Don't Let It Control You.

The first rays of the sun fell on a soft bed, ran through the girl's silky hair and froze on her face. Elena wrinkled her nose and rolled over, arms that were hugging her body twitched and David pulled the sleepy girl to him even closer. She buried her nose in his chest and, through the morning drowsiness, listened as his heart was beating rhythmically.

This sound was one of the most beloved sounds in her life, no matter what worried her, it was enough for the girl to cuddle up to the chest of her soul mate and focus on the beat of his heart, as all the worries were gone by themselves.

Elena smiled and rubbed her nose on David's chest, a second later she felt his nose touch the top of her head and he did the same.

"Aha, I knew that you were not sleeping," Elena said in a quiet voice and hugged the man with her hands and legs, like an octopus. Since he was not sleeping, she had no reason to keep her emotions in check.

"I had the idea to take a nap a bit longer, but when you press yourself to me like that, the whole plan becomes physically impossible," David answered in a low and slightly hoarse voice that he usually had in the morning and the sound of which caused special goosebumps in Elena.

The man raised himself up, turned the woman on her back and covered her with his body. "Good morning, my love," his lips touched Elena's mouth, and the couple met the beginning of the day with a long and sweet kiss.

"How about a little warm up?" David asked his wife, crafty sparkles began to play in his eyes. The man was cheerful and in a good mood, some parts of his body were especially charged for the activity.

Elena raised an eyebrow and looked at her husband, it was clear to her what kind of warm-up he was referring to, "I think yesterday's warm-up before going to bed was more than a good one, don't you think so, my love?"

"Hmmm," the man grinned, and then looked away, a contented smile on his face testified that he wouldn't mind repeating yesterday's experience, "My love, you are such a playful girl, as it turns out. Speaking about the warm-up, I meant a game of kendo, for example," David narrowed his eyes, his provocative glance made Elena blush to her ears, "What did you think about?"

"Oh, you... you... Oh, come on you!" Elena pushed David away, the man collapsed on his side beside her, "I'm going to the shower!" The girl shouted, jumped out of bed and walked quickly towards the bathroom under the loud laugh of her husband.

A breeze was playing with green leaves on the trees in the garden, where a couple, a man and a woman, were standing and glancing at each other, not looking away.

"You'll get it right now for having decided to play a trick on his wife early in the morning," Elena's look was formidable, she was like some Korean Ajumma with a frying pan in her hand, ready to stun her husband for bad behavior.

David, on the contrary, was standing like an experienced general in front of an ordinary soldier: a contented mine on his face, a wooden sword over his shoulder and a posture full of importance a la "hit me if you can."

He knew at least a dozen ways to get Elena lose her temper and occasionally used that knowledge to shift the focus of her attention when she was worried about something. Her nightmare made the man nervous; he didn't like it when his wife was depressed. And before asking her about what scared the girl at night, he decided to seize the moment and tease her.

In the end, Elena was one of the main priorities in his life, along with his son, and he tried to replace her worries by joy as much as possible. And knowing the stubborn character of his wife, he was sure that she would do everything possible to defeat him in this little battle, and would be incredibly happy when he would lose to her. Even if that was intentional. But she does not need to know about this.

David raised his sword and beckoned the girl, "Miss, are you planning to attack or what? I'm already starting to get bored," the man yawned, frankly provoking Elena.

"I'm not a Miss, I'm Missis. One more word, and you will stay without breakfast, dear husband." Elena made a sharp lunge forward and the bamboo sword slipped beside David just near his ear. The man dodged and jumped aside.

"Not bad, not bad," a pleased grin reflected on his face and he went on the offensive. After exchanging a few blows between the couple, there was a tie, Elena's mood improved noticeably, the girl turned into a rage from adrenaline. This kind of warm-up early in the morning could not be compared with any fitness by its effectiveness. Elena knew that David had provoked her specifically, but she responded to his game anyway.

The girl jumped to the side, made a sharp turn and prepared for the victorious blow, "All right, dear, now... Uh?" David, standing opposite, evaporated in the air.

"Surprise," his low, alluring voice sounded behind her ear.

"Oh, you crook! This is so unfair!" Elena stepped back from her husband, put her foot forward and pushed David. The man lost his balance and fell on the lawn, Elena in a triumphant gesture put her foot on his chest and sent her sword on him, "That's it, I won. As a punishment, you will make breakfast."

"Ahaha, will be done, my queen. Will be done. For your sake, I am ready to make breakfasts and bring them to your bed at least every morning," David illuminated the girl with his charming smile.

"So be it, I will think over your proposal, sir," Elena smiled in response.

"Oh, Sean woke up!" David looked to the side of the second floor window, from where the boy was looking at his parents. "Good morning!" The man shouted and waved to his son.

"It seems that now it's really time to go and make breakfast," Elena also waved to her son, "Well, shall we go?" She turned back to her husband and at that moment the ground went out from under her feet.

Before her eyes everything was red. Scarlet blood was flowing from her hands along the blade of a sword onto David's chest. The man was lying on the ground, his clothes were soaked through with red liquid, he was looking at the girl, his eyes were full of frustration and pain, "Why did you do that to me, Elena?"

"Honey?" David noticed that his wife's face suddenly turned pale, the bamboo sword fell from her hands, and the girl backed away, with shock and fear in her eyes. She clutched at her head and swayed. "ELENA!" Before the man jumped to catch her, the unconscious girl fell to the ground.

. . .

Elena opened her eyes and looked around, she was lying on the sofa in the living room, and David was sitting next to her and was fumbling in the medicine box. The man turned around and saw that she came to her senses, "Baby, how are you feeling? What happened? You suddenly fainted, don't scare me like that anymore!" He knelt down next to the sofa and began to feel her forehead, checking if she had a fever or not.

"David, I'm scared, I don't know what's going on. At first, this Marcus showed up at the banquet, then a nightmare, then," she could not say that she saw David lying in a pool of blood, and she herself was the cause of such a condition.

The man smiled and stroked her cheek, "Listen to me, my dear and beloved Elena Anderson," he said, and he himself shone like a Cheshire cat. The combination of her name and his last name gave him a real pleasure. "Khem, now, listen to what I tell you now.

I understand your worry and anxiety, and to be honest, I would like to take you and Sean somewhere to a godforsaken spot, oh, I mean, to our village in England, where there is still no Internet or cellular communication. So that no one will find you and not disturb you. But you understand that this is not an option, right?

Yes, we don't know what Marcus wants, also, we don't know if your nightmare means something or not, maybe it's just the consequences of stress due to the preparation for the exhibition? Admit it, something lke this is an option, isn't it? So, no matter what the reason is, don't let it control you.

I am not making rainbow illusions about the motives of Marcus, but I will not let him break what we have now. I want us, despite everything that happens or will happen, to be together and do what gives us joy and happiness. I want us to smile, laugh, meet with friends, work, sleep together," he leaned over and rubbed his nose about her nose, "Make love," David added in a whisper, "I'm with you, so don't be afraid, you got it?"

Elena nodded her head and kissed her husband, "I love you."

"I love you even more," David winked and got up, "All righty, now it's time to fulfill my duty and make breakfast for the queen. I will take Sean to the kindergarten; the meeting in the office is still set to 11, so I still have plenty of time. And you stay home and rest, ok?"

"No, I have to go to the gallery; I have an appointment with Carter. He must bring his painting today, so we will need to solve several organizational issues."

"Are you sure? Because I am worried about your health much more." It was true, but it was also true that David really disliked this cunning fox Carter, who wouldn't mind making a pass at a pretty woman.

"Yes, I'm sure. You yourself said that I could do what I really like and having a successful exhibition is what I want most of all right now," Elena replied. Moreover, there were only two days before a big opening.

David embraced his wife, her responsibility in resolving matters admired him from the very first meeting, when she was still a student at the Academy, and he pulled some strings and pretended to be a teacher to get closer to her,

"Okay, Mrs. Anderson. I'm sure your exhibition will be held at the highest level." He kissed Elena on the forehead and winked at Sean, who at that time had come downstairs to have breakfast.

At that moment no one knew that this exhibition would be the starting point to launch a series of events which would change everything.