Chapter 9

Kimberly cried her eyes out in the kitchen. She couldn t tell how long she had stayed there because she didn t want to face an angry Ian. After what felt like hours, she left the kitchen, walked passed the living room and went upstairs to the bedroom. When she got into the bedroom, did she realize that Ian wasn t home. How did she not notice when he drove out? She guess she must ve been too engrossed in her thoughts and tears to notice anything. With that conclusion, she peeled off her clothes which was currently soaked in tears and sweat and went into the bathroom because she desperately needed a warm bath. While running the bath, she wrapped her hair in a messy bun and wiped off her makeup before getting into the bathtub. For the first time in forty eight hours, Kimberly hated the fact that she took a leave of absence. If she hadn t taken that leave, she would ve gone to the hospital to take care of some patients and probably handled some new cases. At least that would ve been a good distraction, but now she has no option but to remain at home and face the drama. Letting out a heavy sigh, she submerged in the warm water, staying that way for some minutes before resurfacing again. She closed her eyes and let herself relax for a bit. Kimberly got out of the tub when she noticed that her skin had began to shrink. She wrapped herself in a towel and went into the closet to look for something to wear, when she heard the sound of a car. She walked to the window to take a peek and saw that it was Ian who just rode his blue Cherokee SUV Jeep into the driveway. She hurried back to the closet, wore her underwear and got her hands on anything. Only when Kimberly was fully dressed did she realize that she was wearing a white short sleeve button down shirt dress. She couldn t recall the last time she dressed like this. She had recently enjoyed wearing denim trousers. After pouring out her hair to let it dry, she headed for the living room. Kimberly got to the living room and saw Ian settled on the sofa with a bottle of beer. She could tell he was still mad at her because he didn t even bother checking on her like he always does. This made her sad but she managed to conceal her emotion because she was quite aware that the incident from earlier which led to their argument was partly her fault. She took a seat on an armchair as she was certain that Ian would like to be alone at the moment. Staring at him, she felt hurt and disappointed as he didn t even glance her way once. These were the kind of moments when she hated the fact that she was dating an older guy, not to mention the fact that he was in the military. It prevented her from expressing her feelings whenever they fought, why? Because he hated it when she cried too much and thinks she whines like a kid. To top it all, she couldn t reach out to him whenever he was upset. Gosh, it even scares her sometimes when he gets furious, even if his anger wasn t directed at her. Kimberly sat quietly in the living room, not wanting to say anything to further annoy her fiancé who was watching the TV. She wanted to be cuddled up in his arms while he watched the TV. She wanted them to make up and quit the silent treatment because she took a break from her workplace just to be with him. So, they ought to be making use of it. Above all, the silent treatment was slowly killing her. Already getting frustrated with Ian s attitude, Kimberly decided to leave the living room so she wouldn t be forced to voice out something she'd regret later. She walked into the kitchen and stood there for like five minutes, wondering what she was even doing there. She didn t want to go back to the living room, that was super awkward, being in the same room with your fiancé and the both of you decides to ignore each other. The living room was out of option, so was the bedroom because she wasn t feeling sleepy, so there was no point going there. Kimberly thought about paying her dad a visit but quickly ruled out that option when she looked at the time on her phone. Her dad wouldn t be at home at this hour, he would be at the university. What was she going to do to pass the time? She wondered, when suddenly her eyes caught the pantry, making her smile to herself. Maybe a little baking would help, she concluded and walked to the pantry to get the ingredients. After hours of baking blueberry muffins, chocolate cake and chicken pie, Kimberly was exhausted, not because of the baking but because she had spent those same hours thinking about her fight with Ian. It wasn t like she wanted to think about it, but no matter how hard she tried clearing her thoughts, it kept going back to their argument which made her actually wonder for the first time why her dad didn t want her going into the woods. As far as she could remember, she had never gone on any camping trip, both the ones organized by her schools or the ones with friends. She remembered asking him for reasons why he didn t want her going there but he chose not to give her any serious reasons other than the typical 'It's a dangerous place.' "Go get dressed. We re going to my parent s." Ian suddenly said, breaking Kimberly s thoughts. His voice void of any emotion, making her wonder how long he was going to keep up with this attitude. She noticed that he had dressed up in an all black suit and tie, she wondered why? As if her thoughts were read, she heard Ian talking on the phone with his mom. "Yeah-… Mom, we're on our way there, okay?" he was sounding slightly annoyed. Then it hit her. The welcome party Melissa had organized for Ian was today. How did she forget? She wondered, scolding herself for being so careless. She hurried out of the kitchen and headed for the bedroom, rushing into the bathroom. She washed her face and stripped off her shirt dress. She quickly straightened her hair with her hair straightener, not bothering if she did it properly because she already had a straight and scanty hair. After that, she applied a mild makeup and rushed to the closet to pick out something to wear. After minutes of groaning and searching, she settled for a black off shoulder dress with black lace heels. Without bothering to look at herself in the mirror, she wore her perfume, picked her black purse, put some essentials and rushed out of the bedroom.