The morning went by fast. Leila was constantly checking her wristwatch. Minutes after leaving Kelvin, she had rushed into the bathroom to rehearse the speech she would give him. She wanted to kiss him and she would tell him that when they met for lunch which was in a few minutes.That thought evaporated once her phone vibrated.Kev: I won’t be joining you for lunch.Her heart tumbled to her stomach, Leila wrapped her arms around herself and smiled sadly. She suspected his decision had to do with this morning’s event. Kelvin had to be patient with her. She was trying her best to come around. It wasn’t easy. He had to understand she wasn’t as bold as he was. It was hard.Lily slammed a file to her table, making her jump. Her colleague laughed at her reaction and said something she didn’t hear. Leila nodded and even managed to smile because it seemed like what Lily wanted her to do. Lily dragged the chair in front of her desk and sat on

The text worried Leila but it couldn’t be worse than knowing her husband was mad at her. Leila wasn’t sure what her crime was. Kelvin’s cold attitude was unnecessary, so was Sarah’s text.Kelvin’s phone rang. She pretended not to listen to his conversation but her ears perked. He was talking about moving a meeting forward.Was it the meeting he cancelled because of her? She didn’t ask him that. When he dropped the call, her attention returned to the window and the passers-by enjoying their day. Leila would have been one of them if Kelvin didn’t call her.They stopped a few metres from the office like they had been doing in the past. She glanced his way again but he was leaning on the window, eyes closed with his hand over his forehead.“Kev,” she whispered. Her hand reached out to touch him but she dropped it before her fingers met his arm. She didn’t want to end this on a bad note. But it seemed to be w

“Leila. It’s me.”Charles?The voice broke through her subconscious. Her screams died down and her eyes snapped open. It was Charles. In flesh and blood and a battered hand.Anger and a flood of other emotions coursed through her veins. She shoved him. “You were following me, weren’t you?” she screamed in his face and pushed him again. “Charles, I told you to stop following me.”“Where I come from, the word is: Thank you.” He stretched the phone to her and she snatched it. The last thing she felt in his presence was gratitude. Her emotions were in shambles. “I just saved you, Leila.”“You didn’t save me.” Her heart was racing fast, she sucked in air through her teeth to get her breathing under control. She didn’t trust Charles. She didn’t trust that the robbery was all a coincidence. “Stay away from me. How many times do I have to say it?”“As many times as you can because I’m not going away.”Leila’s bag vibrated and she jumped, she needed to leave this place.

The silence in the room was deafening. Leila froze. Kelvin froze. Their gazes lowered to the mess she made on him and the bedsheet but he couldn’t bring himself to be mad. He contributed to this.Kelvin was the first one to snap out of his reverie, he knew what she was about to say before she did.Tears trickled out of her eyes. His heart broke. This wasn’t the plan. He had hoped the blowjob could lead to something more intimate between them. “It’s okay, Leila. It’s completely fine.”“It’s not okay.” She jumped to her feet to get wipes and a clean cloth. Kelvin did his best to sit still while she cleaned him up. He got up to change the sheets while she stood in one corner of their room, slapping her forehead. “I’m so stupid.”On his return to the room after a change of clothes, Leila was on the floor hugging her knees to her chest. She had changed out of her nightie to a longer nightgown that

Kelvin woke up smiling. His wife’s gentle snores made him laugh and he took out his phone to record her. The flash of his phone’s camera came on, Leila pouted in her sleep and continued snoring. A moan left her lips when he pecked her jaw, he nibbled on her lower lip and her eyes opened.Sleep clouded her eyes, she blinked sleepily at him and he kissed her again. “Good morning, pretty.”Blush dotted her cheeks. “Good morning.” Her hand was on his neck and forehead in an instant. He stifled the urge to roll his eyes. Throughout yesterday, she didn’t allow him to lift a finger. “How do you feel?”“Good.” He shook his head. “I feel great.” The doctor said his fever might have been induced by stress, so he needed to take a short break and diligently take the medication recommended for him. Regardless of the doctor’s advice, he planned to see Freya today. He had some questions for her. Ques