Maroon Secret

By TLlilypad

Olivia and Noah a married couple are recovering after losing their daughter. Olivia holds some information that could shipwreck her marriage with Noah. Jotham, Noah's best friend knows about it but leaves it to her to inform his friend. Will her current pregnancy and the birth of the baby bring them closer together.

• Language: English
• Publisher: TLlilypad
• Release date: Jul 17, 2022
• ISBN: 9781393184560

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Noah stepped out to escape his dragon.

He shut the door slowly to avoid irritating his wife further. She seemed troubled all day and if he had been able to have a brief look into the twenty minutes future, he would have avoided asking what was bothering her. The question seemed to have given her a good reason to be angry at a human and not at nothing anymore. He had done a mistake that he never seemed to learn from. Asking for assurity from Olivia when she claimed to be fine yet her anxiety and distress told otherwise always led to the same outcome. She would reply with one word or very short dissatisfying sentences to intentionally irritate Noah. It never made her feel any better annoying her husband, if anything it made her feel worse afterwards. Nevertheless, the beast inside would drive her to do it. Noah would then inform her of how rude it was but she would go full defensive, a pissed dragon mode.

He strolled down the footpath. He walked very self-consciously, wondering if the people he passed by concluded that he was just another husband strolling to escape trouble from the wife. Moments like this made him wish to own a dog. He would feel less awkward about the normal glances.

The thought of owning a dog was interrupted by an annoying bark. It was probably angry that he was passing outside its owner's residence. It barked again, a little louder, and his heart thumped against his chest. His heart rate increased for a few seconds. The walk made him feel as if he was a nuisance to everything. The random glances from random people looked angry and now a dog wouldn't even tolerate him passing outside its home for just a few seconds. Maybe the environment was trying to prove that her anger was justified. He sped up his pace to quickly pass the black gate.

The black gate. That was one color you couldn't use to give someone directions to your house on any street in the Maroon estate. All of them were either black or red. There was no rule whatsoever that dictated the color of the gates but for some reason, those were the two colors that people opted to use. They probably used them to send a message. They demanded some respect with the use of intimidating, black, and red colors. The combination of the two gives maroon. That's where the estate got its name. When said with the right tone, it is enough to critique its residents.

The aura that hit a person upon entrance through the huge arched maroon main gate to the estate was enough to tell you of the intense passions for strength, power, and riches. It was an aggressive aura, a dark one. One could sense the wild spirit that drove the residents towards their selfish goals even if it meant stepping on people who got on their way. The wild spirit explained why there were mourns of agony coming from Maroon between 3 am-5 am. Maybe it was the nightmares in the last, agonizing, long REM period in sleep. Whichever it was, the consequence of their actions had a huge role in their lack of peace.

The estate directly opposite, at parallel was called the Nine Trees. It had more than nine trees for sure. The name was derived from the nine tall Maesopsis eminii, umbrella trees on each side of the green main entrance gate. The spirit that roamed there was the total opposite of that one in Maroon. While Maroon would be agonizing during the early hours of the morning, whispers of thanksgiving would be heard from Nine Trees. The aura was warm and welcoming. The gates to individual houses were of a variety of colors though the green ones dominated; different shades of it. The color suited the place; harmony, growth, and peace.

Most people in Maroon hated the idea of living in Nine Trees. They considered it the estate of the poor which is of course a mockery to the people who live in a huge slum near their city-Shouts city. There was no difference in terms of the class of people who inhabited maroon and nine trees. The major difference was that the largest population of the greedy middle class inhabited Maroon and the contented middle class inhabited Nine Trees.

Noah and a few other green birds didn't fit in Maroon. He would have loved to live in the green estate but his job and that of Olivia had kept them around. He always dismissed the idea of relocating to Nine Trees because nothing bad had happened to them while they lived there. They did not have any sort of negative experience with the proud neighbors so they always dismissed the idea, besides, there was the major benefit of being close to his workplace.

He was a manager at the Maroon Shoprite and the Maroon eatery which was just next to the store. Life there was busy enough to keep him occupied sixty hours a week or even seventy on busy weeks. The place was located at the entrance of the estate and many people dropped by to grab goods from the store or grab meals from the eatery. It was always running and the employees rarely got an hour break time. The business belonged to his friend Jotham who had entrusted him completely with it. They had been friends for a long time and Jotham felt at ease leaving his work to Noah, with little almost no supervision at all. Most workers thought their employer was Noah and that Jotham was just a partner. Jotham would always address him with a lot of respect in front of the employees so that they could appreciate his status. Noah was grateful because his friend gave him a fat salary for the job leave alone his level of studies. He didn't have any master's degree to earn himself such a position from a man who had great success in the business world. He considered himself lucky to be given such a competitive position with just a degree.

People who didn't have powerful titles in the estate at times felt out of place, especially during estate meetings. People who rented apartments instead of owning their residencies also felt a bit excluded but the likes of Noah never used to give a care. The wannabes would fret often and would start on antihypertensive medication and antidepressants by mid-thirties.

He smiled when he remembered a customer insisting that he should fire an employee for putting his order in a brown packing bag rather than the white one with the logo of the maroon eatery. He couldn't help but chuckle when he remembered one of the complaints in the previous estate meeting. A couple from the White Neighbor's street complained that their neighbor had hired a house manager from a different company other than Zack's agency. The couple honestly claimed that the neighbor was ruining the good class of their street. They went ahead to hint that if anything went missing on their streets, their house manager would be the first suspect. White neighborhood indeed. Removing even the smallest speck to maintain its whiteness.

He passed the small candy shop at the end of Berry Street, (his street) where the children headed towards, at full speed, upon encounter with a coin. He felt odd that his wife was not by his side as during most strolls. It was at this point that she would go ahead and buy a Popsicle just to suck on it for fun. She loved the sweet elderly lady that owned the shop and she would always buy something while greeting her. They would have long conversations while Noah waited idly doing nothing. They never carried phones while strolling and he hated assuming the aimless, lazy look. She would then return by his side and make fun of his patience running thin. He would fake his anger and she would wink at him then lick the Popsicle, and he would smile at her cheerful attitude. He passed the candy shop and took the path on Dark Street to circle back to his street. He hated going to the end of Berry's path then returning home with the same path.

Olivia opened the door for him. She smiled shyly, totally guilty of her behavior. Her body blocked the entrance and stood there arms raised above her head and towards him begging to be hugged. Noah took her into his arms and hugged her tight.

I made you coffee, She said sweetening her voice

Is this sorry

Uh-huh, she said softly you want an omelet? She paused and rubbed his back Or anything else? Anything you like, She quickly added to avoid limiting him and looking selfish. She then pulled out from the hug to look straight into his eyes. Noah's arms remained on her waist.

Omelet, just omelet He smiled gently, stroked her face then kissed her forehead.

His breathing was thick. He wanted to ask for more, play games with her a little but he didn't dare. He could still see the worry in her though she tried to mask it. She will be okay by morning. Noah thought to himself. As long as she had welcomed him back with the non-verbal apology, he knew they were okay and that the problem at hand was manageable.

Olivia left for the kitchen, her heart cried out. What she thought she had battled, defeated, and buried was back and it had spawned. It was eating her from within.

CHAPTER 2

Olivia watched as the doctor wrote down the prescription. He looked up to give her the dose instructions and she quickly averted her eyes to the circular wooden clock. Its face had a picture of a snake coiled around a rod. She wondered whether the symbol was related to Moses' bronze serpent. When the doctor handed her the prescription paper, she snatched it and whispered a simple thank you. She had not heard anything the doctor had said but that didn't bother her. With the internet and literacy, she could read the instructions from the paper that came with the medication. She got up to leave but halted when the doctor called her name.

Your lab work, He said stretching out the brown envelope for her to snatch just like she had with the prescription