Chapter 28: His Birthday

I was sitting on the kitchen counter, talking to Jessica while eating my breakfast. “Why don’t you work for a five-star hotel?” I said, giving her a playful wink.

She poured the juice into my glass, shaking her head, and gave me a soft smile. “Then how will you get my delicious food?”

“Oh, here you are right, but if you always keep feeding me such delicious food, I will turn into a pumpkin.” I laughed.

“No, you are too skinny. You need more nutrition,” she said, and I raised my eyebrows. She talked like my mother. “By the way, congratulations on your new project.”

“It has been two days, but still I can’t believe that Henry has appointed me as his new fashion designer. It is unexpected, you know,” I said while taking a bite of bread. He hated me and I never expected this from him.

“Honestly, it is also shocking to me.” She sat beside me. “But I told you he has a good side too.”

“Yeah, but he never agrees that he cares about me a lot. He helped my parents, he attended a dinner at my house, he took me to the hillside, and now he has appointed me as his new fashion designer.” I sighed. He had done so many things to make me happy. What had I done for him? “I just want to thank him.”

“Then, thank him. Tomorrow is his birthday.”

I snapped my eyes at her, surprised. “Really.”

“Yeah, I have been working for him for two years since then I have not seen him celebrating his birthday. He must have celebrated his birthday somewhere other than his home. Why don't you make arrangements in the house?”

“Wow! His birthday is an excellent opportunity for me to thank him,” I said excitedly. “How about I cook his favorite meal and decorate the house at midnight? Only me and him.”

It would be a great idea.

“Yeah, this plan sounds great.” She smiled. “I’ll help you out to prepare the meal and decorate the house. There are a few decorated things in the storehouse. Let’s have a check.”

“Let’s go then,” I chirped, and we stood up and went upstairs.

*****

It was eleven-thirty, and I had just finished the cake. I and Jessica had prepared a healthy meal according to Henry’s taste. She had left two hours ago after she got a call from her mother. Green Bean Salad, grilled chicken, bruschetta, and red wine. That day was his birthday, and it was reasonable to keep all his favorite things. I just wanted to make him happy as he did to me. I knew that his taste was very high. Maybe he would go out to a luxurious hotel, resort, and sort of places where every human dream to be. But I had put my great effort to make him feel good. I decorated the living room with a purple and white flower which was his favorite. I set the candlelit table in the middle with a bottle of his favorite wine. I checked everything was perfect and smiled.

After fifteen minutes, I got ready. I wore a purple lace dress that had a deep neck and thin straps. Henry couldn’t take his eyes off whenever I dressed sexily. I giggled at this thought and applied some natural makeup. I checked the time it was almost twelve. I put on golden heels before rushing down. He would be here at any moment. I checked everything one last time and plopped down on the couch, waiting for his arrival. My hands were clammy because of nervousness. It was the first time I had done all these things, especially for him. I didn’t know whether he would like it or not.

I heard footsteps; I hurried towards the music player to play a birthday song. As soon as he entered the house, the birthday song played simultaneously.

It was childish, but I enjoyed playing a birthday song.

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you.

He was unbuttoning his shirt, but suddenly he froze in his place and quietly observed every detail of the hall. “What’s that?” he asked calmly, but something hid in his voice. It wasn’t his normal voice, it was different, and his soft expression turned into anger.

“Today is your birthday…” before I could complete my words.

His hand flew to my jaw, and he tightened his grip, pushing my head against the wall. “Who the fuck told you that today is my birthday!” he said through teeth.

“I…I…” I grimaced in pain and couldn’t form a word as his grip on my face. My heartbeat became louder and louder and his rage eyes burned on me. I saw something happening deep inside him like something breaking down in his soul.

“Who do you think you are? Who the hell gave you the fucking right to celebrate my birthday!?” he growled in my ear. “Do you have any fucking idea what you have you done!” He pushed me against the wall through my jaw, the pain scored down my back.

I couldn’t hold my tears back. I could see the same hatred return into his eyes. And it hurt. The tears rolled down my cheeks and fell on his hand. I had never seen him like that, not even at the hospital when Ava went into a coma. I didn’t understand why he was angry. I just tried to celebrate his birthday and there was nothing bad about it. Then why did he get angry?

“Do you have any fucking idea what you have you done?! Do you know!” He breathed rapidly and released me from his grip and stepped back, rubbing his face with both hands. “I…I…”

“H-Henry.” My voice was shaky. “Today is your birthday.”

He said nothing and kept silent. His back was rising and falling rapidly and his hands balled into fists. “H-Henry.” I touched his shoulder, but he quickly brushed my hand away.

“D-don’t touch me,” he stuttered. It was the first time I saw him stuttering. I was feeling scared and pity for him, seeing him like that. Anger, grief, and anxiety were evident on his face. His whole body was trembling. “You did all this just because you wanted to hurt me as I did to you? You did this…” He breathed hard.

“No, I didn’t,” I whispered. I couldn’t understand what he meant.

“You have done all this intentionally so that you can hurt me, right!” he screamed and grabbed the table and flipped it over, sending all the material on the floor. I closed my eyes and broken glass echoed in my ears and made me jump in fright. After a moment, I opened my eyes and looked at him and the next thing I noticed was the blood dripping down on the floor.

“Henry, you are hurt.” I ran towards him and grabbed his hand to study his wounds, but before I could do anything he pushed me back with his full strength and my head against the wall and made me dizzy. I gasped and tried to stand up, but I failed because I was bleeding.

“A-Alice.” Henry jogged towards me, but before he could catch me, blackness spread across my sight.

*****

I slowly opened my eyes, and my head was throbbing with unbearable pain. The white light flashed across my face, piercing directly into my eyes. I touched my head and felt fabric wrapped around it.

“Alice.” I felt the soft touch on my hand. Sarah was sitting next to the bed. She quickly stood up and gave me a gentle hug. “Thank God, you are okay. You scared me to death.”

“Where is Henry?” The first thing I wanted to know.

She pulled herself back and stared at me with wide eyes as if I converted into an alien. “You are still thinking about him?” She said, shocked. “The person who hit you? I never thought Henry would do this to you.”

Before I could say anything, the door slammed open and Vivian stepped inside. He glanced at my wound before turning back his eyes to me. “Alice, are you alright?” he asked, concerned.

“Vivian, why are you scaring us?” Sarah burst out onto him.

He ignored her and approached me. “Who the fuck did this to you?”

“What are you doing here?” I asked.

“I heard you got hurt, so I came here to see you.”

I smiled. “I am fine.”

“Who the fuck did this?” He asked angrily, clenching his jaw.

“Who do you think can do this? Of course Henry. He hit her,” Sarah said with full confidence as if she was there when this happened.

“No, he didn’t hit me, it was just an accident,” I retorted her back with a cold hard glare.

“Then what happened last night?” Vivian demanded.

“I-I don’t know why Henry got angry with me.” I fisted the fabric of the blanket, trying hard to calm myself down. I didn’t want to cry in front of them. The memories of last night hit my mind, what had happened last night, his horrible look, his violence, and his breakdown. Everything was hurting me. I never felt so bad before whenever he insulted me, hated me, but yesterday it was unbearable. “I-I just wanted to celebrate his birthday and…”

“What! You were celebrating his birthday?” Sarah cut me off. The shock clearly showed on her face.

I nodded. “I-I don’t know why he got angry.” Silent tears rolled down my cheek.

“You should not have done this, Alice,” she said quietly.

My chest tightened with fear. “Why?” I quickly asked. I just wanted to know what was wrong with celebrating his birthday. Why did he get mad at me?

She kept silent and fixed her gaze on our locked hands. “Just tell me, Sarah, why should I not have done this?”

She let out a shaky breath. “I-I can’t.”

“Sarah, look at me.” I grabbed her face with my trembling hands and her eyes were tearful. “Please tell me.” Seeing her like that, panic hitting my chest. I felt like I had committed a huge crime.

She took a deep breath before answering, like saying those words would take away all her energy. “His birthday…”

“It was the day when his sister died.” A man’s voice echoed in the room.