Genre: Angst

Word count: 1,931 words

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It was like a whirlwind had barreled into my class in the form of a golden haired, spitting mess. I looked up at one of the student’s dishes, thankful for the distraction from the mediocre food at first, until I saw Selia glaring at me from the doorway, panting as she tried to catch her breath.

“We are in the middle of class.” Shooting a cold stare at her, I hoped that it would be enough to send her away. I had a feeling that I knew why she was here.

“Well, excuse me,” she said mockingly. “But I have something that I need to discuss with you, so if you don’t mind, I’ll wait.” Without waiting for my consent, she entered the room and sat on a chair at the back, ignoring the students watching her in awe.

She was undermining my authority, and I did not like it one bit. However, if I took it up with her now who knows what chaos she would cause? The last thing I wanted was to look like an even bigger fool in front of my class, so I kept my mouth shut and continued with the lesson like nothing happened.

The occupants of the room had already noticed my lack of focus in class today, even before Selia arrived, and I knew, but I couldn’t help my mind from wandering to the events of yesterday. I was cross with my girlfriend for acting like she did, but if I were honest with myself, I had it coming. Despite my initial wishes of giving this relationship my all, I was aware that I had done nothing to break out of the shell that I had trapped myself in. It was a wonder that she held out for so long in the first place.

Class flew by that day, probably because I was dreading the end of it. Selia waited until the last of the students slowly trickled out before marching across the room towards me. She didn’t manage to get a word out as I stopped her by holding up my hand in a ‘stop’ sign.

“Let’s talk in my office.” I was sure that a number of curious ears were pressed against the walls, and luckily Selia nodded in agreement. Sure enough, when we exited into the hallway, several familiar faces were loitering nearby, pretending that they belonged here when I knew that no one ever spent more time here than necessary.

Gesturing that she sat in one of the more uncomfortable chairs in my office, I dropped into my leather swiveling chair opposite her and waited for it to come. Sure enough, as soon as she opened Selia berated me for not treating my girlfriend like I should have. I had expected this; not talking much, lack of interest in her and being closed off were all things that I knew I lacked as a boyfriend, although I could not stop myself from raising a brow when Selia said that there are others who would treat Rainie better. I had some suspicions about ‘others’ who would treat her better but I did not expect to hear it from Selia.

Then the inevitable question burst forth from . “Why do you treat her that way, Charles? You’re not a bad person so I want to know what is so wrong with her that you can’t treat her the way she deserves to be treated.”

I tried to keep my cool. This woman already held me in low esteem. I did not want to make myself look worse in front of her. Mostly because of my ego, I had to admit, but truthfully a part of me did not want her to think that Rain was completely wrong or stupid for staying with me up till now. On the other hand, my past was not something that I desired to share with anyone.

“I don’t owe you any explanation for my behaviour. We hardly know each other.”

Her face got so red with anger that it would have been comical under different circumstances. Then she took a deep breath. “Maybe you don’t owe me anything, but Rainie deserves to know why she feels more lonely with you as a boyfriend than when she was single.”

A bad boyfriend I knew myself to be, but those words still felt like a punch to the gut. I blinked twice before I told her what I planned to do after thinking all day today. “Then I will explain myself to her.”

“Make sure you do. I will be out of town for a while, and when I get back I’d better find her in better spirits than she is in now.” With a last glare thrown in my direction, she got up and left, leaving me to figure out just what to tell my girlfriend.

~•~•~•~

**Several years ago**

A pair of arms wrapped around my stomach made me grin as I stirred the contents of the pot.

“Hands off when the chef is cooking, young lady.”

The limbs slinked away from my body before Kate appeared by my side, in a pout I knew was pretend. “You’re no fun,” she said.

“Hey, you get to focus when you’re working. Let me focus on mine,” I countered, taking in her breathtaking appearance in her business suit. It did not bother me that my girlfriend was beautiful, sophisticated, successful, and probably way out of my league in every single aspect. She loved me and supported my dreams, and I loved her just the same, and that made her perfect for me.

“How come you’re home early today?” she asked, picking up a napkin from the counter and pulling at the edges. She seemed nervous, but I didn’t know why. Maybe it was just my imagination.

“Ah, I forgot that my shift ends early today,” I said in reply to her question. “Is there something wrong? You seem nervous.”

Realising the way she was behaving was out of ordinary, she released the napkin from her grasp. But I bored my eyes into her as my hand kept rotating the ladle until she attempted to answer.

“Uhm, well, I… Remember when you proposed to me?”

I paused in surprise. Never would I have thought that she would ever bring up that topic first. “Which time?” I tried to joke. Over the past two years I had broached the issue, wanting to ask what she thought of it because I wanted to marry her, but she had said that she wasn’t ready, that she still had so much to do and marriage would just get in the way. I was disappointed but decided to respect her decision.

Her laugh was shallow, another mark of anxiousness. “I’m thinking… that I’m ready.”

Luckily the ladle was in the pot, because otherwise I would have dropped it onto the floor in shock. “What? But just a week ago when I asked you said that you weren’t!”

She shrugged. “I changed my mind. Thinking about spending a lifetime with you as husband and wife… I just can’t wait. Maybe we can have a few babies too.”

Looking back later, I would have questioned the strangeness of it all. Kate was a steadfast woman who didn’t change her mind easily. A change of heart within the span of one week after two years of unwavering refusal was very sudden. I would scold myself for not being more observant as the years passed after this but at the moment I was so overwhelmed with happiness that I could only hug her and promise her that I would propose to her properly later.

“When?” She asked. I told her that it would be a surprise and she laughed. I needed some time to save money to hold a big, beautiful wedding that she deserved, but she was having none of it.

“That’s not really necessary. I’d rather our wedding be small, just close friends and family. I just want to do this as soon as possible.” She flashed a winning smile that had me wavering, but I knew I had to do her justice, so I simply said that I would work on it.

She seemed satisfied with the answer, but not for long. A few days later she started asking again. After over a week of what I recognised now as pressuring and guilt-tripping, but what I thought then was excitement, I secretly bought her an engagement ring and started planning my proposal.

Most of my friends were also Kate’s friends, so I couldn’t ask them to help as I didn’t want to risk them talking about my plans to her. The best person for it was my brother. Granted, he was also friends with Kate, but I trusted him and knew he could keep a secret. I called him up and he readily agreed to do whatever he could to assist me.

The plans went on smoothly. I already had a reservation set at our favourite restaurant, hired a quartet to serenade us when I popped the question, flowers, chocolates, the whole nine yards ready to be put into action for the big day. Starting the car, I drove happily home, preparing myself to ask Kate to go out for dinner with me tomorrow. I knew she would be off from her busy schedule tomorrow night. Then I slapped my forehead with the palm of my hand when I remembered that I had not specified the song that I wanted the quartet to play.

Sticking my hands-free into my ear, I quickly dialed my brother’s number, wanting to ask him to relay my song choice to the players, as I did not have their number. I groaned in frustration when the call went into voicemail and made a u-turn to head for his terrace house. I was glad that my sister-in-law and their children were out of town at her parents’ I would rather not have her know about my plans to propose until Kate said yes, even though it was already a done deal.

I arrived at his house after a five-minute drive. A knock on the door and a call for his name did not bring forth any answer. I cursed under my breath. “The man is as deaf as a doorknob.” Fishing the spare key under a pot of plant, I unlocked the door and entered the house.

He was nowhere to be found on the ground floor so I headed up the stairs to the bedrooms. I saw that his bedroom door was slightly ajar but as I approached, I overheard a conversation beyond. Is she back? I hesitated, then shrugged. It was going to happen tomorrow anyway, so what’s the harm in my sister-in-law knowing about the proposal one day in advance? I grinned as the thought of surprising them and hearing her scream in surprise made up for her unexpected appearance. I knew my brother wouldn’t mind, we were extremely close, and even though she often complained that neither of us have any boundaries around each other, I knew my sister-in-law loved me to bits.

“Surprise! Christine, what are you doing back so early?” My question was directed towards my sister-in-law, but the surprised answering scream was not one of righteous indignation or playful rage, it was a scream of shock and fear, and definitely not Christine. The woman beside my brother David tried to bury herself under the covers, but she did not move quickly enough for me to miss her face.

“KATE?”

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