2 I'm giving up—II

"Luke?"

Kika had thought that the nihilistic delusion that the love she had for Luke had thronged her into, had grown into a theme so robust, it was beginning to make her see and hear things that are clearly contradicted by reality.

Luke...called her?

"Ha, I must be seeing things."

She continued out the door, taking out one suitcase at a time. She knew she'd stuck with him for so long but she didn't expect she'll start seeing him everywhere just because she was finally leaving this house.

"Kika!"

Luke's hand clasped around her right wrist in the next millisecond. She gasped, looking at the distance he covered with a gaping expression. Why did he flash up to her? Did she do something wrong again?

"You're real?"

Those were the words that managed to escape her lips. He never cared about where she went, when she travelled to Beerus for a fifteen-day business trip he saw her packing up her suitcase and pretended like she wasn't there. And there was the other one-month conference three years ago in Jupal, a province in Cloud City for a possible collaboration with their sky-themed movie-making company.

She was absent for thirty days and he didn't bother to check up on her or ask when she'll be back. On returning to Asgard, she met Luke sleeping with another woman in her bed. The thought of having to sleep there that night made her shudder, she spent a few nights at her friend's house then she got rid of the foam and bought a brand new one.

"Where are you going?"

Kika looked fixedly at him. Why was he caring now? He looked just fine ignoring her before.

"None of your business."

She twirled around to reach for the last box behind him but he pulled it away from her reach and tightened his grip around her wrist.

"I asked where you're going to, Kika? I'm not letting you go unless I get a reply."

She fell silent and continued struggling to extract her thin wrist from his locked grip. Why was he so strong? His fingers appeared glued around the eight bones gliding over each other in the joint.

Luke tilted his head, he wasn't planning to budge at all not until he confirmed his suspicions.

"You're not gonna say anything? Fine, then at least tell me what's the meaning of this."

He unfolded the paper from his back pocket and brought it close to her face, so much that she could discern the words written on it.

"What did you do to it?"

Her eyes bulged out of their sockets. Luke had cut different shapes into the divorce papers, there were squares, hearts, pears, and even circles.

"I'm not signing this!"

"Why not?"

"Why should I?"

On a normal day, Kika could think of nothing less than twenty reasons why they should put an end to this but she couldn't say anything with the way Luke was looking at her like her actions had hurt his feelings.

"Feelings, my ass."

She mumbled under her breath and continued to free her hand from his clutches.

"Luke, let go of me, you're hurting me!"

"I'll let go of you when you decide to talk."

She flinched when she observed the clenching of his jaws.

"Why are you so angry? You don't like me, isn't it better to just sign the divorce papers so that you can finally get rid of me?"

She blinked repeatedly. Tears, not now. His lips formed a thin line and his eyebrows drooped. What she couldn't understand was why he looked so hurt.

"It's been seven years..."

Eight if you count the one year she spent chasing him mindlessly before she forced him to marry her and claim responsibility for his daughter.

"...And each day is a living hell for me, I thought I could carry on with this loveless marriage as long as I had Bloom but..."

She looked down, his hold on her had loosened a little bit. He didn't seem to notice, she concluded that she'll just give him a genuine answer and make a run for it. She can teleport her luggage later when she's far away from him.

"...I can't take it anymore. You hate the fact that I made you sign the contract, right? Fine, I'm the one initiating the divorce. I'll have a new copy mailed to the house by tomorrow morning, sign it and you can forget about having a wife."

Kika seized the opportunity for his absentmindedness and dashed towards the house gates forgetting about the large fleet of stairs before the water fountain.

"Kika!"

He missed her waist and she tumbled down to the last step. He rushed over to her, she had a few bruises on her forehead but no wounds deep enough to draw blood.

"Kika! Kika, wake up!"

Kika lay on the damp ground. He picked up her hand and dropped it over her face, he winced when it landed on her cheek with a resounding slap sound. Kika was out cold; that was the proof.

***

The chirping of the birds in the early mornings and the buzzing of the bees in the night become very soothing and calm after a long winter's silence.

This was her last encounter with him before she finally decided to get a divorce Luke and leave with Bloom so they'll both move in with her grandma back at Janelle City.

On that faithful day, Luke's palm collided with the tender skin on her face and she skidded across the floor by a few feet.

"I barely touched you, why did you go flying like that? You're so light!"

Was that the only thing that he could think of right now? How far she fell and not bolting to check if she sustained any injuries? What was she expecting from him anyway? He was never a caring person, she at least knew that much about his roguish personality.

She chuckled amidst blowing the bangs sticking to the side of her face from a red drizzle oozing out of a tiny gash just below her her right eyebrow. The unorganized movement of her appendages as she held herself up and the faint sound of cackling accompanied by it would communicate to anyone that Kika has finally reached her breaking point. Seven years into this hellish marriage and he hadn't changed, not even in the slightest.

She looked up at him, he still wore the same old natural expression anytime he hit her, overcompensating with a nonchalant gaze and a weak smile. She looked at herself pitifully before talking.

"I don't think it's fair to treat someone like a fool for the way they feel about you."

She walked passed him and slammed the door to his room behind her. Despite all the opportunities that came his way to eventually turn a new leaf, he walked away and discarded the idea of becoming a one-woman-man who prized genuineness and thoughtful conversations above lipstick, high heels and a bootylicious appearance.

She was wrong about him.