16 Kathleen ran into the room and locked the door behind her, she leaned on the door to steady her shaky legs tears flooding her eyes, she put her palms on her chest, it felt as if it was about to burst open with the pain, she choked on a sob as she slides on the door as theears came running down her cheeks, how could she be so delusional? She had almost given herself to him just a few hours ago and in the space of a heartbeat, he was in another woman's arms, what was it that that lady said? He thought of her as pitiful and saw her as an obstacle between him and his love, her heart aches as it threatened to burst with emotions, she had naively thought he felt something for her just a moment ago and had allowed herself to be carried away by emotions, she burrowed her head between her knees as she allowed the tears to flow freely, she ignored the sudden pounding on the door for her to open the door, she just wanted to hide. "Kathleen, open this door right now" his voice thundered from the other side, what does he care? He should go and meet his lover and leave her alone, why was he here? Perhaps, he had come to gloat in her face, his lover had come here looking for him, he had no regard for her his wife. "If you don't open this door I'll have to break it" he sounded the warning and Kathleen knew from his tone that he meant it, she stood up slowly and opened the door, she immediately turned her back on him and walked inside, wiping the tears from her eyes, she would not allow him to see how his actions affected her. "Has your lover gone?" She asked with a ting in her voice. He regarded her for some minute, moving close to her, "Kath" the name left his lips softly. She suddenly started arranging the bed for lack of something to do, she had to keep her hands busy, she feigned indifference amidst her raging emotions. "So she's gone huh, she must have missed you a lot to have come looking for you so early". Derek held her shoulders and turned her around to face him, "she is not my lover" he gritted "Oh? That wasn't what I saw or heard" her tone was mocking as she raised a brow and Derek felt like shaking her. "My mother arranged my marriage with her before I married you, I never knew her before now" "How convenient, and now you are suddenly all over her, you know her now after marriage and must be regretting consenting to this marriage, I'm sorry to have burdened you Mr. Playboy" she hissed and Derek narrowed his eyes on her, he felt pissed at her reference to him as a playboy, the world saw him as a ladies man and he had never cared, for some reason, he doesn't want her to see him in that light. "I've explained to you that she is not my lover" he scowled at her, why must she be so adamant? She whirled on him, furious, "Look, this is just a sham marriage, after all, you owe me no explanation and I don't give a damn on how you choose to live or who you have in your bed okay, so spare me the details because I don't care". Anger spiked in Derek's heart at her words, she doesn't care, they just got married out of the blue and he doesn't expect her to care, of cause, what was he thinking? "Can you just please leave me alone" her voice was filled with loathing. "Why the hell are you so angry anyway?" "I am not angry," she said in an angry whisper "Oh yeah?" That does not seem to be the case to me. "I don't care whatever you think, you can go and carry on with her from where you stopped for all I care". His expression was hooded as he nodded slowly, "alright, I'll do just that" he turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door firmly behind him, only then did Kathleen allowed herself to fall on the bed and the tears flowed freely. * * Derek went to his usual clubhouse that evening, his heart felt full, he shouldn't have come back, life was much simple and uncomplicated when he was living alone, "Wow, Derek, it's been a while since you visited" Rosie, the club housekeeper walked up to him, she eyed him, "you're super handsome as ever, looks like someone has been busy with his new wife". Derek snickered and touched her face, "not too busy that I won't have time for my Rosie" Rosie laughed, enjoying his vibes," I thought as much Mr smooth talker, you can charm any lady with your sugar-coated tongue" Derek smiled bitterly, he wished he could say that concerning Kathleen, all she does was accused him and pissed him off. He glanced at Rosie, she was giving him the signal with her full breast that was popping out from her tight top, she was beautiful with full lips and round face, but he wasn't interested in her, the only lady in his head right now was the little tigress he had married, he smiled, returning her come hither smile, "I'll have my usual drink" he glances around the club and stared at the ladies, dancing and whining, the smell of cigarettes, tobacco, and alcohol filled the air. Rosie looked around and signaled one of the waitresses to bring his drink, soon it was placed in front of him, there was an extra bottle and he turned to glance at Rosie, she smiled seductively and bit her lips, " that one is on me handsome, call me when you need me" her voice held double meaning as she kissed his cheek, swaying her buttocks as she walked away. Derek drank more bottles till he was feeling so drunk, his speech slurred, he staggered to his feet and started dancing to the music playing, he had ladies falling all over him but even in his drink state, all he could think of was Kathleen, she was so mean and irritated him with her continuous invasion into his thought, he started seeing her everywhere in the club, he blinked severally to clear his blurred vision when he thought he saw her dancing with another man, how could she be here dancing with another man when he was in such a mess because of her, he staggered to the guy he thought he saw her dancing with and dwelt him a blow, " let go of her" he slurred and staggered to remain upright on his feet, the unsuspecting guy he blew stood up from where he had fallen, furious, " just because you're a rich fella you think you can come here and do anything you want? Who are you to tell me to let my girl go?" " She's not your girl, she's my wife" he slurred and those standing around giggled and the fella hissed, "you're drunk" he grabbed his girl to move away from Derek but Derek placed a hand on his shoulder stopping him, the fella grew irritated and punched him, Derek who was already unstable on his feet fell, he groaned and staggered back to his feet, brandishing a bottle, there was scream as fight ensues between him and the fella, he tasted blood on his lips his blood, " I'll deal with you" he slurred still pointing at the fella who shook his head and left the scene, leaving him down there, Rosie called a designated driver to take him home. Kathleen was pacing the room when she heard a thud in the living room, it was so late already, what could that be, she heard Marcella screamed a few curses and Kathleen ran downstairs to know what was happening, she saw Derek staggering on his feet, he could barely walk, she immediately ran to him and placed his arms on her shoulder, helping him up. " What happened to you?" She asked "I'm supposed to be asking you that, what did you do to him? You must have done something to put him in this condition" Marcella screamed at her. "I didn't do anything" Kathleen stated " I knew you were bad for him from the moment I set eyes on you, now look what you've turned him into" Derek groaned and Kathleen helped him upstairs, totally ignoring Marcella, she had no time for her tirade this night, she placed Derek on the bed and helped him pulled off his clothes, he had bruises on his face and knuckles, he must have been involved in a fight, she wondered if it was their fight that morning that caused it.