Sweet Talk

[Present time.]

"Why are you suddenly invited me to dinner?" Zella watched as the cooks placed a lot of food down the table.

Served hot, and she savored the smell, although she doesn't want to show it off in front of her husband.

Her husband…

Is he really her husband?

"I wanted to invite my wife on dinner. Is that wrong enough to ask just for one night?" Leo didn't know the words tumbling out of his mouth. It sounded absurd.

All of the cooks just look at him and walked away.

He paid a lot of cash for them to shut their mouths, and not even spread any gossip about Zella Albert.

Or she's known as Laina Luciano now.

"No, I'm… just surprised," she beamed. It didn't look sincere. It's more of a grimace than a smile. Turning to her plate, Zella didn't know what to pick.

A lot of utensils lined up at the side, and different sizes of spoons and forks. Even the knives had its measurements. Zella picked up the safest choice.

She observed how Leo picked up some food from the bowls, and did the exact same thing. As Leo stared at his food, he turned to Zella, who had her hair on a styled bun.

She's wearing a peach dress now. Leo couldn't admire her beauty, must be because she isn't his type. Zella sensed Leo was staring at her.

But he wasn't. He cut his steak as soon as Zella placed her plate back in front of her.

The silence ensued to both of them on the long, dining table. Even if they're across each other, no words might get exchanged.

Isn't that a bit suspicious for her? Zella found it as one of the evidences he's not really her husband.

Before she cut off the lamb cut, Zella took a sip of the soup first.

Leo chewed in his steak. He wanted to start a conversation, but Zella asked, "How can I prove to myself that you're my husband, Mr. Leo Luciano?"

The question he's been dreading to hear. Zella cut off the steak, the same manner Leo treated his meal.

A lump inside his throat must have appeared as he swallowed his food.

He clicked his tongue, wondering how he can start the conversation. Zella turned to him, meeting his eyes. Leo smiled, "Why do you keep on doubting me?"

"Why can't I remember anything? I wanted to ask you that badly." Even though she bumped her head multiple times in the wall in the hardest way possible, the answers won't come out.

Her mind kept on getting stuck in that same ancient bedroom when she woke up, and there's nothing else.

Leo didn't want to go that fast. He prepared everything, and the reasons he has to say were all lies.

Leo found himself suffering from guilt. Zella was asking the hardest questions he could have encountered in his life.

It's tainted with lies, the answers that will come out. Zella waited for his answer.

"Finish your meal and we'll talk in my office, okay? I wanted to eat first." Does that sound like he's avoiding the question? He must be.

Leo gripped the wine glass, drank almost half of it, and placed it down gently. Zella turned to her food, rushing to finish.

…

"This is my office." Leo toured her around the third floor, the one they said she's not allowed to be in. But she went there, in her husband's guidance.

Zella followed him around, looking at the office doors, their oak-qualities, and the chandelier's fluorescent light. The mansion was enormous to live alone.

Zella closed the door gently as they went inside Leo's office. Stopping from the doorway, the office was cozy to make her heart beat louder.

Was she here even before then? It must be the gut feeling.

Leo draped his coat at his swiveling chair, lowered the dim of the lights, exuding its soft glow in the four corners of the room.

As he did, the lights in the skyscrapers outside of her huge window flourished. Zella saw it, and she caught her breath.

It was too beautiful not to even admire. Leo raised the blinders, securing them in position, letting Zella look outside.

She approached the window slowly, reflecting the lights in her round eyes.

"Wow," she whispered. Leo observed the awe written all over her face. He smirked, slipping in his hands inside his pockets.

Both of them observed the highway, those cars with lit headlights moving like ants, and the yachts sailing peacefully in the Idris border of waters.

Zella saw another land, right in between the waters, like it's on the other side.

"I can look everything in here. We used to spend a lot of time at night looking at the city lights. It's the most beautiful moment at the end of the day." Leo didn't know if he spoke it with such an honest tone.

Zella didn't even turn towards him, and just admire the skyscrapers. Leo sighed.

"The skyscrapers calmed you down after a days' work. You always sat down on my chair and waited for me to finish my work while you look at them. Your mind kept on craving for the city lights. So I watched them with you until late at night."

…

[2 months ago.]

The work was a burden.

Whenever she's burned out after her shift at the nearest fast food restaurant, she'll take some beer from the convenience store, and walk up to the nearest rooftop of the highest abandoned building right outside of their house block.

Zella didn't want to come home with a lot of stress inside her mind.

As she went to the rooftop and closed the door, she looked at the city lights, and it made her lips smile.

Placing the plastic bag down, she opened up the Christmas lights dangling by the bench she bought for her skyscraper sightseeing, and enjoyed the night alone.

Twisting the soda beer open, she drank almost half of it.

Zella grunted, asking, "What beer had to do with me? It made me feel alive suddenly."

Zella nodded, watching the city lights blink in her eyes, saying, "Yeah. The city lights relaxed me, too."

…

[Present time.]

"Someone from her colleagues said she like the city lights," Randall scrolled at the article right when the news of the silver notice about her spread through the Telamur.

Randall didn't know if they can still continue to hide her even after this matter. Leo picked up the paper, seeing the interview.

"Sounds right," Leo uttered.

"You have a view of the skyscraper here in your office. You can take Zella to look at it. The mansion was too big to even tour in only a day, right?" Randall chuckled.

Leo nodded, decided they should do that.

…

"I must have pestered you a lot." Zella crossed her arms over her chest.

Leo snickered, saying, "Not really. I like to watch the city lights with you, so you're not a nuisance."

It made her heart alive. Zella just have to notice her heart beating differently than the day before.

Leo and Zella became quiet after a split second.

She waited for the yacht to reach the border of the bridge before turning to him again.

"So what's my deal? Why can't I remember you?" Zella asked.

"Short-term memory lapses," Leo said simply. It's a lie again.

He wanted to hit his mouth repeatedly. Yes, he is a Calvorite spy who dealt with the rebels of the Telamur, but no talking should be done when you're killing someone.

It was just the job he needed to do. As a businessman, he never lied.

You have to speak with the truth, and Leo couldn't deal with this kind of sh*t anymore.

"What's that?"

Leo averted his eyes. He approached her, taking a step closer, and leaned his hip by the drawer.

Zella didn't even budge in her position.

She just stared in his eyes, as intense as it could get. Leo asked, "What do you remember now? Do you remember the moment we have slept together a week ago?"

He made it feel like it was her fault, but it didn't.

Zella's mind suffered from amnesia, as the doctor said upon observance.

Right after Randall brought her here, with her head bleeding and all, it was the effect. Leo just had to cover for it, so that they wouldn't get killed.

"No, I didn't."

Leo knew this is the time. He pursed his lips, stood at the same level as her, and whispered under his breath, "Then I'll make you remember it."

He leaned his head closer to her, tucking the loose strands of her hair behind her ear, and closed the gap.

Before he can even do it, his cell phone began to rang, losing the tension. Zella's jaw rigged, and she swallowed. Taking a step back, longing for his warm touch right at her arms.

Leo retrieved his cell phone without even looking at the screen. He hissed.