- I'll cook spaghetti for dinner. -
The message came when Aaron was busy with reports of one of his grandfather's subsidiaries under his control. From Helena. Who else? He had to check many times to make sure that the sender was indeed Helena.
That words managed to create a broad smile on his face. It had been a long time since he had exchanged messages with Helena. The woman didn't bother to send him a message and chose her assistant to do it for her. It was also rare because, well, there was nothing they talked about.
And the message was like an oasis in the desert, amid the awkwardness between them and Helena's cold attitude Helena. The news was a sign that his wife was starting to soften her heart. They had only been married for ten days. And she had shown the change. What a surprise!
He quickly typed his reply while she was in a good mood.
- Have you got the ingredients? -
Aaron hoped
Helena smiled in satisfaction when she saw Aaron and the vacuum cleaner in his hand. The man kept his promise to help her with the household chores. Not only that day because he often gave a hand. For example, he washed the dishes and the cooking utensils after using them. Especially on the weekend, which was his day off, his chores also increased.Helena had just finished drying clothes. She walked towards the kitchen. Then, she opened the large refrigerator to check their food supply stored there. There was a little left, but at least enough to make several kinds of meals for their lunch and dinner. It might be sufficient for tomorrow. So, not going shopping that day wouldn't be a problem.She took a tiramisu from the refrigerator. It was the dessert she made the day before. She deliberately served in medium-sized glasses to make it easier to eat. Relaxing after work was fun. It could be a form of reward for what she just did, washing and drying clothes.Helen
"Damn it!"The curse slid freely from Helena's lips. Several hours had passed, but her memory was still etched into the most embarrassing incident for her. What else besides her hot kiss with Aaron? For her, there was nothing more embarrassing than that. The way Aaron kissed her and how her body reacted... What a shame! She seemed to be slapping herself for the inconsistency she showed. A month had not passed since their wedding. And look how inconsistent she was. So she was easily swayed by her husband's behavior."Damn it!"Again, Helena gave the same curse. She didn't count how many times the word had been said. Her brain was too busy thinking about it all. More specifically, her stupidity. She should have just let Aaron have wild imaginations about her and the lingerie from the start. Or, she should have pushed him as hard as she could before he could hold her and hypnotize her through his gaze. Or rather, Helena should have maintained her sanity when Aaron
"Didn't you say you were going to order food?" Helena asked after ten minutes of sitting next to Aaron, and the man hadn't done what he said. Yeah, you are not wrong. Finally, she lowered her guard and let his arms wrap around her shoulders from the moment she sat there. And she didn't protest at all. More precisely, she was lazy to do it. She doubted she would win against her husband in a debate that she believed would occur once Helena showed her refusal."Oh, I almost forgot," said Aaron quickly. He then took his phone from the table in front of him. "What do you want to eat?" he asked, starting to scroll his fingers over his black smartphone.Helena looked at him while frowned her eyebrows. "Pizza. You said you'd order it.""Ah, yes. Pizza." Aaron responded as if the idea had been around for a long time. "Are you serious about ordering it?"The frown still lingered on her forehead. Helena looked at him in surprise. It was clear that she was interested
As promised, Aaron accompanied Helena shopping the next day. There was a little debate about the time of their departure, before or after lunch. But later, the two of them agreed to have lunch outside. Then, they could freely shop. They decided to go to The Houston Mall. The first goal was to see the places Aaron had to offer for Helena's cafe. He freed Helena to choose an empty area spread over several floors of the mall. And she took a vacant place on the ground floor. As compared to the cafe that had been established, the place she chose was not that wide. Slightly narrower in size. But, no problem. Helena could use glass walls to give the illusion of a broad and spacious room. In addition, glass walls could spoil the eye with a monotonous view. Well, even though, in the end, they could only see the environment around the mall and human traffic there. But at least, it gave a better sight than being in closed partitions. Helena nodded, satisfied with the pl
Having Rachel as her assistant was the right decision. The woman was a hard worker with perfect and satisfactory results. Therefore, Helene could always rely on her in various situations, including taking care of Helena's Cafe. However, it didn't mean Helena could relax and only received the report from her. Helena kept an eye on everything and gave the necessary directions. They had known each other for five years. At first, Helena refused to hire an assistant. What for? She felt that she could be able to do everything alone. But, George, her eldest brother, insisted. He said the presence of a personal assistant was beneficial. Even though Helena was not interested in joining the family business, her assistant could help her take care of her assets. Correction. It had given to her. While she was engrossed in her hobby, cooking--she was running a blog about food recipes--Rachel could replace her by monitoring her finances. At first, Rachel's work was limited to that.
"I'm glad you're coming," commented Aaron shortly after seeing his wife emerge from behind the door in his room. That woman always looked beautiful. A pastel knee-length dress wrapped her beautifully along with her long hair that she didn't tie. Ah, Helena was beautiful. Always.Helena closed the door behind her, then walked over to the big sofa there. "Of course. I promised you," she replied as she put the handbag, she was carrying on the table.Aaron glanced at his watch. It was exactly fifteen minutes before lunch. "Can you wait a minute? I have to finish this first," he said, referring to the file in his hand.Helena understood that. She nodded and silently let Aaron return to his work. It was the risk of visiting people's offices. She didn't want to interfere with Aaron during his working hours. After all, who was she? She was not Aaron's employee or co-worker. So, it was unethical for her to be selfish and asked him to pay attention to her.Helena f
As a housewife, Helena had quite a lot of free time. She could say that the afternoon was a relaxing time. There wouldn't be Aaron who used any excuse to approach her. She was alone and free to use her time doing whatever she wanted to do.The situation of only living together with Aaron was quite advantageous. Her house chores were not too much, and most importantly, she could relax doing it. There was no obligation for her to be diligent. Aaron would voluntarily help her if she felt lazy. And if the reluctance was so heavy, she could call someone to do her work. It was easy, right?There were many things she could do to fill her spare time. Most often, she used it to look for new recipes. Though she didn't know when to try them. Or another activity that was no less frequent was watching movies, TV series, or whatever interested her, such as what she was doing. She was watching a romantic comedy film in her living room. And alone, of course. There were only fresh frui
"When is Blue's expected birth?" asked Helena, diverting the conversation to another topic. The video call with her best friend had not been ended. It would probably continue for quite a while, considering their habit of exchanging stories so often that they lose track of time.Blue was the temporary nickname of the baby Sophie was carrying. Sophie and her husband had not yet decided what to name their daughter. So, for a while, they called her Blue. The reason was that they both liked the color blue."Next month. Pray for me for everything to go smoothly," said Sophie at the end of her sentence. Yes, the prayers and support of those closest to her were what she really needed. If Sophie had the opportunity, of course, she would love to meet them face to face, not only face to face via gadgets. However, Sophie didn't blame the circumstances or her decision to stay away from her motherland. After all, Sophie was enjoying her life. There or anywhere, as long as she was ha
She knew she shouldn't be upset or angry. But she couldn't hold it in anymore. It was all because of Beatrice.The dinner, which she thought, would be fun, suddenly became a nightmare since Beatrice's presence. She wanted to refuse and kick her out for making such an unreasonable request—offering herself to join with no one inviting her. Unfortunately, she wasn't the host. She was the same as her, just a guest who, after permission was granted, was able to become part of the small gathering that night. She was trying her best to keep herself from exploding right away. And after dinner ended, and she was alone with Aaron on the way to their room, she changed her face completely. No smiles or friendliness. There were only groans and annoyance."Honey," Aaron called in the softest voice possible. He followed her broad and brisk steps towards their suite room. Needless to say, he knew what his wife felt because he had it, too. It annoyed him to see his secretary appear without notice. It w
"It's nice to finally meet the new Mrs. Houston," commented a young man when he saw Helena's presence by Aaron's side.Yes, this was the dinner that Helena agreed to this afternoon. Because of that, she immediately recognized the man and woman they were approaching. Mr. and Mrs. Graham. They both still looked young. She estimated that their ages were not very far from her. Maybe about five to seven years older.That meant they were in their mid-thirties."Thank you, Mr. Graham." Helena gave a broad smile to her interlocutor. "I'm also happy to meet you and your wife. Thank you for the dinner invitation," she continued. A bit too much courtesy and pleasantries seemed needed in this situation. All of those were for the sake of maintaining relations between them. It was not only a matter of work but also a relationship as ordinary human beings.Ah, that was a wise sentence. In point, their relationship would affect many aspects."It's just a casual dinner since the honored lady is in Bal
What are you doing here?It felt like Helena wanted to shout the question as loud as possible. It was in line with the shock that befell her. How came? She saw Beatrice in front of her with a medium-sized suitcase beside her."Why are you here?"Fortunately, Aaron had replaced her to express her confusion. Oh, Helena was sure that her husband also felt the same way. What was Beatrice doing here?"I replaced Mr. Todd to accompany you to Bali." The answer flowed smoothly from Beatrice's lips as if she was supposed to be here, at the departure of Soekarno-Hatta airport on a sunny Thursday morning.Helena could not speak. Beatrice was indeed a formidable woman. Her presence could not help but disturb the beautiful plans of her honeymoon with Aaron.Helena was now unsure if their trip could still be called a honeymoon with Beatrice's appearance among them. She really hated that woman."What happened with Mr. Todd?" Unknowingly, she said it loud. Oh, shit! Beatrice must be happy to see her
"Wow.""What, wow?" Helena responded quickly with slightly pursed lips. She knew well why that reaction appeared on her laptop screen, showing Sophie's face. Only, she wanted to feign ignorance to save her embarrassment."You." Short and firm, Sophie answered her friend. "I didn't expect you to be that brave," she commented at the end of her sentence. All of her words referred to one thing. The scene inside Aaron's office. That was after Helena shyly told her about it. Her best friend was utterly unpredictable."I did nothing wrong," Helena replied, still in the same way."Yes, you're right. There's nothing wrong with making out with your husband." Sophie emphasized their discussion. She knew Helena purposely did not mention the incident anymore. But, she wouldn't let it happen because this was something that rarely happened. "But you know how it is in Indonesia. Beatrice must be shocked to see both of you."Yes, Indonesia differed from western countries. Ma
"Oh, sorry, Beatrice, you have to see us like this."Helena really wanted to hide her face right away. She was clearly caught in an embarrassing position!Even though these scenes were in the plan drawn up shortly after Beatrice returned her greeting, it didn't dispel her embarrassment. Although the person who saw them was none other than her greatest enemy, she was still… embarrassed."You can put the drink on the table," she said again, trying her best to maintain confidence in her voice. She should not be afraid or nervous. She must be able to uphold her ego at the highest peak. Only this time.From the corner of her eyes, she saw the secretary walking into Aaron's room. Her steps seemed hesitant, surprised, and rushed. While her face showed a similar expression, plus the lines of displeasure that appeared on her forehead. Of course. The woman could not do anything in front of the view presented to them.How about a protest?Beatrice had no ri
Keeping her promise, Helena visited Aaron's office this afternoon with a large bag containing their lunch. She made it, of course. She was still experimenting with a Mexican cuisine that she hoped would suit her husband's taste.She stepped excitedly. She didn't know why she was so happy. Her brain did not stop playing a pleasant rhythm that often turned into a slight hum on her lips. Even, for now, that tune was still there and made her cheeks raise, holding back her smile."Good afternoon, Mrs. Houston," said one of the security officers, who stood close to the escalator."Good afternoon," Helena replied with a friendly smile."Want to meet Mr. Houston, ma'am?"She nodded. The question reminded her of her first visit to this place. They knew and could guess the purpose of her arrival. How could Beatrice not realize that? "Yes. I have an appointment with my husband." She put her tote bag down beside her and began to dig into her sling bag. "And I have to le
This morning, Aaron woke up in an unusual state.Do not be too happy yet. Everything didn't turn out the way you expected. But you can be pleased a little because the progress of their relationship was improving.The beautiful view that was presented in his room satisfied his eyes. A rare sight that was previously only his wish. Helena. Of course. The woman made his morning so pleasant that a big smile appeared on his cheerful face.Oh, their sex didn't happen—if that's what you expect. Helena and Aaron only slept together and in the same bed. Just that. But apparently, that fact had brought a warm swish to his chest. Finding his woman fast asleep beside him made his heart relieved.He glanced briefly at the clock on the wall before leaning his body closer toward his wife. There was still enough time for him to enjoy this situation. Slowly, he slipped one of his hands between Helena's body and the bed she was sleeping on while his other hand rested on her s
Helena's fingers danced beautifully on top of the keyboard, pouring all her thoughts into a row of words lined up neatly on the laptop screen. Sometimes, she pressed the backspace key and repeated the sentence. Not infrequently, she also stopped for a moment to find the correct series of words to include in her writing.Helena had been struggling with her laptop for quite a long time. She hadn't written in a long time. Also, Helena hadn't looked at her blog for a long time. She didn't know how was it now? Was it getting more and more readers, or had it turned quiet because it had been left on for too long?She wrote the recipe that would be included in her blog. She also added the story behind the making process to make it more interesting. No less important, she also wrote a review from her husband so that the spice of the drama was more pronounced.Helena closed her worksheet as she felt she had had enough and had nothing to add to it anymore. What she had just writ
"How?" Helena asked with eyes that looked expectantly at Aaron. Currently, the two were sitting side by side, enjoying dinner at their minimalist kitchen table.Aaron closed his eyes, trying to taste the food in his mouth after having previously been tempted by the smell that emanated from the food served before him. "Hmm," he mumbled as he chewed slowly the dark-colored piece of meat that was rich in taste. "Have you ever failed at cooking?" He asked after swallowing his food."I have, although rarely," answered Helena, still showing the same look when she looked at him. "It doesn't suit to your taste, does it?" she asked doubtfully and worriedly.He turned to her and looked at his wife for a long time. Then a smile appeared on his face. "This is delicious. I've never eaten this dish. What's it called?" He spoke a series of words. He shoved another bite into his mouth again.A soft sigh escaped her lips. She was relieved that her experimental cooking was success