Seventy One

Kamila Dickson, exhausted and sweaty, dropped her glossy handbag on the dining room table. She could already

feel her muscles starting to cramp up and knew she was going

to be in serious pain that night. "The muscles of my back and neck deserve a special treat." She told herself.

But as she looked over at Kyle, she couldn't help but smile.

He might help with that. 

The blank look on his face told

her he was just as tired. They both had stressful jobs. Kamila, a young lawyer and her newly wedded husband Kyla, a policeman. Newly wedded? Well, they've just been married for a year. 

"Tired?" He asked her, as if reading her mind.

"Did you get us dinner?" Kamila asked, already contemplating whether she would be able to make dinner or not.

"I'll make us something. Go freshen up, girl." He winked at her and disappeared into the kitchen. Kamila smiled at herself and hurried to her room. How much she loved and cherished that man. Sometimes she questions herself if she really deserved him. Or maybe he is one big prize that she have got as a recompense for all her past pain and heartbreaks.

The last time someone asked how they met, his response didn't only sweep her off her feet, but also got stuck in her brain since then. He had said. "We bumped into each other and then decided to stick together to further awkward bumping."

They were in a family get together when he said that and the whole group cracked up while she sat they playing out that embarrassing "bumping incident" In her mind. She had all her files scattered about on the garage's floor. She must have muttered a curse to him as he joined her in picking them up because she was already very late to work, and her boss wouldn't be any lenient.

That aside, that grumpy gentle man had become her ever-loving husband and that's all that matters.

She sorted out some case files she had brought from the office and signed on each one, the time she would make available to study them. How stress filled it can be to be a junior lawyer? Yet, no one really appreciates you. She thought.

Kamila works with a human right non-governmental organization. They take up cases that relates to human right violation and represent the victim in court free of charge. Thousands of cases gets in daily and all of them passes through Kamila's desk. As a young lawyer, she only worked as an intern. Her job: read through the case files and group them. Sounds simple but is termed by Kamila as the most tasking job ever.

She quickly changed into a night dress and joined her husband in the kitchen.

"You should go freshen up too. I'll take care of the rest." She said, giving him a quick kiss on his cheek. Kyle winked at her and walked away. 

*

She sat on the rug, Kyle by her side as they munched their egg sandwich dinner, watching the 8pm news.

Kyle was talking about something he saw on the TV, but she wasn't listening. She was…lost in thought. Then he asked her a question she could not answer because she has no idea what he said.

"Did you say something, Kyle?"

"Really, Kamila?" He shrugged. "Ain't you watching the news? I asked if your organization would take this case."

"What case?" It wasn't the first time she had sounded so lost, and Kyle seem to have been used to it. 

"Lost again!" He tickled her until she burst her lungs from laughing. They ended up sprawled on the rug like kids.

"You think too much, Kamila."

"And you've punished me enough." She begged him to stop, and he did.

"I had a rough day. My boss, you know now. He's constantly on my neck."

"Poor baby, do you want to quit?" He teased.

"Of course not!" She shrieked, hitting a throw pillow on his hard chest. "I have to reachbmy goal. I need to wear that damn wig and go to court someday."

"Big dreams." He chuckled. She frowned.

"Joking!" He quickly announced.

"What were you saying?" She asked. "About the TV."

"A college student killed her guardian, reported herself to the police. It's the Kam, CEO of the biggest tech Company, his niece killed him."

"Whoa! Unbelievable!"

"It's still on the news." He took the remote and increased the volume of the TV.

"I was asking if your NGO would take this kind of case."

"It depends. But a college student… There must be a reason behind her action, but since she turned herself in, there would not be much of a case about it. She goes to court and face the law. She's guilty anyway because said that herself, so… We don't have much to do about that" "You sure? But this is the only one remaining from that family. Who then takes the properties they own?"

"Charity" she winced. "Why are you asking so much questions? You know more of these things than I do."

He laughed. "Let's say I love to watch your professionalism and I rarely have the chance nowadays."

Kamila smiled. "And I might never have the chance to watch you catch a criminal. Mister Sheriff."

"But that Kam rings a bell somehow." Kamila suddenly said.

"Of course, who doesn't know that family." Kyle said. 

"I mean…" She trailed off. " Oh, that was…" She was making faces.

"What's wrong?" Kyle questioned.

"It's actually nothing." She pursed her lip, expecting his usual persuasion. It really was nothing. She just remembered her encounter at the hospital some years back, and she didn't see it important because the woman she saw may not be in any way related to them.

"You have to tell me. Or I'll…"

Tickle! No, she had had enough laughter in one night.

"I'll tell you. Chill baby!" She shrieked. "It's… About two years ago, I saw a clone of Annabelle Steele. I just had a flashback right now."

"A clone?"

"Well, The person I saw was a psycho. She had this dirty teddy dirty in her hands and was saying "find my baby" to everyone." She laughed. "But the resemblance was just too much. I would have embraced her before I realized."

"Satisfied now?"

"Hm." He lifted her weightless self from the rug. "Time for bed, baby."