It was a rosy morning. The beaming shafts of the sun glinted on the glass windows of the flats situated in the heart of the city. There was clattering noise outside. All the dwellers were already busy with their morning chores. There was one on the rear end. Its windows and doors were still closed.
Rose slowly opened her drowsy eyes and closed them again. She shifted her position and turned her head and shifted her gaze to her husband. Lim appeared to be sleeping in the happy subconsciousness. She cuddled his curled hair tenderly and flipped off the strands that touched his eyebrow. Her heart ruptured with immense happiness. She drew closer and imprinted a kiss on his forehead.
"Honey, seeing you lie by my side gives me immeasurable joy. I never thought that it would come true." She said, dabbing his eyebrows tenderly with her soft hand.
"Do you know- all this seems like a dream, and if it is so, let no one jolt me out because I want to stay in this moment forever." She smiled and stole a kiss from his lips. She had hardly leapt off the bed when Lim clasped her hand from behind. Rose twirled and stared at him with a radiant smile on her face.
" You are too mean! All the while I believed you were asleep."
"Yeah, I was until I felt that a part of me was slowly drifting apart." He said with an amiable smile and pulled her close to his broad chest. The radiance in Rose's eyes had a bright glimmer."Don't go. Stay with me a little longer." said Lim in a husky voice. His eyes shone like the rising sun. He was a very handsome man, loving and charming. He and Rose had been dating for two years and every moment that passed between them was a conviction that they belonged together.
The previous day was a moment of great memories that wouldn't be choked in their heart. They had exchanged their vows and now belonged together till death put a thunder.
"I love you, Mrs Lim."
"And I love you, more Mr Lim."
The two were engaged in a long passionate kiss. The thrill flowed through their warm bodies. What they felt for each other was engraved in their hearts. Suddenly, a beam of light flew through the curtain and hit Lim's face. Rose looked in the direction of the window and instantly turned to him with anxiety," Honey, it is morning already. I need to prepare breakfast, Goodness! How irresponsible of me!" Her husband gazed at her imploringly and clutched her hand tightly with no will to let go.
"Please, darling!" She said softly, her eyes compelling him.
"No, I am satisfied. I don't want another breakfast when I have the best dish in my hands." He said and giggled. Eventually, Lim released her hand.
"It's not like I'm going to vanish like vapour. Soon you will get tired of me, I know."
" That will never happen. I promise you, my love."
" Oh yeah, I wish your love for me never fades," she said and walked towards the window to draw the curtains. "Darling, it's a broad day already! I feel ashamed." She said, peering through the window. Her body was still fatigued. She would have loved to stay in bed a little longer but had a husband to take care of.
"She is pretty," reckoned Carol
"Who's pretty?" asked Lina with a curious gesture? Carol motioned in the direction of Rose's window. Rose loosened her hair giving it a little shake and then tied the bunch in a ponytail. Her silky flawless skin was glowing.
"Look at that pretty face! Mr Lim is the luckiest man to have married such a beautiful woman."
"Yes, she's indeed a rare beauty. She concurred, "but I would look prettier if I was given a facelift," she said, passing her hand through her straight hair and lifting her head in a show-off. Carol chuckled sarcastically.
"Certainly not.No matter what you do, Lim will never notice you, so quit the drama."
Rose's attention was drawn to the noise outside. She peeked through and noticed that Lina and Carol were staring fixedly at her and briskly turned away. She bumped into Lim who all this time had been watching her graceful figure in her nightie in adoration.
"What's with the most beautiful woman in this universe ?'' he asked with a smiling face as he held her slim waist."
"Lina!" called Mrs Coney. She was a middle-aged woman with a fat belly, a strong and bold woman who had raised her daughters, Carol and Lina single-handedly after her separation from her husband. For more than a decade, Coney had decided that she wouldn't get married again claiming that all men were heartless beasts. She had loved her husband, Johnson with all her heart but was rewarded with betrayal and physical torture.
"What are these girls up to? She grumbled heading out to check on them and bumped into them at the entrance."
"Mum, have you been calling?" She kept quiet and stared at them with knitted eyebrows and a suspicious gesture." What have you been up to?" she asked lingering around. Seeing that nothing was intriguing in particular she turned and followed behind them.
"I hope you haven't been flirting with those girls in the next flat,'' she thought. Her heart was filled with jealousy in a moment. Lim gazed at her with a lovely face.
"Nothing, dear. I was wondering if I woke up one day and didn't find you by my side." She seemed worried. The glitter in her eyes became dim. The fear of losing her man to another woman always upset her.
"Why would you think about such a nasty idea?" said Lim, drawing her closer? Rose's eyes closed as he imprinted a light kiss on her thin lips. Lim held her passionately in his muscled up arms. Rose screamed out, "Darling, please put me down. Someone might see us. "Who, there's no one else in this house but us. We have the entire house to ourselves. I don't want anyone to interrupt our pleasurable moment today." Said Lim, giving her an eye.
"Alright, Mr Man, now put me down and go take a shower as I prepare breakfast." She sniffed his body awkwardly, curled her mouth and then exclaimed, " You stink.
"I do?" Lim asked with a frown on his face and put her down. His wife responded affirmatively with a nod of her head, chuckled loudly and ran to the living room to open the door.
Love is the richest treasure in life. It empowers one with a kind of freedom that defies any explanation. Everything else seems to be inferior around these two as though the entire world revolves around them.
"So, Lim wedded yesterday?" asked the old woman with a freckled face.
"Yes," Coney replied to her mother. "Those two deserve to be happy. If I wasn't feeling unhealthy I would have attended their wedding. It must have been a grand one. Lim's mother once told me. That's what she envisaged; to have a grand wedding for her son, though, to my eye, it seemed she didn't like Rose for her son."
"Mum, you should get to see his bride!" Lina goggles her luminous eyes and resumes," she's the most beautiful woman I have ever seen." She says exultantly with an adorable smile.
"Have you seen her already?'' she asked curiously, gazing at her daughter with a critical eye.
"Yes, mom, a minute ago. She was standing…"
Carol signalled her to stop. Coney would be mad if she learnt they had been outside doing something mischievous. It appeared it was too late to impede her stinging comments.
"I knew you two were up to no good. You've indeed been snooping around. You are just two loud-mouthed creatures." Her face creased in slight anger," Now go inside and serve breakfast.'' said Coney, irritated. The girls hurried into the kitchen with guilty gestures on their faces. Coney turns to her mother and resumes the earlier conversation.
"Lim reminds me of my Ex husband Johnson. He was the same age when he married me. Mum, do you recall how madly deeply in love we were? Coney flashed a smile. She was in meditative thought for a minute and then pursued," It never crossed my mind that one day, my sweet loving husband would betray me with another woman."
Her mother maintained silence. Joyce, Coney's mother had been against Johnson's marriage with her daughter right from the start. She had anticipated that the marriage wouldn't hold for long, but Coney was blinded by his outward looks. She wouldn't listen as much as Joyce had warned her a million times. Now she dreaded him with passion and would rather keep quiet than talk about the damn asshole.
"Why am I ranting now?" asked Coney as if to bemoan her mother's disconcerting habit of keeping quiet about the matter. Her mother's thoughts were distant.
"As they say, not all this listens is gold," Joyce said in a frigid voice after a moment of thinking.
Coney's phone rang. She sprang up and went over to pick the handset that was charging on a small table near the glass window.
"I wish Johnson never shows his face to me or my children. What he did to me many years ago is still fresh in my mind. It is unpardonable. The repelling grotesque picture of his mistress on my matrimonial bed licking his hood still relives in my imaginations. Phew! I am happy that he's out of my life for good." Joyce motioned to the gadget that was still ringing in her daughter's hands. She held the cellphone to her ear to answer the call.
"Yes, Coney speaking on the line,"
"Hello, Coney,"
"Who's this?" She inquired. The male voice was familiar but she couldn't quite place it.
"I am coming over. We need to talk." He said no more and hung up.
"Hello, "The mysterious caller was now dumb."He hung up on me! Damn this phone!"
"Mom, who was that?" asked Carol who had been eavesdropping on the mother-daughter conversation.
"I can't tell. How would I know if he wouldn't introduce himself to me?"
"Then check the number. She said crossing over to Coney's end. The latter scrolled down reviewing the received calls. It was a hidden number. Coney was intrigued. Her mother looked at her and smirked. "That could be your sweetheart, Johnson."
Hostility glistened in her daughter's eyes.
Mother, your attitude is filling me with annoyance." Said Coney and headed to his room
"Mum, breakfast." Said Carol with a smiling face. Coney veered and headed to the dining table…
