Chapter Text
It was just another day in East Gorteou, the sun blazed throughout the country and reflected at the skyscrapers, which heavenly provided the streets and parks with much needed shade. The buildings far surpassed each other as each floor ascending had a modern look. The East Gorteou people never bothered to reform, to build anew –instead they built on top and never bothered to look below. A building happened to fall that day. The engineers in charge of the building had told the construction company that the structure was unstable, and that they should stop building on top of old buildings–but they didn’t listen. That was the foundation of Palm Siberia; as long as the people believed in the old, so did she.
Palm moved out of her childhood home to be with Knov, she hadn’t known him for long but she stuck to whatever she could—who she thought was handsome, strong, and reliable. She had had past experiences with relationships, but it always seemed like no one loved her like Knov did. Their first meeting together was at a company dinner, she was introduced to him as part of the finance team while she worked in HR. She thought it was love at first sight, albeit he never paid attention to her at first, and the only times they had met after the company dinner was due to a cat fights between colleagues. It didn’t matter either way, she made herself seen until she was the only option.
As time passed she learned that Knov wasn’t just the man of her dreams, but had priorities. She understood she would never be his first in that list and accepted it, supporting him in every aspect of his life as long as he loved her back. That was life, and the responsibilities of a man. Sooner or later she quit HR, retiring entirely and depended on Knov’s check to keep her alive. It was normal and decent, she would live under the same roof as him as long as she cooked and cleaned while Knov came back with the money. Although Palm would regard their living situation more as love under one roof, Knov still chose her, and married her. Palm could quite distinctly remember Knov’s vows. It would be silly to just say their relationship was solely transactional.
Palm had never gotten out too much, so did she when she was living with Know. There was no need for her to, unless it was ever to buy food. Knov never cared much about what he was eating as long as it fed him, so Palm made sure he had been eating well; leaving and coming back with a full stomach. She found peace in her role, not having to worry about what was going to happen to her while taking care of the man she loved.
There were times though, where the pot on the stove had stopped simmering, clothes had been washed, dried, and folded, and the house was neat, Palm would step up on the stool and grab her wedding dress from the cabinet. She would stare at it, tracing the patterns of the ivory lace and wishing that she had chosen a different dress.
It wasn’t too important but it was always there in the back of her head– and in her hands as she often took time out of her day to look back at her wedding dress. On the other hand the sound of the front door handle jingling caught her attention. She tumbled around the top of the box, trying to get it on the box and into the back of the pile of untouched items. She shoved all that she could, not being precise as she could hear the door opening. The handle of the cabinet was somehow unseen by Palm, as she fumbled around and ended up on the ground and the cabinet door still wide open.
Knov poked his head out the door of the room, his tie still tucked in by the collar of his black suit with his hair neatly slicked to the side. Knov knew how to stay clean, his expression on the other hand could not be the same while he looked down at Palm on the floor.
“How did you end up there?” disdain was so obvious on his face if his tone couldn’t already decipher it. Palm could remember the long days at the office, so she never had to ask herself why he came home like that. Palm, herself, got up and dusted off her dress, placing the stool back in place and closing the cabinet door
“Well, I was just looking for something, I ended up distracted.”
“You’re always distracted.” He loosened up his tie, a wisp of his hair fell over his glasses. Palm had always found this attractive.
“I made food, I can reheat if you-”
“I ate out with the team earlier.” He pushed his hair back into the side part, walking past palm and into the bathroom.
“Im staying out later tomorrow tonight. Don’t cook again.”
The door slammed shut as Palm was just approaching, the short feeling of the wind whooshing in her face caught her off guard. She stared down the door like Knov was still standing there ,before turning around and planting herself on the edge of the bed. She sat there, her back straight, and feet flat on the ground, dusting the imaginary dirt on the skirt of her dress. A bad habit of hers that would wear out her clothes. Knov was right, she was always distracted. If she wanted to stay, she needed to act the part– to be the part that Knov needed. To serve, obey, submit, and depend– that is what Knov wanted.
Palm could see her aptitude so clear now and it held her back a great amount. She felt so distant, so empty for no reason when all she had to do was work harder. To make Knov happy. Despite already being married for as long as they have, she hasn’t seen Knov smile with her unless she accompanied him with other people; he never even smiled at her.
She felt more encouraged with a goal now, like she broke out of a cycle of doing the same thing over, and over again. She didn’t really understand what cycle she was even thinking about, it just bubbled at the top of her head as she thought about her life.
Palm could hear the water patter from the bathroom, reminding her that Knov was just a few feet away from her, separated by a wall. She quickly got up and changed into pajamas, turning off the lights and hopping into bed and under the sheets hoping that her new attitude would benefit Knov.