Substitute
He walked away, and I lowered my head, trying to control the tears forming in my eyes before climbing the stairs and following him to the room. When I entered, he was sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands supporting the weight of his body. He had a serious look, and when I closed the door behind me, he began.
“I didn’t like seeing you talking to that boy.”
He didn’t look at me, and I sought his gaze, trying to understand what was happening.All text © NôvelD(r)a'ma.Org.
“What?”
“You spent the whole night talking to him. Asking him questions while he flirted with you.”
“At least someone was talking to me.”
He finally looked at me and seemed totally lost.
“What do you mean?”
“What do I mean? You were completely ignoring me in front of those people.”
“You’re imagining things!”
“Imagining? Am I imagining that you let go of my hand when those men showed up?”
He looked away again and remained silent for a few seconds before speaking.
“What did you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. How about not treating me like I’m invisible to start with?”
He shook his head in denial and moistened his lips.
“You’re imagining things. I didn’t pretend you were invisible.”
“Do you know what, Jason? You didn’t treat me like I was invisible. You treated me like what I really am. Just one of your employees.”
“Don’t do this!”
“Do what? Tell the truth?”
He ran his hand over his face, pulling it down, and sighed.
“Honestly, I don’t have the patience to argue right now.”
“Then, goodnight!”
I turned to leave the room, but his voice filled the room.
“What did you want me to say, Jane? Should I have said you’re my girlfriend?”
I turned to face him, and he awaited a response I didn’t have.
“No. After all, that’s not what I am, is it?”
“Jane, you know how complicated things are for me right now. I haven’t even filed for divorce yet.”
“And you won’t.”
He glanced at me quickly and seemed to be at a loss for words.
“You still love her, and I know it!”
“Jane, what happened today has nothing to do with Jinhee. I just thought it wasn’t the right time to say we’re together. If I said something there, it would be in all the newspapers tomorrow. I didn’t want to expose you; that’s all. Can’t you try to understand my side?”
“You know, Jason, I could easily do that, but instead of admitting your mistake and apologizing to me, you just acted like it was my fault, like I did something wrong.”
“What did you want? For me to be happy with you talking to that doctor?”
“I don’t care about him, Jason! Not him or any other man because I love you, and you know it!”
I became agitated, and some tears rolled down my face; he looked at me, and all his defenses seemed to vanish. He took a deep breath as if conceding defeat and came to me with his beautiful brown eyes shining. Just that look was enough to make my heart beat faster. He took my face in his hands and gently kissed my lips. I had no defenses against him, and I knew it. He slid his fingers to my nape, deepening our kiss, and I felt his tongue gently massaging mine, leaving me completely surrendered.
“Sorry!”
He pressed our foreheads together, and I just stayed there feeling his warm breath against my skin. He kissed me again and placed his hands on my waist, making me completely surrender. I ran my hands through his hair, feeling its softness, pulling him closer to me. Our kiss was intense, and before the lack of air became present, he was already guiding me to the bed. He put me on all fours on the bed and began kissing my back, pulling my hair, bringing his lips to my ear.
“The truth is, I was dying of jealousy because you’re only mine!”
He left a light bite on my ear, and I felt my intimacy contract.
“Then show me that I’m yours!”
“With pleasure!”
He slid my panties down my body, leaving me completely exposed to him, and even before getting rid of them, he was already sucking me, making me writhe with pleasure. I pulled his hair, pulling him closer to me. He licked all of my intimacy, slowly sucking my clitoris, making me delirious; he slipped his fingers into my drenched flesh that already craved him while sucking me in a delicious way. I was totally exposed; he knew the power he had over me and seemed to love it. I felt his fingers massaging my sensitive spot until I couldn’t take it anymore, melting into his quick tongue.
He positioned himself behind me and just pulled down his pants without even bothering to take them off completely; the urgency of the expectation of our bodies meeting was greater than these details, and soon I could feel his member dilating me. He entered me in a brute way, and all I could do was beg for more while listening to his moans of pleasure mix with mine. He demanded more and more from me, and his brutality made me come closer and closer to my second orgasm. I began to grind against his member, feeling it hit the depths of my intimacy; I was so wet that I felt my honey dripping down my legs; he always said how much he loved it, and I was delirious feeling him contract while I squeezed him with my intimacy.
I tossed my hair back and looked at him while I moved faster and faster, and when I saw his look of desire admiring my movements, I couldn’t hold back and reached my peak, moaning so loud that I think the whole house heard. When I squeezed him once again, I felt him pulsate and spill inside me while an almost guttural groan escaped from the depths of his throat. My legs were trembling, and I still had my eyes closed, trying to recover from the pleasure we had. He left a wet kiss on my back before pulling out of me and collapsing on the bed. We lay side by side, staring at the ceiling, and after some time, we took a bath together, sitting between his legs with my back to him as I felt him leave kisses on my neck.
“The trip is the day after tomorrow, so I think we should go to the mall.”
“What for?”
“Well, you want me to introduce you as my wife, right? So, we need to buy some more appropriate clothes for you.”
I pondered his words for a while as he caressed my fingers.
“What’s wrong with my clothes?”
A silence fell, and he seemed to think for a moment.
“Nothing, they’re beautiful, and I know in Brazil people should dress like that, but we’re in Korea, and people here are more traditional.”
“You never criticized my clothes before…”
“I’m not criticizing, Jane, I just want to buy you some new clothes. Does that have to be a problem too?”
I sensed defensiveness in his tone, and I didn’t want to continue arguing, so I just shook my head.
“Come on! Let’s go to bed, and tomorrow we’ll go to the mall.”
I agreed, and we made love once again before falling asleep. When I woke up, I got up and took a shower, still pretending to sleep in my old room, and my aunt pretended to believe it even though she spoke to me less every day. When I went out with Jason to go to the mall, he made no effort to hide it from her; we just left together, and I could already imagine the reaction she would have when I got back home.
Jason parked the car, and I couldn’t disguise my apathy. The truth was, I wasn’t happy about changing my way of dressing, but I couldn’t say no to him, and I didn’t want to fight, so to avoid that, I agreed. We entered the mall, and instead of going to some ordinary store, we went to the top floor, where there was a huge store that seemed extremely fancy. We walked in hand in hand, and as soon as we passed through the door, I saw two beautiful Korean women who looked like models. One whispered to the other, and one of them left, grabbing her phone and dialing some number. The one who stayed gave Jason a huge smile and seemed to ignore my presence.
“Jason, what do I owe the honor of your visit?”
“Minnie! It’s been a while. Well, I came because I want a new wardrobe for this little lady here.”
He pointed at me, and she looked at me with disdain for half a second before returning her gaze to him.
“Wardrobe?”
“Yes! I want everything. Clothes for everyday wear, party dresses, formal clothes. I want her to be ready for any occasion.”
“Yeah, it’s going to be a bit difficult to find something her size because, as you know, we make clothes for the most beautiful women in Korea like Jinhee, and our mannequin only goes up to thirty-eight.”
I lowered my head for a moment, trying to ignore the lump in my throat.
“I didn’t know that one of Korea’s most well-known fashion designers wouldn’t be able to dress a woman as beautiful as Jane. I know most of your models are made for ‘thin’ women like you, but I thought you could overlook that envy for her having attributes you don’t possess to be able to do your job. If that’s not the case, that’s fine. I’ll spend the thousands of dollars I would spend here somewhere where they have the competence to dress a real woman.”
I looked at him and saw him glaring at the woman while clenching his jaw.
“No! Um, I think I can get some pieces that fit her body.”
“I hope so, and I hope you treat her very well because you guys will take care of her clothes now.”
The younger one nodded and called one of the saleswomen to help me. Jason chose most of the clothes, and I just tried them on with Minnie’s help, who sighed occasionally when she saw that some piece was too tight on my hips or thighs.
“Maybe you should consider going on a diet.”
Before I could respond, I heard Jason’s voice analyzing everything invade the room.
“She didn’t need to lose weight, you need to learn to keep your tongue inside your mouth.”
Jason was losing patience with her while I barely said half a word since we arrived here.
“Do you like this dress?”
He asked as I stared at the long dark green party dress with a slightly more sensual slit than I was used to, as well as a very seductive neckline.
“I find it a bit flashy; I don’t think I’d feel comfortable.”
He approached me from behind, and our eyes met in the mirror.
“Look, this dress is for a party at the end of the month at the company, and since you want to be introduced as my wife, I need you to look beautiful.”
I nodded, but deep down, I felt like a trophy in that dress. I went back into the fitting room with Minnie, and I noticed the judgmental tone in her gaze.
“If you didn’t like it, tell the truth. After all, he didn’t meddle in Jinhee’s clothes.”
I lowered my head and looked at the dress in the mirror once again, feeling trapped inside it.
“He’s trying to turn you into a copy of Jinhee, a substitute, and he’ll never succeed.”
“What?”
“I always dressed Jinhee, and most of the clothes he chose for you, Jinhee also has.”
I looked at a black pleated skirt that I had tried on and finally realized it. I had seen Jinhee with that skirt. At that moment, I couldn’t hold back anymore; tears rolled down without me being able to stop them, and I took off that dress, feeling sadness consume me. I put on my clothes and left the dressing room as quickly as I could. Jason was distracted while messing with his phone, but when he saw me leave, he came after me, grabbing my arm and preventing me from leaving.
“Hey! What’s wrong, girl?”
I couldn’t speak; the lump choking my vocal cords only allowed me to cry even more as he looked at me confused.
“What happened, Jane?”
Before I could take a breath to answer him, an unfamiliar voice called our attention, making Jason widen his eyes and let go of my arm instantly.
“Jason?”
“Mom?”