Underestimated

by Jettie Woodruff

  I took a deep breath. I supposed he was right, and I was being obtuse. I smiled and nodded.

  He took my arm and helped me out of the tub. I quickly grabbed the towel to cover my front. He was looking at me with pure lust. I knew that’s what it was. How could he look at me like that when I was hurt? I didn’t like it. I didn’t like it one bit.

  “I’m good now. Thanks,” I coolly said, wanting him to leave.

  I didn’t put on any of the clothing, and settled for the terrycloth robe hanging on the back of the door. I lifted the silver lid from my tray and actually felt a little hungry. I had turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, corn and a roll. I sat on the edge of the bed and picked at it. I guess I wasn’t as hungry as I initially thought I was. I pulled pieces of the roll off, dipping it into my potatoes and gravy as I looked around my room. I felt like crying. Nothing seemed right. I didn’t feel rich, and certainly didn’t feel like I belonged there. Why couldn’t I remember who I was? I hated this, and only hoped that the doctor was right, and I would regain my history.

  I covered my half eaten food and lay on the bed. I wiped a falling tear with my thumb. I didn’t understand. I could remember the words to songs, but not how I knew them. I could remember whole books that I had read, but not where or when I read them, and this place. I had absolutely no recollection of ever living there, at all.

  I slept for a couple of hours, and when I woke I had a horrible headache, but was happy to see the freshly washed clothes folded and laying on my bed. I took two of the pain pills by my bed, went to the bathroom and pulled on the normal panties, a bra from the drawer, pink and green flannelled pants, and a simple white t-shirt.

  I walked out and slowly descended the stairs. I felt every step as the pain shot up my pelvic and back. Why the hell would he put me on the second floor with a broken pelvic? I intended to ask him along with a few other questions.

  “Where is Drew?” I asked the lady chopping up vegetables in the kitchen.

  “I think he’s in his office,” the lady that I didn’t recognize explained. I looked at her, and she read my mind. “It’s the door straight across from the living room.”

  I opened the door to the office and Drew was on the phone. He looked up with instant anger.

  What the hell?...

  I slowly lowered myself to the settee across from his desk. He replaced the irritated expression with a smile, telling whoever he had been talking to that he would have to call them back.

  “Did you also forget how to knock,” Drew asked, annoyed.

  “I don’t know. Did I always knock before I came into your office?”

  “Yes, and I would appreciate you doing so in the future. I do conduct business in here. Is there something that I can do for you?” Drew asked with a smirk that I wanted to slap off of him.

  “Yeah, there is,” I said, giving him attitude. Who the hell did he think he was? “Maybe you could show me some wedding or vacation pictures. Where did we meet? Did we always live in this house? Do I have any friends that I could talk to?”

  “Must you walk around dressed like that?”

  What?

  I looked down at my comfortable attire. “Are you concerned with the help seeing me? Did I always dress in the fancy clothes upstairs to lounge around the house?”

  “Yes. You did, and I would also appreciate you doing that as well from now on.”

  “You’re surely not telling me how I should dress,” I asked in disbelief. Was this guy for real? Did I really stay married to him for almost eight years? No wonder I was in another country.

  Drew got up and came to me. He took my hand and smiled a warm smile. “I’m just trying to show you what your routine was before the accident. Dr. Tharp says that getting you back into your normal element should help with your memory. You never dressed this way, Morgan.”

  I pulled my hand away. “Can I use your computer now?” I asked. I knew he was just trying to help me regain my memory, but it was still frustrating as hell. I still couldn’t believe that I dressed in the fashions that hung in my closet on a daily basis.

  “Sure,” he said, patted my leg and walked over to close out of what he had been doing.

  I sat in Drew’s chair and tapped traumatic brain injuries on the keyboard. I looked back at Drew who was watching me. “How is it that I know how to type on a keyboard, but I can’t remember learning it?”

  “I have faith. You’re going to remember every little thing that you’ve ever done,” he said with a cold face. I still couldn’t believe that I was married to this man. I mean, shouldn’t I feel something?

  After about twenty minutes of reading things that Dr. Tharp had already told me, I leaned back, took an exasperated breath and rubbed my temples. My finger traced the L shaped scar from my injury, reminding me that I had no idea who I was.

  Drew rubbed my shoulders from behind. Hmm, it felt good. I didn’t realize how tense I was.

  “Just give it some time, Morgan,” Drew said.

  “What about the pictures? Do we have any of those?” I asked, tilting my head for him to hit the crook of my neck with his magic hands.

  “That’s kind of your fault. I have told you and told you that you needed to print the hundreds of pictures on your digital camera. You never would. It burned in your car.”

  “What about our wedding pictures? Do we have those?”

  “I wish you could remember this stuff. I feel like the bad guy here. You didn’t want a wedding. We ran away and got married.”

  “How long did we know each other?”

  Drew laughed, and I knew it was going to be bad. “We got married after spending three weekends together.”

  I turned to look at him dumbfounded. What the hell was wrong with me? Maybe I didn’t want to remember who I was. She sounded pretty stupid.

  Drew kissed the top of my head. “You were married to me for almost eight years. I think you would have left had we not been right for each other.”

  “I was away taking classes in France, how long was I there?”

  “That was all you too. I didn’t want you to go, but you insisted. You were there not quite two years, but came home often, and I would fly there to be with you when I could.”

  “Why is my purse the only thing that survived the crash?” I didn’t understand that either. My camera, my laptop and all of my clothes had burned in the car, but my purse came out unharmed.

  “It was on your lap. They assumed that you were digging for something in it. That’s why you hit the bus. You weren’t paying attention.”

  I still didn’t understand it. I mean the scar above my eye along with the bigger one on the side of my head had to have bled. Why was my purse free of blood?

  I sat up straight when I had an idea. I rested my fingers on the correct letters of the keyboard.

  “Where did I grow up?” I asked. Maybe if I could find some pictures or my school or something it would jog my memory.

  “I think that’s enough for one day,” Drew decided, spinning me away from the computer.

  “Did I always let you decide what was best for me?” I asked, standing up. He didn’t move. We were inches apart.

  “Always,” he whispered, and moved close to my lips.

  I placed my hand on his muscular chest to stop him, although I have to admit I was staring right at his lips. “Drew, I don’t think I am ready for you to kiss me,” I said in a low tone.

  He placed his hand over mine on his chest and smiled. “I’ll see you at dinner,” he replied and let me step around him.

  “I want to see our bedroom, the one that we shared,” I said, turning to him before leaving.

  “Okay, but it’s kind of empty right now. I moved my things into another room when I had yours moved. I couldn’t stand the thought of you not being in our bed with me.”

  Well that was sweet. It made me feel guilty for being such a pain to him. I never once thought about how hard this was for him. I smiled, and he walked out with me.

  Nothing
. I didn’t recognize that room any more than any other one in the house. It was just another fancy room with expensive furnishings.

  “Anything?” Drew asked, looking down at me.

  I shook my head lightly.

  “Don’t worry about it. Maybe you should just stop trying to remember and let it come when it’s ready.”

  “Maybe,” I replied. “Drew why did you move my things to the second floor, knowing I have a broken pelvic.”

  “Awe, shit Morgan. I never thought about that. That was your favorite bedroom in the house. I just thought you would feel better being in there. You said it was the best view in the house. You used to go in there and read a lot.” he explained with a sincere response.

  I smiled. “It’s okay. My therapist made me climb steps at the rehabilitation center. It’s probably good for me.”

  “Do you want to go rest before dinner?” he asked, placing his hand on the small of my back as we closed our shared suite.

  “I think so, but I would rather just lie on the couch, I think,” I replied.

  “The couch?”

  I looked up to him. “I didn’t do that either, right?”

  He smiled. “No, but if you want to do that, I will close the doors and make sure that you are not disturbed.”

  “Thank you,” I smiled. I didn’t want to be in that room for some reason. It didn’t feel like my favorite room in the house at all.

  Drew brought me a pillow and a blanket. “Do you want the television on?” he asked.

  “No, I don’t think so. I kind of just want the quiet for a while,” I answered, snuggling under the soft blanket. Drew kissed me just in front of my ear.

  “Have a nice nap,” he whispered hot words to my skin.

  I drifted of staring at the beautiful portrait of Drew and me. I was wearing a beautiful evening gown and he was in a tuxedo. We looked happy. He was smiling down at me as I stared up to him.

  Chapter 14

  Dawson never gave up looking for me, but I left him with very little to go by. He knew about my father selling me to a man named Drew. He knew that my name had been Morgan Willow. He knew that I had been in Indiana since then, and nothing more. He had gone to my father, and my father told him what I was sure he was to tell anyone looking for me. That I married a very nice man, and he hadn’t seen me since.

  Dawson tried to use his law authority, but it didn’t work. My father still said he didn’t know anything. He had done so much research trying to find someone that was in the software business by the name of Drew, nothing but a brick wall. He couldn’t even find a marriage between Morgan Willow and Drew somebody. I’m sure trying to find wedding records with no last name was next to impossible, especially when you were looking in the wrong state.

  Lauren and Star helped as much as they could, but came up with nothing. I didn’t leave them much to go on. Dawson knew that Drew had me, he just couldn’t find me. He assumed that he had found out about me somehow and had taken me from the layover in Chicago. He was at his wits end, and didn’t know what else to do.

  Our wedding day came and went and he was still clueless, hurt, and alone. He was even beginning to think that I had left on my own accord, and the whole wedding thing scared me off. He thought that was easier for him than thinking that I was back with Drew, and what he was doing to me.

  The truth was, Drew never did anything. He was always the perfect gentleman. There were times that I did question looks that he would give me when I would say things that he thought were out of line or when I would just burst into his office. But for the most part he was unusually attentive and caring toward me. I still didn’t like his copilot Derik but didn’t really have a reason. I just didn’t like him. He gave me the creeps when he was around which was a lot.

  I still defied Drew’s wishes about wearing the designer clothes around the house. It just seemed so artificial to me, and I was more comfortable in my sweats and flannels. I did do some online shopping one afternoon with Drew peering over my shoulder one day. I heard a few groans when I ordered a few pairs of jeans, shorts, t-shirts and sneakers. Who didn’t own a pair of sneakers? I related it to who I was before Drew, and although I may have dressed the way he wanted, to impress him at one time, I didn’t want to do that. I wasn’t going to do that.

  I had been back at the mansion with Drew for almost a month. The one nurse, Melissa, was gone, but Terri was still there and she and I had become pretty good friends. Drew didn’t like that either and pointed it out to me one afternoon. Terri had just left for the day and wasn’t spending the nights anymore. She came and did therapy with me and went home in the afternoon.

  I really didn’t need her anymore, but I was starting to go stir crazy being in the house all the time. No wonder I chose to go to school. I liked having Terri there to talk to. Drew didn’t, and a week later, he explained that it really wasn’t proper for me to associate with the help the way that I did, she was gone. I was furious. He could have at least told me that her assignment was up so that I could say goodbye to her.

  I still couldn’t remember anything about anything. It was like my conscious was erased. I didn’t dream about my past. Nothing was becoming more familiar, and I was beginning to wonder if I ever would.

  Drew took me out shopping for a new dress for a dinner party that Mr. Callaway was holding on Saturday night. I came down to go, and he smiled. I had decided to appease him and leave the jeans in the closet. I wore a satin white top with no sleeves, tucked into a pair of designer black dress slacks with a large silver buckle. I was surprised by the heels. I thought for sure that I would hate them, but I wore them like a pro which was expectable, I guessed. I did dress like that for a good many years, or so I was told anyway.

  I tried on three different dresses in the expensive store while Drew gave his opinion. He didn’t like the first two and would tell the two women who were making a tremendous fuss over me, no. They would leave and bring me something else. When I walked out in the short, flowing, black sequenced dress he instantly said no way.

  I spun around looking in the mirror. I thought that it made me look extremely sexy, and it made my legs look longer and my breasts look bigger.

  “I’ll take this one,” I told the two ladies. They looked to Drew like they were asking his permission.

  What the fuck?

  “Whatever Mrs. Kelley wants,” he offered, surrendering with his hands in the air.

  I smiled at him, and he smiled back. We were absolutely flirting.

  He took me to a nice restaurant for dinner where not only he, but I also continued to flirt. I even let him hold my hand on the way back to the car. I was sure we hadn’t had sex in a while, and I was a woman after all. I couldn’t help it that things were stirring that hadn’t been stirred in a while.

  I said goodnight to Drew, and walked upstairs to my suite where I soaked in the glorious hot tub. I pulled on a pair of stretch shorts and a solid light pink shirt with a V cut neck. I’m not sure why I did it, but I opened the night stand drawer, and pulled out the e-reader.

  Hmm, I thought, pulling myself up on the bed. I didn’t turn down the cover. I had told Drew it was his fault that I walked around in sweats or flannels because he kept it so cold in there, he had adjusted the temperature, and it was rather warm in my room.

  I tried to power it on, and it was dead. I looked in the drawer for the charger and had just gotten it plugged in when Drew was there. He took it out of my hand like he knew that I had it. I looked at him confused, not knowing what to say.

  “You shouldn’t read this yet, too much eye movement,” he smiled.

  “How did you know I even had it,” I asked with a bit more attitude than I meant to expose.

  “I didn’t know that you had it. I was just coming to ask you if you wanted to go for a walk around the property.”

  “Is that something that we used to do?” I asked, calming down from my accusations of I didn’t know what.

  “Yes, all the time, as soon as the sun was d
own.”

  “Sure,” I replied with a smile. It was only ten o’clock, and I wasn’t really tired anyway. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to let me read, so I figured I may, as well.

  He shook his head amused when I put on the socks and sneakers.

  “You stop it,” I said, knowing what he was thinking. I was flirting. Yup, that was what I was doing.

  Drew held my hand as we walked around the property. I let him, and although I couldn’t remember being in love with him before. I could see myself falling in love with him all over again.

  “What do you do exactly, Drew?” I asked.

  “You mean for work?”

  “Yeah, I mean you obviously do something that pays very well.”

  He snickered a little. “Diamonds, beautiful diamonds, I have fifteen stores and just purchased three more that were getting ready to go under. I have been patiently waiting for months for them to go under enough to swoop in and take the burden off their hands with an exceptionally low price.”

  “Did they want to sell?”

  “No, but they didn’t really have a choice. My stores were overpowering them.”

  “That’s kind of sad,” I decided out loud.

  “That is business,” he replied. He stopped me by pulling my hand. I spun right into his chest.

  I was terrified to look up. I knew that he wanted to kiss me. Did I want to kiss him? I wasn’t sure, but I was about to find out. He lifted my chin with his hand and parted my lips with his tongue.

  I pulled myself up on the tips of my toes to get closer to his lips. I did want to kiss him, and his kiss was shooting streams of fireworks right to my groin. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he pulled me closer. He ran one hand up the back of my shirt, and the other one through my hair and to the back of my neck, of course I moaned in his mouth.

  Drew kissed me like that in the dark night of the back yard for, I didn’t know how long. I could feel his girth on my stomach. It made me moan again.

  “Sleep in my bed tonight,” he whispered, to my lips.

  Was I ready for that? My vagina was telling me that I was. It wasn’t like I had never had sex with the man for God’s sake. What was I worried about.