I approached with a smile, "Thank you all for coming to celebrate Mr. Kuhn's birthday. Have some fruits first, I'll go cook."
"Thank you, Mrs. Kuhn."
"You're welcome."
The women smiled at me.
I politely responded.
I didn't want to say anything more to these people. I planned to go back to the kitchen.
At this moment, I heard Leslie's voice outside the door, "Kate, is it so difficult for you to serve coffee to the guests? What are you doing there?"
Leslie was not talking to me, but shouting at me.
He shouted at me in front of so many guests, completely disregarding my face.
The guests looked at Leslie in surprise and then looked at me with sympathetic eyes.
I had long been numb to all this from Leslie.
I looked at his serious face, nodded silently, and continued to work in the kitchen.
Leslie wasn't like this before.
We met in high school.
At that time, his family was not well-off.
He only has fifty dollars for living expenses every week.
But he used his living expenses to buy my favorite chocolate cake on my birthday.
He organized a birthday party for me with just the two of us.
He let me make a wish.
He made me happy.
We sat on the bridge, each with a spoon, eating cake and talking about our respective dreams for the future. We were very happy.
For him, who only had fifty dollars a week for living expenses, that cake was priceless.
He saved money for me, while dealing with the enormous academic pressure in high school. He also took the time to distribute flyers outside in winter, just to help me buy a pair of shoes.
Seeing him shivering from the cold, I cried.
I promised to be his girlfriend.
He used to be so gentle and considerate.
But now everything he did was just to prove himself, to make me surrender to him.
But I would never beg him.
How many days did I have left to live?
I wondered if he would regret torturing me during this time when he saw my body.
Thinking about these things, I accidentally burned my hand with the coffee.
My hand turned red from the burn.
I blew on my hand.
Leslie's voice came again, "Hurry up, are you okay? Is it so difficult for you to entertain guests?"
I turned around.
Looking at Leslie standing outside the kitchen, with a serious expression on his face.
It was as if I was not his wife at all, but a servant he could casually order around.
Not only did I not argue with him.
Instead, I obediently said, "It's ready, two cups of coffee, I'll bring them now."