His Identity

Rita walked into the mansion, hand in hand with Edmundo and she couldn’t help feeling like a throphy wife. This wasn’t her life, all this pretence she was suddenly thrown into. She was dressed in a long baby pink gown with a gold bracelet adorning her wrist. Her long jet black hair was tied in a severe bun, accentuating her beautiful face that was make up free.

Rita never bothered with makeup because she didn’t see the use. The only time she applied makeup was if her face had a blemish she had to hide. Rodrigo was behind them and Rita felt drawn to him. He was dressed smartly in a navy blue suit, his hair was styled in an updo fashion and he easily beat Edmundo who wore a jet black suit.

Edmundo left her soon, going over to greet some of the expatriates. Rita was left standing alone as she tried to blend in with the people she didn’t quite know.

“You look beautiful Rita”, Rodrigo said.

Rita turned towards him, smiling at this show of compliment. She desperately wished she could leave here with him, somewhere far away from all these strangers.

“Thank you Rodrigo and you look dashing”, she said, moving closer to him.

Rodrigo took a step back when he sensed someone watching them and sure enough, Edmundo gave them the stink eye as he moved towards them.

“Shall we dance darling”, he said, taking her away.

Rita hated to leave Rodrigo’s side but she had no other option but to go. Edmundo led her to the dance floor, gripping her waist possessively.

“I see you’ve become very familiar with your chaffeur”, Edmundo said.

“Don’t tell me you’re jelous of an ordinary chaffeur Edmundo”, Rita said, her heart racing.

She had to think of a way by which she could divert his mind away from him. She didn’t fully trust him not to do anything rash to him. She had to protect him with everything she had.

“Of course not. I just see you’re getting closer to him each day”, he said.

“Well, if you must know I only just recently promoted him as my personal guard. So you’ll be seeing him around me a lot”, she said.

“I see. Don’t forget Rita, you belong to me and no one else. I placed that ring on your finger and it’s a sign that we would get married very soon. Don’t forget that Rita”, he said.

“I know Edmundo, you’ve made that clear from the start”, Rita sighed.

“Good”, he simply said.

Rita decided that she really needed to speak with her dad. The way Edmundo was going, she didn’t like it. He was more possessive than ever before and that was something she wasn’t comfortable with.

“Edmundo darling”, a voice said.

Rita broke away from him, staring at the blonde who just spoke. She was tall, taller than most of the women here. Immediately she saw her, Rita knew that she had implants. Her breasts were clearly fake, no doubt spending millions of dollars to get it done.

“Trisha, how lovely to see you”, Edmundo said, giving her a peck.

“Hello”, Rita said.

She really didn’t care about greeting the woman but she found it to be rude without at least, introducing herself.

The woman gave her a condescending smile one that Rita knew was fake. She shook her hands lamely all the while her eyes were on Edmundo.

“Oh forgive my manners. Rita, please meet my friend Trisha, Trisha meet my fiance”, Edmundo said.

“How lovely. I can’t wait to attend your wedding if it ever holds that is”, she chuckled.

Rita smiled, not taking offence. As a matter of fact, she hoped that the wedding doesn’t hold too.

“Trisha, what has come over you?”, Edmundo said, steering her away.

Rita was once again left alone. She needed some fresh air from all the drama she had just witnessed. She made her way towards the balcony, stepping onto the patio.

“Bad company”, a voice said.

Rita whipped around until she discovered that it was only Rodrigo. She smiled, happy that he found her the minute she needed him.

“I just can’t stand all those people. They’re fake and I hate people who are fake”, she sighed.

Rodrigo moved closer, taking her hands in his. He gave it a little squeeze as they both watched the moon shining down brightly upon the earth.

“Come on, I want to show you something”, he said, leading her downstairs.

Rita had never been so excited as much as this before. She wondered what he was going to show her and she couldn’t wait to find out what it was.

Rodrigo led her towards a fountain at the back of the building where the party was being held. They walked towards it, taking the seats they found there. He released her hands, pulling out two coins from his pocket.

“Ever heard the tale where you throw a penny into a fountain under the moonlight and make a wish?”, he asked.

“My grandmama used to tell me that but I never really believed it. I thought it was an old child’s take”, Rita smiled.

“Ah my dear, you would be surprised that wishes do come true”, Rodrigo smiled.

He handed her a coin, smiling as she stared at the coin in wonder. Sometimes, he wondered how she grew up especially with no sibling around. At least, he had his cousins who constantly came to visit so he didn’t feel alone.

“Go on, make a wish”, he smiled.

Rita whispered into the coin, throwing it into the fountain as she watched it sink to the very bottom before the water covered it.

“Your turn”, Rita smiled.

Rodrigo did the same, immediately throwing his into the fountain. They watched as the coin sank to the bottom before the water covered it.

“Thank you, it was beautiful”, Rita said.

“My pleasure. I just needed to rescue you from those people before you lost your mind. I could see that you really needed saving”, he laughed.

“Honestly. Sometimes, I wonder how Edmundo could be so insensitive and he calls me his fiancee. It’s just really annoying. I just don’t understand why my parents can’t see under his guise”, Rita sighed.

“Sometimes, people put on a perfect deception and it would really be hard before you can determine if they’re genuine or not”, Rodrigo said with a far away look in his eyes.

“You seem to speak from experience, is there a story behind this”, Rita said.Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

She didn’t mean to pry but she was quite inquisitive. Rodrigo smiled, throwing a stone into the distance.

“I wasn’t an only child. I had a younger sister, she died”, he said.

“Oh Rodrigo”, Rita sighed, taking his hands in hers.

“She had an accident caused by her then boyfriend. When she met him for the first time, she was swayed by his sweet words. I knew right away that he was a fake, someone who could not be trusted”, he said.

“What did your mother do?”, Rita asked.

“You know mothers, she screamed and threatened to disown her but my dear sister paid deaf ears to our warnings until one day, she absconded with this guy and they got involved in an accident. The last I saw of my sister was her mutilated body, both of them died on impact”, Rodrigo said.

“I’m so sorry, it must have been hard on you and your mother. What is her name”, Rita said.

“Sophia, she was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen”, Rodrigo said.

Without thinking, Rita hugged him. Rodrigo was taken aback by this but he waved away his surprise, hugging her back.

“I’m always here if you ever need me. Please don’t see me as only your employer but as a friend and a confidante”, Rita said.

“Thank you”, Rodrigo said.

“I should get back in, I don’t want Edmundo suspecting anything”, she said, rising to her feet.

They made their way into the building, hand in hand. Upon getting into the reception, Rodrigo dropped her hands but not before giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. Rita smiled at this show of affection before she moved towards Edmundo who had no idea she was gone.

She smiled because she had just found a new friend in her chaffeur. One she hoped was more genuine than Edmundo’s.

“Where did you go?”, Edmundo asked.

“Oh, no where. I just took a stroll because I was feeling the heat get to me”, Rita said.

“Come, let’s go greet some of my friends before we leave”, he said.

Rita sighed inwardly. No doubt, this would be another round of boring talks and short conversations that never seemed to lead anywhere.

She endured it all and when they were done, she felt much happier.

“Such a lovely party”, Edmundo said.

Rita sighed, wishing to never experience any of that again.