The sound of the construction next door woke her up. She rolled
on her back, staring at the ceiling fan that was there just for show ever since
they had that stupid air-conditioner installed. Yes stupid, she can’t stand the
cold. But he sweetly said, that is what blankets and cuddles are for, she fell
for that and agreed.
She felt cold then, tiny shivers escaped through her icy fingers.
She felt him and his warmth as he stirred slightly next to her, hogging more of
the blanket and facing himself away from her. She sighed. She reached out her
hand, wanting to hug him, and enjoy his warmth and his smell but she hesitated.
She pulled back her arm and sighed.
She remembered what had happened last night. He just got
back from a trip and she missed him, oh how she missed him. She had everything
planned. She had gotten a new nightie and wore that licorice perfume he loved.
They tried making love. She was into it. She wanted it. She pulled him close,
guided his hand where she wanted to be touched and he in turn gave a lazy
comply. But somewhere in the heat and
soft moans, his blasted phone rang and he had the nerve to stop and answered
it. Ending the call, he gave her a peck on the cheek and said “maybe later” to
his left-unsatisfied wife and went to sleep, hogging the blanket. She had to
finish his job while he was snoring away.
Her stomach twisted to uneasiness. Things had changed, she
noticed it for awhile. She asked, and only to have a grunt for an answer or “nothing”.
She hated the feeling. Her stomach felt like a million butterflies flying
around, pushing themselves up her throat, leaving her queasy. It had been like
this for weeks now. The endless nausea and headaches. Not to mention constant
confusions. She was not willing to say it aloud, but she admitted in her heart.
She was confused with him.
For a happy second last week, she thought she was pregnant.
But then that time of the month came and her happy thought poofed away to
oblivion. Not to mention, their sex lives where next to none these days. She
sighed again. What happened? She sat up in bed and thought hard. What did I do
wrong? You can’t just stop loving someone, can you?
The machines outside gave out more loud bangs and an ear-splitting
horn making her more dizzy. She felt him stirred again, and her hair was caressed. That longing
feeling appeared again, but she remained still. Not wanting to have her hopes
up. Sure enough, he got out of bed, not looking at her and went straight out.
That did it, she plunged herself back to bed, face down and pouted. Something
need to happen. Please.
The door gave a little squeak, signs of him coming back in
only this time accompany with a wafting smell of coffee. She lay still. He
nudged her a bit, she stubbornly not wanting to respond. He chuckled and picked
her up and looked into her eyes. “Morning sayang,” he said. She smiled,
finally.
He gave her the coffee, urging her to drink. She took it
from him, and realized a nutty taste to it. She raised an eyebrow and he just
said “new coffee” and drank his.
They talked a bit. But it was
still off, she realized. He was looking at her, as if waiting for something to
happen. She felt dizzier, her nausea getting worse and her stomach twisted. She
feared he is going to leave. She felt… sleepy.
***
He looked at her still body. She looked peaceful. He ran his
hand over her cheek and realized, she was never that beautiful until she stopped
breathing. Finally, he thought. She was tougher than the rest, took a solid 3
weeks before the poison finally kicked in. She was fun for awhile, then she got
all needy and shit. Thank God for the construction, he thought. He cheerfully
decided he would cement her body tonight.
