“In addition to compensating for the damage, they also offered you a job?” The question made Angelina switch her attention from the morning news on television to her husband as she cooked. Her attempt to make perfectly round sunny-side-up eggs for breakfast resulted in scrambled ones.

Her attempt to make perfectly round sunny-side-up eggs for breakfast resulted in scrambled ones.

“Yeah,” Angelina replied, staring at the eggs’ transformed state with a hint of resignation.

Cooking wasn’t her forte. “Do you want sweet soy sauce?”

Turning toward her husband, Angelina found Paul dressed in his office attire, seated in the dining room with a minimalist counter separating it from the kitchen. Sunlight poured in from the windows behind him, illuminating his hair with a soft glow.

“Sure,” Paul replied, taking another sip of his coffee. “Maybe you can try a recipe from the internet.”

Angelina responded with a quick smile, then added sweet soy sauce to their egg-topped rice.

She wasn’t particularly keen on following her husband’s culinary suggestions.

As she served breakfast, the fresh scent of Hugo Boss perfume mixed with pomade filled the air. Angelina sat down across from him. Her eyes lit up as they settled on their small garden beyond the glass of the large window framed in white-painted aluminum. A three-tiered fountain, flowing into a freshwater fish pond and surrounded by greenery and white lilies, caught her attention.

A fleeting image of the gray and white striped wild cat flitted through her mind, causing her lips to curl into a smile.

I wonder if Maw-Maw will come to see the fish once more, as she did yesterday.

“So, when are you going to quit?”

“Uh, what?” Angelina blinked, momentarily taken aback. “Huh?”

“Angel…”

“Oh, no. I’m not interested,” Angelina replied, a touch of exasperation in her voice. “I like my job.”

“Becoming a vet for dangerous animals for just a little over the minimum wage?”

Angelina gave her husband an incredulous look and said, “They’re not dangerous. They’re sweet and obedient.”

However, Paul’s expression remained unimpressed. His black eyes narrowed as he countered her words. “Sweet, as in when the gorilla bruised your hand poking it or when the python decided to escape its cage out of boredom?”

Angelina pursed her lips in response. “Accidents happen. It’s part of the job. It’s normal.”

“Angel, you know it’s not that simple. I’d rather you didn’t work at the zoo. It’s risky. Remember when you mentioned the incident where the tiger almost killed its mate?”

Paul continued expressing his concerns. “Now, you’ve got a job offer at a human hospital. It pays better, and your role involves assisting researchers. Why are you hesitating about accepting?”

“Yeah, I can’t just quit my job like that. And besides…”

“Besides?”

“I don’t know.” Angelina frowned. “I have a bad feeling about it.”

“Bad feeling?”

Paul paused mid-sip, his puzzled gaze meeting Angelina’s. Their eyes locked before Angelina shifted her attention to the street view visible through the window behind her husband.

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Largely vacant, as usual. The neighborhood was relatively new, with many houses still unoccupied.

“Angel…,” Paul began.

“Doctor Reiner knew my name. He even called me ‘Doctor’ when I regained consciousness,” Angelina interjected. “I felt like the car accident might have been intentional.”

Paul chuckled. He shook his head, stirring the rice to distribute the soy sauce and egg. “Angel, you’re always so skeptical.”

Angelina felt her cheeks warm in embarrassment. She remembered when Paul had teased her about Mr. Tukul, the street vendor, following them during their morning walk. “They also want me to work five days a week.”

“Overnight?” Paul turned to Angelina. “It’s just a thirty-minute drive to the hospital, right?”

“That’s why I turned down the offer,” Angelina sighed, her voice heavy. “The salary is higher, but…”

“…found pieces of his body in the crocodile cage. Police suspect this veterinarian may have met with an accident while conducting an animal inspection alone…”

Angelina’s words trailed off as she glanced at the TV mounted on the wall, showing officers carrying a body bag from an East Java zoo.

A veterinarian? How could that be?

“That’s enough!” Paul suddenly exclaimed, switching off the television. Angelina looked at her husband, his expression stern. “Either accept the job or stay home.”

“Hey!” Angelina protested, unable to ignore the intensity of Paul’s look, scarier than that of Bowo, the toothache-afflicted tiger.

Paul took a deep breath and leaned back in his chair. It was his usual posture for giving lectures to his younger wife. “Angel, I know you love your job, but…”

Angelina clenched her teeth. She disliked it when Paul said “but” in that tone. It meant he was in bossy mode.

Paul’s eyebrows furrowed, and he snorted before continuing his lecture. “But you’re my responsibility now. Even though I never got the chance to meet your late parents, I’m sure they’d hold me accountable if anything happened while you were working. So…”

Thoughts of her parents, who had died in a car accident on the day of her master’s graduation, brought a pang of sadness to Angelina’s heart. She stood up, gently cutting him off. “Paul, that’s enough. I’m resigning today.”

Paul’s expression softened. He stood up, saying, “Angel, I have your best interests at heart.”

Despite her somber mood, Angelina nodded. “Paul, I’ll head out now.”

“You haven’t had breakfast,” Paul reminded her. “I’ll be back home in the afternoon. Once you’ve resigned, enjoy your time at the mall and buy some new clothes. Tomorrow, I’ll accompany you to Genma.”

“I’m not hungry. I’ll eat around noon,” Angelina replied, picking up her untouched plate. An uneasy feeling lingered in her expression.

Why can’t Paul understand that I love my job?

Paul sighed, returning to his seat to finish his breakfast. Meanwhile, Angelina stored the plain rice in the cooker and placed the omelet in the refrigerator.

“I’ll head out now,” she murmured. She would miss the animals. Would Bowo’s cubs be born healthy?

“Angel.”Paul’s voice stopped her in her tracks. “Yes?”

“Don’t forget to pick up your birth control pills. It’s important.”

Embarrassment made her cheeks slightly flushed. “I won’t forget. I’m leaving.”

“You haven’t even given your husband a kiss.”

“A kiss?” Angelina stammered, her cheeks turning even redder. “I mean, I haven’t…”

A playful grin played on Paul’s lips as he noticed Angelina’s bashful expression. He approached her.

“But this time, I want you to be the one to kiss me first,” Paul stated, leaning in.

A wave of shyness washed over Angelina. Paul’s warm breath against her cheek and their lips almost touching was the cause of her heart racing.

“N-now?” Angelina stuttered, her voice uncertain.

“Yes.”

Gathering her courage, she leaned in, their lips brushing before she pulled back. “I-I’m leaving!”

The bright red of embarrassment colored Angelina’s face. However, she moved forward until their lips touched for a few seconds before the woman ran away to the front door. “I-I’m leaving first!”

Angelina ignored Paul’s laughter, knowing that there would come a time when she would be the one to tease her husband endlessly. Not now, but later, when she would no longer feel embarrassed to wear the lingerie hidden at the bottom of the closet.

She pressed the alarm key to unlock the door of Doctor Reiner’s blue BMW, which he had lent her until the repair shop returned her car. Sliding into the driver’s seat, she started the engine and sighed, recalling the news she had been watching.

The news covered the zoo in Surabaya. I wondered if Dr. Sandi knew the victim. After all, only a few veterinarians were willing to care for wild animals. However, she shook her head. Perhaps not. He is a nerd like me.

With the handbrake lowered and her foot on the gas, Angelina drove the car, heading towards the zoo. She intended to bid farewell to Bowo and the other animals.