Chapter 13: Chapter 13

As promised, Aaron accompanied Helena shopping the next day. There was a little debate about the time of their departure, before or after lunch. But later, the two of them agreed to have lunch outside. Then, they could freely shop.

They decided to go to The Houston Mall. The first goal was to see the places Aaron had to offer for Helena's cafe. He freed Helena to choose an empty area spread over several floors of the mall. And she took a vacant place on the ground floor.

As compared to the cafe that had been established, the place she chose was not that wide. Slightly narrower in size. But, no problem. Helena could use glass walls to give the illusion of a broad and spacious room. In addition, glass walls could spoil the eye with a monotonous view. Well, even though, in the end, they could only see the environment around the mall and human traffic there. But at least, it gave a better sight than being in closed partitions.

Helena nodded, satisfied with the plan that crossed her mind. She would discuss the matter further with Rachel and called an interior designer who was her partner to design her cafe later.

"That place has been empty for a long time?" She asked in between eating activities. At the moment, Helena and her husband were at a Japanese restaurant located on the first floor of The Houston mall. They ordered a variety of bento menus.

Aaron remembered something while chewing the food in his mouth. "More than a month. I purposely emptied it so you can use it," he replied after swallowing the food.

"Why are you sure that I will choose that place?" Helena said skeptically. She couldn't believe his answer because a month ago, their relationship was cold. They were disappointed in each other.

"I know your taste very well. Besides, it's the perfect place to liven up Helena's Cafe."

Helena nodded. It was the only vacant spot on the ground floor that best matched the image of the cafe in her mind. A small smile appeared on her lips. She was pretty happy knowing the fact that Aaron still cared about her while their relationship was deteriorating.

"If you're here, we can often have lunch together. Then, we'll go home together." Aaron spoke again. Instantly, the image of his new days with Helena in the same building where he worked appeared in his mind. They could spend more time together. And if suddenly he missed his woman, he just went downstairs and stole glances at her activities. Oh, his office was on the top floor of The Houston mall. He managed the mall and all of its branches in several big cities in Indonesia.

"You're asking me to wait all day so we can go home together?"

Aaron tilted his head and looked at Helena in surprise. "Didn't you always wait for me at the cafe?"

A blush adorned Helena's cheeks. Yes, she did it often. Almost every day, in fact, so they barely spent a day without seeing each other. "I-I'll be waiting for you at home." She lowered her voice because of the sudden embarrassment. Presumably, Helena was not used to saying such words. That was why she was envious of Aaron, who could freely voice his thoughts.

Aaron's reaction was like someone who forgot something essential and just realized it. "Right. I'd rather you wait for me at home." Then, he gave her a wide grin.

Helena looked more and more awkward. The way Aaron looked at her showed clearly that he liked that fact. She then turned her attention back to her meal to avoid his gaze.

"But at least we can have lunch together," Aaron said in a hopeful tone. He didn't want to let go of the opportunity to be alone with his wife.

"Okay," Helena answered quickly. She no longer needed to weigh her decision because there was no reason for her to refuse.

--

"Are you serious about making Thai food?" Aaron asked when he saw Helena was busy putting various spices into separate plastic bags for later weighing.

Yes. Aaron dan Helena was shopping at the supermarket inside the mall. It was their last agenda outside. After that, they would go home.

"Of course. You have agreed with the list that I made," Helena replied as she put the plastic filled with red onions into the shopping cart. Next, she walked towards the rows of fruits and took various kinds of fruits from there. For her, fruits must be in their refrigerator. In addition to being healthy, she liked to eat fruit as a healthy snack between meals. And she planned to teach that good habit to her husband.

What Helena said was true. The night before, the woman suggested rotating the menu so as not to get bored. So, for next week, she would make some Thai dished. Then, in the following week, she would replace it with menus from other regions, such as Japan. Especially for Indonesian cuisine, she would make it every two weeks.

Aaron had agreed to the idea. He had even seen the list of menus that his wife would make for the next week. He also agreed with her plan to make their days for the entire week filled with dishes from Thailand.

"Don't worry. I won't force you to eat it. If it doesn't taste good, I'm happy to let you order food outside," sneered Helena, who came back carrying a whole watermelon in both hands. His silence seemed to indicate his objection, which was why he didn't say it last night when she proposed it. The man seemed to doubt her ability to cook. Oh, come on. She couldn't use the original recipes for these dishes. Instead, she would adapt it to their taste.

Aaron released her grip on the trolley, then approached Helena. He gently grabbed both of her arms and forced her to look at him. "That's not what I meant. I just wanted to make sure," he explained to her suddenly sulking wife. Ah, Helena was starting to feel comfortable expressing herself in front of him. Of course, he was happy with the change. "Don't be mad, okay?" he said softly.

If they were at home, Aaron would immediately embrace her into his arms. Well, even though before that, he would go all out to tease his woman. This method was very effective in calming Helena's anger and removing the invisible horn on her head. However, they were in a public area. He couldn't carelessly hug Helena. If he forced to hug her, the horns on Helena's head would grow more significant, and the effect was to silence him for several hours.

Helena exhaled to neutralize her mood. Then, she said, "Then help me to pick fruit."

"Sure. What fruits do you want to buy?"

"What do you want?"

"I want you."

A soft hit landed on Aaron's arm. Helena was the culprit. Who else? "No kidding." She hid her embarrassment in her sentence.

Aaron chuckled. If things continued like that, he was sure their marriage would be happy.