Playing with fire

"Don't ask what the reason is, maybe I've been attracted to your game."

Like a sound recording playing over and over again, William's voice continued to fill Rose's head and made her restless.

Was William indirectly saying that he was starting to fall in love with her?

"Impossible..." Rose avoided her thoughts because William had many faces, she couldn't be affected just because of that ambiguous sentence.

"That's right, none of that is possible."

"What's impossible?" Asked William who suddenly appeared and leaned on the other side of the window edge where Rose had been sitting daydreaming for a long time.

Rose raised her eyes and looked at William's face, which looked very handsome with an expression that she couldn't read. That face looks sad but he is currently smiling, How can someone look so mysterious?

"How long are we going to be trapped in this castle? You want to make me to be Rapunzel?" Asked Rose who chose not to respond to William's question.

"Are you bored?"

"I felt like I couldn't breathe."

William smiled stiffly before taking a step closer to Rose.

"I can give you artificial respiration," William said with his outstretched hand gently touching Rose's cheek.

"How can you give me artificial respiration if you feel suffocated here?" Rose answered back and asked.

William smiled bitterly again, Rose guessed what he was feeling so easily.

William then sat right in front of Rose and leaned closer to Rose's body. Their faces were now facing each other as their breaths collided, William followed where Rose's eyes moved calmly.

"We are in a ring of fire and you finally realize it, so how do we get out of the circle that is slowly burning us?" William asked.

"You ask me? As far as I know, you started the fire, Why can't you put it out?"

"Because I was burned from the start."

The smile lines on Rose's face slowly decreased and faded.

"I don't know how to put out the fire, but I'm not afraid of getting burned and hurt, on the contrary, I'm afraid of hurting you." William continued.

Once again... Once again Rose's heart felt like it was shaking, William's eyes didn't imply a lie at all and William even shed tears when he said it, was it all sincere?

Suddenly the atmosphere became silent, Rose didn't move, she was still silent and lost in the questions that arose in her mind while William turned his face to look out the window where a helicopter could be seen flying low and slowly landing.

"My mother said that if she misses her daughter-in-law, let's visit before going home, We also have to buy a clock for our house, right?" Invite William to get up and stretch out his hand with a smile while Rose still seems to be considering whether to accept William's hand or not.

"You want to be Rapunzel here?" William asked jokingly because Rose was still looking at him without wanting to take his hand.

"Rapunzel doesn't have brown hair, you idiot!" Rose cursed but with a smiling face and finally took William's hand.

"Should I change my clothes?" Rose asked while following William's steps, who was holding her.

"No need, you are always beautiful in anything," William replied.

"That's right, I've always been beautiful," Rose answered, which managed to make William laugh softly.

"Yes... Yes... my wife is the most beautiful."

"My husband is handsome too." Rose returned the compliment now and of course, it made William smile proudly, "But only a little." The connection immediately made William's smile disappear, replaced by a sullen face.

"It's so adorable, I want to throw you into the sea!" Rose said while pinching William's cheek anxiously.

William could only surrender when Rose pinched him quite hard, but then he carried Rose's body and helped her into the helicopter which was parked in the front yard of the mansion.

"Throwing me into the sea? I remember someone hugged me very tightly because he was afraid I would leave him a few days ago." William's teasing managed to make Rose's face turn red remembering how she ran because she was afraid William would leave her and in the end, she ended up in William's arms like a fool.

Rose could only clear her throat while pretending to straighten her hair.

"So adorable, I want to kiss you," William said teasingly while pinching Rose's cheek gently then sitting right next to her.

"Don't try, or I'm sure, I will throw you into the sea!" Rose threatened fiercely with her eyes widening so that William would at least feel afraid, but instead of being afraid, William laughed at Rose's face, which made Rose immediately annoyed.

***

The clock ticked very slowly and could be heard very clearly throughout the room where Rayhan was being treated.

Sammy had fallen asleep after a day of babbling and telling dry jokes that didn't sound funny at all but at least Sammy was always by his side, he was the only person who didn't leave him.

"Rose... I missed you." Rayhan muttered while looking out the window which showed a view of the capital's busy highway filled with lights from passing vehicles and street lamps, You could also see tall buildings with large screens displaying a billboard containing advertisements for Rose, which is a brand ambassador of a beauty product.

"So beautiful, I want to hate you but I can't." He continued smiling wryly.

"Hurry back, I want to have you back soon."

***

"Wow!" Like a dorky girl who had never seen the splendor of a building, Rose gaped when she saw how big the building that William called 'home' was.

"Is this the royal palace?" Asked Rose, who still couldn't believe what she was seeing now.

Rose thought that the mansion where she held her wedding to William was a very large building and looked like a palace, but looking at the current residence of William's parents, it was many times bigger than the mansion.

"Are you a prince?" Rose asked once again while following William's steps.

"How damn rich are you ?" Rose asked without hesitation.

"Rich enough that I can afford to marry a princess like you," William answered smiling.

"Don't start, Will, I don't want to talk about it anymore. I can't act, I can't pretend to smile in front of your parents if we discuss that complicated thing again."

"Okay, I'm sorry," William said regretfully.

"No need to apologize," Rose replied feeling uneasy because William's face suddenly darkened, Maybe William meant it as a joke but he took it too seriously.

"Just today, let's be a real husband and wife," Rose said as she put her arm around William's arm.

"Are you sure?"

Rose took a deep breath before finally nodding in agreement.

"Maybe I'll take a lot of chances today," William whispered.

"Just for today, I won't be angry with all your perverted actions towards me. But just today, just be careful that you take advantage of this situation to stay for more than a day." Rose answered, not forgetting to threaten at the end of her sentence.

Rose's answer made William chuckle softly.

"Okay... okay Mrs. William Alexander." William agreed.

Mrs. William... Rose couldn't help but smile. She felt tingled when she heard William use his last name as Mrs. William.

***