Marriage and Annulment

“I’ll just hang out there for a while and see what I can do,” Randolf said.

“We can swim in the pool, grill meat and fish, and pick fruits,” Zaneska replied. “I believe all the fruits are ripe there.”

“Great.”

They got up and into the car after they finished eating. Randolf even went out and bought some street food to bring back to the mansion. They’ve been on the road. They were outside the mansion in half an hour. Zaneska was taken aback when she noticed two cars parked near the gate. Randolf followed her out the door.

They discovered Uncle Conrad, Duke, and Zander drinking on a mango tree-shaded bench. They came closer.

“What’s the matter? Why are you so drunk, Uncle? Are you in pain? You’re the same with..”

“Stop it! Don’t continue,” Zander said, indicating that he wasn’t yet drunk. Duke gave her a friendly smile.

Zaneska responded, “Why are you defensive? I didn’t say a name, Randolf is also broken-hearted.”

“You’ll say my name if I don’t stop you,” Zander warned.

Zaneska couldn’t help but laugh.

“By the way, cousin, are you heartbroken? But why? What’s wrong with women these days? Don’t they want to be attractive men and then have a decent job?” Randolf inquired.

Uncle Conrad interrupts, “That only means one thing, try to love a man.”

They were all laughing at the same time. The street foods were laid out by Randolf. And took a seat next to Zander.

Uncle Conrad greeted her with, “Hello, dear, you’ve arrived.”

She rolled her eyes earlier as she stood here, but it was only now that she was noticed.

“You better sleep, Uncle,” Zaneska replied, “because you don’t seem to see me anymore because you’re so drunk.”

“Hmm, where are they?” Uncle Conrad asked.

“Those girls, they’re relaxing outside.”

“How come you didn’t show up?”

He replied, “Randolf invited us to eat out.”

“Can you tell me where you went?”

“We ate street foods in the plaza,” Zaneska explained.

Zander inquired, “Are you eating like this?”

“Of course,” Zaneska replied, “what do you think? I don’t eat like that.”

“In a way.”

“That’s a different habit, dude, she doesn’t really eat that kind of food but she’ll eat even if her stomach can’t because she doesn’t want the person who invited her to sulk. I’m the one who knows that better because we’ve been together in the company for a few years. It’s good that’s an employer and sometimes her employees don’t leave because aside from the high salary, they also have snacks every day plus points that she’s not a strict boss.” said Randolf.

“You haven’t started drinking yet, Randolf,” Zaneska said, “but the amount you say, but anyway thank you; you boost my ego. Shall I increase your shares in the company?”

“It’s all right; it’s a big deal for me.”

Zander was staring at Zaneska intently, so Zaneska raised an eyebrow at him.

He asked, “So, do you want to tell me something?”

“Ah, nothing,” 

When Zaneska looked at him, Zander swallowed. Under her gaze, he seemed to dissolve. So he decided to get up and walk outside the gate. He leaned against his car’s hood. The girls arrived on time. They all waved at him, and he smiled back.

Lucianna inquired, “You’re here, are you with Mitch?”

“No,”

“I see, why are you out here,” Lucianna said, inviting him inside.

“All right, that’s my hometown.”

Duke soon followed him outside.

“Are you all right, Zander? Why don’t you go inside?” Duke asked.

“First, let me get some fresh air; are we going home?” Zander asked.

“Yes, we can’t stay the night here if we’re going home; you know how dangerous it is for us to go through,” Duke explained.

He nodded and got into the car, which he then drove. Zander’s mind seemed to calm down. But the questions about why Mitch and he had broken up remained in his mind. He believes that, like his mother and Uncle Agusto’s love story, the one who breaks up will get back together, but it appears unlikely that he and Mitch will.

When Zander arrived at their house at 7:00 p. m, it was already dark. Uncle Agusto’s car was parked outside their gate, which he noticed.

He exited the vehicle and entered the house. Uncle Agusto made a motion toward him. He gave him a friendly smile.

He said, “Good evening, Uncle.”

“Good evening, I believe you arrived late.” Uncle said.

He replied, “Yeah, Duke and I went to the city unwinding.”

“That’s excellent.”

 “Where is Mom?” Zander asked.

“Sit here first because she’s in the kitchen cooking and Melissa is in the bedroom studying a lesson.”

Zander sat up.

Uncle Agusto asked, “How are you doing? Your mother told me what happened.”

“I’m not okay, but I can handle it; I don’t have to think or I’ll go insane,” Zander responded.Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

“I’m sure everything will be fine. Just let me know if you need a break. Tell me we can go clubbing and sky diving. Let’s go somewhere else to cool off,” Uncle Agusto said.

“Thank you, Uncle, but I’m still at school.” He replied.

“Ah, I see.”

Zaneska was irritated, and she was now wondering what she had said to Zander to cause him to leave the mansion and never return. He returned home, but only Duke bid him farewell. He assumed Zander was irritated with her because she said he was heartbroken. She was simply trying to start a conversation with him, so there was no awkwardness between them.

The door to her bedroom was rapped on.

Lazzy said to Miss Zaneska, “Miss Zaneska, we’re going to have dinner.”

“Come in here inside my room, Lazzy,” she said.

Lazzy walked in and sat on her bed when the door opened.

“How are you doing?” Zaneska asked.

“I’m fine, Miss,” Lazzy replied, smiling. “I’m not too stressed anymore, and then I’ll accept my fate.”

“It’s great to hear that.”

“Did you speak with Lucas?” she inquired.

“She ignored me because his live-in partner broke up with him after finding out that I’m pregnant with his child,” Lazzy explained.

“Not all women will accept their husbands having children with other women unless it happens when they haven’t met,” Zaneska says. “But in the case of you and Lucas, he got you pregnant while he was living with his live-in partner, which only martyrs do.”

Lazzy remained silent.

“I’m not saying this to hurt your feelings, Lazzy; we’re not perfect. We can do things we can’t stop doing even if they’re wrong. So all I can say to you right now is congratulations because you’re going to be a mother. There’s nothing good about that.  Getting pregnant without standing up is not a loss to our womanhood. ” Zaneska stated.

“Thank you, Miss,” she say.

“All right, go ahead and eat.  You’ll take Luciana  with you to the pharmacy tomorrow to buy vitamins for the baby,” she said.

“All right, miss, you won’t eat?” L azzy asked.

“Not yet, I’ll come out when I’m hungry.” she replied.

“That’s fine.”

She was left lying on the bed when Lazzy came out. When her phone rang, she saw Arthur on the other end. She was perplexed as to what Arthur required of her. As a result, she answered the phone.

“Hello, Arthur, what’s the matter?” she inquired.

“Hi, Zaneska, are you free tonight?” Arthur asked.

“No, I’m just in the mansion for some reason.”

“Are we able to see each other?”

“Sure.”

Zaneska asked, “Where?”

“I’ll just pick you up there,” Arthur explained.

“That’s fine.”

Zaneska got out of bed and went to the closet to look for clothes. She put on a pair of black pants and a white shirt. She walked out of the room, carrying her sling bag. She then proceeded to the kitchen.

“Everyone, I’m leaving first because Arthur and I need to talk,” she explained. 

“You know who he is, right?” she asked.

Lucy replied, “Yes, Miss.”

“Hmm, Laica, where is Uncle Conrad?” she asked.

“I don’t know, Miss,” Lucianna replied, “maybe he just slept for a while and then abruptly left.”

She burst out laughing. In Uncle Conrad’s presence, Laica became extremely allergic. It’s always been that way; there’s an old adage that says “the more you hate, the more you love.” Zaneska bid them all farewell and exited the mansion. She waited for Arthur to arrive. Before Uncle Conrad left, she noticed that her car had been entered. Arthur arrived a few minutes later. He let her into the car by opening the door.

“Where is Aunt Carol?” she asked.

“I just said goodbye to her at their house, and we’ll meet because I need something from you,” Arthur replied.

“Wasn’t it great that she asked what that was?”

“No, Carol is the type of woman who, when I tell her I’m going to the city and other places because of my job, she nods and that’s it; there’s no follow-up question,” Arthur explained.

“Ah, I see,” 

Arthur had started the car and was on his way to the city. They stopped a few minutes later at a building she owned. They both got out of Arthur’s car at the same time.

“What are we doing here? This is my building,” 

“Of course, I know this is yours. So we came here because I asked here the other day. This space is available and no one has thought of taking it yet. And I talked to the in charge, but the rental is expensive every month here, so I want to ask you for a favour so you can lower the price a little. I plan to do business with Carol,” Arthur explained.

“Sure,” Zaneska said, “I’ll just give you the building and you don’t have to pay.”

“Really?”

“Yes,”

“Thank you, Zaneska,” Arthur said.

We walked into the building’s office.

The in-charge said, “Hi, ma’am, you got a visit.”

“Hello, can you tell me if the one on the other side is just an empty space for rent?” she asked.

“There’s more, ma’am,” I say.

“Is that so, those on the other side will take space,” Zaneska explained, “but I already gave it to them, so don’t charge them every month because they are my relatives.”

“No problem, ma’am,” the in-charge replied.

“I appreciate it.”

After that, Arthur drove her to the mansion. She exited the vehicle and entered the building. After Arthur had left, she locked the gate. The entire mansion was deafeningly quiet. Maybe they’re all dozing off. Zaneska immediately went to her room. She changed into her pajamas and sat down on the bed.

Zaneska awoke to bright sunshine on Saturday. Because it’s Saturday, she’ll be able to sleep in. She stood up and walked out of the room, straight to the kitchen. She discovered the girls seated at the dining table.

“It’s early in the morning,” she said to the girls, “but your faces are all so problematic.”

“What can we do now that we have a boring Saturday?” Lazzy wondered.

“Is that a problem, I told you last night to go to the pharmacy and buy vitamins, and the rest of you will clean the entire mansion, and the swimming pool has a lot of dry leaves floating in it, and then you harvest ripe fruits,” Zaneska explained.