Chapter 5 The Rules

• CHAPTER 5
• The Rules
• Narrated by Alyson
• Being alive was never synonymous with living
• - Will you stay?
• - Can I stay? - I ask with a glimmer of hope.
• - No, of course not. - He reaches out his hand to help me out.
• I take a deep breath, give him my hand and step out of the car.
• A cool breeze hits my face and the smell of nature invades my nostrils.
• I like this smell.
• He directs me inside the mansion and immediately a lady, in her 50s or so, appears. .
• - Soledad, meet Alyson, Alyson, this is Soledad, anything you need she's the one to talk to, she's the housekeeper and she's in charge of the servants. - he introduces me to the lady, who seems to have a friendly face.
• - Pleased to meet you, Miss Alyson, welcome to this house. - she says, looking very sincere.
• - The pleasure is all mine, thank you very much for welcoming me into your family.
• She smiles kindly, and I can tell she liked my way of speaking.
• - Come with me, I'll show you your room, and if you want to start packing your things, feel free.
• I shudder.
• The room, what room will it be?
• Will it be a room where I will sleep alone?
• Will it be his room?
• And will I sleep with him?
• He goes up the stairs and I follow him.
• We get to the upper floor that has a hallway to the right side, and another to the left side.
• He turns to the left side and opens the second door, he enters and I stand in the doorway like a statue.
• - Come in, don't be shy.
• I enter in fear, but I don't close the door.
• The room is quite spacious, with a huge window, a large bed, from here I see a door that must lead to the bathroom and I see another entrance that has no door, possibly the closet.
• - Your bags will be here in a moment and you can pack your things. Here - he calls me with his hand and I go - is the closet, and you can use this side.
• - Thank you," I say. - I just say.
• - I have to go to the office, to solve a problem that came up in my absence, but I'll be back at dinner time, so we can have dinner together.
• He leaves immediately and closes the bedroom door, leaving me there alone.
• I peek into the closet and see that on the opposite side from mine are his things, which I realize is also his room.
• I go to the huge window and see a beautiful garden below, in the background a beautiful lake, and a little further ahead a river.
• What awaits me in this new life of mine?
• I hope it will be better than the one I lived with that executioner of a father of mine.
• My suitcases arrive and I spend the rest of the afternoon packing my things, I don't even notice the time passing and strangely when they open the bedroom door, I look and see that it's him, who I'm sure is back.
• Is it dinner time already?
• - And then? Everything quiet? - he asks, taking out his wristwatch and putting it in a drawer.
• - Yes, but is it already dinner time? - I ask, trying to figure out what time it is.
• - Soledad has already told me that another half hour and our dinner will be ready, enough time for me to take a shower.
• He enters the bathroom and doesn't close the door.
• I hear the water splashing in the shower.
• How rude, not closing the bathroom door, he's not here alone!
• But this is his house, he does whatever he wants.
• I go to sit on the end of the bed, with my back to the bathroom door.
• The water stops falling and I feel him coming out of the bathroom, but I don't look at him. Shame on me, I'm ready to put myself in a hole.
• - Shall we have dinner?
• He appears in front of me startling me.
• - God, what a scare, I thought it would take longer. - I say with my hand on my chest.
• - Well, I guess I don't need to get dressed up like I would for a formal dinner at a restaurant, but if you prefer I'll change.
• I look at him.
• He has some gray colored jeans on, a beige colored sweater and some sneakers also gray.
• Very different from when I saw him earlier today, because he was in a black suit.
• But now he is, as we like to be at home, practical.
• - Of course not! - I say, getting up from the end of the bed.
• Let's go into the dining room and, what a beautiful room.
• Everything in this house inhales cleanliness and good taste in decoration.
• We sit down and begin to eat in silence, but I break this silence because I am full of doubts, fears, and because I am a big mouth.
• - Are we going to sleep together? - I ask suddenly.
• She gets the fork halfway to her mouth and puts the fork back down on the plate.
• - Why do you ask? Don't you want to?
• I lower my gaze in shame.
• - As my medical examination shows, I have never been with a man?
• - Um, I understand. - I'll be honest with you, the contract I signed with your father has explicit rules.
• I raise my gaze to him again.
• - And what rules are those? - I ask curiously.
• - You have to be auctioned off every year, on your birthday.
• I have the feeling that my heart has stopped, I feel an immense distress.
• - What? - I speak perplexed - So I have to be sold every year, to other men?
• - Yes, the contract is very explicit, the auction has to be held every year.
• I lose my appetite and start to cry.
• - Do you mind if I go into the bedroom?
• He looks at me deeply.
• - No, Alyson, you can go.
• I run out of there like an arrow and run up the stairs too, I enter the bedroom closing the door behind me.
• I slide down the door and allow myself to cry, all that I have stored here.
• I don't know how much time I had there and I ended up falling asleep right there on the floor, not caring about anything, I just wanted to disappear from the map, from the face of the earth, in everyone's eyes.