Crash Landing on You - Edelweiss Diaries

Part 19 - Counting down time

"Your Brazil trips are going to get twice as long. I will be able to see you only once every six to eight weeks." Her gaze fell to the floor, unable to process the wall of reality that allowed her to see him, but not touch.

"At this rate, you will be far busier than me." She held back the sting of tears collecting in the back of her eyes.

His gaze was fixed on hers as if he was looking past her complaints, the silence now belaying the simple message that she missed him.

"It's an experiment for now," he said with a muted understanding of all that was unsaid. "We'll figure it out in a bit."

True to himself he didn't offer her assurances. She didn't need them either. In that instant the realization was piercing: they would never fully get used to being together or missing the other.

*****

9 months later...

The smell of coffee and something nutty teased her nose, awakening her to find the sun well over the horizon. In the kitchen, he was busy setting the plates for breakfast, a sight that always made her utter a prayer to the heavens. Her cooking was yet to improve, but it would be a while before she could serve him something edible. After all, she was still on her journey from being a pathetic cook to a bad one. 

Knotting her robe, she perched herself on the barstool and he leaned in for a kiss.

"Try this," he said, sliding an espresso cup towards her. "And this one." There were now two tasting cups, of which one she guessed was hot chocolate.

"New brand?" she asked and took a sip of the first cup, only to go stock still, the hot brew startling and original. Her gaze was steadfast on him. "This is from your estate, isn't it?"

"Ours!" He gave her an acknowledging smile and she eagerly reached for the hot chocolate. The warm drink was sinful and ambrosial. "You should call it Elixir," she proposed determined.

He was dumbfounded and nearly uneasy, he straightened himself. "That's the strangest thing that's happened to me in a while." At once, he scampered to his study and came back with some thick papers in his hand. When he placed it in front of her, she recognized it was flattened packaging foil. Printed in golden block letters against a shiny brown background, were the words, 'Elixir.'

Her hand flew to clamp her mouth. It was beyond coincidence, but she wanted to believe it was a sign they were finally on the path to being two parts of a whole.

"I was debating if I should use this for the coffee or the hot chocolate." He lightly placed his arms on her waist.

"For the coffee..." She bit her lips and her eyes turned into half-moon crescents lost in consideration. "Cup of Amber?"

He nodded, his eyes conveying more than words that he was impressed. "The names have a good brand presence." He mouthed a thank you.

She gave him a charming smile. "Then you'll pay me a commission for naming rights on every bag sold?" She opened her palm flat and raised it towards him.

"And here I thought I was talking to my wife." He bent down and placed a kiss in the middle of her palm. "Turns out its Yoon Se Ri daepyonim in front of me."

"Oh, you can take the wife out of the daepyo," she folded her arms defiantly and a smug smile played at her lips. "But not the daepyo out of the wife."

He kissed her then, taking her lips with a note of indulgence, and yet the distraction wasn't enough for the sharp tinge of ache that spread in her chest.