Ivory (Roses Trilogy #1)

Chapter 04

"Are you off to work?"

I was brewing my morning coffee when Reiven entered the kitchen. I glanced at him, and he's already wearing his suit without its necktie. He cooked our breakfast for today, and I just finished preparing myself for work. I looked down when I noticed that our attires suddenly matched. He must've noticed it because he took a few seconds to stare at me.

Almost two weeks have passed since the day I broke down in front of my husband. Ever since the days after that, I noticed a lot of changes that never happened for the past three years of our marriage. Between the two of us, I was always the one that comes home early after work. Unlike our breakfasts, Reiven and I don't usually eat dinner together, but recently— Reiven suddenly comes home before I do. Just like last night, I was taken back to see him cooking dinner in his work attire.

Our morning schedule wasn't that distant, so we were mostly given time to eat breakfast together. I would cook for the both of us if I woke up first, and vice versa. It was our usual morning and evening together, which suddenly changed after that day.

"I'll eat with you." I responded to his question. While waiting for the coffee, my phone suddenly rang. I left it in the living room. "Can you look after my coffee? I'll just take the call."

I went out of the kitchen when he nodded and stood up from his seat to stand exactly where I was. I picked up my phone and rolled my eyes in the air when I saw a message from Lori, telling me that she dialed a wrong number.

"Who is it?" Reiven asked right after I stepped back in the kitchen. He finished preparing the coffee for me and placed it beside my plate.

"It was Lori. She dialed the wrong number." I sat in front of him and started to scoop some rice. I glanced at Reiven when I noticed he wasn't moving, probably waiting for me to finish scooping for myself.

I scooped again and placed the rice on his plate. I looked up to him. "Is that enough?"

"A bit more." he said without taking his eyes off of me.

I added a half scoop of rice and looked at him again. He nodded at me, and we started to eat our breakfast. The silence almost made me lose my appetite, at the same time, I can feel Reiven's stare from time to time. I couldn't chew the food properly because of that, but I still managed to finish my breakfast.

"I'll take care of this." I took my plate and was about to take his when he stopped me.

"No, I'll do it." he said and tried to reach for my plate, but I kept it away from him.

"You cooked for breakfast, Reiven." I said and snatched the plate from his hand. He didn't say anything after that.

I wore an apron and walked towards the sink to start washing everything that we used. My hand reached for the faucet, and before I could open it, a hand stopped me from doing so. I looked behind me and saw Reiven standing so close.

"Take off your blazer," he said in a low voice.

"No, it's fine. I'm wearing glo—"

"You might still wet it, Flora. Just take it off." he cut me off.

I sighed and looked away from him. I took off the gloves and brought my hands to my back to reach for the apron's strings and untie them, but I suddenly held my breath when I felt Reiven's hand on both sides of my waist. While having my back facing him, he gently pulled me close and untied the strings for me.

My hair was tied in a bun with some strands falling on each side of my face, and I don't know if I should praise myself for deciding to put on that hairstyle or not because it made me feel each of his breaths on my nape. He's too close to me to feel it intensely.