One: Surprised?

"Lauretta!" With so much agitation, I plodded down the stairs, hurrying to my friend. Best friend. The hotness in my feet worsened, my heart racing really fast. All that filled me was "nervousness." This news was just so unexpected. Sebastian was coming home after a month?

Reaching the last step, my feet stumbled against each other, causing me to slip and fall to the floor. "Ugh!" I let out a groan, using my hand to tug the pain I felt on my back. 

"Gosh babe!" Lauretta ran towards me, sounding so worried and stressed out. "You've gotta keep calm. You're only going to hurt yourself."

"This hurts so much," I mumbled, stretching my hand so she could help to get me up. 

She giggled, and accepted my hand, helping me to get up. "Don't stress yourself too much. Sebas will come whenever he feels like. Your unnecessary exhilaration will do nothing."

"Lies." I frowned, pinching my waist to try to subside the pain. "What if his heart signals to him that his wife is crying for him to come back to her?"

"Silly, you are." She poked my arm, smiling from cheek to cheek, her bright grey eyes gleaming so much as it expressed happiness. "Things like that do not happen in this world. Maybe in the next world."

"Don't worry. Sebastian will definitely change towards me, anytime soon." I spotted a stain on my shirt, cleaning it with my fingers, although I wasn't paying attention to it. "In fact, I think he'll change soon. He's not been yelling at me lately."

She huffed, and raised my jaw to face her. "Change after eight months of being married? Are you that blinded by your claimed-love?"

I shot her another glare. "Keep your mouth shut, woman! I'm the one who's got hope here. How's it your problem?"

"Ok ok." She swung her hands in the air like she was surrendering to a police. "Keep hoping. I hope your hope won't be shattered."

"Stop!" I whined, and hissed at her before sauntering to the kitchen in the mansion. 

"Fine, I'm sorry," she added, and walked behind me. 

Getting to the kitchen, I jerked the fridge door open, grabbing a chilled orange juice from it. After a long gulp of the juice, I set my gaze at her, and bit my lower lip. 

"What?" She raised an eyebrow at me. "You're nervous? Don't make your lip suffer. Common. That's disgusting."

"I know." I slapped my cheek, pulling a worried look. "But what can I do? I'm so anxious. Like shit! What if he finds a fault in me? What if I'm not hot enough for him? Huh?"

"Common…" she moved closer, giving me a warm smile. "It'll be fine. And don't worry. If he does anything to you, I'll be here to comfort you. I'll cheer you up, as usual."

"Thanks." I smiled weakly, feeling a little bit relieved to hear her say those. She was indeed the person who always comforted me. In the eight months Sebastian and I had been married, asking Lauretta to stay in his house was the only thing I requested for, that he accepted. 

I turned to the sink, opening the tap so I could wash my hands. "Will you feel comfortable to stay here when he comes?" I took a glance at her. 

She sighed, and hopped to sit on the counter. "Don't know about that. If I'm not ok with it, I'll just stay in my room."

"And you won't feel lonely?" I turned to her, and walked to reach her. 

"I guess." She shrugged. "It's not like he even notices me. He's always working all the time."

"I know right?" I hissed, and walked back into the living room. "He doesn't even notice me. His wife."

She walked behind me, and sank into a couch. "He's just a freak. Goodness knows what's always making him so cold, flustered, and serious. Can't he ever smile? At least once?"

"Yeah." My voice was soft and tired. I joined her on the couch, and leaned my back against the seat, heaving a heavy sigh. "I keep wondering what will change him. I'm almost sick of it. Eight months already? It seems like two months to me."

"Woman." She tapped my shoulder, wearing a cunning smile. "Just end it, ok? I'm also sick of seeing you in this bondage. That dude doesn't deserve you. Can't you see that?"

"No. I won't give up," I protested, scowling at her.

She rolled her eyes. "But seriously, you're so blind. Not only is he making you feel lonely. He's also stressing you intentionally. He's literally treating you like a maid." 

"Stop please." I pouted, and wrinkled my face to express my frustration and tiredness. "It's not like I don't know about all of it. I'm only trying to bear it. I won't die if I tolerate all his shit for a little longer. I'm used to it already."

"Your choice." She snorted, grabbing a magazine from the center table. "But well, I still think you need to get rid of that man. A person who knows nothing about your importance, doesn't deserve you at all."

"Whatever." 

As she flipped through the pages of the magazine, she chuckled for some reason. 

"What?!" I cried, knowing fully well that she was mocking me. 

She continued to laugh, and dropped the magazine. "Don't mind my weirdness. But babe, what if he doesn't find you so enticing? How embarrassed will you feel?"

"Keep quiet, lady!" I barked, tapping her arm. "Why are you being like this right now? Are you teasing me on purpose?"

"Maybe." She jumped from the sofa.

I stood up as well, frowning, walking to her as she headed somewhere. "This isn't funny!" I bit that out. "You're making me feel more hurt. Why can you see that?"

"Fine fine." She twirled to face me, and raised her hands to caress my arms. "I'm just being naughty. But sometimes, Sebastian's reaction could be funny. He's just some kind of random guy, you know? There's no doubt about that."

I pursed my lips to try to resist the urge to laugh at the thoughts of what she meant. To be honest, she was right, in a way. Sebastian's annoyance and frustration could be funny sometimes, due to the fact that he always got angry unnecessarily. So, instead of feeling hurt during those times, I'd only feel like laughing at him. But how could I laugh in front of him? He could only end up insulting me. 

"True," I affirmed to what she had said, unable to keep my laugh to myself. 

"Aha!" She snapped her fingers at my face. "You finally agreed to one thing I say."

I chuckled at that, and hurried to the door. "Girl, girl," I called, setting my gaze at her, as I had my back on the door. "Let me act a little naughty. Since I already know how he'll behave when he returns, maybe I should get myself ready for his attitude."

"Hm, in what form?" 

"Watch me." I shut my eyes, inhaled deeply, getting myself ready for the weird thing I was about to do. 

Lauretta grinned at me, then burst into laughter when she observed what I was about to do. I creased my eyebrows into a deep glare, pursed my lips, and scrunched my nose as if I was irritated. Raising my shoulder upright, I scorned, and clenched my fingers into a fist. 

"Adrienne!" I made my voice thick, pretending to act disgusted like Sebastian always was. "How can you do that without my permission? Did I order you to do so?! Huh?!" 

As I said all that, Lauretta didn't stop laughing, tugging her stomach with her hands, almost falling to the floor. "You're so funny," she remarked.

"It seems to me like you don't know your limits. Do you know how important this is, to me?" I continued to mimic him, almost laughing as well. 

Soon, her hard laughter began to drive away, her face holding an expression I didn't understand. Why did she stop laughing all of a sudden? Wasn't I funny anymore? Maybe I needed to try harder. 

"In fact, get out of here! You disgust me!" I proceeded in making fun of him, hoping that she'd laugh again. But, still, she remained silent, shaking her head for some reason. What was wrong with her?

"Adrienne," she whispered, widening her eyes, and gulping hard. "Turn— your— behind you," she stuttered as well. 

"You're ok?" I corked an eyebrow at her. "What's with this sudden fear? I thought you were happy to see this. Or, do you think I've gone mad?"

"Turn," she whispered, again. "Behind you."

Hearing her say that, I kind of felt nervous. Why would she ask me to turn? Was there some kind of devil behind me?

I huffed, trying to store my anxiety to myself, and turned to see what was making her scared. On seeing the tall, well built, scary figure that made her stop laughing, I uncontrollably gasp, literally startled. There was indeed a devil behind me. How did he get here? Why did he have to come now? 

To my surprise, he was wearing a blank expression. His face was glued to me, and he had his hands in his pocket. I couldn't even predict what he was going to do next. 

Unexpectedly, he smirked, aggravating my fear. Whenever he did that, it was way worse than seeing him frown. Sneering at me meant that I needed to get ready for huge insults. Damn, what could I do now?

"Surprised?" He widened his crafty smile, causing a knot to form in my stomach. This man wasn't going to spare me.