Plans

Randall and Leo were the first ones to park the sedan on the space.

They walked side-by-side, staying silent for a while, until Leo halted him in his tracks. It was the secluded area, and no one was there to hang out. They just use the small, wooden cabin to store trash or even scraps of wood that might be of use later on.

Randall got surprised by his sudden jolt, and took a step backward.

Leo turned to him fiercely. "What are you planning at? Why are you so eager to have the inspection team?"

Randall sighed, turning to the skies, and never knew the real reason of it. The first time Louise walked inside the room, everything slowed down. Something must have struck his heart all of a sudden. Randall doesn't hear anything but the clack of her heels, and the whishing of her coat while walking.

Randall knew if he didn't deny his feelings today, every plan they have as the Cassanos will be ruined. Love is a destruction from which the person couldn't live if he wasn't ready to accept the blooming rose.

"I'm not eager, Leo. I just have something to do in order to drive their attention away from us," Randall muttered. Leo raised his eyebrows. This is not…

"What do you have in mind?" Leo asked. Randall checked if there are any people who sneaked inside to listen to their conversation. So far as he knew, the people here didn't want to eavesdrop or else they'll be dead.

"Make Louise fall in love with me," Randall revealed. Leo raised his eyebrows.

"What…"

"That's the only way. She seemed interested to me, too. In that case, she'd be able to be comfortable around me without hesitating. And it was a good sign for us to move secretly while I make love to her," Randall proposed. He's risking it, too, for the Cassanos. Not only for him, but also for Zella.

"Listen, Leo. We need to be careful from now on. We have the inspection team trailing on our foot. Laina…"

Before he can even continue, someone spoke up from behind them.

"Why did you say my name?" Zella showed up in just the right time of wrapping up a conversation. She's holding a pitcher of water, gloves, and a tiny shovel. Zella's wearing a straw hat, too.

She's in a simple skirt and blouse. Zella must be in the garden all the time.

Randall and Leo turned to her in horror. Zella creased her forehead.

"Why are the two of you too surprised about my presence?" Zella asked further. Leo cleared his throat, approaching his wife. Randall stayed there, looking at her.

"My wife, what are you doing here in the trash area? I supposed you came from the garden?" Leo rushed up, holding the side of her arms, and fortunate enough Zella didn't retaliate. Zella removed the straw hat from her head, sighing.

"Yeah, I just dropped by the garden, and then I saw you and Mr. Randall Cross coming out of the limousine. Did the two of you get off the work at the same time?"

Zella was becoming nosier as the time passed. Leo turned to Randall, smirking.

"Yeah, we just finish work early. I can have a dinner with you today, just like I promise." Leo caressed her arms and entwined her fingers on Zella's. Randall turned in another direction, scoffing. This is not getting good as long as a couple is present in front a single man.

"Alright, I just thought you're not ready to say to me everything."

Randall turned to the lovers, narrowing his eyes, permitting, "I'd like to go back to my room for a while, and take a shower. Just go on with your lovey… dovey…"

Leo and Zella turned to him. Randall just walked away suddenly.

"What happened to him?"

"He might be in cringe." Leo muttered. Awkwardness washed through his bones.

Zella asked about what she heard earlier. "I overheard your conversation. Does it have to do something about the inspection team?"

Leo's smile curled down, turning to Zella with bewildered eyes. Those stares were the most prominent these days. Surprise, anguish, busted out, like he's always surprised with questions coming out of her mouth.

"How much did you hear?"

"Just when Randall said the inspection team trailing on your foot, that's where we butted in," Zella explained. Leo sighed. Things are getting rough on the Calvorite these days because of the fugitives and runaways. The spies who got assigned to each of the Telamur citizens were dealing with a bumpy road, too.

Nothing could win against the head sectors. If they said you're wrong, you are so utterly wrong.

Only if Leo hadn't made a deal to Jeremy to bring his fake wife's head that brought him anxiety every night, wondering what his first move should be. It didn't excite him to kill someone innocent. Maybe his subconscious had filled with so much purity and guilt by now.

"That's nothing. We just got a lot of reports today with the business fraud, so we decided to build the inspection team. Of course, they'll be trailing on our foot all the time. CEO's and second-in-command tend to be busier than some of the employees were," Leo lectured. He tugged on her wrist, and both of them walked while holding hands with each other.

Zella wouldn't mind. She's still angry about the kiss, but she's surprised to have forgiven him easily. Zella checked upon the doctor about her short-term memory lapses, and he explained it thoroughly.

Some of the days would lead her to no memory at all, or rare days with memories of her past. Zella looked up to the latter, because she wanted to know how much a doting husband Leo can be.

As Leo went silent, Zella regretted for not listening any further.

"Leo, listen. I don't know how to say this to you, but I checked up to the doctor assigned inside the mansion."

They have reached the side wing of the house but Leo halted from walking.

"Why?" Leo asked.

"I asked if my condition has a progress. He said, sometimes, I have no memory, but some other days, I would eventually find out who I was before it. I was just… looking up to what will happen." Zella doesn't know if she had made the right decision to seek help from the attending physician by the ground floor.

She doesn't have anything to do at home, and when Zella rummaged through the drawers, she had nothing to find but Leo and her clothes. Some of the pictures they have were inside a purse, and it's fading away.

Zella must be the one forgetting her responsibility as a wife.

"What did he say?" Leo's heart pounded. One wrong slip of a word and they're doomed. He's trying hard to go along the new inspection team, the Cassanos, his job as a spy, a businessman, and as a noble husband for her.

"Some days, I don't remember you. But rare days came, and I remember all about you."

Zella's lovely eyes stared to Leo. She quivered her lip.

"I wish the latter would happen sooner. I don't want to stay like someone who has been clueless all the time. There's some time I don't know how to move, and that my mind lapsed every time," Zella explained. She squeezed Leo's hand, and smiled sadly.

"You're going to help me at dinner today, right?" Zella probed.

Leo felt the lump on his throat. It was unusual to even pay attention to her words. But it's his role to give a clear picture to its indefiniteness.

"Sure, I'd love to." Unconsciously, those words left his lips.