Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem



Elysia pressed her lips tightly together, tilting her chin up defiantly, ready to challenge him. But as soon as she locked eyes with his intense gaze, her courage faltered.

She was utterly intimidated by his kiss!

Annoyed, Elysia quickly changed the subject. "How did you know Keith joined us for lunch?"

Tarquin flipped through his phone to show her a photo.

Keith had posted on Twitter an hour ago, with three photos and a caption.

The photos included one of his arm in a cast, the lunch they had shared, and a blooming flower.

The caption read: "Life has its ups and downs. Face it with a calm mind and a positive outlook, and like a flower turning towards the sun, you will flourish."

Elysia was puzzled. "But he didn't mention having lunch with us."

Tarquin pinched her cheek gently, "Silly! I knew right away that the meal in his post was made by you, plus there were four kids' meal sets on the table."

Light dawned on Elysia, "No wonder... I thought the kids told you!"

Speaking of the four little "traitors," Tarquin felt a headache coming on. Such a big event and not one of them had mentioned it, not even Elijah until after the meal was over.

If they had thrown a tantrum, refusing to let Keith join them for lunch, would Keith have succeeded?

They were just kids, after all; making a fuss was their right!

Even if it was embarrassing, couldn't they make that small sacrifice for him?

He loved those kids so much, and yet, traitors!

Tarquin decided to shelve his thoughts on the little traitors for the moment and asked Elysia, "What do you make of Keith's tweet?"

Elysia countered, "What about it?"

Tarquin pursed his lips, realizing she hadn't noticed anything amiss.

Keith's tweet was clearly a calculated move, meant to provoke him and sow discord.

Keith must have known that Tarquin was watching him closely and that he would see the tweet.

By continuing to get close to Elysia and the kids despite the warnings, it was a challenge.

And knowing that Tarquin would be jealous and angry after finding out he had lunch with Elysia, possibly causing a rift between them, was an attempt to drive a wedge.

Keaton was right; the guy was a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"Do you see anything off about it?" Elysia asked him back.

Tarquin said bluntly, "It screams 'wolf in sheep's clothing' to me."noveldrama

Elysia was speechless.

Tarquin, with an open and honest tone, added, "I'd say it to his face, too. I'm not wronging him!"

Elysia handed him back his phone, "No matter what you say about Keith, it doesn't involve me. But blaming me without asking for the reason, especially when I wasn't the one who invited him for lunch, is unfair!"

Tarquin smiled affectionately, "I'm not blaming you. I knew before you came down that it was Blossom who invited him."

"Then why did you..."

"I just wanted to kiss you."

The air in the car suddenly became still.

Elysia's eyes widened in shock as she stared at him, completely taken aback!

Tarquin was also momentarily stunned, his honest feelings slipping out faster than he intended.

As they looked at each other, their expressions varied, their thoughts swirling.

The temperature in the car seemed to spike, the atmosphere growing increasingly tense.

In the heat of the moment, both seemed on the verge of losing their reason.

Elysia wanted to ask outright: "Do you like me?"

Tarquin wanted to confess: "Elysia, I like you."

After what felt like an eternity, they both spoke at the same time.

Elysia: "You..."

Tarquin: "I..."

Their words overlapped, silencing them for a brief second before they both urged, in unison, "You go first."

The car fell silent once more, "..."

Tarquin, looking at Elysia's flushed cheeks, swallowed hard, "Go ahead, I'm listening."