Theodore intertwined his fingers with Cindy's as he listened to her story. He seemed relaxed, unbothered the least. When Cindy finished talking, he brought her hands to his lips, kissed her knuckles and sighed heavily as he closed his eyes. She kept staring at him and after a brief moment of silence, he said;
"Let me do the worrying in your stead. Relax for now" looking into her eyes, he kissed her forehead. "I won't let any harm come over you nor your siblings, that much i can promise you. I know i haven't been the best husband. I'm sorry I left you all alone for that long. I'm back for good now" he muttered as Cindy sobbed softly. "I'm sorry, Cee"
Cindy knew Theodore meant everything he said, yet she couldn't stop sobbing. It turned out she was sobbing for a different reason now. He left her six months after their wedding, after he went on 'who knows what' agreement with Vanessa. He never stopped calling her. He reached out to her via any means possible to him. There wasn't a day in the past months she didn't hear his voice. But close proximity sure has it's own way with relationships. She couldn't get angry with Vanessa nor Theodore because she knew -deep down- everything, good or bad, was being orchestrated for her good. After sobbing for a while, she raised her head to look at Theodore. He hasn't changed a bit, she observed. His short, mixture of grey and black hair, knitted eyebrows, brown dilated pupils, long eyelashes, not so pointed nose, full lips, beautiful bright dark skin color, made him almost unnaturally handsome. Even the scare that extended slightly above his eyebrows to beneath his eyelashes on the right side of his face made him look dangerously handsome. Unable to keep her hands to herself, she began to trace his jawlines. Clean shaven, smooth skin, just like him. Nothing much had changed, at least not physically.
"Are you sure you're back for good?" Cindy couldn't help but ask.
"Yes, i am" he replied with a genuine smile.
"What deal did you make with Vanessa?" Cindy pried.
He brought his lips to hers and kissed her passionately before parting their lips. Cindy knew he was not going to reply no matter how many times she asked him but she wasn't going to give up yet.
"You're not going to tell me?" Cindy pressed.
Something about her demeanor told Theodore, she wasn't going to give up, until he told her something but he wasn't ready to spill it yet.
"I thought we talked about this already. It's been eighteen months now, Cee" he asked as he placed warm kisses on her eyelids. "Let it slide, please"
"Alright, my husband made a deal with my sister, and left me for eighteen months without telling me why and he now he wants me to forget it happened. Is that even possible? And my sister won't even tell me anything." Cindy said unable to hide her displeasure.
Theodore observed her a few seconds and began to talk.
"I never made a deal with Vanessa. She only told me about an observation she made and i took off from there"
"What did she observe?" Cindy asked rather softly.
"Can we talk about it later, Cee? Please...I missed you badly" he said and proceeded to kiss her nape sensually.
Cindy pushed his shoulders slightly, and he stopped to look at her.
"When and how did you get here?" Cindy asked snapping him out his daze.
After licking his wet lips, he answered;
"You summoned me"