Chapter 7

Chapter 7: 7. Family Gathering

William woke up to the smell of his favorite sweet tortilla wraps and espresso. The ineffable smells blend well in the air, just like his body and his wife’s last night. He had fallen asleep in Paula’s room because he was too tired to go back to his room. After arguing, the lovemaking was incredibly passionate, the intensity had exponentially increased more than usual. It was the first time they experienced angry sex.

“Morning, Will! Get your lazy ass up quickly! Don’t you have a schedule with Lea this morning?” Paula picked up a tray of breakfast and placed it on the table.

Paula had forgotten about their fight last night. Of course, because William behaved exactly as Paula expected. They had to live this marriage professionally as per the agreement they made earlier.

“Hmm, you’re right, I have to get ready soon,” William said as he yawned lazily while stretching his stiff muscles.

He hurriedly got up from his prone position and devoured the breakfast with no hesitation. His mouth mumbled, praising the heavenly chocolate jam that filled up the tortilla wraps.

“It tastes amazing!” William said as he chewed voraciously. He licked the jam stuck to his hand. “The chocolate taste is rich and heavenly.”

“I’m experimenting. My baker made three samples. Which one do you like the most?” asked Paula hopefully.

.....

“Hmmm ... let me think. How can I tell the difference, huh? It’s all delicious,” William replied, feeling guilty because he couldn’t decide which was the best.

“Oh, what a waste!”

“Give me more, I’ll give them a taste-again.”

“Again? And you will maybe ask for the third one.”

William chuckled. He couldn’t help laughing out loud since his wife’s rant was true.

“Uh, I guess it’s true then!” Paula murmured. However, in the end, she gave him her share so he could give his opinion.

“By the way, can I ask you something?”

“Anything.”

“Why don’t your parents like Lea? You said she was nice?” Paula asked curiously, chewing on the rest of the sweet wraps.

William’s face turned to sorrow. “She comes from a poor family. At first, she wanted to upgrade her quality with higher education. However, she was forced to go home and not continue her education because the scholarship dropped, and she couldn’t provide for her family. Especially now that her mother is sick and in need of a lot of medical expenses. She decided to look for a job. ”

“Is that the only reason?” Paula asked again.

“Mom couldn’t bear the embarrassment,” William answered unenthusiastically. “What can I do? My mom is just that kind of person.”

Melted chocolate dripped from his wrap onto the plate, leaving the once clean flat object stained with chocolate dots. When he realized it, he immediately devoured the rest of the wraps quickly. He didn’t want to eat the tortilla without the filling.

“Are you sure, there’s no other reason? I don’t think your mom is that kind of person.” Paula looked at William intensely. She felt that her mother-in-law was a person who would judge people based on their money, even though she had only met her mother-in-law once, at the wedding ceremony. She recalled that her mom-in-law was a nice lady.

“Who knows.” William’s voice sounded desperate. “What I know is she would never give her consent.”

“Beware of what you said! Your parents are not robots. Maybe it was you who didn’t give enough explanation,” Paula replied nonchalantly. She didn’t understand why people nowadays like to think badly of their parents when they didn’t get what they wanted.

William smirked playfully. “Maybe they’ll understand if you are the one who explains. Hahahaha ....”

Paula was annoyed and then stuffed the rest of her wrap into William’s mouth so that he couldn’t laugh at her anymore. He complained, asking her to stop immediately.

When Paula stopped her attack, she frowned and said, “But ... maybe I can help you. Besides, I have to find a new husband to replace my good-for-nothing one, yes? The sooner the better.”

“What did you say?” William complained. “I am a good-for-nothing husband?”

William grunted. He was a man. He didn’t want his wife to belittle him like that. Paula laughed as he was sulking. She patted his shoulder and said sorry.

“Yes, you suck at anything but in bed,” Paula chuckled, teasing her husband more and more. They were friendly fighting for a while until they both got tired of it.

Sipping the black coffee from the cup, Paula thought about the pros and cons. She licked her bottom lip a few times, her habit when she was thinking seriously. Meanwhile, William, who stared at her, now felt a little emptiness in his heart. Maybe because she said that she would soon find a replacement husband.

Even without love, Paula had always been a good friend to William. Hopefully, after the divorce, they can still be good friends.

Just then, Paula’s cell phone rang. It turned out to be a call from Larissa, William’s aunt.

“Hello, Auntie! How are you?” Paula greeted cheerfully. “I’m sorry! I haven’t been visiting you yet. So sorry, I didn’t intend to make you wait this long.”

“It’s fine, dear! How about today? I want to make your mother-in-law’s favorite treat-Hokkaido-styled cheese pies!” Larissa replied in her signature friendly tone. “Bring William as well! Tell him that Sammy is already home.”

“Okay, Auntie! I will tell him later!”

Paula hung up the phone when William was in the bathroom. Her little head thought about what William would say since he already had an appointment with Lea.

“Oh, poor you, William ....”

***

On the way to Larissa’s house, William looked gloomy. Paula, who felt uncomfortable with this situation, tried to soothe him.

“Well, it’s okay, William! You can just drop me there. Say hello to Aunt Larissa and others for a moment, then say goodbye. You can say there’s a meeting you need to attend,” Paula tried to comfort him. “I think it will be a good excuse to leave.”

Unfortunately, William was not so sure about her idea. He was thinking oppositely. Running away from his big family had never been easy. It was always one of the hardest tasks in life.

“Did you ask me to lie with a straight face?” William sulked like a child.

“Yes, you do have a meeting with Lea, right?”

William didn’t answer. He felt he couldn’t cancel the meeting with Lea, but he was also reluctant to run away from the family gathering.

Before long, his phone rang with a call from Lea. William hesitated to pick up the call in front of Paula.

“Pick it up!” Paula said in a low tone.

William did nothing but look at Paula’s face. He couldn’t decide what was the best to do right now. However, Paula couldn’t bear the noise and pressed the green button without his consent. It made him curse in silence. He couldn’t help answering the call.

“Will ....” Lea’s husky voice made him anxious.

“Lea, hi ....”

“Don’t ‘hi’ me,” Lea offended. “Can you come earlier? I need to go to the hospital right now.”

William’s eyes popped out. He faced Paula who had no idea what was happening. “Sure. I will come to you after taking care of my family matters. Can you wait for about thirty minutes?”

“Will, you know I can’t wait any longer. It’s fine. I will call a cab. My mom’s condition is getting worse.”

“Lea ....”

“Bye! Let’s meet at the hospital.”

Lea hung up the call, leaving William who stared at the street with a blank face.

“You take a good time making decisions don’t you?” Paula was getting excited. “How are you going to run the family business in the future if you behave like this?”

“After all, I’m confused! Both are important to me!” William snapped due to stress.

“Okay! How long have you been away from Lea? And how about your family?” Paula asked, annoyed. “What are the consequences if you cancel the meeting with her? If you run away from the family gathering, what will you lose?”

William was amazed. How could she manage to analyze the current situation simply?

“Thank you! You are a lifesaver.” William smiled sincerely. “I can make a choice now.”

Paula smiled back at him. Although there was a little emptiness in her heart when William decided to see Lea, she ignored those feelings. She had to act like what she had previously suggested to him. Friends with benefits. No feelings attached. Couldn’t be more than that.

Arriving at Larissa’s house, Paula and William greeted their aunt’s family. Warm family. It made Paula’s face feel sore from having to smile all the time.

“This family reminds me of some old telenovelas,” Paula whispered in her husband’s ear. “There are so many people living in this mansion.”

“Well, the mansion is way too big. Why is it filled with so few people?” William defended.

“Your uncle impregnated his wife every year, no?” Paula whispered again. Her mouth was wide open, looking at Larissa’s children. Three of them were still toddlers, taken care of by some nannies. “A lot of kids! One, two, ..., seven?”

“Eight kids.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, they need more kids to help them in spending money,” William said, teasing his wife. “Both of them come from rich families.”

William then told a short story that his uncle, Thomas, was accused of being infertile. Then, he countered people’s accusations by making as many children as he could when he met his true love, Larissa.

“Wow, a unique love path. Just like a werewolf, huh? There’s only one partner,” Paula commented casually, greeted by someone laughing from behind.

“What are you talking about behind my back?” asked the casually dressed man whose face looked like he had just woken up. “Gossiping my parents?”

William turned back and found his cousin who was the same age as him. “Oh, Sam? How are you?”

Samuel, William’s cousin, had just returned from a tour around Europe. He still felt tired. He didn’t want to wake up if his mother hadn’t told him that William was coming with his wife.

“Sorry, brother! I couldn’t attend your wedding,” said Samuel as he hugged his cousin. “It was short notice and didn’t work with my tight schedule.”

“It’s fine, Sam! Don’t worry.”

William patted Samuel back as their hugs became tighter.

“Oh, this is Paula, my wife. Paula, this is Samuel, my cousin! When we were kids, our appearance was like carbon copies,” William explained while laughing.

Paula took Samuel’s hand and said, “How come you are so different now?”

Indeed, as an adult, William’s figure was closer to his dad. This made his appearance look different from Samuel’s who was more similar to his late grandfather.

.....

“Your wife is beautiful,” Samuel whispered into William’s ear.

William just smiled amusedly. Indeed, Paula was very beautiful. No less than Lea. Both women had different charms. The most interesting thing about Paula was her character, an assertive woman that was good at household matters. However, for William, Lea was more feminine and simple and looked more attractive.

Before long, William said goodbye to everyone with the excuse of a meeting, just like Paula suggested. No one was suspicious of that but Samuel. He then took out his cell phone and called Danica, William’s secretary. “Hello, Danica, is it true that William has a meeting today?”

“Oh, today he cleared his schedule, sir. He said he already had an appointment,” Danica answered in surprise.

Hearing Danica’s answer, Samuel’s eyes narrowed as he nodded slowly. His teeth chattered. He knew where William was going at the moment.