"Are you going to be able to finish that food? It's big," Helen said, not wanting to draw unnecessary attention to her daughter. She doesn't even know why she asked that in the first place. Rose felt relieved. "I'm fine, Mom," she said, gently devouring her food.

    Charles cleared his throat, commanding the room's attention as he raised his glass with a warm smile. "To family, friends, and making memories that'll last a lifetime," he said, his voice filled with sincerity. The room fell silent, glasses paused mid-air, as everyone echoed his sentiment, "Cheers!"

  Rose's younger sister, Isabella, who was seated right next to her, discreetly tapped her arm with her elbow, a mischievous glint in her eye. "How come Fred came with Zoey and not with you? I was surprised how they got here together" she whispered to her. Rose's eyes went wide in surprise, she raised her head and looked at her single cousin sister Zoey, who was seated across the table, giggling with her sister as well. She turned around and looked at Fred, who noticed the way she was staring at him.

    "What?" he said softly, not wanting to attract the already suspicious looks. "How are you doing Zoey"? Rose asked, her gaze not leaving Fred's eyes, and she noticed the discomfort in his eyes. Zoey, on the other hand, was a bit startled. She and Rose have never been the best of sisters; there was something off about Zoey, according to Rose. They never liked each other since they were teens, or you could say Rose never liked her.

"Umm, wow you're asking?" She said, looking really surprised,  " Zoey could count how many words Rose has said to her since childhood. They don't get along well, so Rose just doesn't like her. "Anyways, I'm doing great and you?" Rose nods her head, indicating she was doing well as well. The atmosphere in the exchange was such that some were surprised by the ongoing interactions, while a few found it suspicious, maybe Rose has grown out of the hate. "You came from work?" Rose threw another question. Zoey, who began feeling uneasy about her questions, had no choice but to keep answering, "No, I came from home. Is there a problem?" She asked politely, and Rose shook her head

    "Everything is fine, you look good anyway," she added. Zoey thanked her, and the room went silent again, except for the sound of plates and the clinking of glasses and muted conversations, as everyone's attention returned to their meals, the soft hum of intimacy and warmth filling the room.

   As the evening drew to a close, warm goodbyes were exchanged, accompanied by laughter and the promise of future gatherings. The door closed behind the last guest, and the room fell silent once more, filled with the contented sighs of a joyful evening well-spent. Rose, can you help me out in the kitchen please?" Helen asked, "Sure," Rose said, and followed her to the kitchen. When they got to the kitchen,

    Helen's eyes locked onto Rose's, a serious expression replacing the warm smile from dinner. "We need to talk,"  Helen said softly, her voice barely above a whisper. Rose's curiosity was piqued, and she nodded, wondering what was on her mother's mind

     "You know very well that I can tell when you are hiding something from me, Rose, and right from the time you have never trusted me enough to tell me how you feel." Helen's words cut deep, and Rose's eyes welled up with tears. "Mom, that's not fair, How could you say that?"Rose whispered, her voice trembling. She squeezed her mother's hand, searching for understanding. Helen let out a deep breath, she just wanted to help her daughter but she wouldn't do that unless she opened up.....

Rose knew she was caught between her sanity and personality, she was not the kind of person who openly talks about her problems waiting for a solution she knew she was capable of handling her own problems but this time around it felt as though this one was beyond her, and she might have to say something eventually

While Helen stood there waiting for a response, she could tell Rose was contemplating it;  she decided to give her the time if it meant she was going to tell her what was going on.

    "I don't know what's going on Mom, Fred..." The tears that had been dancing in her eyes began to roll down her cheeks. Helen pulled her for her hug; she was frightened, maybe the issue was more serious than she thought.

    If you keep shaking a bottle of soda and keep it tightly closed, the moment you make a mistake and slightly open it, it's going to burst. Just like a bottle of soda, when we bottle up emotions, thoughts, or stress, it can lead to a buildup of pressure, especially the kind that keeps shaking our strength and will. If we're not careful, a small trigger or mistake can cause a sudden release, like the glass bursting.

    Rose has been trying hard to bottle up her emotions consoling herself with the thought that it was normal in every marriage and it wasn't meant to be perfect but in all honesty, she was just scared that if she looked at things from a different angle she might not be able to control her thoughts thereby causing more harm to herself

  "Ohh my darling, what's wrong dear? See I knew something was going on with you my love, why are you hell bent to going through things alone, your dad and I are always here for you and you know that" Helen said, she pulled away from the hug and held her daughter's hand, Rose couldn't look her mother in the eyes, she felt ashamed to tell her that the marriage they felt were perfect and all that, it wasn't.

   Rose wiped her tears "Fred and I have been fighting a lot lately, it's been a long while since she stayed close to a month without having a misunderstanding mom and at this point I don't know what to do, we can't seem to just talk about it and move pass it" she said, it was good in a way, Rose felt the pain off her chest, now she's spoken to someone who she knows what nothing but the best for her, the pain feels lighter.

    Helen smiled at her "Who told you that your marriage was the perfect and ideal one? How can a marriage that consists of two imperfect people be perfect? My dear, the goal is not perfection at all, you both love each other and you care for each other, and as long as you both are two different people who would do things differently and it might not sit well with your partner and that's life for you, whatever it is you are going through believe me it going to pass eventually, your father and I weren't so perfect at all but we managed to raise all of you with love and peace, that's the goal, to always ensure love and peace in our home" she advised.

   Rose lets out a deep breath, the relief was so invisible in her face and she said " Thank you so much mom, honestly I don't know what to think about all of this and I'm glad I told you all about it, I feel good if not better Mom thank you" Helen smiled as well, it felt good to see her girl in a better shape "You two are only sneaking around" A masculine voice came from the kitchen door, Rose quickly wiped her tears, they both turned to see Charles standing there holding a glass of wine

   "I can't believe you two are still sneaking away like you used to, anyway Rose, your husband has been waiting for you and it's almost getting late," he said and he approached them  "Alright Dad, Mom it was so good seeing you today," Rose said and hugged both of them

   "We love you Rose, and don't you ever forget that" Charles said and kissed her forehead, she waved them goodbye and made her way to the Sitting room, she found Fred and David having a great time, as soon as he saw her he turned and said "Ohh honey you are here, come here" he reached for her hand and pulled her closer, making her sit on his laps "Your brother and I are planning a fishing trip, it's been long a did something like that?" Fred said.

  " Fishing trip?" Rose asked,  and Fred nodded his head, Rose smiled and said nothing else. David stood up and stretched himself, arching his back and extending his arms overhead. "Well, it's been a great evening, but I really need to get myself to my bed with my wife," he said and pulled his wife by the waist, the room was filled with laughter. Just then, Fred stood up as well. "I think you are right, brother," he said, and they all made their way to the door. They all waved goodbye, got into the car, and drove off.

   Rose and Fred were driving home, and he kept stealing glances at her, He knew she had something on her mind, but surprisingly, she was quiet. "Are you okay, Rose?" He finally broke the silence

"Yeah, I'm alright," Rose mumbled. She didn't want to create any drama, so she was going to let it pass like she always does. Her eyes were fixed outside the car's window, a world away from the conversation flowing around her. Fred would glance at her from time to time, he wanted her to say something but she was surprisingly quiet

    They both remained quiet in the car, as though they haven't met each other before, more of being married on one hand is a wife trying to save her marriage with everything she could, and a husband who acts like everything is going well, that was painful part for Rose he wasn't even trying to make any efforts, Fred doesn't seem to care and whenever she tries to resolve issues he calls her nagging, what happened to the love they shared? What happened to the efforts he put in just to get her attention?

    Eight years ago after that incident with him and Rita's brother at the cafeteria, Fred did everything he could to get her attention, unbeknownst to him that he already had it but Rose was not going to give in so easily, he would leave notes in her bags, following her on all social media handles, Fred did everything he could to hint his intention to her but she acts like she was not seeing them whereas he loved them. On Rita's birthday, she organized a small party for herself and a few friends. Mark attended the party with a few of his friends, including Fred.

   "Rose Louis right?" Fred said as soon as he approached Rose, where she was seated, and he sat beside her, " It's been a while since I've seen you, where have you been?" He asked, Rose was surprised by that he slipped in notes in her bag almost everyday, he does see her, she could always feel his eyes on her whenever she was near him "Well I'm pretty sure you don't miss seeing me, isn't that how you dump your notes in my bag" Rose's deadpan delivery that made her words sound like mockery, though they might've been humorous if she'd cracked a smile.

       Fred was surprised or maybe embarrassed he doesn't know her too well to feel surprised by her attitude "Dump? Seriously, are those the words you are going to use? God I feel so embarrassed" he chuckled trying to dilute the tension, Rose was feeling bad it wasn't her intention to make him feel like that, she was just trying to get him to maybe say something related to his notes.

    "I'm sorry Miss Louis, I just wanted to get to know you, I will not do anything again to make you feel stalked or anything I'm not a weird dude and I feel like I gave you that impression, I'm sorry my bad" he said and quickly got up and walked away, Rose felt like shit, she has she done? Why did she have to say it like that? She had hopes of finally connecting with him at the party, and then she went and ruined everything.

   Rita noticed Rose's upset look. She walked up to her, not wanting anything to ruin her night, especially when it involved her favorite person. "Did you have a fight with Fred? What did you say to him?" Rita asked placing a concerned hand on her shoulder, She was surprised as to how Rita knew something was wrong and it was her fault, Rita caught Rose's surprised expression, figured she would be wondering how she got to know she then added  "Don't give me that look Rose" she said with a knowing glint. " He seemed really upset when he was talking to Mark and I heard him say he never expected you to say something like that, even if you didn't like him, and I was surprised because I know very well how much you like him, so what did you say to him?" Rose sighed she understood she was wrong to have rubbed off her words in the wrong way but she didn't know it was going to upset him to such extent, after carefully explaining things to Rita, she couldn't help but smile her she was thinking Rose might have said something so worse but it was not something worth a big deal that was just her opinion she did understand why Fred felt bad, he hasn't connected well with Rose to understand her much better.

    Rita's grip on Rose was gentle but firm, pulling her up from the spot where she was seated "Alright get up, Mark said they would leaving any moment from now and you need to talk to Fred just explain things to him" Rose was not sure if that was a good idea what if he humiliates her just to get back at her she was not going to take the chances "I don't think it's a good idea, I don't know the level of his anger I don't want anybody humiliating me" Rose said sounding unsure

     Rita's expression softened, and she pulled Rose into a gentle hug. "Hey, I'm not saying go and provoke him. Just talk to him, okay? You're strong, Rose. He can't hurt you if you don't let him."Rose looked up at Rita, her eyes searching for reassurance. "What if he just wants to get back at me? What if he humiliates me in front of everyone?"

Rita's grip on Rose's arms tightened. "Then we'll deal with it together. But at least you'll know you tried, right?