They entered the eatery with Kelvin's hand on his wife's lower back. A smell lingered in the air and his nose scrunched when they stepped inside. This place wasn't his usual style and it was full. Kelvin loved empty places. He had noticed Leila was freer when they were alone because she never had to worry about being seen with him.
Leila looked up to him with a smile and all those thoughts fled his mind. If she was okay with this place, he would try to appreciate it. The smell of something strong whiffed past his nose, he glanced at Leila but she didn't seem to have noticed it. Seeing how cheery she was, he allowed his wife to drag him to a spot.
The ceiling of the eatery hung low, if he jumped, he might touch it. There were no seats or couches like what he was used to at the places he dined. The only decorations were the lights on top of the pillars that were on each side of the door.
No security either.
This place made him unsafe.
It was too normal. Too lower-class.
Men sat cross-legged on the mats spread on the floor in front of low tables as they dipped what he assumed was flat bread into tiny bowls of red sauce. His stomach churned seeing them eat so freely and laugh even freer in a place he would never have agreed to visit if it wasn't for his wife.
Again, he allowed Leila to guide his movements. She set her handbag on the mat spread out for sitting and tugged him towards the counter to order. Variety of food were on display in the show glass, and Kelvin swallowed the urge to beg them to leave this place for somewhere better.
It wasn't an awful place, it was just too ordinary. And maybe a little bit awful.
"My treat," Leila told him, all smiles as they joined the short queue.
Kelvin was glad he ate at his afternoon meeting, which he had to cut short when he saw Charles's car. He had sent Amara to check on his cousin but she had returned to inform him about Leila.
It took more than his willpower not to confront her. She hadn't mentioned a meeting with Charles and they spent some time together this morning. But seeing how disturbed Leila had been, he was glad he took Amara's advice to call the manager so his wife could make her escape.
While Leila haggled with the seller, he kept his eyes on her handbag. She might trust these people but he didn't. He helped Leila with the tray containing two bowls of funny looking sauce. They sat and she stayed by his side. One of the things he could appreciate about this place was the ventilation without an air-conditioner.
Kelvin grinned at the amount of creamy skin that came into view when his wife bunched her skirt up to her mid-thigh to sit better. Without thinking, he rested his hand on her thigh. She blushed and looked away but didn't discourage him. His forefinger traced lines down to her inner thighs, and he retracted his hand when her breathing tempo changed. She was not ready yet.
When they would consummate their marriage, it had to be on her terms. When she was properly healed from the demons that tormented her. Leila dipped her bread into the sauce and moaned. Kelvin laughed.
She was only doing that because he refused to join her to eat. "Is it nice?" he asked.
The question was to fill the silence. "There's only one way to find out," she teased. Scooping some sauce onto the bread she folded, she held it to his lips. "Want to try it?"
Her eyes were hopeful, it was the reason he opened his mouth. The bread disappeared into his mouth, he licked the sauce off her fingers before releasing her hand. Warmth crept up her neck, he hid a smile at her shyness. Their relationship was the craziest. She had seen him naked, he had seen her naked but she was still shy.
"How's it?" Leila asked. She was already preparing to feed him for a second time but he shook his head.
The meal tasted wrong. Like he ate something he shouldn't have. But because Leila was smiling at him, he said, "Delicious. Doesn't taste as bad as it looks."
"Told you it's good," she murmured.
Leila was more than halfway done with her food when a lady entered to sell scarves. Kelvin's eyes bulged when someone called her over. He could not believe this. No one batted an eyelid as the woman went from table to table trying to sell her wares. He stiffened when she stopped at her table. This was completely unhygienic. But his wife didn't seem to think so.
She pointed at a blue scarf. "How much is that one?"
The seller took one look at him. "Twenty."
"Twenty what?" he blurted out.
He could easily ask the family tailor to make him scarves of better quality and it would be delivered immediately. He touched the material of the scarf to check the texture. It was inferior. Not worth the price.
"Twenty dollars."
Bloody thief. He was ready to give her a piece of his mind but Leila beat him to it. "If we take two of this." She picked another scarf of matching colour from the bunch on the woman's tray. "Will you give it to us for fifty?"
Kelvin doubled back. Leila was smart, she knew her additions. Two of that should be forty dollars, not fifty. But in his opinion, the scarves were not worth even a dollar.
"Okay," the seller replied.
Kelvin flattened his hands on his knees. Of course she would agree to such a deal because it was a total rip-off. The only reason he kept quiet was because his wife was happy. But his frown deepened when she refused to let him pay. This woman was driving him crazy.
"I told you it's my treat," she answered his silent question.
"She cheated you," he said instead.
Leila shrugged. "I know. But she needed the money."
His eyes followed Leila's outside the eatery. The seller was by the side of a store eating noodles out of a cup. She waved at them and only Leila waved back. When Kelvin looked at Leila, it was with admiration in his eyes. His head lowered for Leila to tie the scarf around his neck, he did the same for her and on his insistence they took a picture. Their first picture as a couple.
Another glance outside to the scarf seller who was ready to continue with her day made him smile.
"You did good," he whispered to her.
"Yeah..."
Leila finished the bread and wiped her hands on the table napkin. The white napkin had turned an off-white colour from too much use. Kelvin didn't like how comfortable she was in this place but he kept quiet with the intention of bringing it up later.
"I like to help people. It makes me happy." Seeing how happy the seller outside was, Kelvin could understand. He tried to give but he never got directly involved. Amara was his assistant for a reason. "If I could, I would run an orphanage home. Or a safe place for pregnant teenagers. A homeless shelter." Her smile waned when she noticed him staring. "It's a stupid dream, right?"
"No. No dream is stupid." Sweeping his hand across the room, he said, "This place exists because someone dared to dream." Leila smiled. He liked it when she smiled at him like his words held life. He wanted to be the main reason for her smile. "Your dreams are very valid, Leila and I'll support you in whatever way I can."
"You can start by finishing this soup," she murmured.
Kelvin laughed at his wife's antics but he was compliant. She raised a spoon to his lips and fed him. The soup tasted the same but without the bread, it was worse. Something was wrong with the food and he didn't know how to tell his wife who was beaming at him. Swallowing the second spoon was harder but he managed to. After the third spoon, the itching started.
A searing fire engulfed his throat, he was burning up from the inside. Kelvin closed his hands around his neck as if to tear off his skin. He felt hot and cold and mushy. He tried to speak but no words came out.
"Kev. Kev!" Leila's voice rose by an octave, she knelt in front of him. "Shit. Your face is... You're burning up."
All attempts to speak were futile. It had to be the food. Whatever he ate wasn't good for his system and his body was reacting fast. He tried to hold onto his wife who was screaming and crying but his hands weighed more than his whole body. Forcing a smile to his lips to reassure his wife, he gave in to the darkness.