Elegi Of Rose

"When are you gonna take me into those woods?" she asked him later that night. They were in their usual spot at the back of the house, sitting on the lawn bench.

"When do you want to?" he asked, playing with her hair, twirling it around his finger.

"Anytime. I want to be in there while I'm still here," she said and she felt his finger freeze. A brief tension passed between them for a moment.

"How about tonight?" he finally asked.

"Tonight?"

"Yeah, why not? We can go camping. That would be nice." She saw the glimmer in his eyes and she instantly knew what he was thinking.

A chuckle escaped her lips before he claimed her mouth for a kiss. "Okay, okay, I give in. We're going camping."

*****

"Stay on trail," Roy told her for the nth time.

"I heard you the last time," she said loudly, struggling with her flashlight and pack. "We could have just had dinner at home. It was more practical."

"It's not camping if we will not be roasting on fire."

"You made me carry one whole chicken!" she complained. "Shit!"

"What happened?" He stopped and turned around to face her. She was slapping her legs, jumping from one foot to another. "Why the hell did you wear shorts?" he asked when he realized what was happening. "I was expecting we'd be hiking or something!"

"It's nighttime, Yu," he said pointedly.

"I know!"

"Do you have some kind of repellant?"

"Why would I bring something like that?"

"Because it's nighttime and we're going into the woods."

"I already know that!"

He sighed and took off his backpack. "I have some."

"That's so gay, babe," she chuckled.

He pointed his flashlight right at her and said, "Do you want it or not?"

"Please, I'd love some." He handed her the plastic bottle and that was when she released her laughter.

*****

An hour later, they had set up camp and were roasting chicken. They sat side by side staring at the fire, the shadows it created dancing on their faces. "What would you do if he wakes up?" Roy asked her, his eyes not wavering from the fire as if he was talking to it.

"I don't know," she answered. Seriously, it was the only answer she knew today. And he shouldn't be asking questions like that! It shatters the mood. "What does that mean?"

"It means I can't talk about it right now."

He took a deep breath and lay on his back. "I didn't want to talk about it either anyway."

Ayu smiled, grateful that he took it lightly. She felt his finger drawing circles on her back as he lay there on the ground.

"Why do you like stars?" he was now drawing stars randomly with his finger.

"I don't know. I like the shape. It's all pointed and they point at every direction," she stared at the sky and smiled. "And they are always everywhere. Even they're not visible you know they are always there." "Hmm..." was all he said.

"Okay," she scooted and lay back beside him. He took her hand and intertwined their fingers. "You know almost everything about me but you never told me anything about you. That's unfair."

He chuckled. "There's nothing much to tell."

"I still want to know."

"What do you want to know?" his thumb played with her hand as he said it.

"I want to know the controversial stuff."

"That's something I never had. My life had been plain and simple," he moved his head to the right to face her, "until I met you. And don't think it was all good because you're one heck of a difficult woman to handle." "Should I be happy about that?" she pouted.

"Yes, of course. It's the closest to a compliment you'll get from me."

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"I hate you," she said lightly.

"No, you don't," his head moved closer and his breath tingled her face.

"I do sometimes," she answered breathlessly, anticipating the taste of his lips against hers.

"In that case, I should say the same thing," his lips were smiling widely as they landed on hers. He turned her on her back and covered her body with his. The chicken was forgotten as they relished themselves to the new fire they ignited. Ayu eagerly roamed her hands over her husband's back, loving every inch of it.

"I think the chicken is ready," she rasped against his lips.

"I'm hungry for something else," he whispered, his teeth travelling to her ear.

A tingling sensation rushed through her and she fought hard not to forget that her stomach was rumbling earlier. "Roy, I'm hungry. Like really hungry. Literally," she pushed him gently.

He claimed her mouth once again and pushed away with a groan. "Okay, let's eat. We have all the time in the world anyway."

Not all the time, she said in her mind. Days are ticking by...

They hungrily ate the chicken and talked some more. They talked about Ren and his upcoming party. They talked about her exhibit for the next month. They talked about almost everything but never about them. That was something they both mutually understood as a topic not safe to tackle. They talked and made love in the tent they had set up, forgetting about everything as they always do every time they were that close.

*****

The next day was really weird.

Roy seemed different.

Really different. He was silent than usual and when she asked him what was wrong with him, he said, "I'm fine."

She noticed that he was thinking about something as they packed up to go back home. Ayu was frowning all the way back, wondering if she did anything or said something that made him like that. He was not angry, but he was silent--almost distant.

What's freaking wrong with him? He's not undergoing andropause, is he? Because he's too young for that...

The moment they arrived home, Roy went straight to get a bath and locked himself in his office.

Ayu tried not to mind him and went on with her painting. She was working on something she didn't want him to see so she worked on her balcony for the rest of the day. It was his turn to clean up today so it was no problem. But the curious thing was that she did not see him anywhere near the vacuum cleaner or the rake or the lawnmower. He just stayed inside his freaking office doing God-knows-what.

Well, whatever his problem was, it was not hers to carry. So he was not talking about it, fine. She had a problem of her own. One was Sinta calling her telling her not to come back. Second, she got a text from Lis, Roni' sister who had hated her since the beginning of time saying she better not see her step inside her brother's room and that it was a good thing she was not there yesterday.

Yes, not everyone liked her. Sinta and Lis were proof of that. They always thought she was to blame of Roni being in that state. The sad thing was that, she agreed with them. That was one reason why she never got back to see Roni. For them, she was just someone who was trying to marry him for money. Ayu's family was well-off, but Roni's was way out of reach-just like Roy's. And by the time they were engaged, her father's company had already been struggling and that was when the rumors started.

She did not mind it, and neither did Roni. After all, they were in love and had no care for the world. And everything changed. With those simple words of his telling her they should call off the wedding, everything went tumbling down and her haters grew. Of course, she did not tell them about Roni's decision to call off the wedding because she was guilt-stricken. She accepted their accusations because she believed she deserved it. She endured every freaking day being in that hospital with his family and Sinta but when she had enough and finally left-one reason was Herland's urgings-they took it the wrong way and thought she was finally giving up.

Planning your weekend reading? Ensure you're on 000005s.org for uninterrupted enjoyment. The next chapter is just a click away, exclusively available on our site. Happy reading! Well, you couldn't please everyone and Ayu was never the person who would do such a thing just for that very reason. The only person she did that for was Roni.

He was all righteous and proper that she gave an effort not to please him, but to please the people he interacted with. He was always good to her, always there when she needed him the most, and he never listened to his family when they told him he should have left her. Roni was the perfect boyfriend. And in some part, it was exhausting for her because she always had to try her best not to disappoint him or his family, or his friends. That was the only thing she regretted ever doing for love. But other than that, she loved her relationship with Roni. Hell, she thought she loved it until it was all over.

Then her thoughts drifted back to Roy, her ever moody husband who decided for himself that he was alone and locked himself in his room--again. Like she had said before, he was completely different from Roni; different because she could freely show him the real her without hesitations or inhibitions. She could tell him what was on her mind because she got nothing to lose. And she could lie to him and do pranks all she wanted without caring if he'd say their relationship was

over.

But that was before things got complicated. That was before when she was certain she didn't want this marriage at all. That was when she thought she was still in love with Roni. That was before when everything was just a plain, black-and- white contract.

Now, her emotions were in rumble and his sudden shift of behavior this morning wasn't helping at all.

Hell, she better get out and take some time off. She covered her work with a cloth and kept it in her closet. She then went to her phone and dialed Rin's number.

She was helping his sister with Ren's party, with or without him.

*****

After dressing up in her usual jeans and shirt, she went and stood before his office door. She heard his intense voice-he was probably talking to someone on the phone-before she knocked. She heard him abruptly end the conversation. It was not like his usual business voice and it brought her a humongous curiosity to ponder on.

"Yes?" he asked when he opened the door, his face blank. She would have preferred it if he was looking grumpy or angry because she would know how to deal with it. But right now, he was just plain unreadable and it was killing her. "I'm going out."

"Where?"

"I'm going to meet Rin. We'll plan Ren's party."

He frowned. "I'll go get my keys."

"Why?"

"I'll take you to Rin. I'll just come back to pick you up."

"No, I can get a cab."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay. But call me if you need a ride."

"Sure," Ayu said and turned around to leave. She heard his office door close and she frowned.

That was it? Last night, he was adamant on telling her he was taking her to the hospital. And now he just said okay. She honestly didn't know if she should be happy about it or not. What's freaking wrong with him?