The Foolproof Plan

Chapter 34: NOW WHAT?

It was almost three in the morning by the time everyone had filtered out of my apartment. Cindy and Tae had stayed to help do a bit of cleaning, but I told them that I would take care of the rest so that they could go home. Bella had kept herself busy and had not stopped cleaning.

After the very unfortunate incident on the patio, she had not flown off the handle and yelled at me or anything. But neither had she made any attempt to talk to me or get close to me. Now that Cindy and Tae were leaving, I wondered how much anger and blame I would be facing.

What happened next took me completely by surprise.

She locked the front door and turned to face me. She sighed.

"I'm sure you have a lot you want to say," she began, "but I think we should leave it until tomorrow. We're both very tired and might say things we'll regret. So, please, just throw out the bags with food trash then come back so that we can go to sleep."

I nodded. "Of course." I immediately picked up three bags and hurried outside to the large bin in the parking lot. When I came back inside, Bella was already in the shower.

I waited until she was out before walking into the bathroom with my pajamas. I took the quickest shower of my life and rushed back into the bedroom. Bella was already in bed, but I could tell that she was not asleep.

I sat on my side of the bed and took a deep breath. "Bella, don't you think we could talk just a little before going to sleep? Please?"

She sat up. "We're both very tired," she repeated. "We really should get some rest, okay?"

I threw my head back in exasperation. "I know we're tired, but we can't just leave things the way they are. How can I get any rest knowing that you're upset...that it's my fault? We shouldn't go to sleep upset."

"I didn't say I was upset."

I turned around to look at her in the dim light of my nightstand lamp. "How can you not be upset? You haven't spoken to me in hours."

"I'm speaking to you now," she replied. "And I'm telling you that we need to rest."

"Fine, fine," I conceded wearily. "Just know that I'm sorry, and that I regret any pain that I caused you because of what...what you heard. If you promise me that we can talk tomorrow, I will stop now and go to sleep." I slid my legs under the covers. Before I lay down, I turned to her. "I don't blame you if you're angry or whatever."

"I'm not angry," she said softly. She lay down again and pulled the sheet over herself.

I was about to snuggle into bed, but I stopped and stared at her. "Why? Why aren't you angry?"

She rolled away from me. "Not now, Jin."

"Bella," I insisted. "You say you're not angry, but you're not acting normal."

"Please," she whispered. "If you won't let me sleep, I'll go to the guest room."

"No," I said immediately. "Okay. Get some sleep. Good night. I love you."

"Good night."

I finally put my head on my pillow, but no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get any sleep. I knew that something was terribly wrong. How could she not be angry? Why wasn't she yelling at me? I would've preferred an all-out argument to the emotionless silence she was subjecting me to. At least that would've made sense. If it had been the other way around and I had found out that Bella had done something--anything--with another guy, I would've been livid. I would've been angry and hurt and wanting answers. The uncertainty was twisting my stomach in knots. I tossed and turned for hours.

By the time my eyes began to close from sheer exhaustion, I could see the first pink rays of the sun peeking through the window shutters.