My Fiancé

I hesitate but ultimately extend my hand to the stranger.
He grasps it firmly and with a jerk, I am in his arms. He hugs me tightly, his warmth flowing over to me. It feels good in his arms, I feel like I've been there many times. Slowly I put my arms around his waist and hugged him back. "Baby, the days were like hell. We searched the whole area and couldn't find you," he murmurs with relief. "That day, we got thrown off the boat and ended up in the high waves. I tried to swim back to the yacht to get you, but the waves took me further away. Those were the worst days of my life. Thank the Moon Goddess for this new chance with you," he stammers emotionally.
"Ralph," I whisper in his ear now. "I am suffering from amnesia. I cannot remember my past, my mind is blank". The man stiffens and detaches himself from me. His eyes skim my face. "Rain! What are you saying now? Memory loss? How can that be?" he asks, bewildered. I nod. "I only remember from the moment I was here lying on the shore. And this family saved me. They fed me and clothed me. My name now is Saray," I hold out to him. For a moment, he is silent, I notice he ponders my words.
"Your name is Rain Weiner. You are my fiancé and we were on our way to my home city where we would have our big engagement party and get married a few weeks after that," he informs me. "You have no family, you lived alone in the big city. You own some real estate and expensive cars there". I stare at him incredulously. So, I am still a wealthy city woman after all. He turns to the other man who has come with him. "This is our friend, Esis. You met him at the club we last visited". I extend my hand to the man, who friendly smiles at me.
"Rain. I wish I had met you again under different circumstances. But I'm still glad we found you in one piece," he greets me. He, too, sensed safe. I look around and see Perpetua, Magda and Elena still standing in the basement. "Please, help me get my friends out," I ask Ralph. With his arm around me, he offers Perpetua a hand and effortlessly pulls the woman up, straight onto her legs. Esis gives Magda a hand and she too is quickly upstairs. "MATE!" Esis suddenly exclaims and stares at Magda.
The girl stares at him, startled and takes a step back.
Esis eyes take on a strange gleam. "MINE!" he exclaims again, extending a hand to the frightened Magda. Ralph suddenly lets go of me and holds Esis by the shoulder. "Get yourself together. She's not one of us," he whispers to him. Esis takes several deep breaths but continues to stare at Magda. Ralph quickly helps Elena up, too, and we walk back to the beach together. "Esau, I hope you will allow me to bring my fiancé back with me. You must be convinced by now that she belongs to me," Ralph suggests to Esau.
The older man hesitates.
"Saray must agree to that herself. We can't force her. And you will have to give us some guarantee that you are indeed who you say you are," Esau declares. Ralph removes his wallet from his back pocket and shows the man several ID cards with his personal details. He takes out a business card and hands it to him. "I see you guys were barbecuing. Mind if we spend some time with you before we leave?" Everyone now turns to Esis who is still looking at the embarrassed Magda. She is all red now, probably not really used to men's attention. And Esis' attitude is highly strange, what man now sees a woman for the first time and exclaims that she is his? Has Esis gone mad?
Peter seems to have recovered his tongue.
"Of course, there's plenty of food here. Thanks to Saray. She gathered so much from the hunt that we have enough for the first few weeks," he jeers. Ralph looks at him in amazement. "Has Rain gone hunting?" he asks now. I chuckle. "Ask no further, Ralph. I beat two avid hunters. Peter is just a sore loser; it still hurts that he had to clean so many animals. His hands certainly still hurt," I hiccup with laughter.
Esis listens in amused.
"Whose idea was it?" he questions. "The hunt was the men's plan. I offered to go with them and then challenged Peter. And I won," I explain briefly, grinning from ear to ear. After hearing this Esis can't contain his laughter. "That wasn't fair. But neither of you knew the truth, so there is no foul play involved," he muses. I turn red, how dare he! "There was certainly no foul play. I gathered all the beasts myself, no one helped me," I let out angrily, fed up with all this distrust. Ralph and Esis peek at each other briefly. "Yep, it's really okay," Ralph soothes and takes me in his arms again. We sit around the campfire now, Ralph close to me, and Esis next to Magda.
"Are you leaving today, Saray?" asks Elena sadly. "I thought you would stay for a few more days. But I understand you want to go back with your fiancé. But don't forget about us. When you take a vacation, come visit us again. Peter will warm water again for you to bathe, okay?" she indicates childishly. I feel Ralph tighten beside me. He takes my hand in his and pulls it possessively against his chest, his breathing quickening. I think my fiancé is jealous.
"I certainly won't forget you, don't be afraid," I reassure her.
Perpetua hands the two men a plate, waiting for Peter to cut them some meat from the roasting beast. Again I see Ralph and Esis exchange an amused look, I make a mental note that I'll ask him about this later. And then it's time to leave. Ralph is clearly overjoyed to have me with him again and constantly holds me in his arms. It feels right at this time, I am sure we have done this many times in the past. His motions are too spontaneous to be wrong.
Looking at Esis to check if he is ready, we see that the man is unwilling to leave Magda behind. The girl blushes under his attentive stare; to me, this looks like love at first sight. Suddenly, Esis takes a phone out of his pocket. He tinkers with it and hands it to Magda. "I'll call you as soon as I arrive home, then we can talk further. Is that okay?" he inquires. The girl nods shyly and takes the phone. Then he walks over to Esau. "Sir, I ask your permission to talk to your daughter. I am an honest businessman with firms in town. I hope you have no objection to me courting her," he states politely.
Esau nods, but he can't keep the concern off his face.
"Be patient with my little girl. And if, by chance, you change your mind, please don't hurt her," Esau answers the man, pleading. ...