"I will get back at you later. Right now I need to see if the meat is still edible or not." Leena knew that the meat was probably not edible. Her lips thinned in a grim line.
"The meat is burnt? Then what would we eat? Please don't eat me." Patricia looked at Leena with wide eyes. Seeing how pissed off Leena was, she definitely regarded it as a possibility.
Ah, that tells me it might be a good idea after all. Thank you, I will consider it." Leena glanced at Patricia with a sly glint in her eyes. She followed Kevin and left a shocked Patricia behind, who was frozen in place. Patricia never thought that she would shoot herself in the foot one day.
"The meat is burnt. We can't eat it, so I have to throw it all in the dustbin," Kevin said when Leena walked in. He poured the burnt dish in the garbage.
"I'm so sorry! It is your favorite dish." Leena lowered her head in shame, like a child who had been caught doing something wrong. Kevin felt amused at Leena's behavior. He wasn't even mad, for crying out loud. Why was Leena acting like she did something awful?
That's all right. Just be more careful from now on, okay? I don't want any accidents to happen to you." Kevin didn't blame her for ruining his favorite dish. He just wanted Leena to be more careful and not hurt herself. He only cared about her well-being.
"Yeah, of course. I will be more careful. At least we have other dishes." Leena bit her lower lip gently. She glanced at the wasted dish in the dustbin with guilty eyes. She had planned to cook Kevin's favorite dish for him, but it was all ruined now.
"What were you two doing just now?" Kevin turned to face Leena, thinking of the water on the living room's floor. He was curious as to why it was such a mess.
"It was just as you saw. While I was cooking dinner, Patricia got the floor in the living room wet. She said that she was helping me with housework and just mopping the floor. But clearly, she didn't know how to do it! She didn't even dry the mop, can you believe it? So I got into an argument with her. About the rest, I believe you saw it just now." Leena pursed her lips, feeling a bit embarrassed.
Oh, my poor little wife. Not only do you have to look after me when I get home from work, you also have to clean up after your best friend now," Kevin couldn't help but tease her as he caressed her face affectionately.
So, what should we do now?" Leena raised her head, looking at him with big and innocent eyes.
"Well, I guess we can look after ourselves. Do you expect Patricia to do it, though?" Now that Kevin knew what had happened, he realized that Patricia was bad at housework. He didn't think they would get any help from her.
Of course not! I will be glad as long as she doesn't add to our work." Leena shivered when she imagined Patricia helping her again. She would never want her friend to do the household chores again. The more the latter helped, the more Leena had to fix.
"I will go and clean up the dining room. Be careful in the kitchen, okay?" Kevin didn't know what Leena was cooking, so he decided to clean up the floor instead.
Yeah. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bother you. I know you must be tired after work. Just... I'm sorry." Leena's tone was very apologetic. It sounded like she was talking to a stranger, not her own husband.
Nana, who am I to you?" Kevin suddenly asked out of nowhere. There was a deep frown on his face. Kevin didn't like Leena talking to him as if they were complete strangers, not husband and wife.
"Um, of course you are my husband. Why? What's wrong?" Leena asked, looking at Kevin in utter confusion. She didn't understand where this question came from.
"If you are aware that I am your husband and that we are a married couple, why are you still being this careful around me?" This was not the first time that Kevin had talked to Leena about this. He didn't know why she was still walking on eggshells around her own husband. Kevin was starting to feel more and more powerless about this.
"I'm just afraid that you would be unhappy with me." Truthfully, Leena didn't like being on her guard around her husband either, but she couldn't help it. She was always cautious around Kevin to make sure she didn't do anything to upset him.
"All right. I think it's my fault. I haven't made things easy for you. I didn't let you feel safe enough to let your guard down around me. Which is why even though we are a couple, you are still hesitant around me. You don't really think of yourself as my wife, you are just playing the role for my sake." Kevin let out a silent sigh. He assumed that she would know how he felt about her, even though he hadn't told her outright. But it seemed that he was wrong. Leena still didn't get it.
"What do you mean?" Leena was becoming more and more confused at Kevin's words. She didn't understand what he was trying to tell her.
"I can't explain it to you, Nana. You have to figure this out by yourself." Kevin put his hands on her shoulders and patted her. He walked out of the kitchen. If he straightaway told Leena what he really meant, she would probably still be wary around him. He hoped that one day, Leena would figure out what he really wanted.
Leena looked at Kevin's receding figure and bit her lower lip. She was in deep thought and wondered what Kevin meant. Was he right? That she didn't think of herself as his wife? Leena was puzzled.
Kevin's words kept repeating in her mind. She couldn't let it go. She still smiled and went about her routine, but her heart lingered on the strange question Kevin had brought up. The next day, when she met Gerard, her mind was still miles away.
"Mignonne, are you okay?" Gerard looked at Leena, feeling a bit concerned.
Oh! I'm fine. Don't worry. Professor Bella will be in the city tomorrow, right? I want to ask you if she has contacted you in advance." Leena tried to hide that she had spaced out by posing Gerard the question. She had a smile on her face, but it seemed a bit forced.