Hue stood before her, speechless. He felt her anger oozing out uncontrollably throughout her body. Her anger was boundless. It was truly overwhelming.
Her unexpected action from earlier was so hard for him to process in his head. He didn't expect she would yank his shirt angrily, ranting over the perfume on him.
He eyed the smoking volcano before him. Her face was already in deep red, ready to explode. Better not push her button. The consequences could be ugly if he did, he thought.
Then, he smelt his own shirt. There was indeed a faint smell of perfume on his shirt. But it was the perfume sprayed on him by Dana because she didn't want to keep smelling his scents. She told him that his scent has been distracting her from her focus.
His silence turned Jennet even madder. In her head, she had already had wild assumptions about him. He was not home all day and his actions for the past few days were suspicious. He was being secretive with her. She knew it because she kept on observing his behaviours for the past few days.
"Where have you been all day long?" Jennet questioned him when there was no response from him. Her tone was super stern, as stern like when the warden questioned their students who were caught sneaking out of the dormitory at night.
Hue eyed her and answered, "I was out working." He gave her a sheepish smile. There was guilt hidden beneath those smile.
"Working?" Jennet frowned. He had a job? She wasn't expecting that answer from him.
Hue nodded his head, "Hmmm," He answered with a hum.
Impossible!
Such a crybaby could never find a decent job plus he was just a trouble bringer. She criticized him inwardly.
Jennet bit her own lips. Her anger flared again. He must be telling her lies!
"I have a paid job now. I'm not jobless you know." Hue added, looking so proud.
Jennet eyed him from top to bottom, evaluating his worth over what he had said. This kind of face had a paid job?
She felt so restless over his answer. She still couldn't believe it!
With one hand perched over her hip, one hand pointing out at him, "You, since when did you have a job? Where are you working? Why didn't you tell me anything?" She bombarded him with questions.
For a man who had no working experience, she couldn't imagine how he worked. She couldn't believe in him unless she knew what he does. There was not even a decent job he could get aside from doing something she might hates.
Plus, the perfume that lingered and mixed with his scent infuriated her down to the core. Her doubt accumulated over the fishiness in his answer.
Jennet rolled her eyes at him. "Did you go out to sell your body while I was gone?"
She wanted a consolation answer from him. For a man who had only a handsome face, he must be selling his body to other women to get money. That was the only job she could think of for someone like him.
Yes, words of a man sometimes are lies when it comes to someone like him. She could not trust him even if he may have said the truth. He was cunning like a fox.
Hue's brows knitted. Her accusation was too much. Selling his body? How do humans sell their own body?
"I have never sold any part of my body to anyone. My body is precious because it's mine and also yours alone." Hue replied to her question.
Why would he be selling his own body? It took him years and lots of patience to gain the body he currently had.
Jennet was ready to blow her top at him but upon hearing his answer, she clenched her jaws, stopping the urge to get mad.
His answers make sense. His body belongs to her as well. Fine, she will let it slide this time. But no more next time!
Not wanting to prolong the heating conversation anymore, she eyed him menacingly. It was useless to rant and drain her energy to get mad at the moment.
"Take a shower now and wash your body properly!" She said and sat at the edge of the bed with her tight face.
Hue nodded his head obediently and disappeared in the bathroom. After ten minutes, he walked out, wrapped nicely and cosily in a bath towel which he wrapped all the way up to his chest.
The moment Jennet laid her eyes on him, she wanted to curse at him so badly. She wanted to scream at him, unleashing all of her anger.
Why did he have to wrap the towel all the way up to his chest?!
She can't stand the sight of staring at her husband, a man with a muscular body, wrapping the towel all the way up to his chest. She just can't stand it because it was super annoying. Also because she just wanted to laugh at it, when she was supposed to be angry at him.
She pinched her thigh to stop her urge to laugh.
Torturous! So torturous!
She felt so frustrated because she couldn't keep her anger above the maximum level. She wanted to bash his head on the wall for making her so mad yet so helpless over his unexpected action.
To distract her attention from bursting her laughter, she tossed a pyjama over his chest which Hue grabbed without saying anything.
"Hurry up and dressed, then sleep!" Her tone was so harsh with no delicacy in it.
Hue put the pyjama on and then took his time to dry his long hair. Meanwhile, Jennet took her place on the bed and pulled the comforter up to her shoulders.
She had better get some quality sleep rather than getting restless over his suspicious activity behind her back.
There was only silence between them. The silence that kept it's watched over the tense atmosphere. The only sound in the room will be the sound of Hue patting his hair with a towel.
As soon as he dried his long hair, he laid beside her. Glancing at her back, he poked on her back, taking her attention.
"Honey, how're the babies?" He asked in a soft tone.
He wished he could calm her raging heart with his usual sulking but he knew she would not forgive him if he did it. Sulking will only worsen her jealousy.
"Just shut up and sleep!" Jennet barked back at him. She did not have the mood to talk about other things at the moment.
Jennet grunted shortly after that. Babies? Their existence cannot be proven yet he was asking about their situation.
"Okay..." Hue replied in a faint voice.
"Good night..." He laid on his back and stared at the ceiling. Shortly after that, he closed his eyes, trying to sleep.
Silence slipped in again and drowned the dimmed room with quietness. It crept in like spiders, tickling unsteady hearts. Suddenly...
'Growl'
An unexpected loud sound broke the silence. It was so loud that both of them could hear it clearly, like the sound of the earth cracking open.
Hue bit his own lips, feeling frustrated over the melody that came from his hungry stomach.
Again...
'Growl'
Shortly after the sound died, there was another wave of silence. A silence that was so disturbing.
Jennet turned around to look at the face of her husband. He was pressing his own stomach to stop the sound from escaping again. However, the sound managed to escape.
'Growl'
The unexpected melody softened Jennet's heart. She closed her eyes and let out a heavy sigh.
Sigh, she can't keep angry for a long time. Her sympathy betrayed her at last. She can't keep ber husband sleeping throughout the night with an empty stomach.
She sat down and nudged him on the arm. "Stop pretending to sleep. Let's go down and eat." She said and flipped the comforter to the side.
Hue opened his eyes and looked at her. He didn't expect her heart softened in a short time.
"Are you angry because I am hungry?" He asked in a low tone. Lately, she was so moody and he couldn't understand her. He didn't know if she was being nice just because of his hunger or was faking it all.
The heart of women... No one really understands them even if they claimed they're experts in women.
"I am not angry at you for being hungry. Let's go down." She said in an even softer tone. She really had a soft spot for someone like him. She can't even leave him famished for a long time.
Angry? How could she be angry at him when she pitied him so much.
Hue stepped out of the bed and followed her all the way to the kitchen. He obediently took a seat on one of the chairs at the dining table and kept his mouth shut for the entire time while his wife prepared his dinner.
Only his eyeballs moved, tailing the movements of his wife when she moved around at the preparation counter.
After dinner, Jennet instructed him to sit in the living room. Shortly after that, she came and served him a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
"Drink it and then go to sleep." Jennet rolled her eyes at him.
Hue took the glass and drank the content but immediately wanted to spit it out. The juice was too sour!
"Empty the glass now!" Jennet stood beside him, guarding him.
Hue obediently followed and managed to empty the content down his throat. As soon as he finished it, his lips felt numb and a bit tingly as if there were thousands of small ants biting his lips.
"C-can I have a glass of water?" He asked, looking so aghast. The sourness was so strong and it lingered on his tongue.
"Go to bed now!" Jennet said and took the empty glass from his hand. Her tone was still harsh with no qualm of pity.
"Okay," Hue obediently answered and headed upstairs.
As soon as he disappeared into the bedroom, Jennet took a long rope from the cabinet in the kitchen.
'You refused to tell me the truth, that's okay. I know how to torture you to make you spill everything.' She murmured alone with a wicked smile on her face.
She had planned a very good method that no one probably thought about. She will use this dirty method on him.
She headed upstairs with the rope in her hands. She will do what she needs to do. Becoming the bad woman once in a while doesn't harm him.
Well, maybe...
***
At the same night at a different place, Mira walked out of a 24 hours supermarket that was close to her apartment.
She looked to the left and to the right, searching for a face that she wanted to avoid. The face was not around. Well, she had not seen him for three days so maybe today must be one of another lucky day for her.
Then, she stepped out, half running in short strides. She wanted to hide in her room as soon as possible. Being cautious doesn't harm anyone. Suddenly...
"Baby!" Danny hugged her tightly and nozzled his high nose against her cheek.
She was ambushed by the person she wanted to avoid as much as she could. Danny had been tailing her stealthily and she was outwitted by his cleverness.
"I've missed you!" He announced loudly, attracting a bunch of people who were also out for shopping at night.
Mira's face turned pale when she struggled to free herself from his tight hold. The man before her was so strong. She had no strength to fight him!
Danny had turned into a completely different person after the trip. He became so pious and chivalrous towards the opposite gender. He didn't hit on any women like how he used to. Mira was consumed by fright over the changes.
Danny whom she knew would never act so innocent or speak so honestly before her. Danny whom she knew was a wicked man and he loves a lot of women.
But, ever since that day, he had been tailing her around like a baby emu. He had been expressing his love openly to her. He was not being himself. He was like a man who had been brainwashed, completely clean from negativity.
Even scarier, he always brought around a marriage form. He had said that he only needs her fingerprint to validate the marriage form because he had filled out everything for her.
Mira had been so cautious as not to leave her fingerprint on anything. She had been putting on hand gloves and each one of her fingers had been wrapped with a band-aid.
"Danny, let me go!" She hissed at him and wiggled. At the same time, her bosoms bounced before the man. She was a bosomy woman.
Danny smiled even widely at her, "Baby, we have been together for a year now and I've seen everything on your body and you also have seen mine. We should hurry with our marriage otherwise we won't be accepted into heaven once we die."
Oh well, even scarier Danny kept talking about the sins that they have been doing together. He preached day and night whenever he saw her and kept on asking her to stop sinning further for their better and secure life in the afterworld.
Mira had never expected him to change into a full degree. He even talked about death and life after death. She thought what kind of a priest had brought light into this sinned man who never bothers about such things before. He would laugh at those before whenever she raised the topic about his wildlife.
But now, he had been turned into a man with a pure heart. So pure that she felt so frustrated about it. The Danny she knew had gone into the light!
There was no way she could taint him black again. He had turned into a new person!
"Danny, let go of me!" She said. "I'll call the police on you for assaulting me." She threatened him and reached for her phone inside the side pocket of her jacket.
Danny let her go and expressed a sad face. He gave her a deep sigh, "Baby, threatening a pure soul like me will only trouble you. Your sin was already too massive and I am here to help you to see the light. It is not too late for you to admit all your mistakes."
Mira stepped back, getting even scared listening to his pep talk. Danny, what happened to you?!
"I know what I am doing!" She screamed and ran towards her apartment with her purchases. Her face had gone pale over his words.
"Baby, running away from me will not lighten your punishment. Baby!" Danny ran after her.
Mira had never felt so frightened like this in her life. She was used to seducing men and dumping them whenever she felt boring of them. However, the one man that she knew about a year ago and had only bed relationship with him, was chasing so madly after her. He kept asking her to admit her mistakes and whatsoever.
Mira ran inside the tall apartment building, running into the lift. But, Danny was fast and entered the lift before it closes behind him.
The two of them were alone inside the lift. Danny smiled at the woman who stood at the corner, holding dearly onto the purchasing bag. Her face was pale and her whole body trembled.
"Baby, let's get married!" Danny said and took out the rolled marriage form and also ink pad from inside his pockets.
Mira shook her head, "No, no!"
***