All truths are not to be told"
Portuguese proverb
Chapter 10
"That's okay. I'll just come to you." He sat on the bed, the tray on his laps.
"Come eat with me."
I glared at him, still crying.
"I don't want to have to force you, zeynep. Don't let me have to hurt you again. I don't like seeing what I've done to your face. It would be so much easier if you'd just cooperate."
I didn't move, but instead lowered my head, trying to wish him away.
"You seem to think this is optional. You've forgotten what I told you about Orion," he said, humor having left his voice. "I spoke with your father this afternoon. They now have a date for his resumption. It's in another month. What a shame it would be to have to terminate everything!"
That was all it needed to make me do his bidding. I rose to my feet and sat beside him on the bed, watching as he ate.
"Madam Maria is undefeated. These eggs are delicious!" he remarked. "Are you sure you don't want any of it?"
I shook my head.
"I hope you didn't tell her anything," he said. "It would be a disaster if you did."
"I didn't tell her anything," was my answer, which was the truth.
When he was done eating, he set the tray on the floor and brought my key out of his pocket. I felt bile rise to my mouth as he locked the door, and I knew it was going to be yet another agonising night.
I put up no fight when he returned to the bed.
Instead I lay there and allowed him to do what he wanted.
I thought it would be easier not to fight, but I was wrong.
It was just as horrible.
It was just as soul wrenching and demeaning as it had been when I'd fought him.
Like the night before, he had his way with me multiple times, but unlike the last time, he didn't bother leaving my room when morning broke. Instead, he slept soundly, and when finally he awoke, the first thing he did was reach for me, continuing the cycle.
By the time he finally left my room, it was well past 10am. As he walked out, I caught sight of one of the junior maids walking along the hallway, and I could only imagine what she was thinking of me.
At noon, the head maid whom I learnt her name was madam Marie, returned with an early lunch for myself, but unlike the previous day when she had been emotional, she was stoic, her face expressionless.
She didn't even ask how I'd managed to clear the huge tray of food from the previous evening, but instead set the new tray there, as if nothing had happened.
" What will you eat this night?"
I looked at her, trying to decode any hidden message, but reading nothing at all in her deadpan eyes. So I simply shrugged, not saying anything.
"you'd be fine," she said, with almost an air of indifference as she walked out of the room. "Take care of yourself."
I was stunned beyond belief.
What on earth could have changed between yesterday and today?
Where had all the empathy from the previous day gone? How could she have gone from weeping evenmore profusely than I, to acting like nothing had even happened?
I was well and truly alone.
Ibrahim strolled back to my bedroom at about 3pm and proceeded to stay there all night. When he ordered his meal to be delivered there, I couldn't understand it. If he was so insistent on my not telling anyone of what had been transpiring between us, he sure wasn't doing anything to hide it.
Lily, the young maid, did everything she could not to make eye contact with me, as she arranged his tray on my small coffee table. I was too ashamed to look at her as well. By now, I knew that the entire household would be gossiping about what they thought was going on between Ibrahim and I. What I didn't know was how all this would be happening without word of it filtering to the minister's ear. Yes, Ibrahim might have been controlling Orion's logistics, but the Minister controlled the purse strings…and that was much more important.
But I wasn't brave enough to do anything about it, and so I yielded to becoming Ibrahim's sex slave.
He moved into my bedroom, departing only for a couple of hours for quick visits to his bakery. I had no way of knowing if his being home was only to hold the forte while the minister was away, or if he had relocated from India for good.
With everything in my heart, I prayed it was the former. Whatever the case, he only spent a fraction of the time his father would ordinarily have spent in his office and chose to spend the better part of his day in my bedroom…in my bed.
It didn't get any easier. He ravaged my body like an animal devouring raw meat.
If this was what sex was all about, then everyone had lied.
It was the most horrible thing I could have ever fathomed, and every incident left me bruised and battered, physically and emotionally.
Thankfully, my facial injuries from our first encounter healed, and I was soon able to journey out of my room. There was no point hiding there. The whole household knew of my shame.
By this time, my relationship with madam Maria had become completely frosty, and one wouldn't have believed we had once shared a close friendship. She gave me curt smiles as she announced my meals or informed me when she was leaving the house to run errands, but that was it. Madame Mariai, who I considered my adopted mother here in a strange land, had herself become a stranger.
Finally, after five long weeks, Chief returned home.
I'd taken special care with my makeup that day, trying to hide any telltale signs of having been tampered with. Thankfully, Ibrahim had the good sense to move out all his things which had accumulated in my room; clothing, footwear, wristwatches and even toiletries. My only wish, my only prayer was that he was gone for good.
"Ah, look at my princess!" the minister exclaimed, as I ran to embrace him in the lobby. "You look like you've lost a lot of weight. Maria, haven't you been taking care of my angel?"
Madame Marie looked away, and I could only wonder what she was thinking.
"I got you a lot of beautiful things you'll love," the minister said, taking my hand as we walked together into the living room. "And my daughter sent you some things she says you ladies like."
I smiled, trying to appear excited, but not even the thought of beautiful things from London could rejuvenate my weakened spirit.
"I also spoke with your father several times," Chief went on. "From what I hear from them everything is going excellently well. Both Orion and her things are ready, and resumption should be in the next couple of weeks."
"That's wonderful," I said, giving
him a small hug. "Thank you, sur."
"I'm the one that should be thanking you every day," Chief said, planting a huge kiss on my cheek. "My beautiful wife!"
Ibrahim walked into the living room at that point, and there was a sardonic smile on his face. "Ah, the lovebirds."
"ibrahim, you're here," Chief remarked, his tone flattening. "I thought you would be at your bakery. Isn't it a little early for you to be home?"
"I came home to welcome you," Ibrahim answered. "Or did I commit a crime by doing so?"
"How have things been?"
"Don't act like you haven't been getting information from all your spies," Ibrahim retorted.
"I'm sure they've all told you I've been doing a great job. I've made quite a few changes."
" I didn't ask you to make any changes, just to manage the place in my absence!" the minster snapped. "I didn't bring you here so you would destroy the business like you've done in India !"
I thought the business was for me
Ibrahim rolled his eyes. "Ah, here we go again."
"Anyway, we can talk more about that later. For now, I just want to rest. It has been a long journey, and I just want to enjoy the company of my beautiful wife."
A sly smile formed on I Ibrahim face. "Very good company indeed."
I stiffened in the minister's arms and looked at him to see if he had picked up on anything. But it didn't look like he had.
"sir, food is ready. It has already been set in the dining room. Pata, just as you like it," I said, trying to deflect the situation.
"Music to my very weary ears!" he laughed. "Let me use the restroom, I will join you shortly."
I walked to the dining room, trying not to allow my nerves show on my face. Hearing Ibrahim's stay in town wouldn't be short term was devastating, but I was consoled by the fact he wouldn't dare touch me now that Chief was back.
Or that's what I thought, I could have just died with mama