"WHAT!?" Bella shouted in surprise. She quickly pulled out her cell phone and gaped at the screen, shocked to see a shirtless Tristan lying on his bed.
Bella could see his well-defined chest. She could only blink, unable to move or speak.
This was the first time she had seen his chest again in so many years, and the sight brought back all her happy memories. Once more, these memories, these feelings, started to confuse her.
"You look so pretty, Bella," Tristan said, suddenly pulling Bella from her lingering sweet memories with him. She feels like an entire zoo now dancing in her stomach.
She shook her head slightly while turning away her gaze, "T-Tristan, you—" but her voice betrayed her. She couldn’t voice what was in her mind at this moment.
Tristan interrupted Bella, noticing her face had turned red. "Bella, are you okay? Are you allergic to something?"
Once more, Bella scolds this shameless Tristan in her mind.
"I’m fine! Maybe. I don’t know! But please, Tristan, put on something..." she says without glancing at him at all.
Suddently, Tristan chuckled when he realized he only wears his pajama pants—he usually sleeps like that.
"Oops, I’m sorry. You know my habit." he hurriedly apologized and walked to put on his shirt.
As he hurriedly moved away from his bed, the sound of Tristan’s footsteps piqued Bella’s curiosity, leading her to sneak a peek at her phone screen. After only a few seconds, she was shocked to see a familiar piece of furniture in Tristan’s room.
Later,
Tristan’s face appears again. A wide smile graced his face before he continued his words. "Bella, I wear a shirt now. I hope your allergic to my upper body is gone now," he teased her.
After adjusting her expression, Bella slowly turned back to her cell phone. She saw him lying on the familiar bed. His handsome face is still framed with his loving smile.
"Are you sleeping in the room you said you would dedicate to me?" Bella asked, noticing some familiar furniture — her bedroom in his house.
"Our room, Bella. I didn’t make another room for myself in this house. I sleep in your bedroom, too..."
Bella was at a loss for words hearing his words. She gave him an — are you kidding me? — kind of look.
Gosh! If only she knew, she would never have slept there.
Now Bella understands why she feels his familiar scent on that bed whenever she sleeps in that room. Because he also sleeps there.
This is so embarrassing!
Tristan somehow could catch Bella’s uncomfortable feeling seeing him sleep in that room. He quickly talked about sleeping on the sofa in his office tomorrow if Bella didn’t like him sleeping there.
Bella took a deep breath before saying, "Tristan, please don’t. That’s your house. You can do whatever you want..." She said calmly but made a mental note that she would never sleep there again. Well, at least that’s what she planned to do. But she also believes in the higher power. She cannot predict what God has planned for her life in the future.
"This is our house, Bella. You are still my wife. Well, at least legally..." Tristan wanted to say that, but he held himself back. He didn’t want to scare her in the middle of the night, so he could only smile lovingly at her.
They continued to chat about many other things. But mainly about Tristan’s business trip. He told her what he would do in Singapore.
Bella also updated him about her agenda in this city. She also informs him about her energy company, Celebes Energy.
Tristan was surprised to learn that Quantum Capital had become the majority shareholder in Celebes Energy. Although his own company also held shares in Celebes Energy, it was not a majority shareholder. However, he did not mention this fact to Bella, as he noticed her yawning a few times, and her face appeared slightly flushed.
"Are you sleepy? Or are you bored of me? Hahaha…"
"I’m not bored of you, Tristan. But I might for another minute. Kidding. I just need to take my sleep now."
"Alright. Would you mind putting your phone on the bedside table? I want to see you sleep."
"What? No! I don’t want you to see me drooling on my pillow or hear me snore. Good night, Tristan!"
Beep!
Bella immediately turned off her cell phone, afraid Tristan might call again.
She turned off all the lights, and the room became completely dark, lit only by the moonlight coming in from the window. She buried herself under the soft blanket and closed her eyes. She falls to sleep in the next five minutes.
****
The next day.
Bella awoke to the sound of waves crashing and sunlight streaming through the open curtains near her bed.
She checked the clock on her bedside table and was surprised to see that it was already 8 a.m., realizing she had overslept.
’Strange, why didn’t Noora wake me up? Did they also wake up late today?’ She wondered as she got up from bed.
As soon as she moves her body, she feels aching in all her muscles, as if she had just finished a marathon the day before. She hasn’t fully recovered from the shock yet. Her body temperature is so hot that it feels like someone has turned on a heater to the maximum.
"What is this...What is it so hot…Do I have a fever?"
Bella was taken aback when she heard a man’s voice come out of her mouth. She cleared her throat and placed her hand on her forehead.
She was speechless when she felt her body temperature getting hotter; she did have a fever.
"Oh my God... why now?" Bella sighed, feeling overwhelmed by her busy schedule. Refusing to believe she had a fever, she forced herself to get up from bed and found her bag.
As a mother with a toddler, she always prepared a few medicines for her and her son, and she remembered she had Ibuprofen* in her bag to reduce her fever.
With the efficiency of a mother, Bella found and immediately drank the medicine. She hopes this fever will not bother her today.
Despite her body aching, she forced herself to get ready for work.
_____
*Ibuprofen: Ibuprofen is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) used to relieve pain from various conditions, such as headaches, dental pain, menstrual cramps, muscle aches, or arthritis. It is also used to reduce fever and to relieve minor aches and pain due to the common cold or flu.