Woke Up Married

65

Unfamiliar Environment

Julia was thinking about her mother while Jason was thinking of what to do with the information he had while waiting for the report on his second investigation request.

The night to Sunday morning felt like forever for both of them as they pretended to be sleeping. Julia's alarm went off, and she quickly put it off, not wanting to disturb Jason, whom she assumed to be sleeping. She dragged her out of bed and took her shower before going out of the bedroom to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. She felt a little dizzy while making breakfast, but that went away as quickly as it came.

After setting the table, she decided to visit a nearby church to pray since it was a Sunday. Sometime back she had prayed to God for something and she got it. They need God in this messy situation of a perfect pretense that everything is going well.

"Please tell Jason I will be back shortly," Julia said to Peter, who had just entered the dining area from his room.

"Won't you have breakfast first?" inquired Peter.

"I reserved some for myself. I will eat it when I am back. I will not be out for long, besides, I don't feel hungry right now," Julia replied.

"Okay," replied Peter, and Julia went out of the house.

Julia stopped a taxi to a nearby church 15 minutes away from where they were staying. It was very early in the morning and service had not yet started. She walked towards the crossing section of the church and knelt in front of the altar. She stared at the cross on the altar and tears rolled down her cheeks.

"Dear Lord, you know how I feel without my mum. I know you are keeping her safe, but please let me find peace within. I wish she was still with me. Things would probably be different. You also know how I feel about the man I am with now. Please teach me to understand him," she prayed.

She did the sign of the cross, placed her forehead on the altar rail and stayed there for a while.

"Dear child, what troubles you?" came the priest's voice.

Julia raised her head from the altar rail to the direction of the voice. She saw the priest in an all-white cassock.

"I am all alone," Julia replied, more tears rolling down her cheeks.

The priest shifted his gaze to her hand, and he saw the wedding ring on her finger and drew closer.

"Tell me what happened?" the priest inquired.

"I lost my mum, she was shot dead in our house," Julia said in a tearful voice.

"That is awful, sorry child," sympathized the priest.

"I am married to a man, who," Julia began, but realized she couldn't describe the situation with Jason.

"Take heart, dear child, and don't feel lonely because the good Lord is with you at all times. Your mum may not be by your side any more like before, but her love remains with you, and she will want you to be strong and keep on going forward. It's okay to miss her and recall memories of her, but don't let those memories bring you sadness. Let it remind you of her love. I am not sure what is happening with your husband, but just be patient with him and take everything one day at a time. Don't think about it too much. Everything will be fine, just give it time," the priest comforted her.

"You have a beautiful face, and I am sure your smile would be amazing. Your mum wants to see you smiling. Can you do that for her?" inquired the priest.

"Yes, I can," replied Julia, smiling amidst her tears.

Julia thanked the priest and left the church, going back home. From the church, she walked to the closest bus stop and stopped a taxi. She sat in the taxi and gave the driver her destination.

Back in the house, Jason and Peter had already had their breakfast. Jason was inside the small office he had created for himself going through some files and preparing himself for the next day. Peter was done clearing the breakfast table and decided to watch TV.

"Where did you say Julia was going?" came Jason's voice from behind Peter.

"She said she was going to church," Peter replied as he turned on the sofa to look at Jason.

"Do you know which church she went to?" questioned Jason.

"Yeah, it is just down the street, approximately 15 minutes' drive away from here," replied Peter, realizing Julia had been away for far too long.

"Let me know as soon as she returns," Jason said, and went back to his study.

It was unlike Julia to be away from the house for that long, so Jason was worried about her. He knew bringing up the conversation about their marriage did bother her. For now, he knows, she is a Haward, and it made sense to him why his stepfather got them married. His stepfather wanted him to be the heir, but he could not understand why he would do that when James and Mirenda were his flesh and blood. Mrs Haward could have managed the family's fortune. He need not force them into marriage and that is why he needed to investigate the entire family. His answer will be in the report from the investigation and again, Julia deserves to know the truth. He intends to tell Julia who her father is, but he first wants to know why his stepfather would go to that extreme. Jason was in his small study sitting behind his desk lost in his thoughts when he heard a knock on the door.

"Yes, come in," replied Jason.

"Sir, I think something happened to Julia. I went down to the church and after showing her picture to the priest, he told me she left hours ago," Peter reported standing at the entrance of the door, keeping it open.

Jason got up from behind his desk and headed for the door. When Peter saw him coming towards him, he moved out of the way for him and followed him once he was out of the study.

Jason stepped out of the house and stood in front of the front door, wondering which direction he should take. He remembered his phone, pulled it out of his pocket and dialled Julia's number. It went through, but the call was disconnected after one ring and when he tried again the phone was off.

"Someone had taken her," Jason said, noticing Peter was now behind him.

"What? But who will do that?" Peter asked, surprised.

"I am sure my stepmother has something to do with this," Jason said. "Get the car, we are going back to the church," he added, and Peter nodded.

Peter quickly went inside to fetch the car keys. He left with Jason for the church.

In another apartment, Mr Dickson was watching sports when his phone rang. He picked it up and swiped the screen to answer.

"Speak," he said once the call connected.

"Sir, the lady you asked me to watch, boarded a taxi from a church this morning, but the taxi did not drive her back to her apartment but rather to another apartment inside town. A certain man came out to receive her. She willingly went with the man into the apartment, but she looked extremely scared," reported the person at the end of the call.

"Are you saying someone just kidnapped her?" questioned Mr Dickson, standing up to his feet.

"Sir, it appears so," replied the person on the other end of the call.

"What are you, an idiot?" yelled Mr Dickson. "You saw someone kidnap her, and you are waiting for what to move?" he yelled on the phone through gritted teeth.

"Sir, I...I," the person stammered.

"Find a way to set her free," Mr Dickson said. "Do you understand?" he said with a stern tone before disconnecting the call.

"But why would someone kidnap her? Does it mean, aside from me, someone else also knows she is a Haward?" Mr Dickson thought.

In another place, Julia opened her eyes, her vision a little blurry. She blinked multiple times and eventually robbed her eyes to get them to focus. She looked around her and realized she was lying on a bed in an unfamiliar environment. After studying her environment for a while, it was like she was in a hospital. She was wearing a patient's hospital dress and lying on a hospital bed. She could also hear the beeping sounds of machines which painted a picture of a hospital in her mind.

"Why was she in a hospital?" Julia thought, wondering what had happened to her and where Jason and Peter might be.

Her eyes were going around the room, trying to understand where she was and why. She pushed herself to sit up on the bed. Her eyes quickly moved towards the direction of the door when she heard a door creaking sound, and it was followed by the door opening slowly. She kept her gaze on the door, wondering who was going to enter.