“How? Have you found Cesilia?” Alexander hadn’t entered the house yet, and Meri bombarded her son with questions.
Alexander nodded softly. “Yes, Mom. I found her at the agency, and she said she stayed there last night.”
“Then, did she tell you anything about what happened to her last night?” Meri pressed, very curious about what Cesilia did last night.
“She said she was tired and fell asleep, that’s why she couldn’t activate her phone. And when morning came, she immediately went to work. I did see her well-dressed, ready for a photoshoot.”
“Well, thank goodness if that’s the case.” Meri felt relieved that Cesilia wasn’t affected by the drug she put in the food last night.
However, there was still something bothering Meri because it was highly unlikely that Cesilia was fine after consuming the drug. If Cesilia ate, she would undoubtedly experience what Alexander felt. But Meri kept her analysis to herself for now; she didn’t want to discuss it yet because Alexander’s health was more important to her.
“Yes, you should go upstairs and rest.”
“Did you make an appointment with the doctor, Mom?”
“Yes, but since you weren’t here, I sent the doctor away and asked for another doctor to come. This doctor won’t mind waiting until tomorrow.”
“Alright.” Alexander replied briefly, before dragging his feet upstairs. He felt lazy to climb the stairs, but his room was up there.
The room Alexander headed to was his and Cesilia’s bedroom. He lay down there, scanning the entire room, the place where they used to chat and joke together. But everything was gone since Cesilia took the contract with the famous product.
“I can’t guess when your time will be available for me like before. Even if not every hour, at least when I come home, you’re at home.” He patted the empty spot beside him, where Cesilia used to lie, hugging him. Now, it was empty, just like Alexander’s feelings.
Being angry or rebellious wouldn’t help because Cesilia wouldn’t accept that. If he showed that he disagreed with her decisions, Cesilia would just hate him. She wouldn’t listen to what he said. That’s why Alexander chose to support all of Cesilia’s decisions for the sake of peace in their marriage. Even if he had to swallow a bitter pill, Cesilia didn’t have time for him anymore. He didn’t know how long it would be.
But if he could hope, he hoped this would only last for a month or two, not the two years according to the contract she signed.
***
“Can you take care of Alexander in his room?” Meri asked, tapping Casandra’s arm gently. The girl appeared to be sound asleep.
She didn’t want to, but Meri needed Casandra to take care of Alexander in his room to bring them closer together.
Casandra blinked and groaned, nodding slightly as she quickly sat up. “Has Alexander come home, Mom?” she asked.
Meri helped Casandra to stand up. “Yes, he just came home, and it seems like his fever is getting worse. You should take care of Alexander in his room while waiting for the doctor to come. How about it?”
“Okay, Mom.”
Casandra tied her hair in a quick bun before leaving the room and heading to Alexander’s room. As soon as Casandra entered the room, Meri hurried downstairs to ask the house assistant to prepare chicken soup.
“Pardon me, Sir.” Casandra hesitated, entering and approaching the bed. She sat on the edge, looking at Alexander, who had closed his eyes.
Casandra knew that Alexander wasn’t asleep. He was just covering his eyes with his arm.
“Has the doctor come?” Instead of answering Casandra’s greeting, Alexander asked her another question.
“Not yet, Sir. The doctor came when you were out, but since you weren’t home, Mama asked the doctor to come back and said they would replace him with another doctor who won’t get angry if he has to wait a long time.” Casandra caressed her neck. “Oh, yes, Sir. If you allow me, Mama asked me to stay here to take care of you. But if you don’t want me to, I can leave.”
Rather than getting scolded, it was better to make sure first, right?
“Just do what Mama says.” Alexander replied without looking at Casandra.
The girl nodded, understanding that even though Alexander didn’t like her being there, there was no reason for Alexander to refuse if Meri asked her to stay.
Inside the room, Alexander and Casandra were quiet. The girl occasionally stole glances at Alexander and quickly averted her gaze to the ceiling when Alexander glanced back at her.
But when half an hour passed, they heard a knock on the bedroom door.
“Please come in!” Casandra answered, getting up from her seat to let a young doctor into the room.
“Overtime again?” the doctor named Frans said, checking Alexander’s condition.
Alexander shook his head. “No.”
“If it’s not overtime, it’s unusual for you to be sick. You usually complain only about lack of rest. Staying up late, right? Just about that, right?”
“That’s usually the case. This is unusual. I…”
“Catch a cold.” Frans found the reason for Alexander’s health drop. “It’s strange for you to complain of something else. Did you play in the rain? Swim until you lost track of time?”
“Spent hours under the shower.” Alexander interrupted.
“What were you doing?” Frans was taken aback, not expecting Alexander’s answer to be so far from his expectations. Why would Alexander spend hours under the shower?
Alexander glanced at Casandra, who was standing not far from Frans. “Cas, please get Frans a drink. Avocado juice and cake, if available. He likes that as payment after checking my condition.”
Casandra nodded and hurried to fulfill Alexander’s request.
“Why did you ask her to leave?” Frans postponed giving Alexander the injection so that he could talk to him.
Alexander sighed. If he was with Frans, he couldn’t hide his problems, including the situation with Cesilia and his marriage to Casandra.
However, when Alexander and Casandra got married, Frans couldn’t attend the wedding as he was on duty out of town.
“This fever is related to her. If she stays here, she’ll be embarrassed.”
“Why?”
“My mother pressured me to have our wedding night. And guess what…”
“She refused, while you were ready?”
“Not exactly.” Alexander threw a pillow at Frans. “If you want to play guessing games like that, you might as well figure it out yourself, so I don’t have to tell the whole story.”
“Oh, come on… you’re getting mad just like that. Alright, I understand.” Instead of sulking, Frans chose to continue his work.
“I was ready, all set. But she got drunk and passed out.” Alexander quickly blurted out, making sure Frans wouldn’t interrupt him.
“Huh?”