[Side Elena]
Back to the afternoon, in the apartment in the other city, Elena was sitting at the dining table, ironing clothes that had dried on the rack. Her heart still felt calm, and a faint smile was on her face. Suddenly, "dring," her smartphone rang. She picked it up and saw James's name displayed on the screen. She immediately answered it.
"Hello?" she greeted.
"Hello, honey, I have good news! My project got approved! Let's go out tonight. I'm coming home early. Get ready this afternoon, okay?" James replied on the phone.
"Oh, really? Congrats, honey. Okay, but I'm going to the supermarket quickly after this for some monthly groceries, then I'll get ready. You'll be home at the usual time, right?" Elena asked.
"Yes, I have to go now, honey. We'll talk more later. I have to go back in. I'm still signing the contract," James replied.
"Wait, why did you step out, honey?" Elena asked.
"I wanted to tell you first. You're more important than signing the contract, hehe," James replied.
"You're something else. Hurry back in, or it might cause trouble," Elena said.
"Okay, I'm going in now. See you at home, I love you," James said.
"Yes, I love you too," Elena replied, feeling a small flower begin to grow in her barren heart.
Elena hung up the phone and put it back in its place. After that, she continued ironing her clothes, occasionally glancing at the kitchen shelf where she kept the leather-bound book wrapped up. Her smile grew wider because her heart was now a beautiful flower garden.
"Thank goodness the project was successful. I'm happy for you, honey," she said in her heart, even though the flower garden in her heart was already being visited by bees that were telling her she would be moving again.
After finishing the ironing, Elena immediately rushed out of her apartment and went downstairs to go to the supermarket. Just as she stepped out of the lobby,
"Mommy... mommy... let's eat," a boy, only about 5 years old, invited.
"Okay, what do you want to eat, sweetheart?" replied a woman about the same age as her.
Seeing the woman with her son, who seemed very attached to his mother and vice-versa, Elena froze for a moment. Only half of the flower garden that had filled her heart remained, the other half turning barren again, eaten by thousands of bees.
The reason was that every time James got a new project, they would definitely move, and her dream of settling down and having a child would become even more distant. She smiled but frowned, then pulled her bag up and continued walking away from her apartment tower.
Upon her return, Elena immediately put her groceries away in the fridge. Unexpectedly, "click," she heard the door open. Elena turned to see James walking in. She immediately turned off the stove and went to meet him,
"Wait, honey, you're home already?" Elena asked, surprised, as she took James's bag.
"Yes, honey, I need to get ready," James replied.
"Get ready? Where are you going?" Elena asked.
"I have to leave for the capital city tomorrow to oversee the contract signing with the other party. I'll be gone for about two days. Sorry, honey," James replied.
"Is there going to be entertainment first? To take two days?" Elena replied, her voice trembling.
"What can I do? It's usually like that. But don't worry, honey, I won't go overboard. You trust me, right?" James replied.
"Yes, I trust you. Okay, wait a minute, I'm will cooking our meal. I'll call you when it's done. You just rest first," Elena said, turning around.
Suddenly, James hugged Elena from behind and held her close. He also sniffed Elena's neck until Elena felt ticklish and wiggled her shoulder.
"What is it, honey?" Elena asked.
"Hehe, charging first. We'll be apart for two days, so I don't want the battery to run out there," James replied.
"Ugh... you're something," Elena replied, smiling, while holding James's cheek, whose chin was resting on her shoulder.
After that, James went into the bathroom to shower, and shortly after, he came out again and went into the bedroom. Elena begin to cook their dinner. Her heart was blooming again, and a wide smile was on her face.
"He doesn't want to be apart, huh? I'll give him something more intense in bed after dinner, hehe," Elena said in her heart.
Elena quickly finished her cooking and arranged the dishes on the table. After that, she quickly went to the bathroom to clean her sweaty and sticky body from cooking.
"La (humming),"
"La (humming),"
Elena was humming happily, scrubbing every part of her body with soap several times. After showering, she put on a really sexy lingerie with no underwear. Then she immediately went to the room to invite James to dinner and planned to seduce him so they could have an intimate night together.
She opened the door cheerfully, but her expression changed when she saw the whole room was dark.
"Snore."
"Snore."
James's loud snoring echoed in the room. With extreme disappointment in her heart, Elena closed the door again. She walked wearily to the dining table and started eating the food she had prepared all by herself.
"It's the same as usual. I was just about to give him a hot night, but.... thinking about it, he has to leave tomorrow. It's my fault for hoping too much. I really want to be pregnant and have a child," Elena said in her heart.
She turned to look at a bottle of whisky that James's boss had given James for his achievement. She stood up, walked over to the bottle, and poured it into a glass. "Gulp." She drank one glass completely, then walked to the kitchen. She took the book she had hidden and returned to the table. After continuing her meal, she drank another glass of whiskey.
"Thud."
Elena, who couldn't handle the alcohol, collapsed asleep on the dining table with the book under her head.
***
"Huh,"
Elena opened her eyes. She saw herself in a quiet bar with no one around. There was only a bartender behind the bar cleaning glasses and a male patron sitting at the bar holding his glass. Elena walked toward the bar. She looked around. The atmosphere in the bar truly had the perfect vibe for spending the night alone and washing away a disappointed heart.
She approached the man who was sitting there, playing with his glass. She leaned her face next to him to see who the man was. As soon as she saw the man's face, she immediately sat down next to the man, who looked troubled, and turned to look at the bartender.
"Please give me a Scotch with ice and lemon!" Elena called out, raising her finger.
"Yes, ma'am," the bartender replied.
The man next to her turned, and his face immediately brightened when he saw Elena, who was wearing a black blazer and a white shirt like a working woman, sitting next to him.
"How are you, Mr. Ethan?" Elena greeted with a sweet smile.
"I'm well, Ms. Elena. I thought you weren't coming tonight. How are you, Ms. Elena?" Ethan replied politely, a wide smile on his face.