Reliving the past

Chapter 23 Reliving the past I signed as I glanced as the reply I sent to Royce again. It was a mistake, one I didn't know about until the hours were now closed by. I had just seen the invite and accepted without even checking the venue. The length of my office became too small for me to pace as I walked around it. Why exactly did I accept when I had no strategy to deal with it. Why invite me to the house out of all places, why didn't they let us do it outside? I paged Christian on my smart watch. Within minutes, he arrived and knocked on my door. He walked right in after I told him to. 'Christian," I said in my distressed tone and showed him my phone. 'A dinner with the Robbens? That's a great one isn't it? Why do you sound so tense? You don't want to go?" He asked. 'You didn't check it well," I said, motioning to the phone which I had dropped on the desk in front of me. 'The venue is their house, my house Christian. I can't walk into that house without breaking down. It's like going down the road of what used to be my life and everything that I owned. How do I go into such a house and feel comfortable with being treated as a guest?" I lamented. 'You need to calm down Myra. If going there as a guest is what you are concerned about, then don't go there as a guest. See it as an excursion to a place which used to be your prison. A prison you didn't know you were in until your wedding anniversary night, when you saw just how oblivious you were to what was right in front of you." He reasoned 'You make it so simple Christian, but it's not. I wished it was as simple as you thought. What you said would have been so nice if Royce could see me and recognise that I used to be his wife but the guy doesn't know. Both of them are clueless and at such, they see me as some kind of Messiah to them" 'I'm sorry Myra. Here I am, thinking that you'd find it easy to accomplish. So, what can I do to help you. Should I find something you can use against them?" 'I…I don't think it's time for that yet, " I said quickly, surprising myself even more. 'Maybe, just maybe the dinner could work out to my advantage. It could help me to get to see them for who they are as a couple. I need to see if they have a crack in their wall that I could use against them. Maybe a slip from them would be of help to me. It's going to be hard but I just need to get ready for it, prepare my mind for what is to come.?" Christian stood up from his seat and walked to me. He took me by surprise when he took my hands into his and held me firmly. 'I've watched you over three years prepare for this. You've endured much more pain than this. You've stayed up without sleeping just to get your desired results and every time, you come back victoriously. You've built this plan from scratch and you've started it. Believe me when I say you are doing well. What I'm saying is that you've faced a greater challenge, don't let this dinner weigh you down" he said calmly. I looked at him and wondered if we'd have made a good team if the situation was different from this. He always knows what to say at the right time. His words were soothing to my heart and made me feel better than I thought it would. 'You are a good friend Christian. You know me even more than I know myself and you know just what to say to me at the right time" I said to him. 'It's what I do, besides we've been together for years and it's what Percy tasked me with. Besides, you are strong, you just don't know that yet. You'll get this done. I trust you Myra." He said and patted my hands before leaving my office. As Christian, left my office,I checked the clock on my desk. I saw that I had about an hour left before going for the dinner. I took my car keys and got out of the office as I had to get ready for the night. ***************************************** 'Here's the surprise I talked about, this is where we'll continue to leave now. It would be our ancestral home where we'll groom handsome and beautiful children. Here would become the beginning of our love story," that was exactly Royce's word that day as he brought me to the house. My joy knew no bounds as he said those words. He sounded so good that I thanked the universe for bringing him to my doorstep and blessing me with such a charming prince. Now,the same house now housed him and my step sister as his wife, living happily as if they have done no evil. A part of me wished I could turn back from the gate and forget about the whole thing but I just couldn't, I was here and I have to see this through I honked the horn as I got to the front of the house. The gate opened from inside and welcomed me to what I thought would be my ancestral home. The huge mansion was exactly as I left it, except for the fountain he had added and the goose playing in it. I stared at it so hard that my eyes became watery. I took the handkerchief from my purse and cleaned the sides of my eyes. 'Get a grip Bella," I said to myself. 'You are here already. Get this done and kick some ass," I said and turned off the ignition of my car. I took my purse and opened the door, stepping out of my car. I walked to the front door and just as I was about to open it, the door opened revealing Royce in a casual shirt and shorts. 'I didn't think you'd make it ," he said smiling warmly at me and I replied too 'You thought I'd miss dinner? Never, I'd never do that. I promised to come and you know that I keep my promises." I said. He opened the door widely and I walked in. As I got in and took in the room, Britney came down the steps, smiling brightly 'Myra! You look fabulous, you know one day you'll have to tell me about your stylist. You look stunning everytime I see you." She complimented. 'Oh, you are so kind with your words, thank you Britney," I said. 'Here, I brought this wine, I figured we'd need something to wash down our dinner," I said handing her the shopping bag in my hand 'You didn't need to do this Myra," Royce said. They both walked me into the dining room. As we walked through the living room. I noticed that the decor in the room had changed. Most of the designs I paid my decorator to design were no way to be found. I clenched my hand at my side as I noticed this. A portrait of Royce and Britney, smiling to the camera adorned the wall. It stood in the same place that I and Royce's portrait stood three years ago. I stood in front of the portrait and smiled. 'This is beautiful," I said. 'I know right, It's not easy to keep him fit but I do try my best," Myra said to me. Taking one last glance at the portrait, I followed Royce through the hallway to the dining room. The table was already set beautifully. Not going to lie, Britney did a whole lot of changes to the room too. Not even the cutlery set I had remained. Every single thing up to the flower vase had been changed. The bitch! She did a pretty good job though. 'This looks yummy and smells so good," I said while Royce poured the wine I brought into the glass. I noticed how he smiled warmly towards Britney and how she smiled shyly at him as he poured her wine too. 'Thank you, I actually put a lot of effort into getting all of this ready. It's nothing much but I put all of my efforts into it, after all, I'm hosting Mysterious Myra," Britney said smiling. 'Mysterious Myra huh? But still, you outdid yourself and I really appreciate," I said and sipped the wine 'So, Britney told me how you handled Selena," Royce began, touching Britney as he talked. I noticed his touch lingered on Britney's hand. 'It was nothing really. I didn't even know she was Danni's wife. I only knew after I left the mall. To be honest, she's the same as Danni. I got to know that she has a close relationship with the previous owner of the mall. Most of the attendants know her, that's why they were quick to answer her." I explained 'Really? I thought as much because it sure wasn't normal for them to react like that to her. The guy didn't even bother to ask me a single question, he just assumed that I truly was going to steal from them." Britney said in surprise 'Selena is a bully and I have no ounce of passion for people like that. They make my skin crawl, she should be thankful that I was in a really good mood yesterday because I would have gone out of my way to see that she got what she really deserved." 'Out of your way? What you did was more than enough. Britney hasn't stopped singing your praises since yesterday. We decided to organise this as a way of showing our gratitude to you. We are extremely happy to have you as a friend Myra and we hope we keep going strong." Royce said. The subtleness of his voice caught me off guard and I almost fell for it but in an instance I caught myself from falling for it. 'Are you going to make me cry?" I asked Royce and cleaned the sides of my eyes in pretence as if I was teary. 'I know it might be nothing to you but it means the world to me. You made me feel safe with what you did." Britney said again. As we ate and engaged in random talks, I realised that coming to the house wasn't as bad as I thought. I was just worried about nothing. Just as Christian mentioned, I've prepared for this for a long time and I certainly have it under control. The duo were no match for me. My phone buzzed in my purse, I opened my purse and brought it out. It was Christian asking how I was coping and if all was going well. 'I'm doing just great, it's not actually as bad as I thought" I replied and continued with our discussion.