Song: Lucky — Sarkodie ft. Rudeboy

*Unedited* (It is 1am)

*Warning* This chapter gets just a teensy bit steamy. Skip to the author's note at the end when the steamy stuff begins if you're not cool with that.

It was the third day of December. I'd been an adult for a few days. I was sneaking around the storeroom, looking for the large calabash in which my father kept the fermenting palm wine.

It was the only type of alcohol we had in our house at the moment. There was a bar where a lady sold alcoholic drinks but even though I was an adult, two things blocked me from legally purchasing alcohol.

One, I'd be perceived as a child until I was a married woman and two, I'm female. Females only drink when it was necessary which was seldom.

I wasn't going to drink because I liked the taste of alcohol or anything. I was just trying to explore the adult life — and to forget a certain issue, but that was besides the point.

It was midnight, and the surrounding darkness did well to conceal my form. I inched away from the noise making pots, stepped over utensils and eating ware. The pot of palm wine was covered with a large wooden plank at the leftmost corner of the room.

I removed the plank and the pot of whitish liquid swirled beneath me. Even from a distance, I sniffed the strength of this alcohol and wondered for a second if I was brave enough to drink it. Perhaps I couldn't consume a lot of alcohol without getting drunk. What if I got drunk? Certainly, that wasn't my intention. I wasn't ready to wake up to an agonising headache, and even more importantly, I didn't want to act foolishly in front of my parents. I would drink just one cup and that would be all.

I clutched my new phone steadily in my hands. I had researched all about alcohol and it was a very dangerous substance even though people either didn't know that or weren't able to control their consumption. Though I knew that one cup wasn't going to destroy my organs, there was no way I was going to let alcohol consumption be a regular thing in my life.

I dipped the cup in the pot and filled it to the brim, then tipped the cup back to let the contents into my mouth. The alcohol burned its way down my throat and even though it was uncomfortable, I could tolerate it. I felt the coolness as it trickled down my oesophagus and descended into the bowels of my stomach.

It didn't give me the light headedness other people boasted of. I'd thought that the cup would take my mind off things, but it didn't. Perhaps more cups were needed to do the trick, but I wasn't going to succumb to the temptation. I covered the pot with the plank and went back to my bedroom. My suitcase was packed and glaring at me, containing my few clothes and the new ones that had been purchased for me.

It had happened in the twinkle of an eye. For the first time in my life, the village was on my side, and it was even worse than when they were against me. It had happened in just two days.

Linda was seen by the villagers moving into the palace on Saturday evening and it didn't take them any time at all to protest. It started with harmless rumours, gossip amongst women who had nothing better to do with their lives, then it escalated to confrontations.

I'd become a celebrity since my marriage to Michael had been announced, and just like every celebrity in the world, they only began to 'love' me when I started doing well. Imagine if Michael wasn't a prince or if I wasn't getting married to him but to an ordinary person, no one would care if a single woman was living with my husband.

The people raised hell and the chief had no alternative but to implore my parents to let me move into the palace.

As expected, Michael was furious with me. He believed that I somehow caused it, and he refused to speak with me. I'd left almost fifty texts, but he hadn't replied to even one, and I was supposed to move into the palace with him as soon as the sun rose.

I sighed and plopped down on my bed. Life is so difficult sometimes. There were times when I wished I died as a baby. I'd have gotten a free ticket to heaven and I wouldn't have had to deal with life's troubles.

I pulled the covers over myself and snuggled my pillow close.

I woke up when it was nearly midday. After taking a shower and caring for my hair, I left my bedroom for the kitchen to have some breakfast, but I stopped short upon seeing two uniformed men waiting in the living room.

"It's about time she woke up," Tsey said, rolling his eyes while munching on bofrot.

His older brother elbowed him in the side, warning him to shut up. It made sense that he revered me now that I was going to be princess.

"Elorm, these men are here to take you to the palace," Dada said, pointing at the two men sitting comfortably on the living room's sofa with mugs of porridge in their hands. They didn't seem too eager to leave.

My family was standing behind them like bodyguards, while Dada cradled Elikem in her hands. He was the only one I was truly going to miss.

Atsu and Dada had been sucking up to me of late, but Tsey seemed to have a natural dislike for me. Fofo hadn't changed. He remained indifferent towards me.

Things became awkward quite suddenly because I knew I was supposed to say goodbye to them, but I didn't want to, and I didn't know how to. Was I supposed to hug them and cry or what?

At least it gave a little time to the palace drivers to finish their porridge.

"I guess... I'll see you all later?" I asked.

Dada chuckled quietly and Fofo advanced to pat my shoulder. Throughout our years together as father and daughter, that was the most physical contact we'd had — perhaps as he child he had held me — and I was comfortable with that. I wasn't one for touching... well except with Michael. He awoke feelings no one has been able to... so far. Not even Chris.

I desperately wanted to hug my last brother goodbye, but the situation was already uncomfortable as it was, so I headed for my room to grab my suitcase. Before I could though, one of the guards went ahead of me and snatched it from right under my nose.

I glared at his head of black, coily hair. At least if I were tugging my suitcase along, I would've known what to do with my hands and how to walk.

I went out of the house without sparing them a glance, and it made my stomach churn. It turns out that I'd miss them.

A white land rover was waiting for me in front of my house. I sighed contentedly, thinking about how there'd be no more walking under the scorching sun for me.

It didn't take me long to doze off, but I woke up suddenly when the car door was slammed shut with so much force that it shook the car. The bodyguard — the person who slammed the door — looked at me shyly then turned his gaze to the ground. For some reason, he couldn't call my name or simply touch me a little to wake me up, but he had to resort to slamming the door.

"You should've just called my name," I scolded, rolling my eyes.

He nodded and helped me out. The chauffeur ran out to grab my suitcase and I was led into the palace.

I gasped involuntarily, my skin tingling with shock and awe. This was just the entrance and it had me reeling from loss of breath. I couldn't even find it in me to close my mouth. How something like that could exist in a world I was living in was completely beyond me.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Linda asked, descending the fleet of stairs on the right. She wore a long-sleeved black shirt with camo shorts, and I hated to admit that she looked good in it. Her red dreadlocks had been curled and allowed to lie down on her back, almost reaching her buttocks. With her long false eyelashes and expertly done make-up, she looked like a goddess.

"Where's Michael?" I asked, ignoring her question.

Two maids had poured in and proceeded to collect my suitcase from the bodyguard, going upstairs with it.

"He's in his room. He would've have come down to welcome you but he's very busy right now," she said.

I knew she was just trying to lessen the blow; he didn't want to see me. The way we had left things on my birthday night, I thought everything was going to be alright, but once another problem faced us, we were back to square one.

"Show me to his room," I told her, ascending the stairs.

She quickly followed me. "He's really busy right now, he can't see you. It's royal duties."

"I just want to say hello," I told her, clearly seeing through her lies.

On the first floor, I saw a corridor and a couple of doors. God forbid I open a door and it was the chief's room. Speaking of that man, I wondered why he hadn't come to welcome me yet.

"Okay fine," she sighed. "He really doesn't want to see you right now. He thinks you don't trust him and that's why you planned this; coming here so that you would keep an eye on him. He's really hurt Elorm, he just needs some time alone."

I stared at her longer than necessary. "He told you all this?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I'm not an empath."

It hurt that he confided in her. I wanted what was between us to remain between us. "Nothing is going to stop me from seeing him. I hope you know that. If you don't show me where his room is, I will try every room until I find his."

I'd ask one of the maids to help me out instead.

She shook her head. "You guys are so stubborn, you're perfect for each other, really. Come on then."

I followed her down the corridor, round a corner and into another corridor before we stopped at a door. I took a deep breath before knocking, feeling intimidated by the huge wooden door.

"It's open!" He called from inside. I proceeded to open the door, when he called out again, causing my hand to pause just over the door's handle. "If you don't have my nkatie burger, don't come in."

Linda chuckled from behind me, shaking her head. It made my blood boil.

I pushed the door open. Michael was sprawled across his bed, shirtless with bed hair and a game controller in his hands. Beside his bed was a pile of junk food; empty pizza boxes, coca cola bottles, empty KFC containers and junk like that. His toned chest before me made my stomach flip and my heart shift into overdrive. He was oozing so much sex appeal, and I didn't know if it was just me but the temperature in the room rose significantly.

"Where's my nka—" he began with a smile, turning to us but stopped short when he saw me. His smile was wiped off his face. "You."

It's moments like this when you realise how much words can hurt. It'd have been less painful if he had punched me. "Yes, me. Can I come in?"

"Come on in," he said, putting the controller down. He reached for a shirt resting on the adjacent sofa and pulled it on.

The entire room smelled like him, it looked like him, reflected him. The colours, the posters on the walls, even the bearskin rug in the middle of the room. When Linda fed me that story of him being hurt, I thought he would be depressed and sulking, but he was just eating junk food and playing games on his PlayStation four.

I looked back at Linda who had followed me inside. She stared back, wearing a look that said, "What?"

"Can you please wait outside? I need to speak with my fiancé alone," I told her, beyond infuriated that I even had to tell her.

"There's no need for that, she may hear whatever it is that you need to say," Michael said.

"Michael, don't—"

"It's okay, I'll leave, and I'm sorry that I had to be told in the first place," Linda said, holding her arms up in surrender. Michael glared at her as she left the room.

"Michael—"

"No, save it," he held his hand up. "I know what you're going to say, that none of this was your intention and—"

"What are you playing?" I asked him, plopping onto his bed.

"What?"

"Are you hard of hearing?"

A small smile tugged at his lips, but he flung it off his face as soon as he realised. He took a seat next to me and picked his controller back up. He ignored me and continued playing some shooting game with colourful backgrounds.

"Fortnite," I said.

"What?" He asked, without taking his eyes off the screen.

"The game is called fortnite."

"Okay?"

An awkward silence ensued, well, at least awkward for me. His facial expressions changed according to what was happening. He pouted every time someone sniped him and smiled, usually laughing and calling out insults when he killed someone. I didn't understand why a game about shooting and killing people should bring so much joy, but the world was already messed up as it is.

"Stop staring at me like that," he said.

I had no idea he was speaking to me until his character turned into a plant and he looked at me.

"Oh, you've finally realised I've been here the whole time?" I asked sarcastically. Honestly, I wasn't in the mood to argue with him, which was why I decided to sit and let him play. I thought that if the mood was relaxed enough, we'd be able to talk without shouting or avoid the topic all together.

"I'm not the one who asked you to barge into my room and take up my personal space like this," he retorted, pulling a pizza slice free of cheese. "But I didn't ask you to move into my house either and you still did so I guess I shouldn't be surprised."

I sighed. "Your father asked me to move in."

He took his time chewing the pizza before shattering my heart again. "After you instigated the people's rage with your useless gossip."

I bit down on my lower lip, feeling it quiver. "For the last time Michael, I didn't tell anyone anything. You know this town is filled with gossips, they're the reason why I even have to marry you!"

He looked at me and I turned around, jumping onto my feet when I realised what I just said. Surprisingly, he stood up with me and took my hands.

"You don't have to marry me if you don't want to," he said sincerely. He smiled, pulling his lower lip into his mouth. "Honestly, I've been having doubts about getting married to you too, the only difference is that I was able to hide it well."

"You've been having doubts?" I asked, not believing my ears.

"Yes, we are pretty young, and there are so many things I haven't done."

I pulled my hands away from his. "What?"

"I don't mean it like that, but I really want to experience dating or being single before having to get married. You know, I want to know what I like, what I don't like—"

"And why can't you experience that with me, when we're married?"

He stared at me, probably because he had no answer.

I turned my back to him. "I don't understand you."

"I'm just having the same doubts as you, what don't you understand?"

I faced him. "My doubts aren't about 'things I haven't done'." My fingers made imaginary quotation marks in the air. "I'm actually afraid for my future. I don't want my only accomplishment in life to be being your wife! And here you are, telling me nonsense like you don't know what you like and what you don't like!"

By then, there were tears in my eyes.

There was a very uncomfortable silence for a few seconds as Michael watched me cry. He wanted to pull me into his arms, but I could sense his hesitation. I had watched so many telenovelas and read books, even the stupid ones that I didn't like, and they had led me to believe that the only obstacles lovers faced were from outside forces. They were dead wrong. Michael's words cut me deep. I wasn't sure if I was misinterpreting them, but what I got from it was that he wanted to explore life with other women and see whether he'd still be willing to settle down with me.

"Maybe I'm just not matured enough to do something big like this. Getting married," he said, cutting through the tension in the room like a knife.

"Maybe you aren't," I replied, wiping the tears off my cheeks and heading for the door. "I'll see you later."

"Elorm wait!" He called.

I turned around to look at him. His lips were flapping like he wanted to say something, but he didn't know how to or better yet, he didn't know what to say. He sighed, his features slumping along with his shoulders. "I'll show you to your room."

I nodded. The house was big and occupied a large area. He led me to another corridor which was filled with just as many if not more rooms. My room was the first door on the right.

"Why is my room so far away from yours?" I asked.

He smiled a little shyly. "To prevent any kind of fornication."

"Oh," I murmured, feeling my cheeks heat up. I hoped that if the wedding did pull through, I wouldn't regret waiting eighteen years.

The room looked like something I'd expect from the mansion. White sheets and large king sized bed with a beautiful feminine touch, a large dressing mirror complete with every cosmetic and skin care product I could wish for, artificial zebra skin rugs, an apple computer and a desk, floor-to-ceiling windows covered with large, thick white curtains to block out the sunlight and some luxurious antiques.

"It's beautiful, but too much white," I said, plopping onto the bed.

He came and took a seat next to me, making the mattress dip. "I told the interior designer to make sure that this room was fit for an angel. I guess he took me literally."

We both laughed, then it dawned on me. "Are we going to share a room when we're married?"

He laughed. "Of course."

"Then why was all this done for me? Was I supposed to move here before the wedding anyway?"

"No," he said, laying down on the bed to stare at the ceiling. "My father asked our designer to furnish the room, and even though I was angry with you, I still wanted you to have the best. I thought you'd like it."

I laughed, resting my elbows on the bed and turning to him so that my face was above his. "I do. I just can't keep up with white furniture. Stains and dirt are much more visible with those."

He smiled that panty-dropping smile. "You won't have to clean anything, my love. What do you think we have hired help for?"

"I don't know," I frowned. "I don't feel too good about people I barely know snooping around my room and besides, I've grown up taking care of myself and others. I think I can handle the maintenance of my own room."

"So, when we move into our new room, you're going to clean and stuff? Because I'm not," he stated with a chuckle.

I smiled back. "I know your lazy butt won't, but I'm fine with that as long as you don't leave dirty underwear lying around. And always remember to flush the toilet."

He stared at me, shocked. "How did you know that I sometimes forget?"

I smirked. "I had a hunch."

It was a bit weird that we were talking amicably like what happened just a few minutes ago was just in our minds. I mean, I thought he broke off the engagement when he said he wasn't sure he was mature enough.

I wasn't ready to point that out though. I was loving the easy conversation between us, like how things used to be when we were just friends.

He smiled at me long enough for the atmosphere in the room to change. I felt a strange feeling at the pit of my stomach when he glanced at my lips, but as quickly as that happened, his eyes came back to meet mine.

I stared back at him, knowing that my desire for him was evident in my eyes. My body flooded with heat, when his eyes strayed back to my lips and I loved that they stayed this time.

Suddenly, he placed his hands on either side of my waist and lifted me onto him, so that I was straddling his lower half. He smiled, seeing the shocked expression on my face and placed a hand on my cheek. It felt so comforting that I leaned into his palm and closed my eyes.

"You're really beautiful. You're probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen," he whispered, before pulling me down to him and capturing my lips in his.

His kiss was tantalisingly slow, like he was trying to tease me, but his hands were another story. They caressed the small of my back, going lower and lower until he was grabbing my butt. I pushed my hands into his thick hair, venting my frustration on the slow pace of the kiss on his innocent strands.

He smiled into the kiss and sucked on my bottom lip, biting it teasingly. At that point, I was getting angry, and eventually, I did take over, shoving my tongue into his mouth. He seemed shocked for a moment, but he soon recovered and took control again.

A fire was erupting within me, daring me to try new things. I slid my hands down his chest and pushed them under his shirt. He moaned into the kiss as my hands explored the hardness of his body. He nearly pushed me off when I teased his nipples, and I broke the kiss to laugh at him.

"Oh, so that's how you want to do it? Fine," he said, before spontaneously throwing me down to the bed.

My heart thumped with anticipation when he swiftly pulled his shirt off. I had it in mind that we would go far, but not all the way. I wanted to lose my virginity on my wedding night.

He brought his lips close to mine, his hot breath fanning my face, but he didn't kiss me. I lifted my head to kiss him, but he pulled away, grinning like a maniac. He pressed his lips to my neck, and I couldn't help but bite down on my bottom lip as I felt a wave of pleasure wash over me. He pulled my skin into his mouth and sucked lightly, whilst unbuttoning my shirt.

Once it was off, his kisses went lower as he worked expertly, making me feel things I had never felt before, but the loudest moan was elicited when he found a spot behind my ear. He smiled and continued to torture me there as he saw that I masochistically liked it.

"You think you're the only one who knows how to tease?" He whispered seductively into my ear. When I didn't respond he chuckled sadistically. "What do you want?"

"Kiss me," I whispered breathlessly.

He smiled and pressed his lips to mine. "All better?"

I frowned. "You know that's not what I mean."

"What do you mean then? I haven't done this before. I don't know what you want," he shrugged, with a smirk that led me to believe that he knew exactly what I wanted.

He had probably watched enough adult films to know what to do because he didn't seem like a clueless newbie to me.

"Kiss me. Everywhere."

He smirked, crawling off me. I almost yelled, but stopped when he removed my shoes. It was then that I wondered if he knew that I didn't want to go all the way just yet. He kissed my feet and slowly began to ascend. He must've taken it literally when I asked him to kiss me everywhere.

As he began to ascend, I began to feel the bouts of pleasure hit me again. It kept getting better the higher he went. Even though my brain was mushy with desire, I wondered whether someone could have this expertise by just watching some inappropriate movies. What if this wasn't his first time?

He looked up at me deviously and there was no hint of a smile or a smirk. By then, I wasn't sure if I didn't want to go all the way.

Luckily, I didn't have to make that decision in a split second, because as soon as he was about to take off more of my clothing, the door burst open and the chief and a few older men stood there, staring into the room with their jaws on the floor.

* * *

Nkatie — Groundnut

If you skipped the steamy scene, here's what happened ☺ Elorm and Michael were getting hot and heavy then the chief and his elders burst into the room. The End.

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