KISS ME BETTER

CRY MAYBE

Kaede didn't go to see Joseph, no instead, she packed. She did all the Airbnb tours of her apartment and finally chose a young lady from Brazil who was in France for a year with an Erasmus program. Students were a prudent choice. They always left after getting their diploma. One had less of a chance to have their apartment squatted for a decade with them. Also, they had their parents offered a financial warranty.

Things went faster and better than Kaede expected once she put her mind to preparing for her move.

Kaede left her crybaby stance back in 2020. The woman was active and had no time to wallow over her feud with Guran. If Guran didn't understand her decision, then he wasn't the man she thought he was.

Leaving the twenties age group did many things to one's mindset, including making some women radical regarding decisions. Kaede wasn't an exception. She had given and was done with compromises that meant putting herself aside for a man's comfort. Some would say she Wo-manned up in other jargon, and others would justly point out her past relationships contributed to her zero tolerance when men's talk became crooked.

Kaede's already booked her flight, and her Uber waited at her door's step. The woman said goodbye to Bastille and hello to the south of France.

She arrived on time for check-in and waited for her gate to open. Her departure had nothing to do with what she had in mind. The woman who imagined Guran accompanying her and romantic farewells found herself flicking through pictures of their couple.

Guran always looked so severe in photos. His angular jawline and cheekbones enhanced his masculine traits. Damn, he's hot, Kaede thought while she sneered at her phone screen. She looked up just in time to see a man wearing a keffiyeh headdress held by its agal cord and dishdasha robe pass. Escorted by four bodyguards, Kaede assumed it was a sheik or some sort of Arabian dignitary figure.

Of course, the person was allowed to board the plane before anyone else.

Kaede rolled her eyes. Why all the ceremony, she wondered. He was human, just like her; it wasn't as though he pooped a pot of gold every time he went to the toilet.

The announcement to board came through, and the woman got up when she heard her aisles letters called.

She turned her phone on airplane mode just as it was about to ring and trailed her hand luggage to have her boarding scanned.

Shit thought Guran as his call got diverted to Kaede's voicemail. Kaede was probably already on her plane. Guran replayed and revised all the scenes of their argument for the past fortnight. He didn't see anything wrong with what he expressed.

Thus he made no steps to patch things up.

Perhaps he was a little hyper-sensitive, but it didn't change the fact Kaede made a decision that would impact their relationship without consulting him.

Once married and divorced, the man refused to fall into the habits that would put their idle in peril with time.

Kaede was the woman he dreamed of having. Of course, she didn't sit idly waiting for him; she lived her experiences. Good or bad, they were what made the woman in her present and the person he loved. Kaede had her scars; the woman didn't hide them. She told him from day one, and he accepted her the way she was. Still, there were days when Guran wished she would see things from his perspective.

Guran hoped Kaede wouldn't hold a grudge too long. He would try to call her again once she landed.

In the meantime, he had his career's future to secure. Guran entered the meeting room to give his answer concerning his job proposal.

At Charles De Gaulle, Kaede made herself comfortable. Scared of planes, she took a first-class seat for comfort and planned to watch a movie just as everyone in her talk group advised. She could have taken a train, but spending almost five hours in one, even a TGV, was beyond her.