“Lex,” Casandra whispered, quite startled as Alexander suddenly entered the room and lay down beside her, hugging her tightly.
“What happened outside that made you like this? Did some annoying neighbor bother you again?” Alexander shook his head. “Forgive me.”
“Forgive you for what?” Casandra asked, puzzled. She drew back and looked into Alexander’s eyes, swearing that she didn’t understand the direction of his words.
Alexander sighed, leaning on his elbow, still gazing at Casandra. “I always belittled you with my hurtful words. Remember when you…”
Casandra covered Alexander’s mouth with her hand. “Enough, I don’t want to discuss all of that. Let bygones be bygones. I want to look to the future with you, Lex. Don’t bring up everything, as I never remember anything you did in the past.”
“But, Cas…”
“No ‘buts.’ I promise you, I’ve forgotten all of it, Lex.” She sat up. “Now tell me, what’s going on? What made you come here and apologize to me?”
Alexander hugged Casandra’s waist, burying his face in her flat stomach.
“Nothing happened, I just heard about how you’ve been living your life.”
“Me?”
“Yes, how you faced all those rough roads full of sharp pebbles. Working here and there just to make ends meet. And here I am…”
“No need to regret anything, Lex. Because in the past, we had our own lives and paths. Except now, of course, my life can be shaped by you however you wish,” Casandra said, sounding more like a sarcastic remark to make Alexander reconsider and sort out who deserves to be his wife.
Later, Cesilia might think she’s an insubordinate maid or something, but she just wanted to do her job well, including serving Alexander, both in the bedroom and elsewhere.
“I don’t want…”
“Excuse me… Miss Casandra!” called a man from outside the house, interrupting the conversation between Alexander and Casandra.
“That’s the vegetable seller’s voice. Haven’t you finished your shopping yet?”
“I think I’m done,” Alexander said, hastily sitting up. “I’ve ordered, just need to pay.”
“Oh, alright. Let’s go meet him. Poor man, he might have to wait for a long time, and he wants to go around,” Casandra replied.
Before Alexander could stand, Casandra was already ahead of him, tying up her long hair carelessly, revealing her elegant neck.
“Change your clothes first. I don’t like it,” Alexander protested, as Casandra’s shirt was thin and had a low neckline.
“I’m going out wearing this, Lex.” Casandra pointed to the cardigan she had on when they went to look for breakfast.
“I thought you were going out just like that.”
Alexander was relieved that Casandra didn’t go out wearing just the thin shirt that now hugged her slender figure. From behind, he followed Casandra to the front room.
“Did the roof fly away last night, Miss?” the vegetable seller asked Casandra when he noticed something amiss with the house. Casandra rubbed her neck.
“Yes, Mang. It’s a run-down house, so the wind easily blew the ceiling away,” Casandra said, raising an eyebrow as she saw the large amount of food piled up in the room.
“Mang, is this my husband’s shopping?” Casandra shifted her gaze to Alexander, who stood at the bedroom door.
“Yes, Miss. Your husband said he ordered one of each item available, so I’ve packed and organized them into several portions since I don’t have a big plastic bag. Yes, everything is according to your husband’s request.”
Casandra raised her eyebrow, her forehead creasing with surprise as she looked at the large amount of food there. Complete with spices and even numerous salted fish lined up.
“Oh, I see. Alright, how much is the total?” Casandra was ready to hear the amount Alexander would have to pay.
Her husband ordered so many groceries, enough for a week ahead, while they were only staying there for a few more days.
“The total is $2000.”
“Goodness…” Casandra gasped internally.
“Ah, that much, huh, Sir. Wait a moment.” Casandra quickly got up and went to meet Alexander.
“Lex, what did you order that cost over two thousand dollars?”
Alexander shrugged, taking out his wallet from his pants pocket. “$2000, right? Very light, as if it’s not a big deal.”
For Casandra, however, it was a huge amount. To earn that much money, she had to work tirelessly here and there. It was even half of her mother’s monthly salary.
Casandra wasn’t too surprised to see the composed look on Alexander’s face, as he held power and obviously had an incomprehensible amount of money.
“Tell the vendor to keep the change!” Alexander instructed, handing numerous bills to Casandra.
Casandra nodded, giving the whole amount to the vegetable seller as Alexander had said. Once the vendor left, Casandra voiced her protest to her husband.
“Lex, this is too much. We’re only here for a few more days, where are we going to use all this food? It’s not right to waste it when there are still many people out there struggling to eat.”
“In that case, you can just choose what we need for our stay here, and give the rest to the neighbors who need it, simple, right?” Alexander replied, not wanting to be outdone by Casandra.
As usual, even though he had changed drastically towards Casandra, his pride and unwillingness to be defeated were still deeply ingrained.
Casandra sighed deeply. “That might work, Lex. But I don’t like the way you handle things like this, wasting money to buy unnecessary items like today. Sorry for speaking up earlier, but I objected to what you did. Sharing is a good thing. Sharing with the neighbors is a good thing, but what we shared was items that could be considered leftovers, rather than waste them, it’s better to give them to others. What was wrong earlier if you wanted to share, you could have asked them to pick what they need at the vegetable seller. That would be better than giving them our leftovers, even if they haven’t been used yet, they’re still considered leftover groceries.”
Alexander remained silent, listening to Casandra as she expressed her thoughts. He didn’t expect her to think so deeply. Casandra had struggled to earn money all this time, so she certainly knew how bitter it was to buy groceries.
Realizing he was wrong, Alexander could only rub his neck as he couldn’t find the right answer to refute Casandra’s speculation.
“So, what do you think I should do then?” Alexander asked, a bit frightened by the large amount of groceries there.
“If it’s already like this, fine. I’ll choose the groceries for us to use for today only. Tomorrow, we’ll have to go shopping again. But tomorrow, I’ll do the shopping. You just stay home.”
Alexander nodded, sitting in the corner of the room, simply observing what his wife was doing. As expected, Casandra only took one fish and a few other supporting ingredients. The rest she piled up in a fairly large bowl and called out to some neighbors passing by on their way to the rice fields or farmland.
Casandra invited them to come in and choose the groceries they wanted. Alexander raised his eyebrows, surprised to see the single fish in Casandra’s hand along with a few other seasonings.
“Are you sure you’re only cooking that? Just one fish?” Alexander asked, wondering about the small amount of groceries Casandra had chosen.
“Yes, it’s enough for us from noon until tonight. That’s if you don’t get tired of eating my cooking because, to be honest, I’m not very good at it like my mother,” Casandra explained before heading to the kitchen.
Alexander wanted to help Casandra cook in the kitchen but realized he couldn’t cook. So instead of getting in the way, he decided to do something else, like designing how he wanted the house to look.
Alexander also double-checked with Robert, the person he asked to come, to make sure if he was on his way or not. He was running out of time before he had to go back to the city.
For a moment, Alexander was lost in thought as he examined the condition of Casandra’s house. It was very old and worn-out, so it was no surprise that it fell apart during last night’s storm. He suddenly felt grateful that he had entered Casandra’s life and made it better than it used to be.
After making sure everything was neatly organized in a notebook, Alexander realized he was bored with no other activity than observing every detail of the house. So he decided to join Casandra in the kitchen. There was no gas stove, only a regular kerosene stove, and simple kitchen utensils. It was very different from what he had at home.
Silently, Alexander started adding kitchen utensils to the notebook he had.
“What are you making?” Alexander asked after finishing his notes. He approached Casandra, who was slicing shallots.
“Just frying the fish we had earlier,” Casandra replied.
Alexander nodded. “What about vegetables?”
“Yesterday, I saw some water spinach behind the house. That should be enough.”
“No wonder you didn’t take vegetables earlier.”
“Why take vegetables when we have them behind the house?”
“In that case, let me get them.” Alexander offered to help Casandra. As a husband, he didn’t want to just sit back and watch his wife work alone, especially after she spent the long night with him.
Nodding and grabbing a knife, Casandra said, “Sure, but don’t take too much, just enough for our lunch. I plan to get cassava leaves from the edge of the field tonight, so we won’t waste anything.”
“Alright.” Alexander agreed and went to the back of the house, accepting Casandra’s instructions. Once there, he hesitated, trying to remember what water spinach leaves looked like among all the green plants. He didn’t want to mistakenly pick the wrong ones and have Casandra laugh at him later.
Not wanting to make a mistake, Alexander quickly opened the search engine on his phone to compare the plants behind the house with the pictures he found online. “Ah, here it is!” he exclaimed happily when he found a pile of water spinach neatly arranged in an unused bowl. He promptly took the required amount, following Casandra’s instructions.
He entered the kitchen with two handfuls of water spinach. “Is this the water spinach?” Alexander asked, seeking confirmation from Casandra.
“Absolutely!” Casandra replied, briefly diverting her attention from the fish she was frying.
“Cas!” Alexander called out, getting down on his knees in front of Casandra.
“What is it, Lex?” Casandra asked, surprised to see her husband suddenly kneeling in front of her.
“I present you with a bouquet of water spinach for our lunch, prepared with love.” Alexander handed over the water spinach as if he were giving Casandra a bouquet of flowers.
Casandra couldn’t help but chuckle at her husband’s cute gesture. While other men would present flowers, Alexander was offering a bunch of water spinach to her.
“I accept your gift, Lex. Wait outside, and I’ll serve you a special meal,” Casandra replied, daring to give a quick peck on Alexander’s lips after taking the water spinach from his hands.
“Don’t tease me if you don’t want your cooking to remain unfinished,” Alexander pouted.
Casandra laughed even more at Alexander’s pout, finding it delightful to see his reaction to her teasing. This had become her favorite moment since she got married to Alexander. Over time, she had learned how to interact with him and understood how to be herself in front of him, gradually displacing the image of Cesilia. Casandra was confident that by being true to herself, she would soon occupy the top position in Alexander’s heart.