Fourteen years back, just some bad kids racing down the hallway, their little footsteps echoing off the walls as they approached a worn-down brown door. With a mischievous smile, Thiolana inadvertently stepped on Seran's face causing his cheeks to squish together as she climbed onto his back. Peeking through a tiny window in the kitchen door, Thiolana grinned mischievously, her smug expression growing as she glanced down at Seran. Undoubtedly, he knew she was up to no good as usual.
"No fair, Lan Lan! Why do I have to be the one being stepped on?" Seran asked, grunting.
"Who's the oldest, Seran?" She asked in a sarcastic, smug way.
"You are," he mumbled, bracing himself as Thiolana put one foot onto his back.
"And who's the smartest?" Thiolana questioned teasingly.
"You are, big sister."
embarrassed, Seran muttered without any argument in defeat."
"That's right. Now, hold still," she shushed him, adjusting her wobbly balance over his spine.
Carefully listening to her parents talk behind the door, hearing the sound of splashes, clicks, and gentle running water. The squeak of the water nozzle as it's being turned off. Andrea places a wet dish into the dish rack with her soaked hand emitting a sparkle from the small diamond ring on her ring finger. Droplets of water dripped from her fingertips as she rested her hands on the kitchen sink. Ivor, her husband, slouched in a chair, resting his elbows at the table.
"How was work today? Did you do anything out of the ordinary?"She said, timidly putting away the remaining dishes. "Did you get that new promotion you wanted so badly?"
Ignoring her comments, he impassively intertwined his fingers together.
Shakily, she hurled a plate in his direction, missing him by a hair. "Answer me, Damn it!" she yelled.
The tone in his voice was composed as he delivered the news."I got the position,' Ivor said confidently. Mamon's itching for new talent, my job is to find that new talent and bring in the new prospects, as the new lead recruiting agent." As he spoke, he absentmindedly swirled the spoon in the black coffee mug concurrently as he spoke with pure determination.
"On Tuesday morning, I'll be heading to Japan for an audience with the C.E.O of Mamon," he says as he continuously stirs the coffee with the spoon.
"Ivor is this another business trip or another visit to see that woman?!" Andrea exclaimed, her voice filled with anger. She slammed her left hand onto the table, causing the coffee to spill over.
Ivor's eyes followed the spilled coffee, streaming across the table as the droplets hit the surface of the floor.
"Andrea, not this nonsense again! What are you lecturing me about now?" he said as he sat confused.
"Nonsense!" she shouted, squinting her sandy brown eyes at him.
Upon removing her hand from the table, she revealed a conspicuous act: a hidden photo she had uncovered. "Still think it's just nonsense!"
Ivor's eyes widened in disbelief.
The image had a clear view of himself going into a high-rise apartment building with a woman accompanying him. Her face was halfway covered by the lapel of her long black coat. Holding an umbrella over her head in the night.
Ivor reached for the photo to get a closer look at it. Suddenly, Andrea quickly snatches it from the table from Ivor.
"Where'd you get this photo from?" he said, shaking his head left and right twice in disbelief.
Grasping the photo behind her back, shaken up by the events her voice cracks as she tries to speak, holding her composure from tearing up.
"Who is she, Ivor? How long have you been seeing her?"
"It's not what you think. She's just a colleague," Ivor said, fretful, shrugging his shoulders nervously.
Covering her mouth with her left hand, sobbing into it. Andrea took her wedding ring off and sat it inside of the spilled coffee.
"Wait, let me explain!" I was just going to overlook some information about one of the girls that had gone missing. I wasn't going there for no reason, it was a serious situation. The press would've been all over us if we didn't find her."Ivor said desperately in a sweat.
Ivor extended his arm to her, but Andrea stepped backward. Out of reach of Andrea, he could feel the cold look in her eyes, his hand slowly lowered.
"Ivor, there's nothing left to explain. I want a divorce." Andrea said, heartbroken.
A huge thud from behind the door occurred, alerting the two of them to turn their heads quickly towards the doorway in a panic. Andrea puts her hand on the door handle, slowly twisting the door knob until she yanks it open. Awkwardly her two children had fallen onto one another, clumsily.
Confused, Andrea Asked, "Seran, Thiolana, what're you both doing?"
Sitting on Seran's back, Thiolana took her little report card and waved it around to her mother.
"Look, Momma! I've got all A's again!" Thiolana cheerfully shouted.
Masking her emotions, their mother put on a fake smile. Her bottom lip trembled to suppress her true feelings. She took the report card nodding her head up and down.
"I'm very proud of you, Lan Lan."
Andrea said, putting a magnet to keep it in place on the fridge along with the rest of her previous good report cards.
Seran had a big grin on his face, missing one of his front teeth. Andrea picked him up at her waist to carry him.
"Alright, kids time for bed," Andrea announced tiresomely.
Thiolana grasped her mother's hand gently.
"Pappa!" Seran shouted, tossing both his arms into the air, overjoyed to see his father at home.
"You can speak to Daddy later, Seran. You've got school tomorrow," Andrea said, hiking up the stairs in her socks with Seran at her hip.
Entering the children's room, with the click of the light switch as she turned on the lights, she placed her two children in their beds. Seran's bed is to the far left of the room and Thiolana's to the far right.
"Momma, do we have to go to bed? It's still early. The sun is still out, Momma," Thiolana pouted as she asked.
Leaning by the doorway, Andrea nodded her head yes as she replied, "Big day at school tomorrow. Rainman says, 'It'll rain all day tomorrow.' So I'll need both my little cubs to be fully rested."
"Awww!" they both said, plopping their heads onto their pillows.
Turning out the lights, Andrea slowly shut the door behind her.
As it squeaked shut, she whispered in a feather-soft tone, "Goodnight, sweethearts."
Andrea's slow tip taps echoed through the house as she went downstairs. Each step gradually grew more distant, until completely fading, leaving silence throughout the stairway.