4. Only I Loved

“Morning, Ms. Sarah. Wow… what brings you here this early?”

Mr. Harry, one of the security guards assigned to watch over the row of shop lots where Sarah’s salon was located, greeted her with surprise.

“Morning, Harry. Some workers are coming to renovate the second floor today, so I wanted to get things ready first.” She answered with a small smile.

Sarah was only telling a half truth. She really was expecting several workers to come in and renovate the salon, and she needed to give them some directions. But they weren’t scheduled to arrive this early. She had deliberately come to the salon before dawn because she needed to keep herself from losing control every time she saw Declan. The man who had divorced her less than twenty-four hours ago for a reason she considered completely ridiculous. He didn’t love her.

Sarah clicked her tongue bitterly every time she thought about her ex-husband’s absurd excuse. Weren’t there plenty of happy marriages that had started as arranged marriages without love?

“Here, let me help you.” Mr. Harry’s voice pulled Sarah out of her scattered thoughts. The middle-aged man approached when he noticed her struggling to lift the heavy rolling door at the front of her shop.

“Thank you.”     

“You’re welcome. If the door is this heavy, you should’ve asked Adam to come earlier.” Adam was the young man who worked at Sarah’s salon as an office boy.

He was an orphan whom Sarah had come to know through her former neighbor. Every morning, Adam was usually responsible for opening the salon and cleaning the entire place before Sarah and the other employees arrived at eight.

“Yeah, I called him earlier too. I guess I’m just here too early.” Sarah smiled as she took the shop keys back from Mr. Heri.

“Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll head back to the security post. Just call me if you need anything.”

“Hmm… Oh, and if you see the usual porridge vendor passing by, could you ask him to stop? Tell him Sarah wants her usual.”

“Sure thing, Ms. Sarah.” Sarah entered the salon and immediately headed upstairs to her office.

It was a small room behind a glass door where she handled all the salon’s financial reports and worked on marketing strategies. Her business had been growing rapidly, especially with the help of social media.

“Good morning, Ms. Sarah. Oh, I’m sorry I was late opening the rolling door.” Adam hurried into her office, carrying a plastic bag in his hand.

Sarah had just turned on her laptop. She looked up and smiled at her employee. “It’s okay. I’m the one who came too early.”

“Here’s the mung bean porridge you ordered, Miss. The vendor was downstairs earlier.” Adam handed her the black plastic bag along with a bowl and spoon.

“Oh, he’s already here?” Sarah quickly pulled out a dollars bill and handed it to Adam.

“Here, could you pay him with this?”

“I already paid him, Miss.”

“Then keep it as reimbursement. And use the change to buy some strawberries from the fruit shop across the street.” She hadn’t even finished her mung bean porridge when the thought of those fresh strawberries suddenly popped into her mind.

“Yes, Miss. In that case, I’ll get going.”

Sarah nodded.

***

“Are you sick?” Mia, Sarah’s close friend and the person in charge of finances at her salon, asked with concern.

“No. Why?” Sarah, who had been giving instructions to two workers replacing the wallpaper in the room next door, turned around.

“You look different. You’re not as lively as usual.”

“Maybe I’m just tired.”

“That’s what you get for letting Declan make you work out all night.” Mia gave her a mischievous wink.

“What kind of workout are you talking about?” Sarah clicked her tongue in annoyance.

“Give me those reports.” She held out her hand after spotting the tax documents she had asked Mia for the day before.

“Here. The annual taxes and all this month’s bills are taken care of. You just need to sign here… here… and here.”

“Done? Anything else?”

“That’s everything for today.”

“What about the washbasins and the facial massage beds we ordered?”

Seesara Salon had become increasingly popular and successful, prompting Sarah to expand the main area on the first floor. She had also decided to add more equipment for facials and massages in the newly renovated rooms.

“Everything’s good. I already asked them to make sure everything is delivered on time, the day after tomorrow, before ten.”

“Good.” Sarah gave her a brief nod before turning back toward her office.

“Are you sure you don’t want to tell me what’s going on?” Mia followed her.

She was certain something was wrong with her best friend. Sarah usually didn’t arrive at the salon until around eleven. Today, she had shown up before seven. And the fact that her eyes were still puffy and her complexion slightly pale only made Mia more convinced that something was wrong.

“Who’s Diana last customer today, Mia? Mrs. Kyle, right?” Sarah quickly changed the subject.

Diana was one of the beauty therapists at her salon. Every now and then, Sarah would book a facial or massage with her.

“You always do that. I ask you something, and you answer by asking me something else.” Mia rolled her eyes.

“Just tell me. Who’s the customer?” Sarah whined as she leaned back against her office chair.

“Mrs. Kyle. She was the one who called you to make the appointment.”

“Oh, right. I forgot.” Sarah pouted.

“You’re not even old enough to be forgetful yet.”

“I’ve just got a lot on my mind,” Sarah murmured as she popped one of the strawberries she had ordered through Adam into her mouth.

“Exactly. So talk to me. You don’t have to carry everything by yourself.”

“Okay… okay. You’re so noisy.” Sarah sighed.

“After Mrs. Kyle finishes her treatment, I want to get a facial from Diana too. I could use a little freshening up. Then we can talk, okay? You’re not busy later this afternoon, are you?”

Sarah knew Mia had plenty on her plate as a wife and the mother of a two-year-old. Her friend’s life was naturally busier than hers. “I’m free. Athalla is staying at his grandparents’ house until Saturday. They’re all fighting over him.”

Sarah nodded slowly. It was hardly surprising that Athalla was everyone’s favorite, considering he was the first grandchild on his mother’s side of the family.

“Okay. After my facial, let’s go somewhere and catch up.”

“Deal, Boss Lady. I’ll find us a nice place.”

At exactly six-thirty that evening, Sarah and Mia left the salon and headed to a casual sushi restaurant near Plaza. It was the perfect place for the two friends to unwind after a long day.

“Mia…” Sarah called after finishing her salmon croquette.

“Hmm?” Mia, sitting across from her, answered absentmindedly.

“Do you think love is really that important in a marriage?” The question made Mia frown.

“Of course it is. If love wasn’t important, most marriages wouldn’t last.” She paused. “But honestly, I think affection matters more. It lasts longer than all that romantic, butterflies-in-your-stomach kind of love.”

Sarah fell silent, slowly stirring her strawberry frozzen tea. Mia stopped eating her favorite tuna salad and watched her closely.

“Why? Why are you suddenly asking me something like that?”

“I guess that’s why Declan couldn’t stay with me.” Sarah’s voice was barely audible. “I never realized love was that important in a marriage.”

“What do you mean?”

“I separated from Declan. He said he couldn’t stay in a loveless marriage.”

“Bullshit.” Mia dropped her chopsticks onto the table.

“Wait. Separated as in separate beds? Or separate houses?”

Sarah remained silent. The more she refused to answer, the more desperate Mia became to understand what was happening to her best friend.

“Sarah … what do you mean, separated?”

“You were the one who kept telling me how deeply you loved Declan.”

Sarah nodded weakly. “I was the only one who loved him, Mia.” She tilted her head upward, trying to hold back the tears threatening to fall.

“I still don’t understand.” Mia sighed helplessly as she reached for a tissue and handed it to her friend.

“We’re divorced.” Sarah finally lowered her gaze. “Really divorced.”

***