Up in the media box is a picture of Jessica Alba as Annabelle.

I was hot, sweating, suffocating and thirsty.

With much effort I opened my eyes. At first I saw blurry then my eyes adjusted. I was lying in what looked like a hospital bed and sitting on a chair near the bed was a haggard looking Anton.

What's happening? I asked myself and then as if on cue, everything started rushing to me. Anton's accusation, our fight, the truck.

I was in an accident!

I tried to sit up but the pain in my chest was too much, I moaned in pain. That awakened Anton. His eyes opened and he looked at me startled but when he saw that I was awake, he relaxed.

"You're awake," he said smiling. He had a grown beard, he looked like he hadn't slept well for days.

I nodded coldly remembering what he'd done to me. I still couldn't believe that he'd called me a whore.

Anton must have noticed my cold demeanor, "look Blair about what happened in my....."

I was both relieved and annoyed when the door opened interrupting Anton. I didn't really want to hear what he had to say but I couldn't help being curious.

"Well, it looks like you're awake at last McKenzie Blair." The doctor a man in his early fifties said kindly.

"For how long have I been sleeping?" I asked.

"Five days," he told me, "let me just check your vitals."

As he was checking me with Anton hovering over him looking worried (I had to give it to him, he was a good actor- I almost believed that he actually cared), I noticed some things I hadn't paid attention to. The room was decorated with a lot of bouquets of flowers and I had a cast both in my right had and leg.

"She seems to be recovering well," the doctor informed Anton. He turned to me, "you must be very hungry."

"Actually, I'm more thirsty than hungry."

"I'll go get you some water and food," Anton offered.

I just nodded dismissingly.

Anton and the doctor left and I was alone but not for long, the door opened and in came, Louis, Thomas, Jean, Annabelle and Josh.

"You scared us Kenzie!" Annabelle exclaimed her eyes brimming with tears, "I thought we'd lost you."

She started sobbing and Josh wrapped his arms around her comforting her. Pregnant women I thought, hormones.

Jean moved forward and hugged me followed by Thomas, Louis and then Josh.

"Never pull a stunt like that McKenzie," Jean said, "you nearly gave me a heart attack."

I laughed.

We continued talking, Jean was cracking jokes and Thomas was pointing out the uselessness of his jokes to him.

Jean was in the middle of cracking a joke when Anton came in. He joined Jean in cracking the jokes and I gotta say, he really has some good jokes. He was holding my hand all the time and pampering me but I acted aloof because I was still angry at him for what he'd said.

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"Oh c'mon its not like I'm dying, I can do it myself," she complained as I carried her bridal style into our mansion. Rick wheeled in the hospital-mandated wheel chair after we entered.

I settled her on an armchair in the sitting room, "you're not dying but the doctor said you're not to walk for a whole week, your leg is still healing."

She just humphed. She looked so adorable dressed in simple day dress. The scars on her face had already healed. It'd been two weeks since her accident.

"What would you like to eat?" I asked.

She turned on the tv and started changing the channels, I knew that she was doing that so she didn't have to face me. Blair had been ignoring me since the accident. I know that what I did was wrong but she should have at least accepted my apology. Anyways I consoled myself, I'll keep apologizing till she accepts.

"Whatever you deem fit."she said coldly.

I pretended not to notice her tone and went about ordering a healthy meal from a nearby restaurant.

****

I entered her room to see that she was on her bed seated tapping away on her phone.

I proceeded into the room and sat at the edge of the bed ignoring her eyebrows that were raised in question.

"Blair," I started, "I'm here to apologize to you."

"Hmmm," was all she said.

"I'm sorry Blair, for accusing you like that the other day, I was just furious and jealous. I know that nothing happened between you and Brody but I was still jealous.

"I over-reacted, I'm terribly sorry, please forgive me, pardon moi mon amour."

She rolled her eyes, "you're forgiven, now can you please leave me, I want to be alone."

I sighed exasperated, this was not going to be easy, "I'm not leaving here till I prove to you that I'm really sorry and you genuinely forgive me."

"Whatever," she muttered.

I started again, "I was jealous Blair, I didn't know that I would feel jealous when I see you with another man but seeing you with Brody really made me go crazy."

"That does not warrant what you did. You had no right to call me names without listening to the whole story."

"I know, but I was blinded by jealousy, I was not thinking straight. The thought of another man with you makes my blood boil."

She looked straight into my eyes, her gray orbs were filled with the pain and hurt she'd always hidden behind a facade of indifference, "so you can imagine how I feel anytime I see you with Carmen."

"Yes about that," I scratched my head looking for the right words, "I'm no longer going to indulge in affairs, I want to be faithful to you, I want to love and caress you. I want us to start over ma belle."

"When I wanted us to start over, you didn't want to."

I took her soft delicate hands into mine, "I know, I was in denial then, trying to suppress my feelings for you but now I have come to terms with them, I now see that I can never be happy without you. I want us to move on, we deserve it."

"Wow Anton," she applauded, "that was a moving speech, why don't you write it and publish it, you'll make a lot of money out of it. You'll make a good poet."

"I'm not trying to compose a poem Blair, and neither am I reciting one. I'm baring my heart for you, tearing down all my guises for you to see the real me."

She laughed, "there you go again Mr poet. Tearing down all your guises? You're so funny."

"This is not working out, but I won't back down, things will get back to normal between us I promise." I kissed her on the forehead and then walked out.

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I was awaken by the sweet scent of coffee, toast, pancakes and bacon. I opened my eyes to see a tray laden with all that and more infront of me. Anton was beside me on the bed smiling broadly.

"Good morning ma chérie."

I ignored him and dug in. The food was so delicious, I was sure Anton ordered it from the nearby restaurant.

"Yeah I ordered it," he admitted as if he'd read my mind.

After I finished eating, Anton walked out of the room with the tray, leaving me to get dressed for he said he was taking me somewhere special.

It had been two weeks since Anton had vowed to prove to me that he was really sorry and throughout, he'd been treating me like a princess. At first I ignored him completely but by the fourth day, I gave in even though I had not forgiven him. It was hard to forgive him after all he'd said but I was trying to.

Having bathed, I came out of the bathroom, dressed in a pair of cutoff jeans and a green tank top, I put on my sunglasses and took my Gucci tote. Anton'd told me to dress light that we were going to spend most of the day out. The weather was conducive enough.

****

"Hey there," Annabelle waved at us as we arrived at the docks, "you look amazing McKenzie Blair!"

"So do you Anna," I hugged her then exchanged greetings with Jenny, Amber, Danielle, Josh, Jean, Louis and Thomas whom were there also.

Soon, we were all on Anton's yacht. I was pleasantly surprised when he told me that we were going on a cruise on The Heroine, his beloved yacht.

I guess he really wants to make things better, I said to myself, it won't be so bad to go along with it right? Afterall I considered, all I even wanted was to have a nice, loving relationship.

****

We were all seated in a circle on the lower deck of the massive yacht.

"So what are we going to play?" Jenny asked.

"Spin the bottle," Amber suggested.

"How is the game played?" A clueless Anton inquired.

"When a selected person spins the bottle and it lands on another person, the former dares the latter to do whatever he or she wants." Danielle explained.

"Why don't you start." I said to him.

He nodded and spinned the bottle. It landed on Jean who wiggled his eyebrows, "bring it on your royal highness."

"Hmm....," Anton said thoughtfully, "I dare you to run around the deck five times."

"Oh damn," he grumbled as he stood up to run around the deck.

The game continued and the dares became more interesting.

Jean spinned the bottle and it ended up pointing at me. He grinned, his eyes glittering evilly.

"I dare you to kiss Louis for thirty seconds."

My jaw dropped, "no way, that's not going to happen." Anton said furiously.

"Oh but it has to happen Anton, you see it is a dare," he paused then added, "all of us have been dared to do different things and we've all done them, so McKenzie Blair has to."

I looked at Anton who was muttering furiously then turned to look at Louis who looked shocked. Everyone was silent, they were all waiting for me to react. Shrugging, I leaned towards Louis who was beside me and planted my lips on his.

I didn't think he was going to kiss me back but he did. My eyes widened, I was shocked. I was counting the seconds in my head, I couldn't wait for the minute to end. It wa not like kissing Louis was disgusting, it was just that I saw him as a brother and it was weird to be kissing him on the lips.

"Time's up!" Anton all but yelled when it was fifteen minutes before the time, (I was counting).

I pulled away and looked at Louis who looked half startled, his eyes were oddly dilated. I turned to look at Anton who's expression showed that he was down-right furious.

"Okay," Jenny broke the awkward unnerving silence, "McKenzie Blair, spin the bottle."

After several rounds, the bottle pointed at me. Annabelle who had spun it smiled, "I dare you to go to one of the rooms with Anton and spend seven minutes together."

Oh I thought how much I love her. She must've noticed the growing tension between Anton and I since I had kissed Louis.

We stood up and walked to a room. Once inside, none of us talked.

"The game is fun," I commented.

"Yeah," he mumured distantly.

"What's wrong Anton?" I sat beside him on the bed.

Shaking his head, he answered, "nothing, everything is just peachy."

"Please Anton," I pleaded, "tell me what's wrong. You brought me here so you could prove to me that you want our marriage to work and yet here you are ignoring me."

He finally sighed, "why did you kiss Louis?"

"Because I was dared to." That's when it finally hit me. I laughed, "are you jealous?"

"Don't I have the right to be, Blair I'm your husband and I want us to have a normal husband and wife relationship."

"You don't need to be jealous Anton, I kissed Louis because Jean dared me to, nothing more. I see Louis as a brother, and yes I also want this marriage work Anton."

"Really," he smiled as I nodded, "but Jean will still pay for what he did. Can we seal this deal with a kiss?"

My smile broadened, "ofcourse."

Anton's lips touched mine, the kiss started as a simple kiss but it soon got heated, I ran my hands through his hair as he pulled me closer to him so that I was practically on his lap.

The sensations were so good, I felt shivers run down my spine as Anton's hands traced my back. I was on cloud.......

We were interrupted by the knocking on the door, "time's up!" Jean called.

Anton groaned, "I'll kill that man!"

That made me giggle.

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Wow, I've finally updated. Thanks ya'll for the comments and votes, I really appreciate them.

Book recommendation: The transient wife

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