Her.

The autumn breeze gently moved her hair to cover her back as we got out of the cab to walk to the venue. She looked back and waited for me to catch up with her. Her black dress showed off her shoulders and long, curled hair which she spent at least two hours on at home.

“Madame?” she opened the door, pretending to be a posh doorman.

"Oh, why thank you," I said in a thick English accent which earned me a laugh.

The setting was your typical nonprofit gala with people dressed so elegantly, holding glasses of red wine in their hands and talking about how unfortunate the recipients of their funds are. After we were shown to our seats, I excused myself to greet my boss who was the co-planner of this event. A couple of fake smiles and small talks later, I returned to the table, but everyone had gone to get refreshments. My eyes immediately went to the most beautiful woman in the room, her long black hair now back to its desired position.

The ceiling lights painted the room faint red and it reflected on her skin as she smiled at me with her eyes. I got so caught on watching them that I didn’t realize her lips were moving.

“Sweetie this is Aika! My close friend from high school and college, I think I told you a bit about her before… right?” she was smiling with both her teeth and eyes this time. “And this is Rain” her hand came up to give me a soft pat on the back as her eyes continued gazing at her old classmate. We shook hands and Aika told me how glad she was to meet me as we connected eyes for only one second before she turned back to my wife. She was somewhat around my height, had a long bob cut with dyed blonde hair and wore circular glasses… my wife has always been obsessed with those. Unlike most other guests, she had come in a flowy, white button-up that was accessorized with a bow and paired with long, loose navy pants. To me, that seemed more of a work outfit than something one would wear to a gala. Mina and Aika started talking in Japanese while I slowly started to scan the room. Some people were chatting as they ate, some people were laughing as they chat, and others were just chatting.

“Oh my god, remember that?” was the only English phrase that I caught in their conversation, which seemed to be moving along pretty smoothly. I told my wife I’m going to go sit down as I watched her quickly nod to me and get back to her conversation. I went back to sit with a glass of whiskey in my hand.

When I had gotten back to our seats, they too were sitting down on the other side of the tinted room. I couldn't lip-read what they were talking about, but my eyes were forcibly glued on my wife and her companion. I have never seen her laugh in that matter for the five years that we’ve been together. Aika was holding her hand and my wife was occasionally brushing Aika’s hair behind her ears without taking one glance outside of their bubble.

I started to tap my hands on the glass of whiskey as my eyes searched for Aika who was now blocked from my view by an elderly couple. Glances of her sitting with one leg over the other could be seen through the glass in which the older man poured his partner a drink.

“Mina”, I called softly… she didn’t hear me. “Minaaa”, I raised my voice and she still did not respond. People who were seated further than Mina and Aika seemed to hear me, but they did not. My lower lip stated to bleed a little because I kept biting on it unconsciously. Aika saw my waving hand and whispered to Mina, who then after a glance back, got up and started to walk back to our table.

“Ah,” her eyes seemed to sparkle under the red lights, “I’ve told you about Aika before, right?” She looked back at Aika who seemed to be gazing at our direction with a smile. Mina brushed the hair out of her face as if she was embarrassed and turned her attention to me. “Anyways, are you enjoying yourself?” This time she was only smiling with her lips.

“Yeah, it’s okay,” I gazed at her face intently. “I didn’t know that we would meet anyone we knew here” an involuntary laugh came out.

“Me neither! When you left, I went to go get a drink and then I saw Aika and was immediately transported back into college days" she looked at me as her eyes turned into crescent moons. "You guys must have been quite close" I nodded. "We were, um… she was actually my first girlfriend.”

“Oh.”

The rest of the evening passed in a blur and somehow, we were back at home again. I lay staring at the ceiling while Mina could be heard in the shower. The alcohol in my bloodstream telling me that tonight my wife was reunited with her soulmate and my brain telling me to stop overreacting. A buzz came from a phone that's on the nightstand, but I ignored it. After a few seconds I looked back up at the phone that was boiling my curiosity. I shook my head and closed my eyes and the image of Mina and Aika sitting together, laughing while caressing each other's hands came to my mind. So, I opened my eyes again and reached out to grab Mina's phone. She had one message. It said, "It was so nice to see you tonight love" with a heart emoji. I put it down and laid down again as she came out of the shower, ruffling her wet black hair with the white towel.

“Still didn’t sleep?”

“Yeah, too many thoughts I guess.”

She sat down, unlocked her phone and showed her beautiful smile while typing. I turned my back at the sight but still unable to close my eyes for a few hours of sleep. As she walked around the room, I was predicting her moves as I heard it. She thought I was asleep, so she didn’t blow dry her hair. She tiptoed to the kitchen to make herself a turkey sandwich and then scrolled through her phone for half an hour. Finally, I felt her arms around me as we lay together in the tiny corner of the bed and only then I was able to doze off.

In life, many coincidences disguise themselves as fate. The obsession that humans have with destiny and situations that are made to be as if there is one particular way that their life is defined. These were the first thoughts that came to my mind in the morning followed by a headache caused by the drinking last night. It was only a couple of glasses, but my body has proven not to welcome unfamiliar products. After washing my face, I walked into the kitchen without any craving for food. There stood a post-it note stuck on the refrigerator: “Will be back late tonight so don’t wait up, luv you.” I made myself some green tea to detox and the silence of the dining room which was usually comforting, just made me feel like I was the only person in the whole world. My mind started to wonder again about what she might be doing tonight that she’s late. She’s probably in a meeting or working late I told myself with assurance. She often worked late, and I had never thought much of it but this time I couldn’t leave the idea alone. A sense of guilt started to reside within me as deep inside I knew that I was in a loving relationship and my partner was as loyal to me, as I am to her. All of this worrying was probably produced by my paranoid mind that constantly told me I am not good enough. Maybe I'll surprise her at work, I thought. Buy those dumplings that she loves from the city and go see her. Seeing her for sure would make my heart content and push the worries aside.

Calling off work was easy because I have never missed a day. They told me to rest well and that they’ll see me tomorrow. The hours seemed to go by so slow as I tried to find something to do around the house. I vacuumed, reorganized every shelf I could find in the house and watched ‘The Notebook” for the second time. Finally, the sun set and darkness filled this side of the world. I put on a lowcut rose-colored dress shirt with beige linen pants and the gold heart necklace that Mina got me earlier this year. I caught a cab and got off outside of "Little Dumpling" to get her favorites to go. When I came back to the cab, the driver said:

“That was a lot waiting around.” I didn’t say anything, and he started driving again. Two blocks from her work, there was a cute flower shop that I had noticed the last time when I came to drop off her documents. I decided to get her carnations: red, white and purple ones, wrapped up in a bouquet. I walked into the tall building and was greeted by a security guard behind the welcoming desk.

"How can I help you?" his face was expressionless but I didn't blame him. If I had to work this late, I too would be miserable.

“Hi, um… I just wanted to visit Mina Hirano. She should be working late tonight.”

“One moment,” he picked up the telephone, pressed a button and started talking to somebody. I took a sniff of the carnations, admiring their colors when the man spoke up from behind his desk.

“Miss Hirano isn’t working tonight ma’am,” he shook his head.

I laughed a little. "Can you check again; she's usually always staying late to do extra work." The man sighed as he returned to the phone again and then handed me the phone altogether. "It’s her manager.”

The wire from the phone barely reached my ear as I held my bouquet with my other hand. “Hello? You’re looking for Mina Hirano?”

“Yes, yes I am. She is working overtime today,” I paused for a moment, “like she usually does.”

“And who am I speaking with?” Her assertive personality could be felt through her voice alone.

"Her girlfriend," I replied.

“Mina left at five o’clock as she usually does… every single day. I have never asked her to stay late in the office to work.” There was silence for a couple of seconds. “Believe me I’d know if she was here, I’m always here until very late.”

“I see.”

I got back home and took the flowers out of their wrapping and put them into a vase. I took out the dumplings from the bag and opened the container. They forgot to give me soy sauce. I picked up a cold dumpling and put it in my mouth. Chewing without tasting, sitting on this chair, only physically. After an hour, I heard keys shuffling and the door opening slowly as she tiptoed inside the house. She turned around and saw me, “Oh! You’re still awake?” she got down from her toes and came over to give me a kiss. Her eyes lit up when she saw the dumplings as she quickly sat down and picked up the chopsticks that I left for her. “How did you know I was craving these oh my gosh.” I watched her stuff her face with one dumpling and she stared back at me in confusion. “Anything wrong?”

“Did you finish your work?”

"Ah, almost. I think I'm going to have to work late in the office tomorrow too." She put down her chopstick after that one dumpling. "But we can spend this whole weekend together," she picked up my hand, kissed it and brought it up to her cheek. I caressed her face while she continued talking. "We can go to that bar you've been wanting to go. Hmm?"

“That sounds nice,” I said smiling at her. “That sounds nice.”