The drive back home was calm and peaceful. After the whirlwind of emotions, and time in the operating room, and contemplation that had swept through her day, Jessica felt drained and tired.
Her body ached, but it was her heart that bore the heaviest weight of worry, heartache and fear of the future.
Totally drained and weak, she felt nothing than to lie down and have a good sleep but then they are in the car and the only improvisation, she glanced subtly at Davis.
With a sigh, she leaned into Davis’s shoulder, nestling herself comfortably into his embrace. Davis slowly adjusted and pulled her to himself making her head rest on his while his arms enveloped her to himself.
She closed her eyes, finding comfort and warmth in the familiar rise and fall of his breath, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat beneath his shirt, the quiet strength he exuded even in stillness made her feel safe and comfortable.
The gentle hum of the engine and the subtle swaying of the car felt like a lullaby, rocking her into a sense of peace.
For a brief moment, she allowed herself to believe that everything was alright, that her world will finally experience peace and tranquility, that the warmth in the arms of her beloved will be her solace shielding her at all time. But then —
Tranquility was fleeting, the peace she expected fragile because it didn’t last for long.
Without warning, Lady Matilda’s image surfaced in her mind’s eye, vivid and clear. The memory of Lady Matilda’s embrace enveloping in a hug that had been inexplicably warm and exuding comfort that seems comfortable in her memory.
Her gaze, so piercing and inexplicably familiar as Matilda looked at her with anxiousness, lingered in Jessica’s memory like an imprint burned into her very soul.
Jessica’s heart skipped a beat toppling severally. She took a deep intake of breath as she slowly opened her eyes, her brows furrowed together in confusion. "Why on earth do I have to recollect this at this moment?" She whined inwardly.
A strange feeling filled her chest, one she didn’t expect. She felt—worry about a stranger she had never met, she felt worried about how is doing or coping with her body.
Then she recalled the soft and dauntingly familiar scent she had perceived from her. A faint trace of a floral scent which is still trying to assess. That scent has been fleeting, but it struck a chord in her heart. Her chest tightened as her thought swirled.
"Why did it feel like I had known that scent before? Not just from today—but long ago?" She mused internally.
Her mind scrambled to connect the threads, "I wish I would have the time to see her again, to perceive that scent again and finally make judgement, I need to unravel that scent." She thought to herself.
But then she recollected abruptly "my mother wears that scent, it was her favorite." She screamed in her heart. Now it made sense.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Forced Marriage: My Wife, My Redemption