The Rise of the White Lotus

Rika and Eli's talk last for about thirty minutes, with Eli stressing about the problem he made for himself. Still, as a good friend, Rika swore to not tell a single soul about it — that included Lexi as she would definitely tell Ethan. Then Ethan would surely tell Grandma Gong. Whether it was intentional or a slip of the tongue, Eli would turn into a murderer once Ethan couldn't stop his big mouth from running.

How could a guy be such a tattletale? It was as if he slowly embraced the habit of gossiping. Lexi told them it was Lyrick's fault, but still, they couldn't believe that Ethan had gone to a full-blown gossip guy. 

Aside from him flexing his wife to the world and Ethan being the proudest husband that ever existed, Rika and Eli finally had something to agree about. That was Ethan was not someone who should be trusted with secrets.

Well, Ethan could keep secrets if he thought they're worthy to keep it a secret, but this type of classified information wouldn't fall in that category. At least, in Ethan's perspective.

"It's already late…" Rika glanced at the wall clock, ticking each second that she could hear it in this silence enveloping her surroundings. "Well…" She sighed, pursing her lips on a thin line.

As she decided to keep on reading the script, Rika chugged another mouthful of wine. Her face squeezed together as the strong sting of the beverage lined on her throat as it traveled down.

Rika kept on reading the script. In between her readings, Rika would constantly go to the wine cellar to drink. At her third time going there, she brought two more bottles with her.

"Why when you needed to get drunk, you can't? What a silly irony." She muttered as she head back to the living area.

When she plopped down, Rika immediately closed the script she left opened. "Nonsense script." She dissed, clicking her tongue as she felt like ripping the script apart for the character's bad character.

She actually read until half of the story. However, the character was nothing but a pushover who had no sense of judgment. Rika hated characters that has no character developments. 

The next script, Rika didn't have much hope from it. The only thing that made her open it was because of the word time-traveling.

"Let's see…" She skimmed through the names printed on the front page.

"Huh?" Her brows furrowed together. "That's weird… is this an official script?" She wondered. The front page wasn't written formally, just like the rest. Aside from the title, there was no writer or other information.

Well, there was the genre, and information to know the premise, but that was it. There's nothing.

"I should just ask Abi tomorrow." Rika shrugged, resuming on reading the script, regardless.

Time had passed, and Rika took a deep breath.

"What an odd story…"

Under her breath, she muttered and rubbed her eyes by her arm.

"Is this really a movie or a series?" She cleared her throat, returning her gaze back to the screen of her laptop.

"This Evalyn… *sigh* poor thing." Rika sighed heavily, closing her eyes as she tilted her head back. "Regardless, it's a good plot. I should ask Abi about it tomorrow." She muttered, saving the first ever script that piqued her interest.

The story was a little peculiar if she was being honest. It was about a 28-year-old Evalyn; a woman who established herself as a businesswoman from scratch. Days before her 29th birthday, Evalyn found an injured man in the back of her car.

Actually, she was hostage-ish as she was forced to drive him faraway from the area.

Just like what she was told, Evalyn, who still wanted to enjoy life and had yet to settle down with a decent man abided. The weird thing was, the man, although having the upper hand, just asked her to drive far away. He even promised her that he wouldn't hurt her and would leave once they were away.

It was an eventful night for the character Evalyn. Still, it was also a beginning of a roller coaster love story of Evalyn and the man named Levi. A beautiful story that bloomed ever so slowly.

"Sometimes, I hate how authors think. The story was already great without the twist…" Rika grabbed and lifted the bottle of wine, placing it in front of her lips.

Without further ado, she chugged another mouthful of wine as her throat was numb by the acid traveling down her throat.

"On the second thought," She paused, burping as she returned her gaze back on the laptop's screen. "I can't really hate them… they're amazing people coming up with a story pure from their creativity and imagination." She nodded in understanding, pursing her lips as she stretched it into a meek smile.

"Evalyn and Levi married so soon they haven't really known each other. After all, the female lead had so many layers that were yet uncovered while Levi…" Rika paused, her eyes skimmed the page till the end. "He's plain weird… I thought he's just an indecisive fool, but I somehow understood why the lack of his description on the first half of the story." A heavy sigh slipped past her lips, clearing her throat as she scrolled to the next page.

Rika found herself drawn to the story she didn't notice the time. Even when she felt the wine taking effect, Rika continued on reading the story until she fell asleep. 

Upon drinking the last drop of the 3rd bottle of wine, Rika's head suddenly crashed on the table. Fortunately, her arm was there to catch her temple — saving her head from crashing directly on the table. 

Minutes later, the main door produced an unlocking sound before it opened. Jaime looked around, slowly heading inside after removing his shoes and changed it into house slippers. "I'm…" Before Jaime could announce his arrival, his eyes softened, spotting his wife's figure in the living area.

A heavy sigh escaped his lips before he trudged towards her direction. He stopped several steps away from her, his eyes scanned the surrounding. There were empty bottles of wine and bottles that were yet been opened.

"Hon…" Again, Jaime sighed before squatting down. He placed his hands over her shoulders, checking if she's still alive. 

"Ughh…" When Rika groaned, a sigh of relief slipped from his lip. Just then, Jaime noticed the laptop on the table. 

Slowly, he glanced at it. Within a second, he figured that Rika was reading a script — definitely from her manager. Normally, Rika wouldn't even bother looking at them, telling him being his wife was more important.

But now, she's finally reading them. Not that he was displeased about it; to be fair, Jaime often encouraged her to do acting again as he didn't want to be the cause why she stopped doing her passion. But Rika was adamant on spending her first year of marriage with him without projects that would hinder her time.

Yet, Jaime couldn't do the same — not that she asked him to do the same as it was her own decision. Regardless, Jaime felt guilty that his wife must have been too hurt that even in their first wedding anniversary he couldn't free his time for her.

After several minutes of silence, Jaime shook his head. He then slipped his arms around her, then carrying her in a bridal style. "Hmm? Hon?" As he was taking the stairs, Rika opened her weary eyes and called out softly.

"Hmm?" At the same time, Jaime reached the second floor. He stopped, gazing down at her flushed face as he watched her, forced her eyes open. "I'm home." A gentle smile formed on his lips which was returned with the same gentleness.

"You're late…" She murmured, the side of her lips curled into a loving smile as her eyes closed. Rika, out of instinct, positioned the side of her head against his chest until she found her comfortable spot.

"I know and I'm sorry, hon. This will be the last time I'm coming home late." Jaime hung his head low, leaving a soft peck on top of her head. The scent of her hair immediately wafted his nose, causing him to caress her by the tip of his nose.

*****

The next morning…

"Ugh…" Rika groaned even before she could open her eyes. Her head was miraculously not throbbing, but her muscles from her body felt very stiffed. Slowly, she opened her eyes, shutting them close as the blinding ray of the morning sun hit her face.

"Hmm…" She then sprawled her arms to her side, swinging it against on the sheet in an upward and downward motion to feel that it was empty. With her other hand covering her eyes, Rika turned her head towards Jaime's usual spot on the bed.

'He didn't make it home, huh?' She thought internally. A strong melancholic air immediately enveloped the room. Her eyes immediately welled up, pursing her dry lips in a thin line.

Just then, Rika heard the door creaking open.

"Hon?"

Jaime's voice followed, causing her to abruptly removed her arm from her eyes and turned her head towards the door.

"I made you…" Jaime was unable to finish his sentence as soon as he laid his eyes on her.

The sight of her crying the moment she woke up was akin to a dagger piercing his heart. To make it worse, he knew it was him who was the caused of those tears. "I'm sorry, hon."