He spoke warmly to her, “Are you awake?”
Nicole sat up lazily and looked around the room. “How did I get home?”
Her question sparked hope within him. Could she have remembered something?
He suppressed his doubts and replied, “You were already home when I came back. What’s wrong?”
Nicole frowned and seemed to be deep in thought. “I remember. I remember going out with Sheila…”
She started to recollect her memories but before long, she hit a wall. Her mind was blank.
Evan handed a cup of warm water to Nicole. “You must be mistaken. It was probably just a dream.”
A dream?
Nicole took the cup from him. Her eyes scanned the room. When she saw the clothes on the clothes rack, her skepticism grew.
I clearly remember going out. I even ransacked the closet in search of one specific piece of clothing. If it were a dream, why would the clothes be there?
“Drink some water, Nicole. Are you hungry?”
Nicole eyed the water. She gulped down several mouthfuls and paused for a while before handing the cup back to Evan.
Evan’s expression was dour and he stood still instead of receiving the cup.
Nicole knitted her brow and softly called out to him, “Evan.”
Her voice pulled a reaction from him. He took the cup from her and placed it on the table.
Nicole could not shake the feeling that Evan was hiding something from her. I can tell from his eyes that there’s something he isn’t telling me.
“A penny for your thoughts? Did something happen?”
Evan hesitated. “I was thinking… Why don’t we go on a vacation? We can go wherever you want. We’ll treat it like our honeymoon.”
Nicole was surprised by his suggestion.
She considered his proposal before replying, “The children have school, and you need to manage the Lane Corporation and Seet Group. Since the company is about to undertake a large project, you’re about to be very busy. Why don’t wait till the children are on holiday and when you have more free time to go? The six of us will be able to go together.”
Nicole always had others in mind.
He wanted to take her out and spend time with her. He was certain that keeping her positive would be helpful to her illness.
“A honeymoon is only meant for the two of us. There’s no need to take the four of them. I’ve settled all the company’s projects. Let’s discuss where to go…”
His serious demeanor incited Nicole to interrupt him. “I don’t want to go now. Let’s talk about it when we decide to go, okay?” she whined.
She had been experiencing intermittent dizziness recently and did not want to burden Evan.
Faced with Nicole’s puppy dog face, Evan decided to go along with her decision.
He cupped her ivory face and was about to speak when her phone rang.
It was from Maya. Nicole answered.
“Do you miss me, Maya?”
Maya suddenly burst out into tears. Nicole was immediately gripped with concern. “What’s wrong, Maya?” she asked anxiously.
“Mommy, add Grandma into the parents’ group chat. She can’t get the announcements that the teacher sends out.”
“Okay, I’ll add Grandma now. Are you crying over this, Maya?” Nicole asked curiously. It seemed like a trivial matter to her.
“No.” Maya sniffled. “Mommy, the teacher announced in the group for us to wear our uniforms for exercise. Grandma didn’t know, so I was the only one who didn’t wear it. I wore the new waistcoat instead. When we were doing the exercise, everyone… everyone laughed at me. They said that from afar, I looked like a tortoise!”
Nicole froze. She pictured the expansive field. Maya was wearing the waistcoat, her stubby body showing off her clear inadequacies, while the children circled her.
