Such a Rude and Noisy Woman

Hiram's heart was overwhelmed at the sight of the three of them having dinner together.

"Look, it's Daddy! I think you haven't eaten yet. Come, have a seat and I'll get you a plate of food. We're having noodles!" Rachel said cheerily as she stood up.

When she was cooking for dinner earlier, she wasn't sure if he would show up to dinner or not, but she cooked enough food for him anyway. That's just how Rachel was.

So she was surprised to find that he really did come home for dinner.

Hiram nodded as he walked towards the dining table to take a seat.

She glanced at him, beaming. It had been a while since they had dinner together and she felt a lump in her heart at the lackluster amount of time they were spending together especially that she looked forward to dinner the most. It was when she was the most relaxed. She always was happy when Hiram was around - she just exuded this specific kind of joy that only came out when she was with Hiram. What she noticed though was that she didn't realize she was exuding it until it was gone.

She fetched him his food along with some steamed buns that Fannie had made the other day. She heated it up before serving it.

The twins were also giddy that their father was joining them for dinner after a long while. They were so excited, in fact, that they finished their food and not a single crumb was left on their plates.

It was part of Rachel's duty to do the chores and as she finished washing the dishes and putting them away, she was just closing all of the lights in the first floor when something made her pause. By the staircase was a figure just standing there.

"The kids sleeping now?" She mused, wondering how long he'd been standing there, lingering.

"No, they're being told a bedtime story now," he responded.

When he saw that the kids were engrossed in the story, he silently stepped out of their room.

Rachel nodded as she slowly tried to make her way up the stairs.

But Hiram was unmoving - he wasn't showing any indication that he would follower her upstairs.

When Rachel finally reached him, she paused and looked at him but she couldn't make out his face in the dark,"Are you... Are you going out at this hour?"

Rachel finished. She knew that she overreacted sometimes, especially the day Patrick died which sent a different message to Hiram.

But she was honest with him, she never did fall in love with Patrick, and she swore that to her grave. She admitted, though, that sometimes her heart beat faster when Patrick looked at her but that was it and nothing else. More so compared to how much she loved Hiram. "Mhm, okay," Hiram responded rather dryly as he brushed past her and went on his way.

Rachel turned around to watch him walk away. She decided to let it go, she took a deep breath to calm herself down, and continued her way to the second floor.

She peeked into the twins' rooms to check if they were asleep - they were sound asleep, tucked in their beds.

She silently walked in to turn off the story teller and place it back on their bedside table.

As she watched Jonny and Joyce sleep, Rachel was deep in thought.

She lost track of time when she was in the twins' bedroom. When she checked the clock, it was already ten. She decided it was time for her to go to bed too.

Rachel took a quick night shower before going to bed. When she was putting on her night gown, she paced back and forth in her bare feet still deep in thought. A second felt longer to her now.

All this thinking was driving her crazy - her mind was racing thinking where Hiram would be at this ungodly hour.

'Did he go and see Flora again?'

Rachel thought to herself. She was suspicious because how could Hiram go from barely surviving a day without seeing her to going days without her?

Rachel was overwhelmed, to say the least. While she couldn't stand all this overthinking and all the emotions that were coming out, she also couldn't stand the fact that Hiram was so cool and chill about everything. It only made things worse.

Hiram was king, like an eagle flying over everyone and he was beyond everyone, even her. She tried to reach out to him but he was just too far. All she could do was look up and watch him.

Unless, of course, he flew down and rested on her shoulders. But he wasn't doing that.

Rachel felt like she was walking on a cloud, unsure of her every step. She couldn't reach out to him not even when she had trouble in taking care of herself, not even when she needed him. Slowly, Rachel realized that she had never really gotten to know Hiram, she had never been able to go past his walls.

An hour had passed since Rachel last checked the time and she still lay on her bed, wide awake.

She finally accepted that obviously, she wasn't going to fall asleep anytime soon. She decided to skim through her phone and ask for advice at the forum she often visited. 'If one's husband didn't come home at midnight, where might he be?' Rachel typed.

Tons of replies came flooding in that Rachel wasn't sure which she should read first.

'Going to a bar?' One suggested.

'No, unlikely. Hiram was often too preoccupied to go to any bar' Rachel thought.

'Drinking out with his pals?' Another one said.

'No, because he wasn't too friendly with his friends recently, 'Rachel dismissed the comment.

'Messing around with another woman?' One boldly commented.

Rachel shook her head vigorously when she read this - no, impossible. Hiram couldn't. Hiram wouldn't ever. People were always quick to assume that all men were disloyal, but Hiram just didn't fit the bill. He was always abstinent even before they got together so he was definitely not interested in sleeping around.

As Rachel processed her thoughts, something came to mind, something that she hadn't thought of before.

She didn't hear an engine start when he went outside.

That means Hiram was only on foot - he didn't bring his car wherever it was that he went.

As soon as she realized this, Rachel put her phone away, wore her slippers, and made her way downstairs.

She looked around in the living room but he wasn't there. She went outside to see if he was in the courtyard but nothing. She decided to try her luck at the tiny garden beside their house.

Since Rachel was wearing bedroom slippers, she didn't make any sound, not even a squeak as she walked. And this was how she saw Hiram, completely out of character. A different Hiram.

At the garden, there was a swing where Rachel had asked a servant to sew a cushion in it a long time ago. She thought it was for the kids so they wouldn't feel cold when they were playing with the swing.

Lo and behold, Hiram was there, sitting at the very cushion. He was on the swing under the moon and dark sky. He was sparking almost in his light-colored shirt.

To Rachel, he looked like a god almost who had just descended from heaven. His face was that of perfection. His legs curled up as his hands lay on top of it, resting. One of his hands was holding a stick of cigarette and his gaze was towards a far-out distance. Elegant was he in this light, thought Rachel.

He was so deep in thought that he hadn't noticed Rachel approaching.

Rachel leaned over and wrapped her arms around him from behind,"My Mr. Wolf, what are you doing here sitting in the cold instead of staying inside our warm house? If you don't want to share a room with me tonight. It's okay. I can sleep in the other bedroom" Hiram snapped out of his daze as he glanced at Rachel's shadow on ground, "No, it's okay. I just went out here for some alone time."

"You can tell me! I know I'm the reason! I mean, look at you! You're out here freezing. Just come inside, you can have alone time inside. I promise I won't bother you!" Rachel said.

Then she stepped in front of him to try to make him go inside.

Hiram stared at her for a long time before finally standing up, still not saying anything.

Rachel sighed in relief as he stood up and followed her inside.

When they had gone upstairs, Hiram went straight to their bedroom. Rachel went the other way to the other bedroom. Rachel didn't mind sleeping in another room as long as he was back.

She had been thinking about this the past few days and she realized that what she said to him was going too far.

She thought it was ignorant of her to blame him for the explosion. She also learned a few days ago that the nearest Streams Company branch was the one required to rescue people when the explosion took place.

And Hiram's company had already given compensation to a couple of victims and their relatives.

The one on top carried the most weight - and he was dealing with a lot of stuff right now. He had to consider a lot of things before making any decisions, especially in his position. More so, he tried his very best to make it up to everyone.

She was only so frustrated because he wasn't sharing anything with her and this was causing so many problems, far worse and far many than he would've realized.

When she thought about things rationally, she realized how much weight he was carrying on his shoulders - far more and far heavier than she imagined.

As Hiram stepped into the bedroom, he frowned when he realized Rachel wasn't following behind him. Disappointed, he threw himself on the bed. He felt something had under his body and when he checked what it was - it was Rachel's phone.

Rachel didn't lock her phone and he opened it accidentally.

He saw the forum that Rachel was visiting earlier. He scrolled through to try and find out what Rachel had been searching and posting recently. 'What should the wife do when the husband is mad at her?'

'How to make one's husband answer her call when he is mad at her?'

'Is there any software that could make people answer your call automatically?'

Hiram burst into laughter as he read through these. How naive of Rachel to have time to think of all these things?

Hiram continued to scroll through Rachel's phone when he found something he didn't like. The smile disappeared on his face when he saw what it was.

It was the list of victims from the explosion.

Apparently, she had searched it more than once.