3Chapter Three
Adina looked into the mirror and inspected her make up. It accentuated her eyes and lips however as she scrutinised her reflection she realised something was missing and applied more pink lipstick. Closing the tube she placed it in her cleavage so that she had easy access to it throughout the day. She was addicted to it and she knew it made her look good. Looking up from her chest she once again analysed the state of her Auburn hair and noticed that it too, was lacking in its effect. If she wanted to pick up, it had to be good. Looking over the top of her dresser she sorted through her shiny hair accessories. She chose a shiny diamond pin because she knew the effect that it had on people as it sparkled in the sun. The women nearly swooned with jealousy when they saw it and the men became entranced. Come to think of it, that happened no matter what she was wearing. She was the most lascivious woman in the village and she revelled in it. This was so because she hated being sad. She had had her fill of it throughout her life. Men could cause havoc on ones emotions and Adina liked to make sure that this could not happen anymore. It had hurt her so badly when she had let it, and she now made damn sure that it wouldn't continue by seducing men on her schedule and not theirs. They were taken over by her for a night and then they were gone and that was the way that she liked it.
Despite the fact that Adina would never know it, Jenna was doing exactly same thing as her at the same time and she was shaking. The only real difference was that for Jenna she was not thinking about one night stands. She was in fact sitting at her dresser thinking about spending every night for the rest of her life with the same man. Today was her wedding day and tonight would be the first night that she was to spend with her new husband and lover. She was scared, but it was a good scared. Ever since the incident with William, Taylor and she had grown closer, so close that it had in fact become an even bigger trial for them to save themselves for this night. Now it was so close, Jenna did not know what to do with herself she was bubbling over with excitement and fear and knew that she had to spend an entire day with her family and friends before she could be alone with Taylor. This was in fact the most important day in her life to date and she did not think that she ever wanted it to end.
Watching Jenna walk down the aisle Taylor's mind was not on the day but rather the night. Of all the things in the world there was only one thing that Jenna didn't know about him. He was not a virgin. He was not sure, but he thought that she assumed that he was, and there had never been a way to tell her otherwise. He knew she was, but that was only because he knew that she was one of those good girls that waited for marriage rather than letting themselves be taken, as it were, before hand. Taylor heard a sound beside him and he turned to look at his best man and best friend Ken. Taylor shook his head and turned back to Jenna getting thoughts of the night out of his head. He would deal with that when the time came. Today was not about their marriage bed but rather about pledging themselves to each other for the rest of their lives, for better or for worse. Taking a deep breath Jenna turned smiled at her father and let her hand slip away from his and place herself into the awaiting arms of Taylor.
Iana polished off her second bottle of fermented grapes and went off looking for another. Inan stared after her and sighed. What could he do? He knew not how to make her stop, it was impossible. Alenia was not faring much better and Varde didn't seem to have noticed. It didn't matter to Varde if Alenia got tipsy she always got over it and it did not happen all that often, only when Iana was around. This is what angered Inan. Iana could be a loving mother to their ten year old son, too loving and claustrophobic sometimes, but she cared. However when she drank she was unholy. Just as this thought crossed his mind he heard a terrible cacophony in the direction that Iana had gone. He looked over and realised that Iana had screamed at the bar man and was now lying in a crumpled heap on the ground. He got up and motioned Varde to follow him. This was the fifth time that this had happened this year. As Inan and Varde carried Iana home Inan decided to put a stop to this. It could not continue to go on.
Arlene shot a scathing look in William's direction. When she saw a look brought on by pain and having imbibed too much liquor she tightened her grip on Wilks arm and allowed the scent of herself waft past William. He had been in a constant state of drunken awareness ever since the month before when she had first let Wilks take her. Afterward she had felt bad but when she found out about William's attempted advances toward Jenna she promptly called their relationship off and continued to see Wilks. He was after all happy to have her. However upon the receipt of the knowledge that Helena was seeing Marnin he had become increasingly more reserved and clingy towards Arlene. She was beginning to chafe under the attention however it was a small price to pay for the hurt that she was causing William. That and Wilks was very good in bed and with this thought Arlene smiled, threw a triumphant look in the directions of William and Helena and went on parading herself to any who would pay attention.
Helena looked in the direction of Wilks and Arlene and noticed the looks that Arlene was shooting in her direction. Helena realised that she wasn't at all hurt by these and tightened Marnin's grip on her waist by moving in closer to him. It felt so good to be held in his arms and she wished that she would never have to leave. For the last month she had reveled in his company. She never realised that someone who cared about you so much could make you feel like this. She wondered what she had ever seen in Wilks. He may be good looking but he had been so willing to string her along for so long. He only thought of himself that one did. Once she had thought that thought she felt bad. Wilks was like that sometimes but she knew that in a way he did care about her well being even if he would never like her the way that she had always liked him. She looked up at Marnin again and once again the realization flooded through her that none of this mattered to her any more because Marnin had become the pinnacle of her life.
William felt eyes upon him He took another swig of his drink before looking up just in case it was Arlene again. However when he looked up he realised that Adina was standing in front of him, her blue eyes boring into his. At this sight he needed another swig of drink, this one was trouble and he knew this even in his drunken state. He wanted to look away but he couldn't. Finally she was the one to break the stare as her eyes flicked towards Jenna and Taylor as they left the reception. They stayed there for only a moment as she hesitated but they quickly flicked back to him. However they were more intense now. Sliding her index finger down the side of his face she gave a silent invitation. What was left of William's rational mind screamed at him to stop but in the end it was the alcohol that gave his answer and he followed Adina into the shadows.
Having not imbibed much liquor in the past few hours William was beginning to come to as Adina straddled him in her raunchy sailor outfit. As he looked at her there was still a part of his mind that screamed at him to stop. At this very moment though he was quite enjoying himself and he knew that his arousal was evident to Adina as she smirked at him. If he regretted it later then so be it, but right know he was determined to enjoy himself and drive his sorrows out. With this thought he threw his own smirk at Adina, flipped her over and straddled her firmly between his legs. The surprised look in her eyes urged him on as he took complete charge of the situation.
She looked back at her friend and could see the look of pain in her eyes. If she was hurting just by letting her know then how did she think Larissa felt? She knew that Sandicia was trying to do the right thing by telling her that Davandrice had proposed and that she wanted to accept his offer. Larissa's mind screamed with the pain and futility of it all. Why was she stupid enough to tell Sandicia how much she truly felt for Davandrice when she knew perfectly well that Davandrice could only love Sandicia or even Eska. Sandicia had always suspected that Davandrice liked Eska also and Larissa could see that she was trying to hold in the joy that she felt, if only for Larissa's sake, at the knowledge that this was not as true as she had believed only days before.
Larissa looked away and grabbed at a twig that had floated softly in the cool nightly autumn breeze towards the bench that she was seated on. She knew that Davandrice was near and could only hope that he could not see them and if he could that he would never suspect the topic of their conversation. Larissa swallowed slowly and looked back at Sandicia and smiled. A façade was what she needed because without it she knew that she would never be able to deal with the pain that flooded through her at this very moment and that she knew would flow through her in the future also. "It's alright, I understand, truly I do, I know how easy it is to love him." Sandicia gave her a quizzical look. "Are you sure Larissa? I know how hard this must be for you." 'I'm sure you do', thought Larissa bitterly in her head all the while keeping her outer façade up. "Sandicia, really, it's ok. He loves you, not me; I can't go around changing his mind. If he loves you then I don't have a chance with him. I never had a chance with him, and I can see that now." "I'm so sorry Larissa, truly I am. I don't mean to hurt you; I know how much you care for him." 'Then why the hell are you doing this to me then!' Screamed Larissa in her head. 'Why are you hurting me this much!' Sandicia smiled at her, "Thank you" she said, you don't know how much this means to me." "It's truly alright darling" replied Larissa "Now let's get out of here before we freeze to pieces, most people left shortly after Jenna and Taylor and that was hours ago."
This wasn't the first time that this had happened to Larissa. In fact it had happened to her a multitude of times over the years. This was just the latest instalment of pain that was being thrust upon her already fragile ego. Larissa's relationships with men had always been either purely platonic or completely and utterly awful. Throughout her early teens Larissa had got on better with the boys because she had been forced to play with her brother and his friends all of her life and all of the girls were cruel and vicious towards her. She did not believe that there was a real reason for this other than that girls' can be cruel and spiteful sometimes. Perhaps it was because the boys had always listened to Larissa and not them, jealously was always something that ran rife through the younger years of ones teens. During this time Larissa had, had a few small crushes but nothing overly serious and nothing that ever seriously jeopardised the relationships that she had forged with the boys that she would follow around each day.
Her late teens were different however. It was a vicious circle of taunting and ridicule if anyone ever found out that you liked a boy. If that boy found out then your life would become sheer hell for a matter of weeks until they got over it or completely forgot about it and then they would choose to talk to you again. For Larissa this happened over and over again. It became a matter of course for her to 'be in love' with someone different every week. Larissa knew that she would never forget Davandrice; he was far too special to her. Both of them had been born on the same day (the village midwife had been in a frenzy that day.) He had been friends with her for the longest time, albeit in a relationship that was often hot and cold. However he was never really around her a great deal because he was afraid of her brother and his friends. She missed him so much and most of the time all she wanted was for him to hold her in his arms and protect her and love her the way he loved Sandicia because that would make her life whole. She knew it couldn't happen though and she was resigned to this fact because hopefully one day she would find a man who loved her the way that she loved Davandrice.
Jenna looked at Taylor, Gods how she loved him. He was looking straight into her eyes and she knew he saw the fear in them but at the same time she could see the fear in his. After all who wouldn't be afraid? It was their first time together - Gods it was their first time ever! Jenna could feel her face heating up in excitement and anticipation, and also she was ashamed to admit, embarrassment. She had never felt so vulnerable in her entire life, to be in such a position as to give all of your trust to this one man, to make herself his, in a way, for all eternity for she could never return to this moment. She looked at him one last time, took a deep breath and hoped to all the Gods in heaven that she wouldn't disappoint him. At this point she gave herself to him entirely.
Taylor had been scared, almost as much as he knew Jenna had been, but he just couldn't ruin their special day especially now he had realised that she couldn't know any better anyway. What harm could it do her - no one knew and now no one ever would - he just couldn't do that to her. After all he had done it for her. He hadn't wanted to disappoint her and he knew he hadn't. Now as she slept silently by his side he brushed back the stray strands of hair that had slipped onto her face and kissed her softly, despite the fact that he knew her to be asleep he put all of the love he possessed into that one kiss. With that he himself slipped into his own oblivion.