Page 30 of Give It a Day
The cute little lanterns sway gently in the breeze. The musicians are playing soft music as the number of guests dwindles. Way earlier, I’d asked the musicians if they knew Hisaishi’s “Merry-Go-Round of Life”, you know, the song from the movie,Howl’s Moving Castle. When the musicians answered my request by making faces ranging from ‘Whodoesn’t?’ to ‘Duh’, I ignored their rude stares and asked them to play it to close the party. I thought it’d be fitting since the title of the song is how I feel like my life’s been. Except not so merry. Maybe it’s time for a change. Or maybe it’s time for me to embrace the change I’ve been hurled into.
Dae and I spend a few more lingering moments with the last few guests telling us their goodbyes, and then, spend the rest of the late evening with my parents-in-law showing me around the vineyard. They seem like surprisingly pleasant people.
So they’re rich, good-looking, and pleasant?Pick a lane, people.
As the dusk turns darker, hours passing by, I breathe without a care in the world, the seabreeze soothing my soul. I realize only for a brief moment that I haven’t spent this day drowning myself in worries, and drinking the night away. All because of Dae.
As Clo talks about why the seawater’s mist is good for the vineyard, I stare up at my husband.My husband. Dae is not only gorgeous—with his sea-breeze tousled hair, revealing the perfect structure of his striking face—but he’s also mystifying, because hebelievesin me.
I’m his wife, except now it’s starting to feel more real than pretend.
8
Damon
The bedroom is a blank canvas, stripped of any identity but deliberately so. Pristine white walls stretch unbroken, interrupted only by a single, large window draped with sheer curtains that let the moonlight spill across the glossy oak floor. Against the wall is an understated bed, dressed in crisp white linens. A vanity sits against one wall, its mirror spotless, the surface bare, as if waiting for her touch. A small dresser and a single armchair round out the space, each piece minimalist and unobtrusive. It’s a room left unfinished, not for lack of care but as a quiet offering. For her. For Kaye. For my wife.
Though I only had a day to prepare for her arrival, I wanted to make sure our marital bed is in a room where she can do anything she pleases—decorate it to feel more like her home, or destroy it if she so desires. At this point, I’d give her anything.
But with us in this new space, it feels like Kaye has her walls up again. I thought I’d finally gotten through to her, but there’s a tension in the air that tells me she’s in her head again, letting the thoughts run rampant. And if she runs, she knows she can’t evade me. I’ll catch her, so I simply watch what she’ll do next.
Kaye walks around the room unhurriedly, taking everything in.Earlier, my butler brought her to my bedroom where everything about it was dark and extravagant—the wayIlike it. But here, our marital bedroom should be aboutus.
“You’ve been quiet,” I say as I watch her stand by the window. “That’s not like you.”
She doesn’t turn, just stares out into the midnight darkness beyond the window. “Maybe I’ve run out of witty one-liners.”
A smile tugs at my lips despite myself. “Doubtful.”
Finally, she turns, her lips curving into that teasing smirk she wears like armor. “Maybe I’m just overwhelmed by your remarkable charm, Dae. It’s tiring, really.”
I close the door behind me. The click echoes, loud in the silence. “Or maybe you’re stalling. Waiting for me to cross some invisible line, so you can push me back again.”
Her eyes narrow, but there’s no real heat in them. “You’re not giving me much to work with. Shouldn’t you be gloating about how you’ve got me right where you want me?”
“I don’t need to gloat,” I say, closing the distance between us in slow, measured steps. “You already know.”
She laughs a short, sharp sound. “You’re too much, Dae.”
“Yet you’re here with me, in our new bedroom.”
She tilts her head, eyeing me with mock curiosity. “Maybe I’m just here for the big bed. It’s been a long day, and like I said, you reallyaretiring.”
I smile a little, letting her jab land without resistance. She uses her little jokes like a shield, but I know better. I’ve seen the way her body betrays her around me. She doesn’t hate me. She doesn’t even dislike me. She simply doesn’t want to admit that there’s something between us too palpable to push aside.
I stop a few feet away, giving her space even though every instinct screams at me to close it, to touch her, to claim what’s mine. “You cankeep pretending all you want, Kaye, but I know what you’re thinking.”
Her smirk falters for half a second before she catches herself. “Oh, is that what we’re doing now? Reading each other’s minds? Let me guess then, you think that deep down, I’m in love with you, right?”
“No.” The gravity of my voice makes the air heavier between us. “I know you’re scared because you know that if you run, I’ll always catch you. I’m your soft landing—the person you can call home—and that scares you for some reason, most likely because you’ve never had anyone you could rely on before.”
Her breath catches, barely audible, but enough to make my heart drum. She steps back instinctively, bumping into the edge of the bed. “You’re really full of yourself, you know that?”
I take another step, careful to keep my movements slow, controlled. “Maybe, but that doesn’t make me wrong.”
She swallows hard, her bravado cracking enough for me to see the vulnerability underneath. It’s like seeing a shooting star, such a rare sight. “What do you want from me, Dae? You’ve already won. You’ve got the ring on my finger. You showed me off at the reception. I’m in your bedroom. What else is there?”
“Everything,” I say without hesitation. “I told you, Kaye. I want everything. Your trust, your joy, your fire. I want every part of you, even the parts you don’t think you can give.”
