Kelvin woke with a mild headache. He tried to push himself into a sitting position and someone rushed to help him. Thinking it was his wife, he slid his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. He missed her. The events of yesterday were foggy, he could remember asking her to leave but he wasn't sure she did because someone had come back later to kiss him.
The person didn't speak so he assumed it was his wife keeping quiet to avoid his wrath. He wouldn't have been angry at her.
To be honest, he appreciated the fact she came back. He was getting used to sleeping in the same room with his wife. And with his brain picking up slowly after he ate one of his triggers, he wanted someone he trusted around him. Someone like Leila.
"You stayed," he whispered into her chest. The drugs might have been the reason he said, "Thank you."
One of the things he hated about the drugs given to him after a relapse was how disoriented it left him. He froze when the person laughed, pulling back from the hug he looked up to his sister's face. He groaned.
Madonna was a tyrant but he loved her more than life itself. She was stubborn but so was Annie, and he loved them both. His sisters made life easier for him.
"Who were you talking to, Kelvin?" Madonna asked.
She took a seat beside him. Nurses were not allowed on the bed with the patient but Kelvin was well aware arguing with her was like talking to a stone. Stubbornness was a family trait. He gestured to his jacket on the bench by his bed.
Madonna handed it over to him alongside a flask of what he found out to be ginger soup. It always helped. She flicked a finger over his forehead. He scowled and she pinched his cheeks. Annoying sister.
Kelvin was the oldest between them but he let her get away with a lot of things. "Where's Leila?" Madonna shrugged. He finished up the soup in his flask before saying, "You don't like her?" His sister's silence spurred him to add, "Leila is your sister-in-law."
To that, his sister rolled her eyes. "I hope she's not after your money." If anyone was after his money, it had to be Madonna's best friend. Mia. Mia and Madonna used to be inseparable as kids and it somehow gave Mia the impression Kelvin belonged to her. "These women always are."
Kelvin laughed. Not his Leila. She had only used the black card he gave her once and on his insistence. With his sister's help, he got out of the bed and pulled on his clothes. Kelvin needed to get back to his wife.
"That's her." Madonna was cleaning up the mess he made with the soup but she paused when he said, "Leilani May McKenna. I told you I would marry her."
On his second visit to Korea, he had been robbed. Being unfamiliar with the city, he had stood at the train station trying to think up his next plan when he bumped into a fellow American. She smiled at him before he could explain his situation and that alone secured a spot for her in his heart. She didn't have enough money with her but she paid for his train ticket and insisted on waiting behind for her friend.
The only reason he never forgot her name was because she wrote it down on his ticket. She refused to give him her number or last name, neither did she collect his. Leila believed he didn't have to repay her. She asked him to pay it forward when he insisted on paying her back.
Leila had short hair and blunt bangs then. She smiled at everyone who looked in her direction. Now, she was closed off and different. Almost like a new person. Finding her was hell. The great Google couldn't help, neither did another visit to the train station. It was almost like she didn't exist outside his imagination. When he returned home, he told only Madonna about her.
The age gap between them made them closer so she knew most of his secrets unlike Annie. But he hadn't told her about the marriage and he didn't know why.
"You're lying," Madonna said. She covered her mouth and he nodded. When he told Madonna he would marry that woman at the train station, she had laughed so hard tears fell out of his eyes. What made his search harder was not knowing if she lived in Korea or was there for a visit like him. "Shit. My God."
Leila might not remember him but he never forgot her. "Yeah. Please be nice to her," he said solemnly. He sensed the anonymity between them last night but his brain was too muddled for him to mention it. Threatening his sister might work but he wanted them to genuinely get along. "You're not allowed to mention this to anyone, I'll do myself the honours."
His sister made a show of zipping her lips, then she raised a finger and he motioned for her to speak. "I have a confession," she said.
Kelvin stopped in his tracks. Last time she had a confession, he had to come bail her out of prison before their parents found out. It was a miracle she was never expelled. He placed his hands on his waist. It was past work hours, his wife should be at the office. He had to remember to send her flowers.
"Mia was here last night." Kelvin groaned. Slapping the heel of his palm against his forehead, he grabbed his phone and tucked it into his pocket. "I'm sorry. She likes you and you didn't mention anything about your wife. I didn't know, I'm so sorry. Don't be mad."
At the door, he paused. "I'm not. Thank you." He was outside the door when he pushed his head inside the room to say, "Tell her to get a life, would you? And a real job too."
Madonna flipped him her middle finger. He left the hospital shaking his head. Mia was a socialite. Given the chance, she would adopt the same lifestyle as her mother. A full time housewife. Kelvin had no issues with them but he wanted to marry a career driven woman. Or someone ambitious with great plans of her own. With the number of helps he had at his beck and call, he didn't need a wife waiting on him daily.
They reached the house soon, he skipped the elevator and used the stairs. Once he was inside, he scanned the place for his wife. The parlour was the same as it was the last time he was in here. They barely made used of this space. He would love to change that.
The kitchen was his next stop. Breakfast was on the table, it always arrived at 6:30 am so they could eat and leave for the office early. The time was 9:30 am.
He opened the flask and the aroma of the food hit his nostrils. Leila didn't eat. Did she miss him so much she forgot to eat?
Kelvin set the flask down on the table and ventured inside the bedroom. Leila looked up when the door opened, but she didn't run to hug him like he had been half-expecting.
Something was wrong.
Behind her chair, he lowered his hand to her shoulder and she shrugged it off. That stung. Maybe she was in a mood. It could be that time of the month for her.
"Hey," he called out. She didn't call him to know how she was doing or if he was better but he didn't mind. His wife might have forgotten. If she was at home during office hours, then she might not be feeling well. It was unlike her to miss work. "You slept good?"
Leila scoffed. She rose to her feet slowly and the rope holding her robe fell open. She was wearing the red lingerie from that day. Seeing it in real life was different from the picture. Kelvin wanted to take her to bed that instant. One look at her face erased his lustful thoughts. Leila's eyes were red-rimmed.
"I should be asking you that. You slept good?" She balled her hands at her sides, taking a step back when he tried to hold her. "Don't you dare touch me. Keep your dirty, filthy hands to yourself." Shock stopped Kelvin from uttering a word. This wasn't the same Leila who kissed him. "You men are all the same. You can't keep it in your pants, can you? You lying, cheating scumbag."
Alright, Kelvin had heard enough. He was hoping to come back home to rest, not this. If she had something to say, she should stop beating around the bush and say it to his face. He spent the night at the clinic because of her. How dare she say that to him?
"Watch your words, Leila." She pushed away from him and Kelvin raised his hands to show he meant no harm. "Once they are out, you can't take them back."
"I should watch my words?" Anger settled in her eyes and her gaze raked him from top to bottom . It was his first time witnessing her anger and he didn't know how to react. He took some steps back to create more distance between them. The space might help to clear her head. Reset it to normalcy. "The same way you watched yourself?"
"Leila." Kelvin closed his eyes. He was losing his grip on his temper, he didn't want to hurt her. He promised to protect her and that was what he would do. His eyes opened. "I don't know what's going on but please, be calm. Let's talk about this like adults."
Only that he wasn't sure what they had to talk about.
"Like adults?" Leila snickered and his heart broke all over again. "I'm done with you." Grabbing a crumbled note on the table, she tossed it at him. Kelvin caught it before it dropped to the floor. "Come on, open it. Or you are too much of a coward to face the consequences of your action?" His lips twitched. She was hurt. He couldn't get mad at her. He must not get mad at her. "Why don't you go and talk to your slut?"
"Leila."
This was a misunderstanding and he moved closer to her to explain that. A wild look flashed across her face, she shoved him so hard his back hit the wall. But it didn't calm her, instead, she waggled a finger at him.
"If you touch me again," she screamed in his face. The buzzing in his head made him miss her words. He had no idea who this woman was, and it worried him. "I swear to God I'll file for a divorce. I'll report you to the police. Just stay away from me."