Divorce Never! Love Again?

Episode 3

Waking up to the relentless sound of my alarm excited me for the first time. As my plans took shape in my mind, my once meaningless life seemed to gain purpose.

At least I no longer felt like an empty shell.

As the first light of dawn filled my room, I stretched with a happy smile instead of cursing for having to wake up so early. I jumped out of bed, slipped on my robe, and headed to the kitchen.

How happy can a person be because of constipation? I was ecstatic. I opened my drawer, took one of my anti-constipation pills, and made my way to the kitchen.

I planned to crush the pill and mix it into Lucian's morning yogurt with granola. He had a marketing team meeting this afternoon. Watching him run out of the room, unable to hold his fart, might cheer me up a bit. If I were lucky, he might even sh*t in his pants.

I didn't bother hiding the devilish grin on my face as I walked to the kitchen. I glanced over at Lucian's residence through the floor-to-ceiling windows. His lights were still off. Sneakily, I walked on my tiptoes and took the marble mortar out of the cupboard.

The pill would take about four hours to take effect, perfect timing for the meeting. I needed to find a way to hide my devilish smile. I didn't want to be such an amateur saboteur.

Trying to put on a serious expression, I added a second anti-constipation pill to the mortar and started crushing them.

More is better, right?

I carefully mixed the crushed pills into the granola yogurt mixture that the housekeeper had prepared and put in the fridge the day before. After mixing it well, I put it back in the fridge.

"Enjoy, dear husband," I said, closing the refrigerator door and pouring myself a cup of coffee. I even started humming a tune. The aroma of coffee filled the kitchen.

The kitchen's floor-to-ceiling windows overlooked the green area between Lucian's and my residences. The area had never looked so green to me. I couldn't even remember the last time I had sat in this kitchen to enjoy a coffee.

I didn't like eating alone. Since Lucian and I never ate or had breakfast together, I only used the kitchen out of necessity.

As I sipped my coffee, Lucian entered the kitchen. He was wearing a stylish navy suit. The navy color made his green eyes stand out even more.

He must have been surprised to see me there.

"Do you always get up this early?" he asked as he walked towards the coffee machine. I couldn't raise any suspicion.

"I couldn't sleep last night, so I didn't really sleep much," I said, bringing my coffee cup to my lips. In reality, I had slept soundly until morning. Lucian's expressionless face showed a faint hint of discomfort.

I took my coffee and sat across from him. I needed to make sure he ate the granola.

"Do you want something to eat?" I asked, probably drawing too much attention. If I didn't stop babbling, he'd definitely catch on to what I had done. Still, he nodded in agreement with a nonchalant attitude. This thoughtful expression didn't suit him at all.

"I'm going to talk to your father today. He needs to understand that the mistake was mine alone."

I let out a short, uneasy laugh.

"My father will understand things however he wants to. Don't worry about it," I said, taking the granola out of the fridge and placing the bowl in front of him with a spoon. His eyes, which had been gloomily watching the garden, met the bowl, and I almost screamed with delight. My inner voice kept chanting.

"Eat it, come on, eat it!"

Lucian ran his fingers thoughtfully through his wavy, light brown hair. He stood up abruptly from the table. My eyes followed his every move attentively.

He grabbed another spoon and, with a pensive expression and furrowed brows, sat back down across from me, pushing the spoon towards me.

“You never eat anything in the mornings,” he said, taking a sip of his coffee and looking out at the garden.

“Damn it all to hell!” screamed my inner voice. After all this time, the man suddenly decided to care about me? I was really losing it; I was about to go insane. If I ate it, I could force him to eat too. Since I had constipation issues, it would only help me. He should be the one to think about the consequences. You can't beat me, you arrogant fool!

“I don’t like eating in the mornings. I’ll just have one spoonful,” I said, hoping to get out of this by playing along. As I took a tiny spoonful and brought it to my mouth, he finally picked up his spoon.

“Just eat the da*n thing already!” screamed my inner voice.

Finally, he took a spoonful. I relaxed and leaned back, continuing to sip my coffee.

“Tomorrow is Saturday, so I guess the same rules still apply since I’m still here.”

Lucian didn’t seem pleased by this and pursed his lips.

“Actually, given everything that’s happened, it might be better if we stayed home this Saturday.”

We had a deal for Saturdays. Every Saturday, we would take the same car to a certain point and return to the same place on Sunday morning to go back home. We thought this was the only way to live our lives without getting caught by the tabloids.

We never told each other what we did or who we were with on Saturdays. I did the same thing every Saturday, but I had no intention of sharing that with anyone. So, I liked that he never asked. Finally, someone gave me a day of freedom each week. I never asked him what he did either. I liked the boundaries we had drawn.

“I can’t stay home. I have to go,” I said as Lucian’s green eyes scrutinized me carefully.

“Can’t you just stay home for one week?”

I shook my head no.

“You must really love him then. You can’t go a week without seeing him.”

Was his voice ironic, or was it just me? I hadn’t specifically told him I was with someone or going to see someone. He must have conjured up a wild love story in his head, but I just nodded without giving an explanation.

“There are a few things I need to take care of. You should definitely take your car today; it’s going to rain again. If we don’t run into each other on the way back, you won’t get soaked.”

For a moment, his words made me feel guilty about what I had done. But as soon as Lucian left, I shook off that strange, regretful feeling and tiptoed towards his room. I could hear his car pulling out of the parking lot; he definitely wouldn’t catch me.

It was my first time entering his room. The colors were the same as in my residence—beige and white. His room was tidier and cleaner than mine, which made me feel a bit ashamed for a moment.

Je*k, I thought. He even made his bed at the crack of dawn. Annoying...

There was something peculiar about his room. It felt like nothing in there truly belonged to him. It was as if someone else had chosen everything, and he had simply hung his clothes in the closet. His room was like my life, with very little personal space. You could sense it from a distance.

I opened his sock drawer and placed the darkest brown, black, and navy blue pairs on top of the dresser. I deliberately mixed them up so he’d end up wearing one brown and one black sock. I couldn’t wait to see his face when he realized it, hopefully during a meeting.

Sneakily, I put the mismatched socks back in the drawer. Everything about Lucian appeared perfect, even his socks. Maybe that’s why his perfection irritated me, as it highlighted my own flaws. He was as whole as I was incomplete.

Lucian Wilson, a name that symbolized a perfection I could never attain.

After leaving his room, I quickly went to mine to change. My best friend from high school was coming to visit today, so I dressed extra carefully. As if getting divorced next week wasn’t enough, I had a high school reunion the following week.

I knew I’d be the favorite gossip topic, and Lucian had given everyone the perfect fodder. Oh, Lucian, you have no idea what I have in store for you!