âTill death do us apart
At 2:30 in the afternoon, when John lightly pecked Metilda's heated cheeks as they watched the Sword in the Stone with Louis, the door bell rung. Metilda shot up and rushed to the door. She needed an excuse to get away from her John. She couldn't sit next to him without wanting to rip his clothes off.
To her not so much of a pleasant surprise, it was Reed Smith and his daughter, Daniel. Reed Smith was a tall and dark handsome lawyer and his daughter was a gorgeous five year old with long, curly black hair.
It had totally slipped out of Metilda's mind that she had invited Reed Smith for lunch over the weekend. Being the kind person she is, Metilda kind of felt guilty for John threatening him.
"Oh, come in Mr. Smith. I'm so glad that you could make it." She tried putting on her sweetest smiles. The lawyer seemed to be in a daze. Can she get any more beautiful? He thought.
"Louis, look! Your friend from school Daniel is here." Louis didn't budge from the sofa. His eyes were fixed on the TV screen. John, on the other hand, was bubbling with rage. What in the world was he doing here? Here he and his family were enjoying a movie like a happy family should but the lawyer had to come and smear the beautiful scenery.
He walked over to Metilda and stood behind her, his blood about to reach boiling point. "What are you doing here?"
"The lady invited us for lunch."
Metilda smiled at John. "I think Mr. Smith deserves an apology"
John glared at him. "Not on my watch."
"Well, then. You can take your moody self to the living room. Mr. Smith and I will have a nice lunch." Secretly Metilda was enjoying John's displeasure. He looked so very adorable when envious.
Metilda made her way to Louis and dragged him to the hall. "Louis, come on. Say hello to Daniel."
Louis, who like his father, looked displeased to have company, scrunched his nose upwards. "I don't play with Daniel. She makes me always be the servant."
Daniel giggled. "Silly, you're the pauper and I'm the princess."
Metilda ignored her urge to raise an eyebrow. "Be nice. She's our guest."
He made an ugly face. "No thank you. Louis stay with Daddy." Louis gripped his father's hand. John gave Metilda a smug grin that said see, even Louis agrees with me.
Metilda placed a hand on her hips, clearly not pleased with the scene the males in her life were making. "Fine, you two do whatever you please. Mr. Smith would you and your daughter like to have some cheesecake?"
"Louis want cheesecake too!" Louis pouted.
"Ask your daddy." Daniel stuck her tongue at him.
Metilda, a very ecstatic Mr. Smith, and his hyper daughter strolled to the dining room. John swore under his breath as he watched the lawyer purposely brush his hand against Metilda's thigh. If this continues for another second, there surely would be bloodshed.
"Daddy," Louis tugged John's hand. "Cheesecake?"
John sighed. His phone buzzed with a message.
[Are you alright, babe? I heard you fell from the stairs.] - Jannet
Another sigh left John's mouth. He didn't want Jannet's attention.
[Perfectly fine. Just a small sprain.] -John
[Oh! Do you want to come over to my place? I can take good care of you]
[I would but I think I'm going rest today. Thanks for the offer though.]
[Should I come over?]
Why was she being so insistent? John wondered. She must really missing him. At-least someone did. Metilda looked joyful as she served two chilled slices of raspberry cheesecake to the lawyer- the bloody liar.
John looked at down his phone screen. He typed: You know what I'm coming over. You stay where you are.
But just as John was about to press the send button, he felt slightly cold fingers wrap themselves around his hands. Metilda smiled at John and Louis.
"What did you think? I'm going to let my grumpy bears starve."
With her other hand, she gripped Louis's hand who looked just as thrilled as John was.
"I love you, mommy."
"I do too," John grinned. Once seated in the chair between the lawyer and Metilda, John quickly changed the message he was about to send to Jannet.
[Nah, don't bother. I'll be sleeping through the day anyways.]-John
âââ
Reed Smith left the Hampton household an hour later. He clearly had expected to spend some time with Metilda, not her husband. Metilda had left John to take care of their guest as she went to visit her sister. Reed Smith and John talked (yes, they had a civilized conversation-Reed was not a bad man other than the fact he was trying to steal John's wife) about the current affairs in politics while their kids played the princess and the pauper. This time Daniel played the pauper and Louis was the princess.
John stood outside on the patio's steps. Louis had a monkey grip on his neck and his small legs wrapped around John's waist.
"Wanna go for a ride, champ!"
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Louis squealed.
John roamed around the neighborhood with Louis on his back. Bo's father, Chinh Phan, a portly Asian man with thick glasses, asked about John's sprained hands. John elaborately explained how it happened. The two men shared a hearty laugh.
"So?" Chinh sobered up slightly. Bo was riding her terminator's bicycle with Louis sitting on carrier. Both children made strange sounds as though they were on a rocket to mars. Other people on the sidewalk dodged the kids, small smiles on their face as they reminisced their own childhood.
"Is it true? You and Metilda."
Chinh's question jolted John out of the joy around him. The two men walked in silence for few minutes.
"It is." John finally answered. The sun was starting disappear behind the horizon, marring the blue sky into a teary red and black.
"Too bad. You had a wonderful family. I suppose things don't work out sometimes" John didn't like how Chinh talked about his family in the past tense. As though they already were doomed. It was true anyways. If not now, in the next few days they will fall apart.
"Can I ask you something?"
Chinh smiled, well naturedly. "Ask away."
"How do Asian marriages last so long?"
"Well, you're talking about my father's generation. I swear I haven't heard of anyone getting divorced in his time. Anyhow. When I got married, I was nervous as hell. A wreak. It was arranged marriage." Chinh laughed when he saw John's befuddled expression.
"It's not as bad as you think. I was introduced to Solida by my parents. We talked a couple times. I liked her. She was sweet, strong-headed, and a simple girl. Apparently, she liked me too. Lucky me."
"And then?"
"On my day wedding, I was planning to run away. I didn't think I was ready for this sort of commitment. Then my father came with words that literally changed my whole world: if you treat this relationship as a commitment then it will feel like you've been caged for the rest of your life.
"He looked into my eyes and said. My son, treat it like a journey, a beautiful journey you two have to make. If life were a boat, you two would be the sailors weaving carefully through the storms. She is a human, cherish her, love her, and always remember that she will make mistakes and so will you. You will have to learn to accept her for all she is.
"He smiled, an inside joke I didn't understand at the time. I know your generation has set an expiration date on marriage. Such a thing never crossed the mind of your mother and I. We couldn't even think of such possibility. It's such a bizarre thing for us. The day we got married, we both knew that we were in it for the rest of our lives. I can't imagine a day without your mother and I don't think she can either. I hope you and Solida find the same kind of love that we did."
John breathed a long sigh. His eyes misty. "Wow."
"He's an amazing man." Chinh wiped a tear from the corner of his eyes. "I miss him at times. You know being so far away from Vietnam. I haven't seen him in two years."
John placed a hand on his shoulders. "I can understand. I would like to meet him someday."
Chinh brightened up slightly. "I'll try to get him to visit America. He's stubborn man but I think this time around he'll finally give in."
"I hope he does."
John's eyes were lost. He stared off in a distance where the silhouette of newly married couple walked hand in hand. Expiration date of this love he wondered till death do us apart was the one Metilda and I had vowed for.
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Note: Â Since the end is drawing so close, I thought we might play a guessing game.
So this is how it will work. While you guys wait for me to update, I will send out messages through my message board (you might have to follow me to see those).
1) Every day (until the day I update) at 8:00 pm EST fragments of a sentence will be posted on my message board.
2) Join these fragments (5 fragments) together and you will get a hint for what will be in the next chapter or a hint about the ending (exciting, right?)
3) You can post what your guess is as a reply to the message on my message board.
4) Whoever gets it right, gets an exclusive goody (ex: comment on your story or a secret about Metilda and John. To know if they are inspired by a real couple or not?)
5) Then on the next update, I will post the complete sentence in the note section with interpretation.
Here's the first fragment.
...[ âOf the six remaining kisses, the next four kisses will be â]....