Casandra was ready, her wet hair wrapped in a small towel. Her slender body was covered with a robe, and now she was prepared to meet Alexander in the room.
Although feeling a bit awkward with her current appearance, Casandra had no choice but to face her husband. It was impossible for her to sleep in the bathroom.
“Better to catch a cold than to suddenly turn into a mermaid, right?” she thought to herself.
Feeling very awkward, Casandra sat on a sofa, while Alexander was on the edge of the bed. He was still sitting in the same position as before Casandra entered the bathroom.
“What are you thinking about, sir?” Casandra asked after a long period of silence between her and Alexander.
Alexander turned to look at Casandra, shaking his head. “Nothing, I was just guessing the total cost of the interior in this room.”
“For what?” Casandra asked again, finding it a bit strange that her husband was guessing the price of the hotel room’s interior.
Especially when the items Alexander had in his own room were even more luxurious.
“No reason, just bored, so I thought I’d pass the time,” he replied.
“You could have played with your phone instead, sir. By the way, where’s your phone?”
“Out of battery. I didn’t bring the charger, so I just left it.”
Casandra nodded, trying hard to find a new topic to talk about with Alexander. If they remained silent like this, the hotel room would feel more like a cemetery – quiet and eerie.
“Oh, by the way, Casandra. Where did you get the rubber duck from?”
“Rubber duck?” Casandra repeated Alexander’s question, as she herself had forgotten about mentioning the rubber duck to him.
“Yes, the rubber duck from earlier. I don’t remember seeing any toy ducks when I was taking a shower.”
“Who said there was a rubber duck, sir!” Casandra suddenly remembered and now tried to come up with an excuse. Even though she hadn’t found a proper reason to explain the incident with the rubber duck, she made the nonexistent rubber duck the scapegoat.
Casandra struggled to explain about the supposed rubber duck. The duck that never existed, as what Alexander touched was not a duck, but her soft twins.
“That thing I accidentally touched earlier, while you were peeping behind the bathroom door,” Alexander recalled vividly. He even gestured as if pressing a rubber duck, so Casandra could feel the long index finger touching her twins very clearly.
Casandra shook her head, “There is none, sir. It’s destroyed, and I threw it into the waste bin.”
“Why?”
“It’s over, sir. Let’s not talk about the rubber duck anymore. I don’t want to discuss it, I’m scared of rubber ducks.” She quickly moved around and changed positions on different sofas, trying to find a spot where she couldn’t see Alexander.
However, the layout of the sofas automatically directed her gaze towards him no matter where she sat.
“Why are you so afraid of rubber ducks?”
“I already told you, I’m scared of them, sir.”
“Are you sure?” Alexander didn’t believe her. He got up and started looking for the rubber duck in the bathroom, searching every possible place it could be hidden.
However, after searching for a while, Alexander couldn’t find the rubber duck that Casandra had mentioned.
He was curious about how a rubber duck toy ended up in the hotel bathroom.
“Casandra, I still…”
Alexander paused as he heard a knock on the door. He hurriedly went to see who it was.
Casandra breathed a sigh of relief, glad that Alexander’s attention was diverted from the rubber duck after hearing the knock. She was truly grateful to the delivery person who had just brought Alexander’s order.
She didn’t know what was inside, but she was thankful nonetheless.
“Here are your clothes! Please put them on.” Casandra nodded and grabbed the paper bag that Alexander handed to her. “Hurry and pack up, we’re going to have dinner outside.”
“Can’t we eat here, sir?” Casandra asked.
“I’m tired of being in the room all the time. Let’s go to the restaurant on the Rooftop, it’s more enjoyable there than here.”
“Alright, then.” Casandra went to the bathroom to change her clothes as instructed by Alexander. He also hurried to pack up so that when Casandra was ready, he would be too.
After they were both ready, Alexander gestured for Casandra to leave the hotel room first. They walked side by side towards the elevator that would take them to the Rooftop.
There were already several other diners enjoying their dinner there. It was very romantic, with the sky providing the perfect backdrop. The moon shone brightly, and the sky was adorned with stars.
Casandra couldn’t stop marveling at the beauty of the sky. “What are you going to order?” Alexander asked once Casandra settled herself in the chair. The menu was already available, and they just needed to look and choose what they wanted to eat that night.
“It’s up to you, sir. I don’t think I can read, let alone understand, the menu written in English, looking at the menu.”
Alexander understood. The girl in front of him now was not Cesilia, who would have known the ins and outs of the items on the list. As a result, Alexander ordered dishes he thought would suit Casandra’s taste.
They settled for roasted chicken and skewers. Simple, but Alexander was confident that Casandra would enjoy them. And true enough, once their orders arrived, Casandra really relished the food.
Maybe it was due to her hunger, as she hadn’t eaten anything since the afternoon. But whatever the reason, Casandra managed to devour half a chicken on her own. Alexander was truly amazed by Casandra’s appetite. Despite her small frame, she had a hearty appetite. He wondered where all the food she ate went.
Nothing extraordinary happened during their dinner. Everything went smoothly, and there were no romantic scenes. Once they were both full, Casandra and Alexander returned to the room together.
The difference tonight was that they both slept on the same bed, fully conscious. There was no intoxication or any influence of drugs involved.
The same went for the next morning. Alexander remained in the same position, and so did Casandra. There was no physical contact between them.
As they didn’t have spare clothes for the umpteenth time, Alexander decided to tidy up and clean up. For bathing, he and Casandra would do it at home, rather than waiting for the delivery of clothes. So, Alexander had to turn on his phone to place an order again.
To avoid seeing any messages or calls from Cesilia, Alexander decided to do all activities at home. Going home was what he did at this moment.
Casandra was startled to find Cesilia waiting at the end of the stairs. As they entered the living room, Cesilia quickly approached Casandra and without warning, she pulled the girl’s long hair, causing Casandra to wince in pain. Casandra tried to free herself, but Cesilia’s grip on her hair was too strong, and she felt her scalp stinging from the force.
“You home-wrecker! Cheap woman, how dare you seduce someone else’s husband and keep him from coming home all night? I made an effort to come all the way from Bogor to meet my husband, but what happened? He ends up staying with you in a hotel. What kind of woman are you? You’re just a village girl, no sense of decency or gratitude!” Cesilia continued to scold, not letting go of Casandra’s hair.
Even Meri stepped in to try and separate Cesilia from Casandra. The middle-aged woman was now angry as well. She couldn’t believe Cesilia would be mad at seeing Casandra and Alexander coming home together. It wasn’t even about them staying overnight; Cesilia had requested it herself. She had consciously and eagerly asked Alexander to marry again.
“You wretched woman! How dare you seduce someone else’s husband.”
“Me? Seduce? Wasn’t it you who asked me to marry Mr. Alexander?” Casandra retorted as soon as Alexander and Meri managed to release Cesilia’s grip on her hair.
“Isn’t it what you wanted? Why are you blaming me now? I won’t stand for you demeaning me like this!” Casandra fired back.
Unbeknownst to her, Cesilia scratched Casandra’s face, causing her pain even beyond the physical harm. Casandra’s eyes welled up with tears at being accused so heinously by Cesilia. The curses Cesilia spewed seemed disproportionate to the false accusations she was making.
“I never…” Casandra’s words were cut short as she felt Alexander’s intense gaze penetrating into her eyes. He gestured with his chin towards the stairs, indicating that Casandra should stop and go to her room.
“I’ll join you later!” Alexander whispered as Casandra turned to leave them. She understood that Alexander couldn’t openly defend her in front of Cesilia. After all, she was just a paid wife sent by Cesilia, but being accused of seducing Alexander was something she couldn’t tolerate.
“Everything you’re saying is not true. Casandra and I can do whatever we want, and it’s none of your business. Didn’t we agree on this in the contract you approved? And don’t forget that you often demanded a divorce from me. Or that you asked me to marry again because you didn’t want to divorce me. You made me marry her, have a child with her, and now, what are you doing to her?” Alexander vented his frustrations right in front of Cesilia.
“Alexander’s right!” Meri interjected. “You witnessed yourself how you wanted this marriage. You forced Alexander, even though he didn’t want it. Now, how could you act as if Casandra was the one who seduced him? It all started with you, remember!”
“You’re such a damn woman! Always meddling in my marriage with Alexander!” Cesilia snapped, stomping her foot before leaving the living room. She went back to her room to pack some belongings before leaving the house.
“Cesilia, what are you doing?” Alexander tried to stop Cesilia from leaving.
“You’ve changed, Alexander. How could you defend Casandra over me? You treat her like a toy now, just because I’ve been busy and you found someone new, you’re neglecting me. You didn’t come home as promised. I begged my boss to let me go home, and this is how you disappoint me, Lex,” Cesilia said before walking away, truly furious.
Cesilia used this opportunity to cover up her affair with Maxime by placing the blame on Alexander and Casandra. This way, Alexander couldn’t question her whereabouts, as he was sure Meri would later tell him that Cesilia returned home early in the morning, not late at night as she had promised the day before.
Alexander sighed, rubbing his face roughly, tired of Cesilia’s behavior. She was becoming more audacious with each passing day and daring to speak rudely to her own mother.
How could he find a way to talk to Cesilia properly and return things to how they used to be? The Cesilia he knew now was completely different from the one he once knew.