you could see it in his actions. Though, I admit, he's still intimidating. I just tried not to dwell on the thought of him hurting me.

"Good to know that. By the way, Nina came over. She didn't know your current address? I gave her the address and your phone number. She said she couldn't reach you, and I told her you changed your number. She wasn't there at your wedding, right?"

Nina is my best friend. We've been classmates and friends since elementary school. She couldn't attend my wedding because she was working abroad at the time. We have another friend, Rae. He's living in a different country now, so he couldn't make it to my wedding either. Although, he mentioned planning to visit us here.

"Oh, right. I haven't talked to Nina yet," I said. "I didn't know she was coming here. I haven't checked my social media either. Maybe she's been trying to contact me, but I haven't noticed. Thanks, Sienna. I'll call her later."

My sister and I talked about a few more things before she had to leave.

I quickly opened all my social media accounts. I wasn't wrong; my friends had been trying to reach me.

I called Nina, especially when I saw she was online. She answered quickly.

"Nina!" I greeted her.

I hadn't talked to her much since her vacation in Hawaii. She mentioned the weak signal there and how she was trying to find herself, so she was staying away from social media.

"How are you? Have you found yourself yet?" I laughed gently, teasing my friend. I could always be candid with them. When I'm with my friends, I can be myself without restraint. So when they left and I was alone here, I felt really lonely. It's a relief that Nina is back.

"Silly! Just soul-searching. Anyway, how's married life? Is your husband treating you well? I thought Rae and I would be the first to get married, and you beat us to it! The universe really has some unexpected plot twists!" Nina said to me.

I smiled at her and told her everything she needed to know. She mentioned that she's also planning to visit my place, but it might not be anytime soon.

"What's important is that you've escaped your father's clutches! I've been telling you to leave that house for a while now, but I guess, yeah, when you did try to leave, your father's reaction was beyond terrible. I don't want to even think about it."

I didn't want to dwell on it either. "I'm okay here. Nothing like that is happening," I assured her. The only issue was that Gio was often not at home due to his busy schedule.

"Describe your husband to me. I tried to look him up on the internet, but there's nothing! There are a few articles about their business success, but there are hardly any pictures! I saw some of his relatives, but Gio Locatelli? I couldn't find a single photo of him! He's super private."

I fell silent at her words. How could I describe Gio to her without exaggerating? Trying to find the right words for Gio felt like grasping at thin air. I'd said before, there are no adequate words for that man.

"Well, he's the typical bachelor type of man. Just like that."

"Wow, your description of him was so vivid, I can totally picture him!" she sarcastically remarked. I just laughed it off.

I couldn't put Gio into words properly. In my mind, I could describe him, but when it came to verbalizing it, it was difficult. It was as if I was always fumbling for words when it came to him. I'd said it before, there were no adequate words for that man.