SEVENTY-SEVEN

Yalda wasn’t sure for how long she had slept, but it was getting dark when she woke up. Her eyes widened as she jerked up, completely alarmed and disorientated, she could only think about the fact that she had invited people over for dinner yet she hadn’t made any plans at all; she hadn’t informed Matilda that they’d be having guests over. She hadn’t thought about what to wear, she needed to shower.

Her gaze snapped to the door on hearing it open quietly, her gaze met Alexander’s and she watched his temple crease slightly.

“Why do you look flustered?” He asked as he made his way into the room and walked over to the bed. He reached out and brushed a lock of hair from her face tenderly. “Did you have a nightmare?”

A nightmare? She hadn’t had a nightmare, on the contrary, she had slept quiet well; she had dreamt of his hands gently rubbing moisturizer into her skin. But that didn’t matter now, did it?

“What time is it?” She asked him.

He glanced at his wristwatch briefly before responding;

“It’s almost 6pm.”

6pm? That wasn’t enough time for Matilda to whip up some extra food.

“I overslept. I didn’t tell Matilda we were having guests.” She groaned quietly. “What is wrong with me? What am I going to do?”

She was always the efficient secretary; making sure things went as planned was her specialty. Yet here she was, completely disorientated.

“Hey, breathe.” Alexander soothed; his fingers slid into her hair to cup the back of her head. “There’s nothing to worry about; I already told Matilda we’re having three more people over for dinner.”

A relieved breath left her as his words pacified her immediately, but then she realized he had said three guests instead of two,

“I only invited Sam and Nina.” She reminded him.

“Oh, Sasha called so I invited her over too.” He replied.

And just like that, her mood became sour. She wasn’t up for seeing Sasha again, she wasn’t up for hearing her fake voice, or seeing her saccharine smiles, or watching her blink and bat her fake lashes.

“Oh.’ She said quietly.

Alexander probably didn’t notice her mood take a downturn because he said nothing of it.

“Did you sleep well?” He asked her.

She merely nodded. Her sleep didn’t matter anymore, what mattered was that in about an hour’s time, Sasha was going to be here and she’d go around acting like Alexander and her were childhood sweethearts.

“I had Loki groomed, you don’t mind, do you?”

She shook her head. She had been occupied lately, she hadn’t given Loki much attention and she was grateful he had been kind enough to watch over him.

“Thank you.” She said, she pulled on a smile but she wasn’t sure her eyes lit up.
He combed his fingers through her hair gently before caressing her cheek.

“Cheer up, Yalda. You need to breathe.” He said to her. “You’re not at work; you don’t need to worry about everything.”

She blew out a breath before nodding once. She could get used to that, she could get used to not worrying about every small detail, but she wasn’t quite sure she could get used to Sasha.

“Go freshen up now so you don’t have to rush later.”

She nodded once more.

“I’ll be downstairs.” He told her.

And with that, he left her to her thing. She dragged in a deep breath before heaving heavily, it was time to find her prettiest summer dress.

…….

For the first time in a very long time, dinner time wasn’t quiet or awkward; talks and laughter went around the table as they all conversed smoothly. Nina and Sam did most of the talking and they didn’t seem to mind that Alexander and Yalda weren’t much of conversationists, plus, Sasha also seemed to have a lot to say about the island. Yalda was beginning to think that she didn’t have much of a life outside the island.

“Alex is such a good player too, really.” She was saying.

Yalda hadn’t been paying much attention to the conversation, she had just been thankful that it was quiet today, she had been thankful everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

“We should have a game before we leave then.” Sam said to Alexander.

“Alright then.” Alexander agreed. “I haven’t played in a while though, might be a bit rusty.”

Sam snickered lightly.

“Sounds like you’re accepting defeat already; it’s gonna be checkmate super quick.” He said and Alexander shook his head as he in turn chuckled.

Yalda’s gaze flickered to Nina’s when she spoke to her.

“What about you, Yalda? Do you also play chess?” She asked her.

She shook her head immediately. For some reason, she had never even attempted to learn how to play the game.

“Oh, no.” She replied. “Do you?”

Nina nodded.

“Yeah, it’s interesting. I’ll teach you while they play.” She replied.

Yalda was about to say something when Sasha spoke first.

“Honey, she can’t learn chess in a day.” She said to Nina. “We should play instead.”

Nina’s gaze flickered from Yalda’s to Sasha’s, and then back to Sasha’s. And though Yalda’s expression didn’t give anything away, she understood that she was pissed at the subtle shade that had been tossed at her.

“Or, we could both break the record by teaching her in a day, lol” She replied, her tone was almost dry, it seemed she wasn’t one to hide her feelings much.

Alender and Sam were engaged in their talks, they hardly noticed the energy between the ladies was getting rather heated. Sasha’s gaze narrowed at Nina ever so slightly, she gave her the all too familiar ‘you have sided with the enemy look’ before shrugging.

“Sure, if she can learn in a day then fine.” She said.

Yalda chuckled, an all too humorless sound which should have been warning enough for Sasha to get off her case.

“I think I’ll like to use the restroom.” Nina said. “Yalda, could you…..”

She barely finished what she was saying before Sasha spoke again.

“Oh, it that way, just down the hallway.”

Of course, Yalda didn’t know there was a bathroom there, and Sasha was all too willing to let everyone know that she was accustomed to this house, she wanted to let her know that she had been here long before her.

Nina forced on a saccharine sweet smile before nodding once.

“Thanks.” She said. “Yalda, could you please show me the way?”

Yalda nodded. She cleared her throat quietly cause she didn’t trust how her voice would sound if she didn’t.

“Sure.” She replied.

With that, both ladies pushed their seats back and rose to their feet. They excused themselves before following Sasha’s direction to find the restroom.

“Okay, I don’t want to be the one to point it out, but that bitch is trying to out you.” Nina said the very second Yalda closed the door behind them. “Also, she can’t take her eyes off your man.”

Yalda knew that all too well, but there was truly nothing much she could do; Sasha knew Alexander, it was easy for her to converse with him, it was easy for her to be his friend.

“What do I do?” She asked. There was no time to pretend, no time to claim she had the situation under control, no time to ignore the matter at hand.

“Put her in her place, girl. He’s your man after all.” Nina replied. “She’s just his friend, he had known her before meeting you, but yet he chose you.”

Yalda nodded considerably.

“Come on, Yalda, you look like a boss bitch, act like one.”

She wasn’t exactly sure what she was going to do, but she knew she was going to have to do something. Dragging in a deep breath, she nodded.