14

As Hebe glanced around the market, wondering if her cover will get discovered. The more she thought about it, the more she began to panic. Mike who was walking in front of her suddenly stopped and turned around which cause Hebe bump into him. “WHAT WAS THAT?” She cursed under her breath as she looked up to see Mike staring at the people around them. “What? Did we get discovered already?” She was going to run to the nearest exit but Mike held onto her hand, preventing her from going anywhere.

“I just thought of an idea.” He whispered to her just before she could react, he s his arm around her waist, pulling her close enough for her to feel him whisper into her ears. “You’re my sassy, lovely, wonderful wife and I’m the deadly gorgeous husband you always and forever love.” She pulled away, wiping her ears as she tried to erase what he said. “You’re... one odd child. Why the hell would we do that?”

“We don’t want to draw attention to ourselves and how this brilliant idea popped into my head. Wouldn’t it be good? It sounded like a good idea in my head and besides, you don’t want to admit it since the idea came from me!”

Hebe turned around rolling her eyes but she gasped shortly after when her eyes stared at the security guards walking their way. Call her paranoid or whatever but if anything, she wants to be safe and if that means going with his crazy mind, then so be it. So she quickly grabbed his arm and smiled ever so sweetly over at him. “So my deadly gorgeous husband, we should go and buy ingredients before it’s too late!” He was a bit surprised to see her react the way she did, since it was just a joke he had been dying to say. But when the security guards walked past them, giving them one glance before looking away, he caught on in an instant.

So they decided to play the act of the lovely newlyweds that just came back from their honeymoon. At first, they wanted to divert the attention but instead of diverting it, it was more like they were gaining it. She wasn’t the type to want attention but the attention just came. Like an storm, people in the store and at the mall earlier has been staring, whispering, presumably at them.

“Have you ever wondered why we are getting more attention than before? I knew this act as newlyweds was going to be something I would regret.” Mike glanced around the area with a smile pastured on his face, waving over to the younger kids before facing Hebe. “Haven’t I told you before? You’re the sassy and wonderful wife that any man would be blessed to have, they are only staring at us because I am attractive and I make you glow darling.”

“So you’re saying I’m not prettier then you?” Hebe scoffed as she made contact with a teenage boy who was also looking at them, Hebe flashed her sweet smile before blowing an air kiss towards him. The boy shrieked as he created an ‘heart’ with his hands, sending it over to her while Mike rolled his eyes. His hand unconsciously went on her back, lightly pushing her as they headed to the fruit and vegetable section. “What jealous? You know you cannot compete with me because I am just too beautiful. Instead of making me glow, I am making you shine Mr. He.” He picked up random fruits and vegetables putting them into bags as Hebe stopped him. “You must examine them if they are good! How can you just put them into a bag without looking at it for more than a second?”

“This is food! It will be cooked anyways, so there’s no need to look at it! Just pop it into a bag and buy it!”

“NO! Definitely not, when I’m here, you’re not shopping like that! You pull the cart, I will be the shopper!” Mike muttered something under his breath as Hebe smiled, examining the fruits and vegetables carefully. It came to the point where she took up so much time in this section that it irritated him. So he grabbed her hand and in an instant, they made eye contact. “Hurry.. the more time we spent here, the higher our chances of being caught becomes.”

Hebe pouted as she glanced at the fruit and vegetable section, wondering if there were anything else they need to bag. “Fine, let’s go to the meat section.” Mike nodded as he took her hand and walked over to the meat section. When he took her hand, Hebe glanced over to his hand that was holding onto hers. She always imagined herself living with Jay Chou but the more time she spent with Mike, her thoughts started to alter. Bit by bit, her heart began to tell a different story, completely erasing the original. She didn’t know when he looked so attractive but she thought it might be his charm. To make a girl feel safe, he was doing a good job at it.

When he let go of her hand, she could feel her hands calling for his touch once again but she wasn’t that clingy for that. So she decided to ignore her urges and stared at the meat. While she was looking at the meat, examining it if it was good. Mike suddenly came up from behind, as his arms surrounded her, blocking her from her right and left side, giving her the impression that he was about to do something intolerable. She quickly turned around to find him looking over at the meat but with the close distance between them, she found her observing his masculine features.

“Cops... 3:00.” Hebe stared at the coordinates he gave her and froze. Mike could tell what she doing so he smiled as he moved his arms away and pulled her in, planting a kiss on her forehead. He dropped the meat into the cart as he made his way to the cash register. When he walked away, Hebe stayed silent as she touched her forehead, surprised. “Aren’t you acting a little too real?”

“You got to make it believable to make people believe.” He whispered as he greeted the lady at the cash register. “Hi, I got a quick question.” The lady smiled as she looked at Hebe and back at Mike. “My wife has been saying she looks ugly, can you tell her that she looks just fine and that she is beautiful just the way she is?” The lady giggled as she pushed her rims up. “You guys must be newlyweds.” Mike smiled as he pulled Hebe closer to him. “That’s right. How did you know? You’re quite impressive.”

“Dear, you’re blessed with beauty, so don’t worry about your appearance. However, your husband... I think you need to keep him on a leash. Boys who are this good-looking tend to be attention seekers, so don’t let him out of your sight.” Hebe smiled weakly as she glared at Mike who thanked the lady for the wonderful compliment. “Don’t be mad, I’ll always be here for you honey.” He said as he gave her a quick kiss on the cheeks before taking his wallet out, paid the lady and grabbed the bags. “Darling, it’s time to go.”

By the time Hebe snapped out of her train of thoughts, he was already waiting by the doors. So she quickly thanked the employee and ran over to Mike. She was going to help carry the bags but he held onto her hand as his other hand carried the bags. He smiled over to her, “It’s okay, we are not going to get caught so just calm down, my sassy and wonderful wife.” He whispered into her ear as they walked out.

Hebe placed her hand on top of her chest, monitoring her heartbeats. This can’t be...

“What’s wrong? Are you feeling sick anywhere?” Mike asked as he saw her hand on her chest, placing the bags in the trunk. “Yeah... I think I’m getting sick.”

“Should we get medicine? We can make a quick stop to the phar–“

“No... it’s not kind of sickness... but my heart is beating too fast..”

“Do you.. perhaps...” Hebe tightly shut her eyes, wondering if she was a little to straight-forward with her feelings. “...Have high blood pressure?” Hebe stared at him as she punched him on the arm before getting into the car, leaving Mike messaging the place he got hit.

During the car ride, she kept touching her chest, refusing to believe that her heart is aching for him. While she denied her feelings for him, Mike on the other hand kept his eyes on Hebe, wondering if she was really sick. Since she kept on rubbing her heart and occasionally, hitting it.

“What’s wrong with me?” She whispered to herself before turning to meet Mike’s eyes, she could feel her heart beating out of rhythm. “Damn you.” She cursed under her breath as she punched his arm once again. Mike stared at her in disbelief, “What did I do? I didn’t do anything to you and you’re punching me? The least you can do is tell me why you are hitting me! I can change! I promise, just stop hitting me and tell me what’s wrong.”

With each moment that passed, the time that were spent together, he was beginning to feel the old Hebe come back. He didn’t know he had a playful side to him, it wasn’t until he was making jokes to make Hebe feel more comfortable that he realized it himself. He was starting to become the person he was years ago. He was the boy who knew how to make jokes and lame excuses, his jokes were his only excuse to make her smile and laugh at his non-existent sense of humour. 

What more could he could ask for? To see the girl he fell in love with to smile once again was his only wish.