I smiled to myself.I had a feeling he was waiting for me...I
glanced at my watch.. and mentally willed the lift to go down
faster. I checked my reflection in the lift, sigh I thought to
myself, looks like I'm gonna get a pimple above my left brow, it's
starting to get red already.. hopefully he won't notice it. I
covered the pimple with some fringe. The lift door opened. "Bye
everyone" I waved to my colleagues and hurried out to meet the love
of my life.
There he was... looking so cool and sporting a James Dean-Rebel
Without a Cause expression, I scrunched my nose thinking to myself
and mentally shuddered about how cute he was. I wondered what he
saw in me. "Hi bunny" I smiled,
"hi ya baby" he grunted. I felt my tummy flip. His voice always did
that to me. He reached for my portfolio and I wondered if he
realised how considerate I found him.
He mumbled that we should catch a cab since the car was at the
mechanic's, but I didn't feel like facing the frustration of
flagging a cab at that time of day. "Can we walk to the Esplanade
and skip the peak hour traffic?" I wondered if that would annoy
him, I knew he didn't like expending extra energy. "I haven't been
there since the opening and I'd really like to go again to have a
look. It's just so beautiful there!" I mustered some enthusiasm to
cajol him into walking.
He gave in, albeit reluctantly and I loved him for it.
"Guess what happened today, bunny? Y'know my nasty boss was so
clumsy today, "I giggled remembering "He was trying so hard to
impress one of the directors that he wasn't looking where he was
going. He tripped over this wire from the copy machine and fell on
his backside."
He looked at me expressionlessly and uttered a non-committal grunt.
Hm, I wondered if the portfolio had one too many documents in
it.
"This place is so pretty bunny!" I did a little childish twirl
around him as we reached the Esplanade. I stopped as soon as I
realised he was smiling at me, and probably thinking how silly I
looked with my office attire still on and behaving like a 4 year
old.
"Hey baby, I feel like grabbing a bite now,"
"Mm..I'll whip something up when we get home, can?" I loved to
cook, especially for him. But I wasn't sure how hungry he was
now.
He nodded and led me to a bench. As I leaned into him, it felt like
always - a perfect fit.
"Baby, how do you do it?" he broke the silence
"Do what bunny?" I was genuinely bewildered, I shifted and looked
into his eyes.
"Make me so happy..... so effortlessly!"
I wanted to kiss him then and there with all that was within me,
but I decided against it seeing how there were little children
around. So I settled for the most beaming smile I could come up
with. I hoped he got the message.
I sank into him again, basking in my joy. As I snuggled into him I
thought to myself how I loved his scent, even if there was a hint
of tobacco in it. He stirred as he took a deep breath in.
I wondered if he was restless for a smoke, "how much did you smoke
today, bunny?" I asked gently. I didn't want him to feel that I was
nagging.
"Too much...." I tried hard not to snigger, clever answer I thought
to myself, at the same time I thought how cigarettes could shorten
our happiness. So rearranging my features I came up with a suitably
hurt expression and told him " I love you anyway, you know that
right?"
I learnt a long time ago that nagging never changed anything, love
on the other hand could move mountains. And it was a fact, I did
love him no matter what. It wasn't that I disliked smoking, it was
that I hated how it might shorten our time together.
Time flew by as we sat together just being and as I thought about
how much I loved him. I wondered in amazement why he should love me
back. I pushed all thoughts of doubt out of my mind and hugged him
closer to me, closing my eyes and listening to his heartbeat.
We got home later than usual that day, remembering he was hungry I
moved into cooking mode as I got out of my work clothes. Humming to
myself, as I chopped and sliced I decided that this was what I
liked to do best cooking for my husband. I smiled so unreservedly I
wondered if I was a traitor to women's liberation. High irony
wasn't it? I'd spent 16 years in school and finally decided I
wanted to be in the kitchen. As I listened to him splashing about
in the basin, I had no regrets. I knew there was nothing else I'd
rather do than be with him.
