My Greatest Regret

Eva stared at the clock and sighed. It was past ten pm, yet Jacob was not back.

She sighed and rubbed her neck. She wondered why she stayed up waiting for him when he was not even looking forward to seeing her.

Tears threatened to spill from her eyes as she ruminated on her life.

She stood abruptly when she heard the front door to their home unlock.

Jacob walked, looking as handsome as ever to her. She gave him a small smile and stood awkwardly in the living room as he stared coldly.

"You're welcome home, honey. I made dinner, "she said in a small voice.

"Dinner? Did I tell you I need your food? Get out of my sight and never talk to me again about any food. Anything from you disgusts me. "

She shrunk back at the intensity of the hatred in his voice.

She swallowed. "I'm sorry."

"And what did I tell you about calling me those damn pet names?", he snarled.

He walked towards her and pointed his finger directly in front of her, raising his voice. "The next time I repeat myself will be your last time in this house."

"I'm sorry, sir," she whispered.

He pushed down the carefully prepared meal she had made for emphasis, causing a loud crash to ring in the cold living room, and stormed off.

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she watched his back till he disappeared into his room.

She sank into the nearby cushion in despair. Will her relationship with Jacob ever return to normal since her mistake of the last two years?

She did not know when she began to sob audibly, trying to muffle the sound by placing her hands over her mouth.

She cried herself to sleep that night.

*

Alex coughed some more as he read his newspaper through his glasses.

"Are you sure you are alright, dear?", his wife, Susanna, who was catching up on a reality show, asked, rushing over to him and patting his back.

"It's just..." Coughs. "A minor cough I've been having for a few days now,"

"Days?", she asked bewildered.

He tried to wave it off, but the cough became more raspy, and he heaved and sucked in air in between.

Her heart raced as she saw some redish fluids splatter on the ground as he coughed.

"Oh no! This is bad", she panicked.

She called a maid who was going about her chores, cleaning the marble tiles.

"Go call one of the drivers. Tell him to get the car car out now. "

The maid nodded and rushed out.

"There." Coughs. "There is no need for that. I will be fine"

She stated at him in annoyance for a moment before pulling him to a standing position.

"Let's go"

"But honey-"

"No! You have to get checked", she snapped as they rushed to one of Alex's jeeps, and the driver sped off to the best hospital in town.

*

Eva rushed over to the man who had been waving at her and had insisted that she be the one to serve him.

.

"Good afternoon, sir. You are welcome to Seymour's restaurant", she said with a pleasant smile. "What's your order?"

"Will it be froward if I say you?", the man said with a smooth voice. He looked at her with piercing gaze through his emerald orbs.

Her lips parted in a soft sigh. She took a look around, hoping no one had heard his comment.

"I'm afraid I'm not in the menu," she whispered, keeping her formal pleasant smile on her face, and took out her pen, raising notepad.

Wanting to hide behind her notepad, she put it directly in his line of view of her face. "This restaurant has a strict policy against any informal relations between customer and staff"

"Can I buy the restaurant and change the policy then?"

.

Eva had had a long day, even though it was just some minutes past one pm. The last thing she needed was a pestering from a flirtatious customer.

She gave him a blanket stare and tapped her pen on her notepad while looking into his eyes, which seemed to draw her in, to show she was in no mood for flirts.