Wait a minute; let's recap this.
What did he just say?
"She is my wife, Nina," he calls out again, pulling me into his arms and circling my waist.
Has this man gone bunker hunting or what?
Is he really in the right state of mind?
How can he just come up and call me his wife, and that too in front of this man?
I tried to pull away from him, but surprisingly, his tender and affectionate hold seemed so strong.
"Oh! Such a lovely lady; I gotta admit she is beautiful and young, though. Bring us back to the youthful days, right? The other man teases, or is it a compliment?
Professor Abraham smiled at him.
Ok, this is it. I was waiting for him to tell him that he was just joking or something, anything, but he didn't.
"Uhmm... Sir... I think you're..."
"Ok, we'll leave you for now; let's get ourselves comfortable first; see you later," he cuts me off.
"Yeah, yeah, see you at dinner then, Mrs. Grifforth," he says.
What did he just call me?
This is a piece of shit. Sorry for the language, but seriously.
I don't even know how to start writing this right now.
My professor, the one that I have always looked up to as a father, has just addressed me as his wife when I clearly am not.
Not to mention that he probably has a wife back at home. He should have. I can see the wedding ring on his finger. And maybe children too, and here he is, trying to cheat on them; that's so lowly of him.
Not to mention the way that man kept staring at me, like I was some sort of alien. Or a gold digger, maybe.
He looks like he kind of pities, despises, and admires me all at once.
"Let's go," he says, cutting me off from my mini mental asylum.
If this doesn't stop, I am sure to end up in a real one soon.
"Sir, what..."
"Let's go and get ourselves settled." He cuts me off again, also trying to avoid my gaze this time around.
"But..."
"Now!" He says sternly.
Well, here we go. I have no other choice but to obey, and so I did, keeping my mouth shut.
I followed him behind like the obedient puppy that I was.
Come to think of it, he's the only person I am familiar with in this environment, and if he leaves me, then I'll be toast.
But he is the last person I want to be with right now. Well, if you scratch the fact that I want explanation from him and that, I will get it no matter what.
We reached a place that looked like a restaurant, but there were no people inside. He walks directly inside and places our belongings there.
"Stay here; I'm going to go check on our staying arrangements; it seems like we are a bit early; the others are yet to come," he says.
So he can talk whenever he wants to, but I can't. Well, that's not fair.
I just nodded at him.
"Dinner will be around eight if I'm not mistaken, and it's past seven now, so it will be in a few," he adds.
Who told him I was hungry after what he went and did to me?
He had started walking away when he stopped and turned to face me.
"And lastly," he pauses.
"Do not go anywhere; just stay here till I am back, ok?" he says sternly.
I nodded at him, and he walked away after giving me a satisfied grin.
I feel like wiping it off his face, but what could I do?
Here I am, sitting in the middle of nowhere—well, actually, not nowhere somehow, but still. I have no phone, no iPod, no laptop, not even an MP3.
I mean, the old man wouldn't even let me bring a watch, for goodness sake.
I decided to entertain myself by looking at my surroundings, something I never do unless forced to.
The tables and chairs, just like the one I am sitting on, looked like they had been carved out of wood, and the place sure does look like a restaurant, except that it is outdoors.
Instead of a wall, a tam-pole was used to shade the place, giving it a shady feeling as well as a shelter.
There are also some bulbs scattered around, but they are all switched off.
Truth be told, the place looks more decent than I had imagined it to be, and I'm somehow glad about that.
At least I won't be in total darkness.
I didn't realize that time had passed until I heard people walking towards me, and that's when I realized that it was starting to get dark.
Great, now I won't even be able to know what time it is exactly as I do not have my watch.
Hey, beautiful lady, what are you doing here all alone? Do you need my help? A young man, almost like in his mid-twenties, asks
"Hey, don't flirt with her; didn't you hear?" the boy next to him whispers.
"Hear what?" he asks, sounding confused.
"She is the great Professor Abraham Grifforth's wife," he says, this time a bit louder.
The place has also started becoming a bit crowded, and all of a sudden, all eyes were on me.
I could hear some whispers echoing as well.
"Isn't she young? She looks more like his daughter than wife."
Well, you asked me that.
"Do you think they do love each other?"
Of course we don't.
"Maybe they are newlyweds, don't you think?"
I guess they are right about that; I too only found out about the marriage not long ago. If it can even be called that.
"Gosh! She is so young; how can she take care of him? Some ask.
"He will break her to pieces," some commented, and I could hear them laugh before looking my way again.
I wanted to get up and tell each and every one of them that this was all a lie, but just then, the instructors decided to appear, and seeing the way he was being surrounded and respected by all sides, I couldn't get myself to do that, at least not now.
Everyone starts ordering their food while I just sit there, watching them like a statue.
Three men started walking over to me, and guess what? He was one of them.
He walked over to my side.
"Good evening, Mrs. Grifforth," one of the men said.
So even the instructors have heard. I looked up at him, but he seemed unfazed by what was going on.
"It's nice to finally meet you; we've heard so much about you," the other added, extending his hand.
Now did they?
I guess they are talking about his real wife. I'm sure he has one. Poor woman. How can she be so unlucky?
I shook both their hands.
He sat besides me while the rest of the instructors walked in.
I can feel all eyes drilling into us and some whispers coming up as well.
"Have you eaten?" he asks.
I just shook my head. I just feel like exploding right now.
He got up from the table and went to order, I guess.
A few minutes later, he walks back, and a few people are following him from behind.
They were also holding two trays in their hands, while the others were just following him.
They placed the plate on our table and greeted me while giving me that weird look.
I guess I'll have to get used to that.
I don't know anything about the food in front of me, so I was hesitant to eat.
I look up at him to see that he has already started eating. Good for him.
It's like he noticed I hadn't touched my food when he stopped eating.
"Why aren't you eating?" he asks.
Uhmm, sir, I..."
He takes a spoonful from his plate and directs it to my mouth.
What the heck!
He wants to feed me; is he crazy or something?
He raised an eyebrow at me when he saw the look on my face, I'm sure.
"Come on, eat up; I can't have you go to sleep with an empty stomach now, darling, can I?" he says.
This is it!
Is he doing this intentionally to spite me or because of the people?
"Come on," he pleads.
The place sounds as silent as a graveyard; I'm sure everybody is just looking at the show we are giving them.
And when I looked to my side, I was right.
"Eat up, please, for me," he pleads again in a soft voice that I never knew he possessed.
I had no other choice but to eat from his spoon. I mean, we spoon-kissed. Our saliva has mixed.
Oh my gosh! Just kill me already.
The whole place blasted into applause and chatter.
Haven't these people ever seen a couple feeding? Gosh!.
What's wrong with me?
Now I am also addressing us as a couple.
And that is how it went; he fed me with his spoon, but thank goodness he didn't eat anymore otherwise.
After what seems like forever, I finally finished the food, and I've got to admit it's quite tasty, even though it's my first time trying it.
Everybody kept on chattering about one thing or another while I just stared at them.
Whenever I look at his side, I find him staring at me, and when I look, he will look away.
Finally, it was time to get settled for the night, as tomorrow will be our big day.
"Uhmm, Prof., why don't you and your wife stay at the governor's private camp? It's pretty cozy there, and we have already prepared a tent for you if you don't mind," one of the men from earlier said.
What! They want me and him to sleep in the same room together. I mean, is that even legal?
Since I came here as a student, I should be sleeping along with the others, right? But why the special treatment?
"Come on guys, you didn't have to," he says with that old man laugh of his.
"Of course we have to; it's been long since you last graced us with your presence, and to top it up, you also brought your family, so we have to make sure nothing is lacking in our hospitality," they say.
Come on! Why are they treating him with so much respect?
It's not like he's a co-founder of the park or something.
Wait a minute, is he?
No, of course not. I'm sure this place has been in existence even before his grandmother was born.
Maybe he is a high-ranking official or something; I don't care, actually.
And that is how I found myself driving farther away from the other students in another Hilux car.
I wonder where the others will be staying, though.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, we finally reached our destination.
From the first look, one might think he is staring at some beautifully arranged houses, but if you look a little bit further, you will actually understand that they are also tents, huge ones for that matter.
It must have cost a fortune to make it, I'm sure. And staying in them would cost more, for sure.
The car slowed down and parked in front of a tent, which made my jaw drop to the ground.*