Kelvin was her meet cute. It still felt so surreal to Leila. She changed into her night gown and brought out the box of pictures for Kelvin who was still in the shower. They agreed showering together meant longer baths and they were both exhausted after today's work.
The renovation of her new office was almost done. With the new position came a ton of work, more work than she had done when she was sharing an office. It was a good and bad thing. It was good because she had the office to herself and it was on the same floor as Kelvin. This part, she believed Sarah might have done deliberately to keep her close to her husband. The naughty man was always coming to steal kisses.
It was bad because she didn't have her silly co-workers to bother her anymore. She wouldn't have believed it possible but she missed Lily and Susie's banter. They visited but it wasn't the same.
Leila emptied the pictures on the tiled floor. The floor was cold against her feet but she didn't mind. She spread the pictures, arranging them in order of her as a kid to the point she started dating Charles. Her lips quirked in a half-smile. She used to like taking pictures. She used to like doing a lot of things until Charles.
The bathroom door opened and Kelvin stepped out. He blew her a kiss and changed into his night outfit. Mimicking her position, they sat cross-legged with their knees touching and pictures between them.
He picked a photograph. "You look so cute here."
"Thanks." Her hair was in two pigtails and a bang. She was smiling at the camera. With her missing front teeth, she did look cute. "I think I was eight year old."
"Cutie."
Taking another picture from the pile, he looked to her for an explanation and she gave one. They went through each picture, smiling and laughing at her facial expressions in some of them. The laughter faded when he picked one of the pictures she took in Korea.
"Where was this?" Kelvin asked. He lowered the picture and picked another with a similar background. "Looks like the same place here."
"This was in Korea."
"What happened in Korea?"
Leila stood to switch off the lights. She left only the bedside lamps on and returned to Kelvin to straddle him.
"I went looking for my birth parents." Kelvin said nothing but his arms wound around her waist. "I was going through my parents stuff and I found..." Her voice caught in her throat, she blinked back the tears rushing to the surface. She shouldn't be angry she was adopted but she was. Her real mother wasn't given much of a choice. Kelvin drew circles on her spine, she took a deep breath and continued, "I found some files and confronted them."
"Did they deny it?"
He rubbed the back of his palm against her cheek and she shook her head. "No. They went to Korea for a visit and found this pregnant sixteen year old girl. Mum had been having troubles with childbearing so she felt this was her only chance. The girl, my real mother, risked getting kicked out of the house if she kept me, so she made a deal with my parents." Kelvin's arms fastened around her. "They took care of her expenses, medical bills and everything till she gave birth. Then they took me away from her."
The silence that followed made her pinch his cheeks. She wanted him to say something against her parent's action.
"They didn't do anything wrong if you ask me, Leila."
"I guess not. But at sixteen, it feels like she was pressured into giving me out. Mum's diary recorded my real mum crying everyday but they signed a contract and she had to give up the child. So, yeah. It doesn't exactly sound like the right thing."
"Did they treat you bad?" Kelvin asked.
She didn't need to think of her answer. "No."
"Did they hit you?"
"No."
"Did they starve you?"
"Never."
"Were they bad parents?"
"Not really. No," she answered. Until she found those files, she used to think they were the best people on earth. "I was just so angry at them. I felt cheated. I felt angry on behalf of my birth mother. She killed herself at the age of eighteen and it feels like everything they did wasn't worth it." Her tears-filled eyes lifted to Kelvin, and he offered her a small smile. "Was it the guilt of giving me out that led to her death? I guess I'll never know and it makes me so angry. At me, at them, at her."
Kelvin cupped her cheeks. "I can't imagine how you feel." Leila didn't know how she felt. She had always known she looked a bit different from her parents, got bullied for it in fact but it never occurred to her she was unrelated to them. Her husband pulled her lip between his. "I think you should talk to them again."
"I think so too but I don't even know where they live anymore." She laughed a little at Kelvin's shocked face. "I said a lot of stuff to them. Told them I would call the police on them for child trafficking and kidnapping. I was saying a lot of things I didn't mean or understand."
If Leila could change anything about that day, she would change her reaction towards the news. She fucked up.
"Maybe they panicked. When I returned from Korea, a bit calmer, they were nowhere to be found. The neighbours had no idea. I tried to look but I didn't even know where to look, so I moved here. I've been on my own ever since." His pitiful smile made her say, "It's not so bad. It made me independent."
Kelvin opened his mouth and closed it. Leila was used to it. A part of her blamed herself. The other part of her felt betrayed, they should have waited for her. They had been a great part of her life for twenty-two years. She was angry at them for lying to her but she missed them. Too much.
"You're not on your own anymore, you know that, right?" he whispered. "I'm here for you, Leilani." Leila laughed because she believed him but at the same time, she knew a husband couldn't fill the void her parents left. "Do you miss them? Do you miss home?"
"Yeah but I'm used to it," she answered with a shrug.
"We will find them," Kelvin said. She didn't reply. She didn't want to encourage him to make promises he couldn't keep. "I'll need their names and pictures."
"Okay." Leila bit her lips as she contemplated telling him Charles's involvement in the whole trip. "I met Charles at a party," she spoke up before she could change her mind. "My idea of rebellion at that time was partying until late at night. I told him about them and he sponsored the trip to Korea. He was nice back then, guess that's why I fell for him." Kelvin stiffened. "Yeah, we started dating when I returned to the US."
"Glad you broke up with him. We will find your parents, okay? I would love to meet them. They raised a fine young lady."
"Thanks." Kelvin lifted her off the floor, he tucked her under the sheet and crawled in behind her. "What were you doing in Korea?"
"Business."
"Okay, businessman," she teased and his laughter surrounded her like a warm cloak.
The night wore off with the couple discussing everything and nothing. Right before she fell asleep, he placed a kiss on her temple and her heart fluttered. She liked him a little more than she was allowed to.