DAWN
After the quick but enjoyable hot shower, I put on the pyjamas and tread downstairs to the kitchen. I follow Kyle's cooking noises and the noise of him putting a pan over the fire. The moment I step into the kitchen, I see Kyle perched over an electric stove, stirring some sauce in a big pot.Is he a great cook?Have I randomly lucked into a husband that can cook dinners?Even though I lied and made my intentions for helping him out in the kitchen known, I think I have left out some crucial information from the conversation.The fact is I'm not a great cook.I can barely cook anything more than heating eggs and making the random batch of instant noodles that I can find lying in the back of my cupboard."It smells good.""Does it?" Kyle looks up from the simmering pot in front of him. "I just added some cilantro and thyme to the sauce. I settled on making shrimp pasta." Then he brings the sauce ladle to his lips. "Hmm. . .I think the sauce tastes good.""The dish sounds like a nice idea, especially if you know what you're doing."He smiles at me."Well, I got into cooking not long ago, and I took private classes from a Michelin-star chef." His eyes are burning with mischief, and I watch his smile evaporate into something else. Then I realise that he's smirking at me. "I happen to do things well, and the chef very much liked my cooking after I completed his culinary course. He said I turned into one of his best students because I learnt quickly and did well at everything.""Wow, who was it?""The chef?""Yeah, I mean, was he a celebrity chef?"He smiles convincingly at me with a mysterious glint in his eyes."Yep. The man has more than five million followers on his most followed social media account, and he happens to be one of those people you might call a Wunderkind. But then again, I'm not allowed to divulge his personal information because he doesn't make himself available for just about anyone." Kyle goes back to stirring the sauce. "He's highly regarded in his field and even lauded by his critics, and I kind of signed a confidentiality waiver when I started classes with him.""That does sound ridiculously secretive. But I guess I understand." I smile again, letting him off the hook. "Hope you had fun at these classes.""I sure did."Then I clap my hands against my thighs loudly, showing my enthusiasm for working with him and helping him out in the kitchen."So, what do you want me to do for you? How do I help you with the dinner? Should I start boiling the water in a new pot for the pasta?""Yeah, can you grab that green pot over there?" I bring the pot back from the line of pots hanging from the dish rack and hand it over to him. "Can you also grab me that piece of china?"I skip to the shelves again and grab the expensive-looking piece of china he's pointing at with his index finger. As soon as I reach his side, something happens, and I fumble with the grip of my fingers around the varnished, silky smooth surface of the plate, and the delicate plate slips from the hold of my index finger and thumb.Instantly, I get on my knees to correct the situation and retrieve the plate, but I watch it break into a million little pieces as soon as it meets the marble flooring. Embarrassed at causing chaos, I move to collect the pieces of the plate with my bare hands without giving it much thought. Kyle walks to my side, putting a comforting arm on my shoulder while giving it a reassuring squeeze."I'm so sorry about this mess." Shaking my head, I sniffle. "This is not what I had envisioned when I said I wanted to help you in the kitchen. I'm really sorry that I'm so clumsy and for breaking your expensive china.""It's fine, Dawn." He waves me off. "It's just a piece of china. I can always buy things like a million times." He adds to his thoughts with a laugh. "Also, just as a safety measure, I'll put it on my grocery list to buy more china since you break things when you seem stressed out."I bow my head down in apology since I can't bring myself to peer into his eyes."I'm sorry. I feel bad about it."While I apologise persistently, he ignores me and stops me from picking up more pieces when I am almost still after picking out a jagged-edged of broken china and stabbing my index finger with its sharp edge while at it. He takes my hands in his to investigate if I'm hurt or bleeding while he concentrates on the little wound on the padding of the index finger. Then he pulls me up from the ground."You need to stop picking up these sharp pieces." He exhales loudly. "I'll pick them up." His sharp and intense gaze makes me stop and retreat to the kitchen door. "Don't worry about the dinner either. I'll take care of it since I'm a good cook. Also, I cannot have many distractions while I cook for other people."I nod, my head hung in shame."Believe me. I get that.""Why don't you clean the wound up and wait for me at the dining table?" Then he scratches his cheek with the back of his hand as he adds something to the pot. "The first aid kit is behind the mirror in the guest room's washroom. You can easily find it and look around if you don't find it there."I nod my head again, feeling guilty."I'll make sure to do that."Then he gives me an empathetic smile."You tried to help me, Dawn, and that's all that matters." He nods in my direction. "Okay?""All right." I give him another small smile. "Okay."DAWN"How are you finding the pasta?" Kyle pushes the plate of side dishes towards me. I didn't know when he found the time to pickle some fresh vegetables, but he did find time to do that. "Would you like some more of the salad? We have more than enough," he passes me the salad bowl and the pesto dish, "so please help yourself."I wrap another string of pasta around my fork and bring it to my mouth. "It tastes delicious. You were not lying about your cooking skills." My comment earns a scoff that slips easily from Kyle's lips. His reaction makes me chuckle. "And to be honest, I'm eating so well tonight. Usually, I'll munch on any leftovers from the lunch I'll hurriedly cook for myself in the mornings or the night before, and I rarely make salads that look like this." I point to the salad bowl. "My salads are rarely this green or appetising." In my head, the word 'impostor' twinkles in bright neon lights as if it's a beer sign since I'm not talking about the absence of my cooking skil
DAWNI lie there nervously in Kyle's bed with my arms around my head, waiting in anticipation of what's about to happen. I know what he said. But is everything going to be okay between us if we sleep in the same bed?Will we be able to control ourselves?Will he be able to keep his hands off of me?Will I be the person who makes the first move?The question hounds me as I twist and turn under the soft duvet to make myself more comfortable. My nerves flare, and I wonder what spending the night in Kyle's room will be like since I haven't spent a night in a man's bed before. Sleep is still a far-fetched dream since my body feels as if it's on fire with want and expectation.I should have slept in the guest room to avoid feeling like a desperate moron.Tossing again under the duvet to adjust my body to a more comfortable position, I hear footsteps coming towards the room. I abruptly close my eyes to fake falling asleep. Kyle shouldn't know that I haven't had a wink of shuteye since I step
DAWNWhile I hear Kyle take another shower in the morning, I can't help but hide under the duvet. I can't bring myself to get out of bed because that means I have to run into Kyle again.Can my life get any more embarrassing?What have I done?How will I be able to face him today?The icing on the cake is that I work with him, and he's my boss.My husband is my goddamned boss.I still cannot believe it.Should I move to the guest room and hide in there?As I'm thinking these thoughts, Kyle comes out of the washroom with a towel wrapped around his chiselled torso. The moment he steps into the room, he stares confidently at me.The air in the room changes and I feel like I'm around no one other than my boss, and the situation reminds me of yesterday's afternoon meeting. The same boss who's also standing in front of me, half-naked. And I don't know how to feel about this.Is he doing this on purpose?"Aren't you going to shower and get ready for work?" He has a spare towel around his nec
DAWNKyle accepts the brown bag in his palm and holds it carefully against his chest with a confused smile playing on his lips. He peers inside the paper bag for a moment before his facial expression changes."You didn't have to do that for me, Dawn." Kyle stares at me with tender eyes. "This is awfully thoughtful and sweet of you. But you don't have to repay me in one way or another because I'm doing some things for you. After all, I want to do them."Shaking my head, I situate my gaze on his face."That's not what it is." I smile, remembering the breakfast he has just made me. And how it made me feel to be taken care of like that. No one I'm involved with has ever done that for me before. "This is me trying to care for you as you were trying to care for me. Don't think of it as repayment, but think about this gesture as my heartfelt consideration. That's all it is."He roughly shoves a hand in his hair, fixing it around the back of his head."But still. . ."G
DAWN"I can't believe I have so much work I need to accomplish today." I walk into the office room after getting a coffee refill for myself. Julie is still hunkered down at her desk, trying to fix some things on her current undertaking. "Are you making progress on that project, Jules?""Bah! This illustration is bugging me. It's difficult to fix all these dumb lines anyway." She snorts. "Why did I accept this project without a word? Especially when I knew it was going to give me a headache?"Taking a sip of my coffee, I smile at her."Maybe you were trying to impress Fiona with your workaholic tendencies. And I'll side with you on this one. It's hard to impress her.""It's not just that." Julie sighs. "Anyway, when you were gone, the office manager came in and told me Mr Waugh wanted to see you in his office. So yeah, hurry up and finish your coffee. You need to be there on time because he seems scary."My eyes widen at her response."Really?" Rubb
DAWN"Where did that come from all of a sudden?""Well, I have been thinking about it in the back of my head.""How about I say 'no' because I think I don't need to be extra rude to you just to make our colleagues more comfortable around you?"After thinking for a bit, I agree with his statement, so I nod."I guess I will be okay with that.""Hmm." He stares at me, trying to make out what I'm thinking. "Did someone say something to you? If yes, who was it?"Shaking my head, I put my eyes on the file he's playing with between his fingers. His long fingers are grasping the edge of the pages inside the file so tightly that it seems like if he's going to hold on to it any tighter, he'll rip the pages apart."No one said anything to me." I sigh. "No one has said anything to me yet.""Then why do you look so bothered about it?"I'm bothered because I don't want anyone to find anything about my private business.Why aren't you more bot
DAWNAs soon as I enter my office working space, a message dings on my phone's notification centre in my pocket as the device vibrates against my thigh. Shoving my fingers into my pants pocket, I fish my phone out, excited to see if Kyle has already texted me.But when I pull my phone out and stare at the phone's glowing screen, I see that my best friend, Leslie, has texted me. Running a hand through my hair, I remember I have forgotten to message her back and update her on how my date went the other night. And the crazy thing that I ended up doing because it felt exciting and just right.The sudden marriage.The man I slept with on the first date.These are some of the things that she would never expect me to engage in in a million years.But it happened.I did all of them, Leslie.Guess I should prepare never to stop hearing the end of it.Leslie is not the person to let this go with ease.Shaking my head, I unlock the screen to re
DAWN"Can you pass the hot sauce, Jules?" Julie looks up from her food and moves the few sachets of her untouched hot sauce toward me. "You sure you don't want it?" I check in with her again. "Because I'm going to use all of it. I can leave some for you, though."Julie shakes her head, taking a sip of her green juice."There's no need for that. You can use it all." She smiles at me after she puts her cup down. "Geez, this tastes funky.""Why do you even buy all that green shit? It tastes like dirt, to be honest."She chuckles softly at my choice of words. Then she gestures to the cup."Mine tastes like feet, but, you know, I got to get my vitamins in. I rarely eat any veggies these days, so I'm trying to compensate here." Rubbing her chin, she shoots me a look. "Just let me do that in peace."I wave her words off."Fine-e-e. Drink that earthy dirt smoothie shit for all I care."Julie laughs."Thanks for your support in all of my life