From Frying Pan to Strange Fire

Already tired of hearing the same reason over and over again Joan decided not to ask why.

She just stared at the man promising her heaven on earth, and she still couldn’t shake off the feeling that something just wasn’t right with him.

“You knew you had enemies, yet you involved me in this mess, knowing they would come after me and you claim to love me? How am I supposed to believe that?” Joan asked, swallowing the question about his identity, which she initially wanted to ask.

“Don’t you have enemies?” Roman asked and Joanne frowned.

“I don’t. I am not a troublemaker. I don’t engage in things that bring the wrong kind of attention toward me.” Joan defended herself.

“Are you sure about that? Are we forgetting how you caught my attention?” Roman probed, arching a brow, and Joan felt like slapping herself. However, before she could utter another word in her defense, Roman continued. “And did you say you don’t have enemies? That would be the most delusional statement of the century. You know why? Because almost everyone you were surrounded by before I met you were your enemies. Only one person cared about your well-being. The others could not wait to dance on your grave. I’m surprised how you could be so blinded and endure all the shit they threw at you, only to act so unacommodating to the person who saved you from their grasp and wants nothing but the best for you.

“Because you married me without my consent.” Joan blurted, annoyed at his last statement.

“Without your consent? How? Did I kidnap you? You gave me your consent, Joan.” Roman pointed out in incredulity.

“Because I didn’t have a choice. You gave me no choice.”

“You had two choices. You picked the one most beneficial to you with milder consequences.” Roman reminded her, but Joan was not ready to let it go.

“You could have given me a third choice. I made a mistake and I regret my action. I apologize for my foolishness. I was drunk. You could have forgiven me and let me go.” Joan spoke, this time, her tone was calmer and she looked sober.

“How?” Roman asked, confusing her for a second. “How could I have let you go when your touch brought life back into my body? You can’t deny you don’t feel it because I know you do, and if you still need proof as to why I said you are my soulmate, then that is one of them. I promise you will never feel that way with another person. I know and admit that my approach and method was wrong. That is why I want us to start again. I don’t mind courting you from scratch even though we are married, and after the courtship, I will marry you again, properly this time. Just give me a chance.” Roman asked and Joan finally looked away from him.

“I gave Richard a chance. Look where it landed me.” she uttered, and a look of disgust settled on Roman’s face.

“Don’t ever compare me to that irresponsible little boy.” he said.

“Little boy?” Joanne asked. “He’s 30 years old and I don’t think you’re much older. He might even be older than you.”Joan added, looking him in the face once more to confirm how true her words were by his facial features.

Roman wanted to laugh and ask her if she knew how old he was but he held his tongue. She wasn’t ready enough to handle any information about his true identity yet.

“Anyone who behaves like a child is called a child. It doesn’t matter how old the person is. He is lucky I didn’t end his life for putting you through the kind of stress you suffered while you were with him.”

Joan frowned at his words and would have not taken it so seriously if she had not seen what she saw the first day she arrived at his house.

“I don’t think he has done anything that deserves death. Just leave him alone, please.” She pleaded, not comfortable with what he said.

“You finally requested something from me and it’s in favor of another man. You don’t seem to understand how jealous I am. Now I want to kill him.”

Panicked, Joan sought to change the topic and luckily a suitable replacement dropped to her mind.

“You said you want to court me, right? And you want me to give you a chance?” She asked, and didn’t wait for his response before agreeing. “Fine. I’ll give you a chance. Let’s see if you can manage to convince me that you truly love and care about me.”

Roman said nothing. He watched her with narrowed eyes, already knowing she was trying to divert his attention from what he had said earlier. He thought she wasn’t smart but she had just proved him wrong. Something, however, still didn’t sit right with him.

“Do you still love him?” he asked, watching as Joan’s eyes widened for a second before she shook her head in response. “Don’t lie to me, Joan.” Joan heard him say, and a certain kind of chill ran down her spine.

“I don’t love him. I stopped loving him a long time ago. I just don’t want him to die for my sake. And that goes for any other person. My life is already a mess. I don’t want it to get messier than this.” She confessed in all honesty and sincerity.

The frown on Roman’s face slowly faded when he heard what she said. He donned a smirk and pushed himself off the bed.

“Rest now. Tomorrow will be a good day.” He said, then walked away from the room.Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Joan let out a soft sigh, then climbed off the bed. He had asked her to rest, and it was already evening. But she felt like she suddenly had all the energy in the world. She moved to the bathroom to freshen up, changed into one of her pajamas, then walked out of her room. If she was going to accept this new life which she had been made to know was not ending anytime soon, then she probably shouldn’t be cooped up in her room all the time. It was time to know her surroundings and find out all she could about these people who forced their way into her life.