new beginnings - jung wooseok

one

Death was something that Romaine had never contemplated until now.

A long, dreadful week had passed where Romaine had followed a simple routine: wake up, eat, go to work, come home, sleep. Her now dreadful husband found himself a place to sleep at Tatiana's place, so Romaine found herself suffering in the now too big apartment. She thanked God that her husband argued to not buy a house just yet, otherwise she would have drowned in the emptiness of her home.

She no longer ate pancakes for breakfast. Romaine decided it was too much involved with her and Simon's routine, so she decided she wanted to start eating eggs with toast, with a bunch of avocado and cream cheese on the toast. She ate it very little before she was married because her mother thought she would become too fat if she ate something fattening like pancakes. Her mother changed her mind after Romaine got married, however, and urged her to be plump and round.

"A married woman should never look skinny," her mother told her just a year after Romaine got married, "because it would look bad on your husband's part. If you look skinny, it means your man doesn't have the money to buy a bunch of food to feed his wife. Plus, how can a skinny woman give birth to a healthy child?"

Thus, the pancake routine was born. At first, Romaine made four pancakes just for herself and four for Simon, but when she realized that Simon would finish his pancakes just to eat another two of hers, Romaine realized that she'd rather just share the large load with her lover. She thought that he would complain about the sugar eventually, or even the lack of variety when it came to breakfast, but whenever Romaine tried to switch up the menu, Simon was against it.

"I love eating your pancakes more than I love eating anything else," Simon said to her one morning, his mouth filled with gooey goodness, "it's the best way to start my morning aside from seeing your beautiful face."

Now, Romaine just eats toast and avocado in hopes that she'll get over her husband and her wanting to eat pancakes.

She'll have to tell her mother eventually about the pending divorce. Her mother was the one who insisted on Romaine marrying Simon all those years ago. Simon was just a freshman in college when Romaine first met him. Romaine had finished her third year of high school, and she had never in her life had a boyfriend or fallen in love before Simon. He had moved from his home in Europe to live in New York, and in desperate need to find a Catholic church where he could feel at home, Simon found Romaine's.

Romaine didn't fall for him at all, she even despised him at one point. Simon was loved by everyone because of his accent and his fashion and his pure innocence. Romaine just couldn't fall for him like everyone else did. However, Romaine's mother found the good in him.

"He's polite and very religious, and he always worries about family back home." she told Romaine after Sunday mass, "you should look into him. I think he might be into you as well."

"I'm still in school," Romaine groaned, "I have classes to worry about."

"Just think about it," her mother winked at her. "You could be married right out of high school."

Her mother was right - Simon was interested in Romaine. He stared at her from across the room while the choir sang and sometimes took too many glances at her while their pastor preached. He fell for her quickly, and one day, after church, he took a chance and asked to take her to lunch.

"We'll take the metro," Simon had said, "and I'll bring you home by two. It's this nice Italian restaurant I found, reminds me of food back home."

Romaine wanted to refuse at the time, worried about a biology exam the next day, but her mother insisted and before she knew it, Romaine found herself talking to this college kid she barely knew in an Italian restaurant in the middle of New York, miles away from home. He asked about her favorite foods and her favorite places to hang out and told Romaine about himself and his life before coming to America. By the end of their little date, Romaine didn't want to go home.