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“Okay.” Yuna places 3 notebooks and 2 printed itineraries on the counter. “We’ve fallen behind, and we only have a few more days to get this all planned out.”
“I know, but we have made great progress, yes?”
Yuna’s face fell flat. “We have a few companies sponsoring this birthday party. I haven’t thrown a surprise party for Shane since he was 10, because he always figured it out, and…” she sighs, “I’m excited. He’s doing so well in his career, and he’s so happy with you and I just—I want this to be another special memory for him.”
“Back home, everyone liked my birthday because it is tradition that birthday person hosts.”
“Really?”
“Yes. Birthday person pays for everything. I would host big parties for past few years with food at a fancy place just to impress my family. So…it is nice to have different traditions. Especially to make Shane happy.”
Yuna meets Ilya's sad eyes with love and sympathy. “You know we want to make you happy too, right?”
“I know. I feel very loved. But this is not about me, is about Shane.”
“Right. There’s still so much to do.”
“I have idea. How about we rest for now? Maybe 1 or 2 hours? I will make tea, and then we finish planning.”
Yuna rolls her eyes and opens one of her notebooks. “Nice try, Ilya. David said something to you, didn’t he?”
“He is worried. You are not sleeping enough.”
“I sleep!” She argues.
"You sleep last night?"
She opens her mouth to respond, but pauses. “Once we’re back on schedule, I’ll take a long nap. Deal?”
Ilya has a bad feeling about this, but reluctantly agrees anyway. “Okay. Deal.”
The planning commences for another hour and a half, and Ilya starts to notice that Yuna is becoming more irritable as time goes by.
“Should we rest now? Maybe is time for lunch? We can—”
“I just—I need to make a few phone calls.” She replies dismissively as she gets up from her seat.
“I can make phone calls," He offers, "I am great talker.”
“It’s fine," Yuna declines, "I’ll take care of this one last thing, and then we’ll take a break.”
Ilya begins to worry.
“I had to leave a voicemail." She explains as she returns to the kitchen. "Maybe I should try sending an email?”
“What about taking a break now?”
“Soon. Let me just send this—“ Suddenly, Yuna begins to wobble. Ilya sprang up from his chair to catch her just before she collapsed.
His heart starts racing and his eyes fill with worry. “Yuna? Yuna. It's okay. I got you. I got you.” He reassures. “Should we go to hospital?”
“Ah...no, I-I’m fine. I’m just…” she exhales heavily, “a little dizzy.”
Ilya gently lifts Yuna and brings her to the couch, then covers her with a blanket. “I will get you some water.”
Ilya quickly grabs a bottle of water, tightening his grip on the bottle so it doesn’t slip from his shaking hand.
He removes the cap and hands her the bottle, not taking his concerned eyes off her.
“Are you okay?” He asks.
“I’m fine. Much better now. Thank you."
“You will rest now, yes?”
“I won’t move from this spot.”
“Okay. Good. You can leave some of the plans to me.”
“Are you sure? I can just—”
“You scared me." He admits. The concern is evident in his tone. "I will not let you do anything else.”
Yuna frowns. “I’m so sorry.”
“No, no, is okay. Just please rest.”
Ilya watches as Yuna settles into the couch and quickly dozes off.
For the next few hours, he looks over the party planning notes and completes a few tasks before David returns home.
“Shhh.” Ilya places his finger against his lips.
David gives a silent nod and tiptoes through the house.
“How’d you get her to take a nap?” He quietly whispers.
“She almost fainted, but I convinced her to rest.”
David sighs. “If I bring this up to her, she’s gonna tell me not to make such a fuss about it.”
“I guess...you pretend I did not tell you?”
“That’s probably for the best.”
Ilya nods in agreement.
“You want me to make you something to eat?”
“Yes, please. If you are up to it.”
“Always. I wanna make sure Yuna has something to eat when she wakes up.”
Ilya smiles. He loves to see David and Yuna taking care of each other.
When Yuna finally wakes up, she’s greeted by a table full of her favorite food and side dishes.
“How was your nap?” David asks, greeting her with a loving smile.
Yuna has a sneaking suspicion that Ilya told David what happened. “It was good. How was work?”
“Oh, the usual. I see you and Ilya got a lot of work done. Looks like you’re finally back on schedule.”
She glances over at the task list on the counter, and her lips curve into a wide smile.
“I told you I could handle it.” Ilya boasts with a smirk. “I am very efficient.”
She turns to him and nods. “I know, you’re right.”
After they eat, Yuna pulls Ilya off to the side.
“You told him, didn’t you?”
“Told him what? I did not tell him anything.” Ilya nonchalantly shrugs.
“Oh, please." Yuna waves a hand. "You’re just as bad at lying as Shane.”
Ilya emphatically shakes his head. “No, I am not. I am much better liar than Shane. You have seen my poker face. It is perfect."
"Nnnooo..." She disagrees, “You both have little tells.”
“Tells?” He narrows his eyes, ”What do you mean tells? What is this tells?”
“I’m not giving it away, because then you’ll try to hide it from me.” Yuna cups Ilya’s cheeks. “Thank you.”
He smiles, pointedly glancing away as he starts to blush. “Yes, of course.”