You Can't Have It All

Chapter 19

            “First of all, you’ve got to be a good wife,” I recalled what Siti told me the other night when she sent me home, “You’ve got to listen to what he says, because a man likes his wife to listen to him.”

            “I can’t be that way,” I retorted, “If he says something wrong I can’t take it lying down.”

            “If you want your marriage to last, that is the only way,” Siti said, as I glared at her. Easy for you to say, you’re not living with him. “Your husband is like your master.”

            “Siti, please,” I said, “I respect your beliefs, but it won’t work for me.”

            “How are you planning to save your marriage if your head is filled with rocks?” Siti asked me as I glared at her.

            “First of all, my head is not filled with rocks,” I said, “It’s filled with blood capillaries, if I’m not mistaken, or was it spaghetti like worms? Whatever, and secondly, I’m not planning to save my marriage. Nothing’s going to work.”

            “Stop being such a pessimist,” Siti chided me, “You have to save your marriage, because it is sacred to you.”

            “He hates me,” I said.

            “No guy ever hates a woman,” Siti said, “He just hasn’t opened up his heart to accept you yet.”

            “I doubt he’ll ever open his heart to me,” I said.

            “Nothing is impossible,” Siti said, “All thanks to Adidas.”

            “Are you advising me, or promoting Adidas?” I asked her as she smiled at me.

            “You should bring him along one day with all of us, or just me,” Siti said, “I’m a good judge of character. Let me judge his feelings for you.”

            “That’s never going to happen,” I said, shaking my head.

            “Why not,” Siti asked me, “Don’t tell me your husband’s a loner?”

            “I don’t know,” I said, “He’d probably say no.”

            “You don’t know if you haven’t tried,” Siti said.

            “Okay, I will try to ask him, but if he says no, don’t be angry if I said, told you so,” I said.

            “Just try to be a nice wife and see if there’s any changes, will you,” Siti said before dropping me off. I decided to follow her advice, but I forgot all about it as soon as I entered and Mr. Sean started questioning me. I haven’t spoken to him since then, but after two weeks, I did try being nice to him and he stopped being too hostile towards me. When I told him that I went for the EASY examinations about two weeks back, he was very supportive and gave me ideas how to answer.

            “Its okay, Mr. Sean,” I said, “I’ll try to answer it using my own limited knowledge.”

            I hastened to explain as he looked at me weirdly.

            “People are already talking behind my back that I became your assistant through connections, so let me pass or fail this exam on my own. I appreciate your help, but I want to succeed on my own.”

            I noticed Mr. Sean giving me a weird look, like a cross between admiration and pride. I’m glad if I made him proud. So far, we hadn’t had any luck with his parents so we gave up the argument matter. Mr. Sean said that when the time comes, a reason will be produced out of thin air. I learnt from a phone call I accidentally eaves-dropped that Ms. Sri was back in Malaysia and I was afraid that Mr. Sean would start being angry with me again, but nothing like that happened.