She had not moved from her spot on the sofa for hours.

Time flew when you were having fun, but it slowed to a crawl when you waited.

Kira gave up when the cuckoo bird came out again.

She stood up and swayed on her feet.

Her legs had fallen asleep.

She massaged some feeling back into them and trudged towards the stairs.

Extreme Joy Begets Extreme Sorrow

Elsie had been napping on the sofa.

"Young Madam? She rubbed her bleary eyes and stifled a yawn. 'Is Young Master back?"

'No.' Kira didn't look around.

Her voice was low and hoarse. 'It's getting late. I'm going to bed. So should you

Elsie was too sleepy to notice the dejection in Kira's voice. 'Okay. Good night.

'Good night."

Kira dragged herself upstairs.

She took a quick shower, brushed her teeth mechanically, then changed into her pyjamas.

She flopped down into bed, lying on her back, staring up at the ceiling.

The sun was in bed by now.

The goddess of night came out to inspect her territory with an entourage of stars.

There was no breeze.

The air was stifling.

Kira forgot to turn on the air conditioner.

Temperate was the last thing on her mind right now.

Besides, she wasn't feeling hot.

Disappointment worked like an antipyretic.

A cold feeling originated in her heart and radiated outward.

Kira pulled the blanket over her face.

Her hand touched her cheeks and came away wet

She didn't realise she had been crying.

She silently cursed herself for being such a snowflake.

So what if Austyn didn't return?

Why should she get so upset?

Why was she allowing a man to play havoc with her emotions?

Kira wiped away the tears with the back of her hand.

She was feeling light-headed from the lack of oxygen.

She flung the blanket aside and sucked in a lungful of the still air.

The clock on the nightstand had a luminous dial.

She didn't want to look, but she caught the time anyway.

Two minutes to midnight.

Austyn was now more than five hours late for dinner.

Didn't he say he would be back before by six?

Wasn't he supposed to be a man of his word?

Kira slowly sat up in bed, frowning.

Austyn wouldn't make a promise he couldn't keep.

He said he would quit smoking...

When Kira looked at the nightstand this morning, his lighter and his pack of cigarettes had disappeared.

He said he would be back for dinner.

He would have come back, unless he couldn't.

Something must be keeping him.

The cold feeling of being let down slowly morphed into the unsettling feeling of anxiety.

Could something have happened?

Austyn would have called if he knew he couldn't make it back in time.

But so far, all Kira got was radio silence.

Maybe his car broke down.

Maybe his phone ran out of battery.This belongs to - ©.

Maybe...he got into an accident.

Kira sprang out of bed and dug out her phone from her pants pocket.

The call was answered after five rings. 'Hello?"

Deborah's soft voice travelled down the line.

Kira's eyes widened. 'Where...where's Austyn?"

'Is that Kira?' Deborah chuckled. 'Austyn's asleep now. He's exhausted after spending the

Einu Sonow

entire day trying to find me. I don't want to wake him now. Could you call back tomorrow? I'm sure you wouldn't want to disturb him, not when he's so tired, right?'

Kira gripped the phone.

Her mouth was open.

Her heartbeat seemed to have stopped.

Her blood congealed.

The cold feeling returned in force as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over her head.

'Let him sleep,' she heard herself saying, 'I won't disturb him again.'

She yanked open the nightstand's bottom drawer and hurled her phone inside.

She might have forgotten to hang up, but she no longer cared.

She closed her eyes and let herself fall back onto the bed.

'Austyn's asleep now,' Deborah had said.

What she really meant was, 'Austyn's with me now. You should give up.'

Kira placed a hand over her chest.

She couldn't feel her heartbeat.

Her body was numb.

"Be good, Austyn had said to her in the morning

""Wait for me..."

'I'll be back for dinner..."

'She's not more important..."

'I no longer have any feelings for her...'

'Kira, the one I love is you.

She believed every word he said.

How stupid she had been.

8.36 am, August 31st.

That was when Austyn said 'The one I love is you

The time and date were etched on her memory.

She'd planned on setting this day as their anniversary.

Extreme Jay Boucts Extreme Sarrow.

She even had an idea about what to get him for the first-anniversary gift.

Dad had taught her not to count her chickens before they hatched.

Extreme joy begot extreme sorrow, he warned.

Had Kira celebrated too early?

Had the declaration of love been nothing but a diversion tactic?

Something to keep her mind occupied while he quietly slipped away?

He'd succeeded, of course.

Kira's heart had been swelling with so much happiness, she even overlooked the fact that he was leaving her to see another woman. Deborah Connelly.

Kira recalled the woman's gentle voice on the phone.

Deborah had been soft-spoken since the first time they met, but Kira was convinced she'd heard gloating in her voice.

Deborah must be laughing at her right now.

Here she was, worried sick and deathly afraid that something bad might have happened to

Austyn.

Yet there he was, spending the night with his ex-girlfriend whom he swore he had no more feelings for.

Kira was so mad at herself, she wanted to give herself a hard slap across the face.

Isabel had warned her.

The day men stopped lying was the day pigs would fly, she said.

Kira had not listened.

She cursed her gullibility.

She squeezed her eyes shut and willed herself to sleep.

She must get some rest.

There was a battle ahead.

Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.

Kira would fight for her marriage one last time.

She would find Austyn and confront him one last time.

Extrine Jay Hegets Latin

If he had really slept with Deborah, she would ask for a divorce.

If Deborah had lied to her, she would give the woman a beating she'd never forget.