Bedmates Soulmates
CHAPTER 204

She Should Learn To Compartmentalise

Kira looked away and hurriedly stuffed the photo back into his pocket.

She turned around, her back to Austyn.

But the image of the young couple remained vivid in her mind.

Elsie was right; Deborah was pretty.

She and Austyn seemed such a perfect match.

It was the first time Kira saw Austyn in uniform.

He looked so serious yet so alert, ready to spring into action at a moment's notice.

Recalling his erect bearing and his broad shoulders, Kira could see why so many women had a thing for men in uniforms.

Kira also realised that the man had never liked to smile.

He was standing next to his beloved.

There was probably an occasion for the photograph to be taken.

Maybe he'd just won some kind of award, judging from the medals on his chest.

But his thin lips were pressed tightly.

He was steely-eyed.

He looked like he was ready for combat, not a celebratory party.

If not for his arm linked with Deborah's, one would have thought he was taking a picture with

a stranger.

Kira thought back to the past year.

She had never taken a selfie with Austyn, let alone a formal photograph.

A sharp pang stabbed at her heart, but Kira refused to acknowledge it was jealousy.

Everyone had a past.

She shouldn't get upset over something that happened a long time ago, especially over someone who was no longer alive.

Kira closed her eyes and willed herself to sleep.

The moment she woke up, her eyelids began to twitch.

Kira had a bad feeling.

An old wives' tale went that if one's left eye jumped, one would find good fortune; if one's right eye jumped, one would find bad luck. Kira touched her eyes.

'Damn."

It was her right eye.

When Austyn came out of the bathroom, he saw his wife sitting up in bed, covering half of her face with one hand, looking glum. 'What are you doing?"

'My right eye is jumping,' she said anxiously. 'I get the feeling that something bad is going to happen.

Austyn scoffed at her superstitious belief. 'Do you also read the tea leaves and play tarot cards?

'No, but I just can't shake this feeling in the pit of my stomach.'

Sensing she was genuinely worried, Austyn said evenly, 'I'm here. Nothing's going to happen to you."

+

Kira was touched.

Giana was right; the most beautiful three little words in the world were not 'I love you,' but 'I am here.'

She scooted over the bed towards Austyn, intending to give him a hug. "Thank you, my husband. I-Ah!" 'What's wrong?'

Kira grimaced. 'I think I just pulled a muscle.

Austyn smirked. "There, your superstitious fear is realised. Something bad happened. Now can you stop freaking out about it?" Kira pulled a face.

Must he kick her while she was down?

Austyn petted her head. 'Go and get washed up. I'll apply the ointment on you later.'

'Okay.'

After Kira came out of the shower, Austyn was already dressed.

He looked just as handsome in a suit and a tie as he did in a military uniform, though in a

Shu Shali Login Ti Compartmentali

different way.

The stubble on his face was gone.

There was a faint trace of cologne.

He stood with one hand stuck in his pants pocket, looking like he'd just stepped out of a photo shoot for the cover of GQ magazine.

He held the tube of ointment with the other hand and beckoned to her. 'Come here."

'Could you not summon me like a dog?' Kira thought as she approached.

She sat down on the sofa, held out her right arm and let Austyn rub ointment on the bruise.

'I'll drive you to the office after breakfast,' he said.

When Kira was about to speak, he pre-empted her objection. 'Don't argue. It's faster than taking the bus, and you save your two-dollar bus fare. Besides, not many people get to be chauffeured around by me. You're getting the VIP treatment. What's there to object?" 'I didn't say I was going to object.'

Kira called Paul yesterday.

She still had three days left on her supposed 'sick leave, but her arm no longer hurt and she didn't want to just lay around the house.

Paul said she could come back any time.

'You didn't need to say it with your mouth. I saw it in your eyes."

'So you're a mind reader now?" Kira thought, keeping quiet.

When he was done, he patted her head. 'Go and get changed. Then come downstairs for breakfast.'

'Okay.'

Kira watched Austyn leave the bedroom.

He had long, powerful legs.

He'd used his indoor voice this morning.

He rubbed ointment on her and offered to drive hier to work.

ther

It was as if the fight two nights ago never happened.

Kira marvelled at the man's ability to compartmentalise.

It was as if he set a timer in his head for the amount of time he was allowed to be angry.

Once the time was up, he immediately dismissed that emotion and went back to business as usual.

im To Compstimentalise

Kira thought she could learn something from the man.

It was never easy for her to let go of emotions like that.

Kira's right eyelid was still twitching after breakfast.

Austyn had gone to the garage to get the car.

Elsie saw Kira muttering to herself.

'Is something wrong?"

Kira told her about the misbehaving eyelid.

The housekeeper laughed.

'Come on, Young Madam. Even an old woman like me doesn't believe in stuff like this. It's just superstition. You and Young Master patched things up. The sun is out. The birds are chirping. grass is green. How could anything bad happen on a brilliant day like this?"

The

Kira thought about it and decided that Elsie was right.

The twitching eyelid was probably due to a lack of sleep last night.

After she put back the photograph, she'd tossed and turned for quite a while before finally drifting off.

"Thanks, Elsie.'

Kira hoisted her bag over her shoulder and bounded down the steps.

She had been away from the office for the better part of a week.

Work must be piling up.

She had more important things to worry about.