He told me he’ll be back for 2 weeks, initially.

Then it’s reduced to 10 days. And finally it was only 4.

Totally opposite.

We were out & about when he received that phone call.

THAT phone call. It was his superior. And his first sentence was,

“Kau bagitau wife kau aku mintak maaf sgt2.”

Bos mintak maaf kat bini subordinate.

Kau hado?

He laughed. I said sheepishly, “Bonus full tahun ni!”

I should have said, “Get my account no, I should get my portion!”

And 2 of that 4 days he’s assigned for a local job.

It was hectic. I had an important meeting on my birthday & ended the day packing up
for a late night road trip. No celebration.

He came back from work the next day profusely saying sorry for forgetting it. I said it's ok.
I know birthday is such a biggie for some people... but not me. I love celebrating but not when it's me being celebrated. Told him I prefer quiet celebration. No crowd.
And being with him that day at a special place is enough for me :)