“Look at what my mother gave me”, Carissa said with a wide smile as she picked up the invitation card and passed it to Ethan.
Ethan reluctantly collected it, trying so hard to conceal how disappointed he was with how she quickly had a change of topic.
“What is this?” He asked with a giant frown on his face.
“It’s a couple's funfair. I mean, my mum thought that it would be so great to attend it together with you”, Carissa said with a considerable smile on her face.
She felt totally uneasy and deep down, she hoped that his attention would be drifted off the question he had asked.
“This looks interesting”, Ethan mumbled under his breath as he dropped the card on the bed and returned his attention to her.
“Carissa, sometimes I wonder if you realize how much I love you”, he said as he peered into her eyes intently, as though trying to discover something she was hiding.
Stan stayed still outside the window, listening to their conversation and boiling in rage.
A second ago, he raised his voice at her, and now he’s talking like an angel?” Stan asked himself as a scoff escaped his lips.
He lifted his head to peek into the window and couldn’t help but observe the look Carissa had on her face.
She was confused and seemed to be at a crossroad without an idea of the direction to take.
“Look at me”, Ethan went further as he stretched his hands towards her face, caressing it lightly and smiling as he did so.
Carissa shivered in fright the moment his hands touched her skin. For some reasons she couldn’t decipher, her body turned cold and fear gripped her.
Ever since she met with Ethan, she had always felt belittled and frightened, irrespective of the fact that he appears to be calm and kind.
She was unable to say why she felt that way, and so, she resolved that she only felt like that because of how strong her heart was.
“I won’t hurt you. I hope you know that?” He asked while Carissa nodded her head positively.
“I know Ethan. It’s just that I’m still unwell and need time to relax and get better”, Carissa said as she swallowed hard while hoping that he would believe what she just uttered.
“How long would you take to recover? How long Carissa?” Ethan said as he stood to his feet in fury.
He was getting exhausted with the phase he found himself in, and Carissa didn’t seem to be helping out. He needed to get married as soon as possible, but she was there, talking of a fun fair, that was the least of things in his mind.
“I need you as my wife. I want you as my wife already, and I don’t want it to take time anymore. I’m not getting any younger and neither are you”, Ethan said and for a minute, Carissa pondered over his statement.
“You are right!” She noted as she stood up and walked closer to him.
Stan froze where he leaned on, he gulped down hard as his heart thumped rapidly.
“We will set another wedding date, really soon”, Carissa said.
***
“Tell me that you love me. You have no idea of how much I crave to hear those words from you”, Ethan said as he held her hands and peered piercingly into her soft eyes.
Outside, Stan prayed that she wouldn’t utter those words to him. He needed no one to tell him that it would shatter his heart to the tiniest bits, and he wasn’t ready for that.
“Carissa, tell me you love me”, Ethan persisted as his blood started boiling in fury.
He couldn’t understand why she was scared and frightened of those words. To him, it was something that could be said anytime and to anyone, even without being serious about it.
He had done it several times; telling countless ladies that he loved them. They always replied to him almost immediately, and that caused his heart to be at ease.
He knew that none of them meant it, as they were only after his money. However, none of that seemed to bother him.
Carissa was headstrong and different in that aspect, and that was beginning to get Ethan furious.
“You can’t tell your husband to be that you love him too?” Ethan said as he scoffed and clenched his fist in anger.
Stan stayed still outside, with a smile of satisfaction making way to his face.
This was the confirmation he needed; Carissa was still in love with him.
The smile on his face quickly transited into a massive scowl the moment he heard the next words that came off Carissa’s lips.
“I love you, Ethan”, Carissa said as she forced a smile to her lips.
Ethan heaved a huge sigh of relief and broke into a loud and hysterical laughter that caused Carissa to scrunch her brows.
“I love you too Carissa! I love you”, He said aloud as he pulled her into a warm hug.
Carissa felt a pang of guilt in her chest the moment those words escaped her lips.
She was under the pressure to do so and it had taken her last energy to achieve that.
Tears threatened to fall off her eyes but she tried so hard to restrain it from coming off her eyelids. Instead, she forced a smile to her lips; one that didn’t get to her eyelids.
“Can I kiss you?” Ethan asked, causing Carissa to gulp down hard.
Stan raised his head and peeked into the window again. He saw them in a position that caused tears to well up in his eyes.
Ethan was standing so close to Carissa that their faces were almost touching each other.
Without waiting for a response from Carissa, Ethan cupped her cheeks into his hand and leaned closer to her lips.
She stayed still, defenseless and powerless. After all, he was going to be her husband soon, and she couldn’t resist it forever.
Tears trickled down her eyes the moment his lips touched hers. Ethan chuckled as he thought that she was only getting overwhelmed by emotions and feelings.
She was crying because she craved to do all of that with someone else, rather than him.
Just then, they heard a sound by the window, after which a loud thud was heard.