“I’m sorry for proposing something crazy like that without consulting you or getting your permission first but I didn’t have any other choice. You heard what King said about shutting down the place and moving the children to other places…” I explained.
Reiner didn’t reply and that confused me even more. What more am I supposed to say?
“Can you please say something…?” I begged against his back.
Reiner was silent for moment but then I heard him let out a long sigh. Maybe just like me, he had been figuring out what he wanted to say. I felt his hands on my wrists before he began gently removing my arms from around his body. I let him do what he wanted and soon he turned around to face me.
His face was solemn, and I knew that I wasn’t really going to like what he was going to say. However, I was prepared to compromise so that we could both move on happily with our lives.
“Do you even understand what your proposal means?” Reiner asked accusingly.
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to get at…” I replied honestly.
“King said that he wants me on this island and then you propose that you’re going to work at the orphanage. Did it ever occur to you that we’ll be living on different islands?” Reiner asked as his eyes glowered at me.
That’s true…
Well, now that he put it this way, I guess I had to admit that that thought never really crossed my mind before.
“Well…” I murmured.
“You never thought about it. You were too worried about a bunch of children and their lives before you thought about our relationship,” Reiner pointed out without mincing his words.
“Yes, and I am so sorry…” I admitted and quickly apologized.
“I don’t want an apology from you. You’re not allowed to live there alone on that island without me with you and that is final,” Reiner stated bluntly.
I was so stunned at the directness of his words that I couldn’t do anything but stare back at him. Am I understanding this correctly because it sounds like…
“You’re not ok with it because…you don’t want us to live apart?” I asked for confirmation hesitantly.
Am I even getting this right? This doesn’t seem like him at all…so…
It was true that if I went to work there fulltime, we would be pretty much living on different islands that would require a couple of hours flight. I didn’t think that it was a big deal when I proposed the idea to King. Honestly, this issue never crossed my mind but now that he mentioned it, I could see why it may become an issue for us.
“Did you just realize it now?” Reiner asked sarcastically.
“Umm…this long-distance thing will probably be temporary so…” I mumbled.
“If you go out there and live alone, who’s going to take care of you?” Reiner asked as his blue eyes narrowed at me.
“I can take care of myself…” I retorted stubbornly.
It wasn’t like I was a big fan of the idea of living on that island at the orphanage all by myself without Reiner there, but it wasn’t like I didn’t think that I couldn’t survive at all.
“No, Natalia…you can’t. You can’t take care of yourself,” Reiner stated resolutely.
I can take care of myself, but it probably won’t be up the standard that Reiner wanted or the way that he usually takes care of me. I closed my eyes before I sighed at how difficult it was to deal with him.
“I’m not backing down from this. In case you haven’t realized, I’m not being stubborn and selfish for my own benefits this time around. I’m doing this for the children because they need, and they deserve to get this help. Please…please just listen to me,” I pleaded desperately.
This wasn’t like any of my selfish requests in the past that I was doing for myself. I begged him with my eyes for him to at least consider my proposal. Reiner’s face closed off into an unreadable mask and I knew that he wasn’t going to approve of this.
“R…please. Please let me do this. There’s no one else and the children at the orphanage can’t be abandoned. Please…please support me just this once…” I continued pleading.
I felt hot tears sting the back of my eyes in my desperation. It wasn’t just about me, so I had so much to lose. If I can’t go back there, what’s going to happen to all the children? There is no way that Nick can handle that place alone.
Reiner looked down into my face with very cold blue eyes and I wasn’t sure what he was seeing. I’m going to start crying and that would probably make me look more emotional than rational. This is a disaster. This felt even harder than begging him to work at the bar even though this was for a much better cause.
“I am not doing any stupid long-distance relationship. You are my wife, you will stay with me,” Reiner finally spoke, and his tone left no room for argument.
Without even a glance my way, he got up from the sofa as if he was done with this conversation. However, I was far from done. There was no way that I could be done with this until I got what I wanted.
“R…” I called his name as I got up from the sofa and followed him.
“Enough of this, Natalia. I’ll do my best to send someone else there,” Reiner responded coldly without turning back.
“No. I want to go there. I want to do this,” I replied decisively.
It was then that I realized how much this mission meant to me. It wasn’t enough that someone would someday turn up to help the children. I wanted to do it. That person had to be me.
“What’s gotten into you?” Reiner asked as his brows furrowed.
“It’s as I just said. I really want to do this. Maybe…this is what I really want to do…” I replied honestly.
I wouldn’t say that I was sure that this was my life’s calling right now but it might be something close and I wanted to figure it out.
–To be continued…