"Jerk! Turns out you've been deceiving me all this time!" exclaimed Sian as she threw her Chardonnay-filled glass towards her husband.
Cater remained silent. However, his expression was stern. His hand involuntarily gripped the hand of another woman who was not his wife even tighter.
Disgust and disappointment filled Sian's heart. Her chest felt heavy upon realizing the truth that her husband had been unfaithful. Her sharp gaze, once directed at her husband, now shifted to the woman beside him.
"Both of you deceived me. If only I had known sooner... No, this is the right time to know the truth. Hahahaha!" Sian erupted in frustration.
Who would have thought that the vacation trip to England with her husband would only make her feel hurt upon discovering the fact that her husband was having an affair with another woman?
Ah, this summer seemed to bring pain to Sian's heart.
***
July 2023
"You look happy today. Did something happen to make you so happy?" asked San, the young man who was a loyal customer at the café where Sian worked.
"Does my face look weird?" replied Sian as she placed San's ordered cup of Earl Grey tea, as usual. It was always his favorite drink.
"Your face looks like the Cheshire Cat. You're smiling too wide, it's scary to see." San took his tea and sipped it elegantly, looking like a nobleman. He transformed the atmosphere of the small café where Sian worked into something resembling a tea party for aristocrats.
"Well, then you don't have to look at it. So annoying. Early in the morning, you're already ruining someone else's mood," grumbled Sian. She then pulled up a chair and sat facing San.
"Hey! Why are you sitting down? Since when do you act like the boss here?" San was surprised by Sian's presumptuous behavior.
"Stupid. Today I'm off. Jamie never stopped me, even when I'm off, from coming to his café," Sian said lightly. It was true that Sian was off duty today. She worked at her close friend's café as a tea server.
"That Jamie is a pain! When I used to work part-time at this café, he never stopped nagging." San looked annoyed, recalling the days when he was constantly scolded by Jamie for supposedly attracting too much attention from female customers, including the trendy grandmas.
Sian laughed satisfactorily. She knew the reason Jamie never stopped nagging. It wasn't that he didn't like having customers. It's just that when San used to work with him, the handsome man's face had too strong an appeal and attracted aggressive women who nearly destroyed his small café.
"You know, San, I'm going on vacation for a week starting tomorrow, with my husband. Ah, you know, this is the time I've been waiting for the most. Going on vacation with my partner has always been a dream in my life. Especially since we're going to Liverpool," Sian enthusiastically told San.
Hearing the name of the city in England, located in the Northwest region, made San's face look a bit strange.
"Is something wrong? Why does your face look like an unpolished pot handle?" Sian noticed the change in San's expression. Honestly, she felt a little uncomfortable.
"It's nothing. I thought it would be the most enjoyable trip of your life. Hopefully, you'll be lucky." San seemed to say it oddly. But he seemed indifferent afterward.
Sian swallowed her saliva. Suddenly her throat felt dry. San's words disturbed her mind. But she tried not to think about it too much. She just assumed San was jealous of her. Because she knew, San always seemed jealous of her especially after she married Cater.
***
"Don't dwell on it too much. Maybe he's just too jealous of you," said Cater as he folded his shirt and put it in the suitcase.
Sian puffed up her cheeks like a balloon. "He always talks like that. If he keeps feeling jealous of me, why doesn't he try to find a lover? It would be very easy for him, especially with his handsome face," Sian ranted.
Cater just chuckled softly. After putting his shirt in the suitcase, he then took his wife to the backyard. If he let Sian keep ranting, her ears might turn into frying pans.
***
"Help, I need somebody, help, not just anybody." Cater was singing one of The Beatles songs titled "Help!" which was released in 1965. It was his favorite song.
Sian herself enjoyed the song being sung by Cater. Her husband, who worked as a vocalist for the band, had always loved The Beatles. That's why Sian chose Liverpool as the city she wanted to visit because Liverpool itself was considered the hometown of The Beatles.
After singing his favorite song, Cater then joined his wife, sitting down and enjoying tea and other light snacks.
"What's the reason you like the song 'Help'? Every time you sing it in front of me, you almost sing it out." Sian was curious why her husband liked to sing that song so much. Although she didn't know much about The Beatles, she was quite sure that the world-famous band didn't have just one or two famous songs. But Cater always sang that song, making it seem like The Beatles only had one song in front of him.
"Surprised that you're interested in my reason for liking that song. Usually, you seem indifferent," Cater said, trying to hold back his laughter.
"What's up? I'm just curious. You've never told me the meaning of that song," protested Sian.
Cater sighed. "I want you to interpret the meaning of the song yourself. Find out its meaning on your own before I tell you. But it seems like, all this time, you haven't been interested in finding out," he said.
"I don't really understand about that. So I haven't thought about it much. All I know is, you often sing that song in front of me," Sian felt puzzled by her husband's words.
"Is that so? Ah... our tastes are different indeed. I can't force you to keep knowing everything I like, right? Because I always intend to make you feel free in our relationship. I know that you're not the type of woman who likes to be restricted or overly protected." Cater smiled thinly and looked at his wife with an expression that strangely looked sad.
Sian didn't understand why, suddenly, the atmosphere became sad. She felt as if Cater was dissatisfied with her and looked disappointed. But Sian herself didn't know whether it was just her feeling or whether something really happened that made her husband feel dissatisfied with her.
"Cater, if there's something that makes you uncomfortable, please tell me. I'll never be able to know what's truly in your heart if you don't tell me. I'll never know what you want if you just stay silent," said Sian sadly.